<h4>Chapter 109: Lonely Avenger</h4>


    Evan climbed up the dark stairs to the second floor, and the old ck wooden floor creaked under his feet. From time to time, owls hovered over his head.


    Theyouts of the post office on the second and first floors are simr. There were owls everywhere. On the shelves under them, there were codes of various colors.


    Crookshanks was lying on a semi-circr balcony. When it saw Evan, it purred with satisfaction.


    Hold on, where is Sirius ck?!


    Evan suddenly realized what was happening; he quickly turned around, and behind him in the shadow of the hallway, a ck figure rushed out.


    Right then, Evan was thrown to the ground and sshed with dust.


    Several gray long-eared owls spread their wings and flew higher, in fear of the scene of Evan and the big ck dog on top of him.


    Sirius ck leaped swiftly and took the wand from his hands.


    His body was quickly morphed in mid air, and when he fell back on the floor, Evan saw a middle-aged man who looked exactly the same as the one wanted by the Ministry of Magic: his filthy, tangled hair was hanging down to his elbow. In the dark pupils of his eyes, there was no light at all, and his waxy skin clung to his face’s frame making him look more like a skeleton.


    “You’ve been too careless, kid!” ck held Evan’s wand tightly and grinned showing his yellow teeth. “Don’t resist. Since you’re a friend of Harry, I’ll only use the Obliviate Charm on you and wipe out all the memories about me from your head.”


    ck’s voice was low and hoarse. It sounded like he hadn’t spoken for a long time.


    “Listen, I need to talk to you, Sirius!” Evan whispered. “I’m not going to resist. You can keep my wand if it makes you feel safer.”


    “Huh, safety means nothing to me!” ck smiled with a ridiculous sneer. “If you, like me, were locked in Azkaban for twelve years, and like me, were tortured by hundreds of Dementors day and night, with your head full of the darkest memories, and enduring the suffering made by the loss of your best friends that’s frying your mind; if you’ve endured all of that, you’d also forget all about fear and safety.”


    “That sounds really bad,” Evan said worried.


    “Do you know how I got through it?!” ck’s expression suddenly became ferocious. “It was revenge. It was the power of revenge that kept me sober. That’s how I didn’t be a walking corpse like everybody else in there.”


    “Maybe I can help you get your vengeance.” Evan sat up from the ground.


    “Help me?!” The smile on ck’s face became even more pronounced. The wand in his hand pointed steadily at Evan. “I don’t think so. You’d better be honest and not y tricks with me. I’ve been observing you for the past few months since our first meeting in Muggle World in August. I know that your skills are actually amazing. I wasn’t near that strong at your age.”


    “Thank you for thepliment. If I were as powerful as you said, I wouldn’t have been in this situation right now!” Evan paused and continued, “But I do want to help you. You remember when we met at the edge of the forest for the second time on Halloween’s eve. I covered for you so you could flee; otherwise you would’ve been discovered by Professor Lupin!”


    Evan secretly gathered magical power. Since he saw Tom Riddle’s use of Ron’s broken wand to release the curse in thest semester, he has been studying Wandless Magic.


    Although he found many theoretical books on this topic were, the actual process was extremely difficult. Evan had to practice for nearly a year, but he could not control well his magical power and all he was able to make was light that’s even less impressive than the doing of a young wizard with his wand.


    Such a light was of no value in actualbat.


    But perhaps, it could distract ck if it took him by surprise.


    Evan had to be careful. Ifmunication fails, he’ll have his back against the wall. He did not want to be turned into an idiot by ck’s Memory charm.


    “If it weren’t for you, I would have never been discovered.” ck hummed and the wand gleamed slightly. “And I don’t need anybody’s help!”


    He waved his wand, but Evan was faster than him.


    His Magic spouted out, and a dazzling white light flew by like a lightning bolt, ck closed his eyes subconsciously.


    Hundreds of owls rose into the sky and the whole second floor was in chaos.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Evan stood up from the ground and he mmed into ck. Although he was short and thin, far from his tall opponent ck, but it was a fast dash and Sirius did not have his guard up.


    ck didn’t raise the wand in time. One of Evan’s hands fastened over his wasted wrist, forcing the wand tips away; the knuckles of his other hand collided with the side of ck’s head and they fell, backward, into the wall.


    The heavy impact finally brought ck back to his senses. The wand in his hand sent a jet of sparks into the air that missed Evan’s face by inches; thetter felt the shrunken arm under his fingers twisting madly, but he clung on, his other hand punching every part of ck it could find.


    But ck was far stronger than him, and his free hand had found Evan’s throat.


    Just as Evan felt desperate, Crookshanks that was crouching on the balcony suddenly jumped to join the fight. His stuck his two front paws deeply into ck’s arm.


    ck grunted and let go of Evan. He wanted to throw Crookshanks off, but he did not seed. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Evan took a few punches at ck’s stomach, and thetter was in pain. He curled up loosening his hand and releasing his wand.


    Evan grasped his wand and quickly stood up. He pointed it at ck’s chest and looked down at him.


    ck sprawled across the wall with his limbs spread out, and his thin chest swelling quickly.


    “Good job, Crookshanks!” Evan gasped.


    Crookshanks meowed softly and jumped back onto the window’s balcony, as though he had finished a trivial matter. The owls in the air came back.


    Evan looked at ck. He could vaguely see the handsome man that he used to be in his faint sallow face. Twelve years of prison life have made his character cold- blooded. Before killing Peter Pettigrew, he will not believe anyone, nor will he need any help.


    As a lonely avenger, he will use his own power to seize Peter.


    He’s not as good as a cat in trusting others.


    “I’ve underestimated you. You are much better than I thought. Wandless Spell! I haven’t seen a Wizard with such skill since a long time.” ck’s lips hung up again with his sarcastic sneer. “What do you intend to do, hand me to the Aurors of the Ministry, or to the Dementors?!”


    “I repeat, I just want to help you, whether you believe it or not!” Evan wiped the blood from his mouth and there were a few sparks on the tip of his wand. “But if you like this way of conversation, we shallmunicate well.”


    “Speaking of that, I really want to thank you!” said ck calmly. “I thank you for to the Hogwarts Magic News that you run. When Fudge visited Azkaban, he gave me an issue. There were photos of him giving special awards to several of you. On the front page of the newspaper, on the boy’s shoulder, I immediately recognized him. I saw him so many times transforming. He was still alive. He was actually in Hogwarts, near James and Lily’s son… That night, I escaped from Azkaban because I knew I had to kill him. That’s the only way I can make up for my mistakes, even if I had to face death.”


    ck’s body trembled slightly, and his voice was full of sorrow.