Whether it was because she had met "Superman" or simply because of her own guess, the little girl beamed with joy as she hugged Marvolio's arm, rubbing her soft cheek against his palm and gazing up at the "Superman" in her heart.
Marvolio, both helpless and curious, pulled her over to sit beside him. "What is Superman?"
"Ah, actually, I'm not really sure either..."
The little girl stuck out her tongue and gave him a mischievous grin.
"I heard some boys talking about it. I think it's someone with superpowers, and their main job is to beat bad guys and protect the world!"
But when she thought about how unfriendly those boys had been to her, her mood suddenly dropped.
"But they never wanted to play with me, so I don't really know what Superman is supposed to be like..."
That sense of disappointment instantly dragged Marvolio back to his orphanage days, and he found himself empathizing with the little girl's sadness.
"It's all right. I think I understand what Superman means now," Marvolio said awkwardly, though he could not see how his words were meant to comfort anyone.
"Then do you like Superman?"
"I do!" the little girl cried excitedly. "If I had superpowers, I could beat up Dad and protect Mum!"
"Hey, what you used just now was a superpower, right? Can you teach me?" She clung to Marvolio's arm and refused to let go, pleading in a spoiled little voice.
"And then I could protect lots and lots of people, just like you. I wouldn't waste your power!"
"But I have no wish to protect other people," Marvolio said coldly. Still, he did not try to hide the existence of magic from her.
"Why not? You clearly have that kind of ability!" the little girl asked in confusion.
She had not even seen him use much power, but in her simple little world, he was already an all-powerful Superman.
Marvolio felt a flicker of pity, but more than that, he did not want to hide his true thoughts from her, so he did his best to make himself sound colder.
"I'm sorry, but I have no obligation to protect others. I'm not Superman, and I have no intention of becoming Superman."
That's how I really feel. I can't lie to a child like this.
He used that thought to reassure himself.
"But... but... Mum keeps getting bullied..."
The girl's eyes filled instantly with tears. Her bright gaze dimmed, but she stubbornly pursed her lips, refusing to let the tears fall.
Marvolio felt utterly lost. He suddenly had no idea how to deal with the innocent little girl in front of him.
Lie?
That was what he was best at, and also the thing he least wanted to do.
Even if he spun some lie right now, he could not give her magic. That impossible fantasy would be shattered at once.
So in the end, it would still have to be a Memory Charm...
"As cruel as it sounds, she's your mother. If I tried to save every single person, I'd end up exhausted to death sooner or later."
After saying that, he hesitated, but still drew his wand.
"You're a bad person! I don't like you anymore!" the little girl cried.
She yanked her arm free from his and ran for the café door, leaving behind only tears and sobs.
For some reason, watching her run away made Marvolio feel awful.
Wasn't that just a reflection of himself back in the orphanage?
No playmates had ever wanted to accept him. Even at Hogwarts, he had always been misunderstood.
Ever since he was little, what he had faced was one cold reality after another. But where had the Superman been who would save him?
There are no Supermen in this world. There are only ordinary people running around for their own benefit, aren't there?
He repeated that conclusion to himself over and over in his heart, yet something inside his mind seemed to be hatching.
It was perfectly clear, yet something was holding it down so tightly that it still could not emerge.
Though puzzled by the feeling, he still glanced toward where the girl had gone, and in the next instant, only a sigh was left inside the café.
Marvolio appeared on the street in a flash. The little girl had no time to stop and crashed straight into his arms.
In the end, he could not bear to let her face that cold reality.
"I'm sorry. It may be better for you to forget everything that happened today."
"Don't worry. I definitely won't leave any aftereffects. You can treat it all as a dream."
Under the stunned gazes of the police around them, he calmly raised his wand.
"Obliv..."
Suddenly, he felt an intensely dangerous aura erupt from the truck across the street.
Boom. Boom.
With a deafening roar, the truck exploded. The shockwave and the flames spread outward in an instant.
Marvolio did not even have time to redirect his wand. He could only pull the little girl tighter against him with his right arm, while his free left hand rose toward the explosion, like a mantis trying to stop a cart.
Bang.
It was like a sealed can stuffed with firecrackers. A muffled blast burst outward at the same moment the explosion reached them.
The shockwave and flames seemed to hit some invisible, solid shell. They swelled violently for a moment, then froze in place within a twenty-foot radius.
"What is...?"
The sergeant stared in disbelief at the flames, now trapped at a height no more than two stories.
Just moments ago, he had thought he was dead. Then a transparent membrane had suddenly appeared in front of him, sealing off the flames that had been almost within reach.
It had saved his life.
Marvolio took several deep breaths before his breathing finally steadied.
He had been careless. Several months of living in the Muggle world had made him underestimate some of the dangers there.
Of course, the main reason was that the explosion had gone off the instant he Apparated here.
If he had had even a little more time, Transfiguration alone would have been enough to cut the blast radius by more than half.
Still, he really should have learned a few more tricks from Tver. That way of using pure magic while keeping such overwhelming force was probably something only a monster like him could manage.
Marvolio steadied his breathing as he watched the center of the blast gradually shrink.
It seemed Muggle technology really had made some frighteningly powerful things.
He could have Apparated away from here easily enough, but for some reason, the moment he looked at the surrounding police officers, the thought vanished.
Taking advantage of his distraction, the little girl poked her head out from his arms. Not only was she not afraid, she looked delighted by the bizarre sight in front of her.
"Wow, you really saved us!"
Her face was still wet with tears, and cute little droplets clung to her eyelashes, making her look even more pitiful.
"At a moment like this, I wasn't exactly going to stand by and watch everyone die," Marvolio said helplessly.
"But... but didn't you say you didn't want to be Superman?" the little girl asked carefully.
Marvolio stared blankly at the little girl in his arms.
That was right. The old him would never have wanted to save this group of Muggles.
Even if all he wanted was to save the girl, he could simply have Apparated away, or reduced the protective barrier to something much smaller. Either would have cost less time and effort than what he had just done.
And yet in the end, he had instinctively protected everyone present.
Why?
A man who had always delighted in manipulating other people's hearts suddenly realized he could not even see his own clearly.
The little girl had no idea about his inner conflict and confusion. She only watched his dazed face curiously for a moment, then cupped his face in both hands.
"But I like you again!" she said sweetly.
Marvolio's heart skipped a beat. The dullness in his eyes rapidly faded, replaced bit by bit with light, until they shone with fierce determination.
"To make you like me, I've decided to try becoming Superman," he said with a wide grin.
He knew now what it was that had been trying to hatch in his mind.
A flower. A beautiful, beautiful flower.
No Superman had ever come to save him, but he could still choose to become someone else's Superman.
"Catherine!"