My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 164, Section 161: Cooperation

Lynn looked at the mess in the room and was conflicted. If he woke Yelena up like this, would she misunderstand?

After much hesitation, he decided to hide all of these things first.

Just as Lynn was holding the whip and candles, preparing to hide them under the bed, Yelena, lying on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes with a soft "hmm," looking at Lynn, who was lurking around the bed in confusion.

Lynn froze instantly. The two stared at each other, neither of them saying a word.

Silence and awkwardness filled the room.

Yelena quickly snapped out of her daze and immediately realized that the clothes she was wearing were not the robe she had been wearing before. She then grabbed the blanket next to her in shame and anger, covered herself with it, and shrank into the corner.

"What did you do to me?" Yelena pursed her lips, her gaze so cold it seemed to turn a person into ice.

Lynn innocently threw away the whip and candle in his hand.

"What nonsense are you thinking? I didn't do anything. The clothes you're wearing are from my shapeshifting magic. This room was just a random one the hotel owner opened. I was just afraid you'd misunderstand, so I hid these things."

The characteristics of the shapeshifting transformation are very obvious, and any wizard can tell with a little observation. Yelena is not a naive girl either; by combining the cause and effect, she can determine that Lynn saved her.

"Who are you?"

She remained vigilant. This man had saved her, but she was certain she didn't know him. They were not related. If he hadn't saved her for her beauty, he must have had some other purpose.

Seeing that she was no longer paying attention to the whip and candles, Lynn breathed a sigh of relief. He took out the fake identity document that Dumbledore had helped him from his pocket, tossed it to Yelena, and said in English.

"As you can see, I am a British wizard who came to the country of Su. However, on Klin Street, I saw an Auror named Ivanov and discovered that he was the murderer of my father that I had been searching for for many years. So I wanted to kill him to take revenge, but I failed in the end. Saving you was just a side effect."

Lynn was telling the truth, he just changed the reason for killing.

Yelena didn't doubt what he said. Ivanov had indeed helped the committee deal with all sorts of shady things abroad before, and he had countless enemies. Lynn was obviously just one of them.

She knew Lynn meant no harm, but she felt little joy at surviving such a close call.

After experiencing this incident, she realized that the problems of the magic world in the Soviet Union could not be solved by top-down reforms. The country was rotten to the core, and all the hopes she had once held for it were just unrealistic fantasies.

Yelena curled up at the head of the bed, her eyes vacant, lost in thought.

Lynn didn't have time to deal with her right now, because Tom woke up at that moment.

"Next time you want me to go to sleep, could you please tell me beforehand? Suddenly falling asleep, and sleeping for so long at once, makes my head spin, you know that!"

The brat started making a fuss as soon as he woke up, and Lynn kept dealing with him while reinforcing the seal of the Soul Sealing Curse.

"I know, I know. You're still young. There were a lot of things that weren't suitable for children that you shouldn't have seen. To avoid leaving a trauma in the future, what's wrong with taking a nap?"

Although Tom was only eight years old, he was precocious and knew a lot. He looked at the whip and candle on the ground, then at Yelena, who was curled up as if she had just lost her virginity, and said disdainfully.

"What's this? I've seen people having way better fun. And what happened to you? Have you become like this? Are you willing to do anything to pick up girls? You're only ten years old! Waaaaah!"

To shut him up, Lynn hurriedly kneaded him in her hands.

"What nonsense are you talking about! You're only eight years old and you already know these things. Who knows what kind of bad thing you'll become when you grow up? It seems I've neglected your upbringing lately."

Yelena hadn't heard what Tom had just said; she had already come to her senses and composed herself. This was a big blow to her, but not enough to completely break her. Since top-down reforms weren't working, she would try another approach.

She turned to look at Lynn, who was arguing with Tom, then glanced at the identification document. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke.

"Hubert? May I call you that?"

Lynn was taken aback for a moment before realizing that it was his pseudonym.

"Uh, of course."

Yelena threw off the covers and sat solemnly on the edge of the bed.

"My name is Yelena Shaik. I am the Director of the Magic Academy Liaison Office of the Education Department of the Magic Council of the Soviet Union. Of course, I should add the title of former Director now. As you can see, I am wanted by the Aurors of the Soviet Union. But it is not me who betrayed the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union that betrayed me."

Lynn raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you telling me all this? I saved you purely out of a sense of duty, no different from feeding a stray cat a small dried fish on the street. I'm a British wizard, not a member of your country's commission, and I can't order them to remove the warrant for your arrest."

Although Yelena knew he was telling the truth, it was a truth that was anything but pleasant to hear.

"I understand what you mean. I mean, do you want to kill Ivanov?" Yelena stared into Lynn's eyes.

"If I didn't want to kill him, would I still be here with you now?"

"So, what are your plans for the future?"

"Even if I have ideas, why should I tell you?"

Facing the man before her, Yelena suddenly felt a deep sense of defeat. From the beginning, she had tried to take control of the conversation, but she had never succeeded. Instead, Lynn's words left her feeling choked with pain.

She took a deep breath and decided to speak her mind.

"What I mean is, if you want to kill Ivanov but don't have a clue how yet, we can cooperate."

"How do we cooperate?" Lynn asked, squinting at her.

"I want to escape from Mosco. Ivanov will definitely come to capture me. You can find a chance to kill him and protect me as I escape."

Yelena made this suggestion because she felt that Lynn had the ability to do so. He was able to escape with her even with so many Aurors on Klin Street, so it was certainly possible now that it had become such a large city as Moscow.

Lynn, however, expressed doubt about her words.

"Ivanov must hold a high position among the Soviet Aurors, right? What makes you so sure he'll personally come to arrest you?"

(End of this chapter)