Quinn rode away on that crooked bicycle.
Before leaving, he pressed two oranges into Lin Ze's hands, then wobbled out of sight at the end of the alley.
The creaking of the bicycle chain grew fainter until the wind scattered it.
Lin Ze stood where he was, clutching the two oranges, and silently watched the direction Quinn had gone for a while.
His first instinct had actually been to tell Quinn, "Stay right there. I'll go buy you some oranges."
But he figured Quinn wouldn't get the joke, so he gave up.
Lin Ze stuffed the oranges into his coat pockets, then leaned against the wall and tilted his head back to look at the sliver of gray sky above the alley.
Today was Halloween.
Tonight, Voldemort would go to Godric's Hollow.
And Quinn Travers, who rode a battered bicycle, wore purple robes, and offered him oranges, lived right next door to the Potter family.
"Fuck," he swore in Chinese.
He hoped Quinn would take his wife out for a wander tonight, as far from the Potter family's home as possible. If his memory served him correctly, Voldemort would only kill the Potters, and everyone else would be fine.
"Um... sir..."
A timid voice came from near his feet.
Lin Ze looked down and found Grot still crouching in the corner, holding the tin box he had retrieved. He looked up at Lin Ze, his pointed ears drooping, looking just like a rain-soaked cat.
"Why haven't you left yet?" Lin Ze asked, a little surprised.
"My legs are weak..." Grot sounded close to tears.
"I ran too fast earlier, and now I can barely stand up..."
Looking at the goblin, who was less than half his height, Lin Ze suddenly found it a little funny.
He bent down and held out a hand to Grot.
"Come on. I'll take you to Gringotts."
Grot hesitated, then reached out with his small, wrinkled hand and grasped Lin Ze's fingers.
Lin Ze pulled him up from the ground.
"Thank you." Grot dusted off his robes, then raised his head and looked at Lin Ze with his large, round eyes.
"Um... Mr. Lin Ze, you saved my life back there."
"Mm."
"According to the rules, goblins cannot owe wizards favors." Grot's expression turned solemn, as though he were reciting some ancient statute.
"If you ever need help from Gringotts, you can come to me. I'm only a third-class adviser, but my uncle is the deputy manager of the London branch, my mother's second sister manages the vaults at the Paris branch, and my father's third brother..."
"All right, all right." Lin Ze smiled and waved a hand.
"Keep going and I'll start thinking you goblins are a family business."
"We are a family business," Grot said in all seriousness.
Lin Ze: "..."
Well, he really had never considered that.
Lin Ze led Grot out of the alley and headed toward Gringotts.
The three Dark Marks above Diagon Alley were still slowly revolving, but there were no Death Eaters to be seen on the street anymore.
Instead, a few wizards in Auror uniforms had appeared, busily checking the roadside shops for damage.
"Lin!" a familiar voice called from behind.
Lin Ze turned to see Ben Frick jogging toward him, his face filled with the relief of finally having found him.
"Merlin's beard, are you all right? I just heard Death Eaters were gathering in the southern part of Diagon Alley, then I heard someone was being chased by seven or eight of them, and then Director Scrimgeour said it might be you..."
"It wasn't me," Lin Ze said without batting an eye.
"Huh?"
"He was the one being chased by seven or eight Death Eaters." Lin Ze pointed at Grot beside him.
Grot's eyes widened, his pointed ears standing straight up. "Huh? But I..."
"He was running too slowly, so I gave him a hand."
Lin Ze patted Grot on the shoulder, neither too hard nor too lightly, with just enough force to make the goblin swallow the rest of his words.
"I was going to step in, but then a Muggle bicycle dropped out of the sky and knocked those Death Eaters flat."
Frick's expression went through three stages: confusion, shock, and finally, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Lin, did a spell hit you in the head?"
"I'm telling the truth."
"A bicycle knocked down seven Death Eaters?"
"To be precise, it hit three first, then knocked down the six blocking the alley entrance too. It even made a return appearance in between."
Frick fell silent for a moment, then turned to Grot. "Is he telling the truth?"
Grot hesitated, looked at Lin Ze, then at Frick, and nodded vigorously.
"The world's gone mad," Frick muttered.
He went with Lin Ze to escort Grot to the entrance of Gringotts.
When the goblin guards at Gringotts saw the tin box in Grot's arms, they immediately crowded around and ushered him inside in a flurry of hands.
Before leaving, Grot turned back and bowed deeply to Lin Ze.
"Mr. Lin Ze, Grot will not forget your help."
Lin Ze waved a hand, then turned and left.
On the way back, Frick kept studying him with a strange look.
"What?" Lin Ze asked, thoroughly uncomfortable under his gaze.
"I'm wondering whether you have some sort of special constitution," Frick said, rubbing his chin.
"What kind of constitution?"
"The kind where you run into trouble wherever you go, but somehow always manage to come out unscathed."
"I'm not an Auror anymore," Lin Ze corrected him. "I'm just a clerk at the Records Office."
"But you just took down another few Death Eaters."
"No, I already told you, it was a bicycle that fell from the sky. All I did was take a goblin who couldn't run anymore to Gringotts."
"But..."
"All right, all right, that's enough. We're not discussing this."
Frick was silent for a long while, then said solemnly, "Lin, I think you're definitely going to be someone important someday."
"Why?"
"Because you can even lie with such absolute conviction. With nerves like that, it'd be strange if you didn't become someone important."
Lin Ze couldn't help laughing.
Toward evening, Lin Ze returned to his attic.
The old wizard next door, Prewett, was brewing his potions again, and the bubbling sounds carried through the thin wall.
Lin Ze pushed the window open a crack for some air, then leaned against the windowsill and gazed at the gradually darkening sky outside.
Right now, the event that would change the history of the Wizarding World was probably unfolding in Godric's Hollow.
Voldemort would walk into the Potters' cottage, the green light of the Killing Curse would shine through the windows, and then everything would be over.
I wonder if Quinn's home tonight.
It would be best if he happened to be away on a long trip.
Lin Ze realized he was actually worrying about someone he had known for less than a day.
Perhaps it was because Quinn's smile had been so genuine, perhaps it was because of those two oranges, or perhaps it was simply because, in a world where everyone feared for their own safety, he had met a fool still willing to invite a stranger home for lemon egg tarts.
"This damned world," Lin Ze swore softly.