The tall Death Eater froze for a full five seconds.
He had been a Death Eater for four years, carried out countless missions, and seen people kneel and beg for mercy, draw their wands to fight for their lives, and wet themselves in terror.
But he had never seen anyone discuss mask design with him while cornered in a dead-end alley.
"Are you fucking with me?" The tall Death Eater's voice came muffled through his mask, brimming with barely contained anger.
"No, no, absolutely not." Lin Ze hurriedly waved his hands.
"I'm sincerely offering suggestions for your organization's image. Think about it. You sounded so imposing over the broadcast just now. 'Hand over the Potters, hand over your incompetent minister'-what powerful words! But imagine the camera cutting to all of you standing down here, only for every last mask to look like a kindergarten craft project. Wouldn't that cheapen the whole thing?"
"You..."
"And have you noticed that your masks only cover the upper halves of your faces? Your chins are still exposed."
"If any of you have a double chin, or haven't shaved properly, it'll ruin the whole visual effect. I suggest switching to full-face coverage, preferably something like..."
"Avada-"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Lin Ze suddenly raised both hands, his wand wobbling in his right hand with its tip pointed upward, in a textbook pose of surrender.
"One last question! Just one!"
The tall Death Eater's incantation caught in his throat. His wand remained raised, a green glow already emerging from its tip before he forcibly suppressed it.
"Any last words?" he said through gritted teeth.
"Have you ever met the Dark Lord in person?"
The tall Death Eater paused.
"Of course I have. Last winter, at a gathering." A hint of boasting crept unconsciously into his voice.
"The Dark Lord personally praised our squad. He even..."
A beam of red light struck him squarely in the chest.
The tall Death Eater's voice cut off abruptly. He toppled forward, stiff as a board, his mask striking the flagstones with a sharp crack.
Lin Ze's wand was still raised.
"Thank you for your generous explanation." He nodded at the fallen Death Eater, then turned to the remaining three.
"Looks like the books were right. Villains always die from talking too much."
The remaining three Death Eaters recovered from their shock and raised their wands at the same time.
Lin Ze reacted a step faster.
"Expelliarmus!"
A scarlet spell skimmed past the leftmost Death Eater's ear and struck the brick wall behind him, sending brick fragments flying.
"You mis-"
"Protego!"
A Shield Charm spread out before him, barely blocking three spells fired simultaneously.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Lin Ze dodged left and right in the narrow alley, constantly firing spells back. His spells flew through the cramped passage, some hitting the walls, others grazing the Death Eaters' hoods.
After one exchange, Lin Ze realized their combat skills were nothing like those of the three useless Death Eaters from that day, so he turned and ran deeper into the alley.
He reached the brick wall at the end of the alley, over twice a person's height.
"Fuck."
He turned around. The three Death Eaters had already caught up, green spell-light crisscrossing the dim alley.
Lin Ze leaned against the wall and tightened his grip on his wand, preparing to fight his pursuers again, when a strange noise suddenly came from overhead.
Lin Ze jerked his head up and saw a figure in bright purple robes flying over the alley.
The figure seemed to be riding something...
Was that...
A bicycle?
A flying bicycle?
Seeing flying broomsticks in the Wizarding World was nothing unusual, since every wizard came equipped with one.
But a bicycle, and a flying one at that... honestly, this was Lin Ze's first time seeing one.
The person on the bicycle seemed to be having trouble controlling it. "Make way, please make way... whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa..."
The bicycle swept over the alley, traced a beautiful arc through the air, then vanished behind the rooftops opposite.
Lin Ze stood frozen. If three Death Eaters hadn't been watching him like hawks, he would have wanted to chase after it immediately for a look.
"I still need to deal with these nuisances first."
He tightened his grip on his wand and took a deep breath.
"Expelliarmus!"
A scarlet spell struck the distracted Death Eater on the left, sending his wand flying out of his hand. Lin Ze's Stunning Spell followed right behind it, knocking him to the ground.
"You-" The other two Death Eaters snapped out of their daze.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Protego!"
A Shield Charm spread out before him, blocking the incoming spell.
The spell struck the transparent magical barrier and burst into dazzling sparks.
The barrier shuddered violently, and Lin Ze felt his arm go numb.
"As you can see, three against one has become two against one."
Lin Ze leaned against the wall. Though he had nearly lost his grip on his wand, his mouth kept going.
"How about we talk this over and call it a day? You can go back and tell your boss some kid rode off on a bicycle and got away, and I'll go back and write a report saying I encountered three unidentified wizards but escaped successfully. Then we'll all have something to report."
The two Death Eaters did not answer.
The shorter one raised his hand and immediately fired a beam of green light. Lin Ze rolled across the ground, the spell skimming past his backside and striking the wall behind him, blasting out a bowl-sized crater.
Bits of stone struck the back of his head, stinging badly.
"Hiss... guess you're not interested in talking things over." Lin Ze spoke through clenched teeth.
Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from the other end of the alley.
At least six figures in black cloaks poured in through the entrance, blocking off the other end.
Tsk, more of them. Just great.
Now I can't get out...
"Fuck," he cursed in Chinese.
The Death Eaters at the entrance drew closer and closer.
Lin Ze gripped his wand tightly, his back pressed against the cold brick wall.
With nowhere left to retreat, he began seriously considering whether to hit someone with that Goblin's tin box again.
Then that voice rang out overhead again.
"Make way! Make way, make way! Oh, shit! Where are the bloody brakes-"
Lin Ze jerked his head up.
The flying bicycle had returned, and this time it was diving straight toward his alley.
The rider pedaled desperately, purple robes ballooning in the wind, a pink umbrella still clutched in one hand. The canopy had blown inside out, looking exactly like a dandelion with its fluff standing on end.
"I said-make-some-room-"
Shouting, the rider yanked hard on the handlebars. The bicycle wobbled violently through the air, tracing a crooked, snaking path.
Before the Death Eaters at the entrance could react, they heard a piercing rush of air overhead.
Then the bicycle crashed into the alley, rider and all.
More precisely, it crashed into the six Death Eaters who had just blocked the entrance.
A tremendous clattering crash rang out, accompanied by the screech of twisting metal, the grunts of Death Eaters being knocked down, and someone's scream turning into a muffled whimper halfway through.
Dust rose like a miniature mushroom cloud, engulfing the entire alley...