"You put a little too much personal grudge into those punches."
When the fight was over, Sirius couldn't help commenting. The ambush had come and gone in a flash. In less than a minute, every Hit Wizard present was sprawled on the ground. They hadn't even had time to call for help before they were all knocked down, without a chance to fight back.
Before Dewey's eyes, Walker lay on the ground, his face covered in blood.
The blood hadn't come from any spell.
Dewey had asked Sirius to cast a countercurse to wake Walker up, then the two of them had settled things in a boxing match.
Walker had been beaten to a pulp.
His nose was broken, and he'd lost several teeth.
Blood was everywhere.
Even Sirius rarely saw such a brutal brawl.
He glanced at Dewey, who was still beating the Hit Wizards, then at the nearly full moon overhead. A look of understanding crossed his face. "Do you get an uncontrollable urge around the full moon?"
"Thanks for the reminder, but I'm not a Werewolf."
Dewey took Walker's wand back from his hand, then quickly went around and beat the remaining wizards one by one.
Cards burst out of them.
Dewey knew what Sirius wanted to ask, but he could tell him with certainty that he wasn't a Werewolf.
"I just have a bit of a violent streak," Dewey explained.
Sirius wasn't in a hurry.
They'd taken very little time to ambush this group of wizards, and no one would know they'd intercepted the Hit Wizards here.
If the Ministry's people followed their usual routines and precedent, they wouldn't realize the Hit Wizards were missing until sometime tomorrow afternoon.
Even the Ministry's patrols wouldn't show up here anytime soon. The Ministry's control over the wizarding world was like fishnet stockings.
They looked good, but in reality, they were full of holes.
Sirius had set up a magical barrier nearby. He was casting a spell that no one but a highly skilled wizard could see through.
"It can't block Mad-Eye Moody's eye, so let's hope we don't run into him. But if we do, the two of us against him—who knows who'll win?"
Sirius cast a sidelong glance at Dewey, who was still beating people.
Dewey let out a long breath.
Beating people up took a lot of strength, and it took some technique, too.
Dewey wasn't particularly skilled at it.
"I've fractured my index finger," he called to Sirius. Black waved his wand and healed the fracture.
"It's only a fracture," Black said. "Don't be so delicate, Dewey. How long are you planning to stay here?"
Black didn't try to stop Dewey's impulse.
He could understand Dewey's madness.
Sometimes, he felt the urge to destroy everything, too, as if there were a fire in his chest that wanted to burn him up and the whole world with him.
Self-control was a precious virtue.
But Harry Potter, his godson, was like a bucket of cold water, always dousing the fire in his heart at just the right moment.
Sirius thought Dewey had done well to keep this much control.
Everyone needed to let off some steam.
"I'm not doing this for nothing."
Dewey didn't explain himself. After beating the men, he tossed his hair back and said, "You seem pretty confident in me. Are you sure the two of us can handle Mad-Eye Moody?"
He was just looking for a topic so he could casually beat the Hit Wizards again.
Moving among the Hit Wizards he'd battered—leaving them concussed, with broken ribs and fractured brow bones—Dewey collected the White Cards, Blue Cards, and several Purple Cards scattered on the ground. Compared with the agents from the Department of Mysteries, the Hit Wizards had dropped much better cards.
"Very nice. Very nice."
As for asking about Mad-Eye Moody, he'd only brought him up because he wanted to chat with Sirius and needed a topic.
Mad-Eye Moody was certainly one of the best Aurors. But he was still within the bounds of an ordinary wizard. Barty Jr. had once ambushed and defeated him all by himself.
And he was nowhere near Voldemort's level. Voldemort had killed Mad-Eye Moody with a single spell.
Wizards could be divided into ordinary wizards and everyone else. Mrs. Weasley had been able to kill Bellatrix in a fit of rage, but that didn't mean she could defeat a grievously wounded Voldemort at one-seventh strength in the same state of fury.
Those were two entirely different things.
Dewey didn't think he and Sirius were weak.
Among wizards, Sirius was a first-rate fighter.
"Of course we can."
At Dewey's question, Sirius answered as Dewey found a piece of chocolate in one Hit Wizard's clothes and tossed it to him. Sirius stuffed it into his mouth and said, "Your Protego is the best I've ever seen.
"People don't pay much attention to that spell. They prefer flashier magic. Even if they learn Protego, it's only for their exams."
He was telling the truth. Many Hit Wizards at the Ministry weren't good at Protego.
And Hit Wizards were probably the people who encountered danger most often.
The other Ministry employees were even more mediocre when it came to fighting.
Dewey was pleased to hear Sirius praise him.
"Anything else?"
He asked Sirius.
Sirius stared at him.
"Have some shame!"
He couldn't help saying.
Dewey shrugged, a little disappointed. Hearing someone praise you was always a pleasure.
He was badly in need of a laugh.
Dewey cast Obliviate on the men on the ground, even though he knew someone would undo it. After loading them all onto the boat, he waved to Sirius. "Give me a hand and get this old boat moving."
Sirius knocked on the side of the boat, and it pulled away from the dock.
"What a busy day, wasn't it?" Sirius said. That afternoon, they'd ambushed a Ministry employee, learned when and where the Hit Wizards would be returning, and found out that Arthur Weasley was going to take several of his sons to Diagon Alley.
Those were exactly the pieces of information they needed.
"We don't have much time, Sirius."
Dewey took a breath and said, "We need to keep an eye on Mr. Arthur Weasley. Once they show up, we strike without warning, knock out everyone in the Weasley family, and take everything they have.
"We have to do it all within two minutes, then Apparate and shake off anyone who comes after us. The important thing is that one item, understand? Everything else is just a cover. That item is all that matters.
"Find it, cast the spell, and get out of here!
"If we can, we should rob a few more wizards to cover up our real objective."
Dewey went over the plan with Sirius again. Sirius nodded, showing he had it all firmly in mind.
"Aha, we really are born villains, aren't we?"
Dewey snapped the other five wands in half and said to Sirius.
"If that's what you think of yourself, I won't argue, but I'm not a villain."
Sirius disagreed with the idea.
Before they left, Dewey told Sirius to write something on the boat.
[ A gift for the Ministry of Magic — Dewey Jones ]
"Why don't you write it?" Sirius asked.
Because I can't.
That was the real reason, but Dewey said, "My handwriting's too ugly."
The two of them quickly left to rest and recover.
Their next move would be extremely dangerous.
They could run into a large number of Hit Wizards and Aurors at any moment.
Fortunately, Mr. Weasley didn't hide where he was going. Arthur Weasley was well-liked at the Ministry, and everyone was fond of him.
Mr. Weasley never hid his plans from other people, either.
He'd always been interested in Muggle technology. In Harry Potter's second year, Ron had taken the car that belonged to the Dursley Family to get Harry—well, the flying car. It had been Mr. Arthur Weasley's creation. He was fascinated by combining technology and magic.
When he took his children to school, he would bring them to Diagon Alley early and walk the whole way, just so he could spend a little longer observing Muggle life.
That habit gave Dewey an opening!
"I hope Mr. Weasley doesn't put up too much of a fight. Whatever happens, we mustn't hurt his children," Dewey said.
Sirius looked at Dewey and asked why. Dewey explained, "Never underestimate the power of love. If you hurt those poor kids, you'll find out what people mean by the magic of love.
"Mrs. Weasley will kill us!"
Before you continue