The young man had talked with Mr Borgin for a while longer, trying to find out if he knew anything more about this person, or rather, if he knew anything beyond what Noah already understood.
Having learned nothing extra, Noah paid the middle-aged man five hundred galleons and specifically told him he must not mention this matter to anyone.
After all, if these words got out, Noah would know who had let them out, and Mr Borgin knew that would not be a good thing.
Having finished his business, Noah prepared to leave the shop and was heading towards the door when he saw someone enter.
This person was a tall, pale man with platinum-gold hair and cold, grey eyes, carrying a cane with a fly's head on it, and dressed incredibly well.
Someone Noah knew very well.
[Lucius Malfoy]
"Noah," Lucius said in his thick, piercing voice.
"Malfoy," Noah replied calmly.
Lucius casually sized Noah up and then said, "Still with those Blood-Traitors Weasley family, I see."
The reason he said this was because the magical bag hanging from Noah's waist had been knitted by Molly Weasley.
Noah then replied, "Still as arrogant as ever, I see."
Lucius chuckled after these words and then calmly inquired, "Is there any news I need to know about my son, Draco?"
Noah and Lucius were not close, but whether Noah liked it or not, he had been forced to get close to others, especially within the Ministry of Magic.
Even though he no longer spoke or communicated with these people, he was forced to interact with them whenever he encountered them.
Lucius Malfoy was one of those people.
"When we think about Draco growing up in a household like the Malfoys, I did expect him to do HORRIBLY, yet, he is doing better than I expected," Noah replied.
Although these words annoyed Lucius, the well-dressed man still didn't stop smiling and said, "Well, I'm glad to hear that."
He didn't even question why Noah was here. He would probably ask Mr Borgin about it later.
Noah greeted Lucius and then left the shop.
The young man would return to the castle for the day, review what he knew, and make preparations to be ready for any danger.
Although he hadn't noticed, Lucius Malfoy had signalled to someone outside the shop window with his head. The person who received the signal immediately left the area.
Noah began walking through the wide but incredibly dark streets. As it was already approaching evening, it was starting to get dark, and the darkness of the alley was beginning to overwhelm everything.
Noah had noticed that his surroundings had become quite quiet in the last few minutes. He was encountering fewer and fewer people, even in one of the busiest areas of the alley.
As Noah calmly stepped outside, he reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out his wand.
Then he stopped where he was.
He was aware that someone was behind him, in front of him, and around him, though he couldn't see them.
At that moment, he said, "Protego," and created a shield around himself. Within seconds, he was confronted by seven different spells flying towards him.
He managed to counter a few spells with his wand, but three powerful spells struck his shield, shattering it into pieces.
Noah instantly looked around and saw one wizard in front of him, two behind him, and two on either side.
However, he realised he didn't need to hold back:
"Stupefy!" he shouted.
His spell struck the wizard in front of him in just a second, sending him flying metres through the air and crashing to the ground.
He then said "Protego" again, creating a small shield around himself, and then turned to the pair on his right and said "Impedimenta".
When the spell hit them, the pair slowed down for a moment, and Noah turned to the other side, blocking the three spells coming towards him with his wand.
Without hesitation, he shouted "Petrificus Totalus!" at the other wizard, who was preparing another spell, turning him to stone.
When he turned back to the wizards, who were beginning to recover, he shouted "Stupefy!" at one of them, pinning him directly to the wall of the building behind him and knocking him to the ground.
At that moment, he heard a shout from beside him:
"Incendio!"
He turned his head and saw a massive sea of fire approaching him.
"Aguamenti!" Noah shouted, conjuring a sea of water with a counter-spell.
The combination of the two spells created a kind of steam bath. Visibility was zero, but there was something the wizards facing Noah had forgotten.
He was a wizard who could transform into other animals.
Noah made his eyes like those of an owl. He could suddenly see through the steam.
"Locomotor Mortis!" Noah had said suddenly, and with that, he had bound the legs of one of the wizards together.
At that moment, something unexpected had happened.
A fist had landed on Noah's jaw.
It wasn't a situation a wizard would often find himself in, but Noah had indeed been punched in the jaw by another wizard.
The young man collapsed to the ground and grimaced in pain for a few seconds.
He realised he didn't have time to wait and instantly transformed into a small squirrel, rolling a few metres away. He reached for his wand, grabbed it, and transformed back into a human.
Immediately afterwards, he turned to the person who had punched him and shouted, "Stupefy!"
This also pinned the wizard to the ground.
There were two more wizards left to fight; the others had either been knocked out or immobilised.
Noah suddenly said, "Expelliarmus!" and, seeing the wizard pointing his wand at him, he pulled the wand towards himself.
Immediately afterwards, he said "Stupefy" again and, with the spell coming from the tip of his wand, knocked this wizard unconscious, sending him flying several metres.
The last remaining wizard had already disappeared.
Noah wanted to stay and check the faces of these attackers to see if he recognised any of them, but his head was spinning terribly, and he noticed blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
In his current state, he couldn't fight any more danger, so he had to leave.
He began running swiftly through the narrow streets and eventually managed to reach the bright side of Diagon Alley.
He had put on a robe instead of his coat and quickly donned his hat. He needed to remain unseen. He had to return to Hogwarts swiftly, using Floo powder and present himself to Madam Pomfrey.
Noah quickly found a place with a Floo powder passage and then beamed himself to the passage leading to the Hogsmeade Inn.
He then transformed into an owl and flew directly towards the castle in the rainy weather.
After entering the castle, he went straight to the castle clinic where Madam Pomfrey was, without revealing his identity to any of the students.
The moment he entered, he could no longer hold back and transformed back from his owl form.
Madame Pomfrey, who was sitting in the clinic, was stunned when she saw him. She leapt up from her seat at hyper speed and shouted, "Noah!" as she rushed to the young man's side.
"I was attacked, Madam Pomfrey... please, without letting anyone know, inform Professor Dumbledore," he said.
With that, the young man fainted completely.