Chapter 104: The Big-eyed, Bushy-browed One Is Actually…?
“I’ve already investigated, and the Austrian Ministry of Magic will send 47 staff members to help with the case this time…”
The aged witch recounted the intelligence she had gathered. Melvin looked around, and the reactions of the other wizards present surprised him somewhat. They were also observing the attitudes of the surrounding wizards, seemingly having little interest in it.
Melvin suddenly recalled Professor Kettleburn’s introduction: many young wizards in the Cabal were merely manipulated and bewitched by Grindelwald’s extraordinary personal charm…
After several decades, the once high-spirited Cabal leader was now just a prisoner, a century-old prisoner in his waning years.
These young followers from back then were now ordinary old wizards in Budapest. They might be the owner of some hotel, a chef in some restaurant, or simply retired, enjoying a calm life without upheavals.
A few inflammatory words from Vida alone could not make them abandon their current happiness and become wanted fugitives on the run again.
Various thoughts swirled in his mind. Melvin scanned the room with his gaze and suddenly locked eyes with another wizard, also clad in a hood and cloak concealing his identity. The style was even looser, his figure entirely hidden in the black fabric, making it impossible to discern even the gender without close inspection.
Only those eyes seemed faintly familiar.
Deep emerald eyes, bright and lively.
Melvin calmly shifted his gaze away, rapidly searching his mind for faces of wizards he knew here, quickly matching it to the target—the Auror Witch.
She had inspected his wand in Romania during the day, intercepted his communication book at the wizard market in the evening, and now he encountered her here too?
“Cabal gatherings are full of spies…”
Melvin felt a subtle sensation. Watching Old Vida still preaching and inciting, he secretly sighed to himself that Romania’s Aurors were much stronger than the British Ministry of Magic. Their case investigation efficiency was quite fast; they had even infiltrated the Cabal gathering.
He subconsciously glanced at the witch a couple more times, wanting to follow the vine to the melon and see if there were other Aurors around, but was surprised to find that the witch was also observing him.
“She recognizes me too?”
A thought flashed through Melvin’s mind. He smiled and nodded toward her, conveying a tacit understanding that needed no words.
The Auror Witch rejected his tacit understanding and directly raised her wand, shouting in a deep voice: “He’s not one of us; he’s a Hogwarts professor!”
The instant her words fell, the scene fell into several seconds of silence. That phrase “professor” echoed in the venue. Over a dozen pairs of eyes fell on him again, and the surrounding figures silently dispersed, faintly forming an encirclement.
“?”
Melvin’s eyes widened slightly, his thoughts racing. He quickly connected several clues and immediately realized the truth.
The Romanian Ministry of Magic indeed had an insider!
This insider was the female Auror in charge of entry and exit inspections!
The encirclement of surrounding wizards gradually tightened. The Cabal Remnants all drew their wands. Though they had no interest in rescuing their former leader, they didn’t mind dealing with enemies who had infiltrated their lair… Old Vida’s eyes gleamed with cold menace.
At that moment, Melvin heard the hotel owner speak from over there, probing with some doubt: “Hogwarts? Professor Levent?”
Melvin saw a sliver of possibility for a peaceful resolution and smiled helplessly: “It’s all because their snoring was too loud, disturbing my sleep. I thought to take a stroll in the courtyard, and then… Sorry for disturbing your gathering, sir.”
The old wizard was also helpless, sighing as he looked toward the old witch on the platform: “Vida, he’s my guest; he didn’t intentionally sneak in to eavesdrop on intelligence.”
Old Vida sneered: “But he has already heard our plan!”
Melvin immediately stated: “I can swear to keep it secret.”
“Even the Obliviate is unreliable; only a corpse can keep a secret!” The old witch’s voice was eerie, faintly revealing some of the Cabal’s cruelty from back then.
The hotel owner frowned slightly. Vida’s cruelty was somewhat beyond his expectations: “Vida—”
“Enough, Abnercy!” Vida’s wand tip brewed a sinister green light. “After being a hotel owner for decades, you’ve even deceived yourself. Do you really think you’re some good person?”
“…” Abnercy stared at her in a daze, momentarily speechless.
“Abnercy? Not Abo?”
Melvin suddenly understood. No wonder he called Mister Abo; their expressions had been so odd.
Old Vida turned to look at him, her gaze cold and cruel, a faint mocking smile curling at her lips: “Of course it’s Abnercy, the once promising American Auror who later assisted the great Grindelwald in escaping trial, reduced to a skulking rat!”
“Soon, his wanted poster will add another charge: assaulting a Hogwarts professor!”
【Avada Kedavra】
The sinister and terrifying green light burst forth.
Melvin deftly swung his wand. Having cast powerful Stupefys dozens of times while subduing the fire dragon during the day, his proficiency was astonishing. He raised his hand and fired, with speed and accuracy beyond imagination—striking first despite being second, colliding with that killing green light.
A brilliant blue light flashed by. The two spells clashed, splattering dazzling sparks, then simultaneously annihilated.
The wizards present only felt dazzled by the light. Before they could react, they heard the young professor sigh, his tone quite regretful: “Looks like we’ll have to calm you down first before we talk.”
Before his words finished, several spells burst forth almost simultaneously.
Beams of light flashed and vanished, striking the surrounding lamps. Amid the crisp shattering of glass lampshades, the oil lamps erupted in flames, suddenly illuminating the space for an instant—and only an instant. The next second, thick darkness enveloped the entire venue, shadows quietly swallowing the wizards present.
Accompanying the descent of darkness was intense panic.
In the first exchange of the two sides, the young professor’s displayed strength surpassed the vast majority of the remnants present.
Vida Rocher’s Killing Curse had devoured at least several dozen lives in her youth. In recent years, her mentality had grown increasingly extreme, and her spell power stronger. It was said her Killing Curse could directly kill a Hebridean Black Dragon.
Yet such a powerful Killing Curse had been blocked by a hastily cast Stupefy.
If struck by such a spell…
In the darkness, a few breaths grew heavy. Faint sounds of nervous swallowing could be heard. Someone, unable to bear the immense mental pressure, preemptively began incanting:
“Lumos…”
The Illumination Charm wasn’t finished when another sound came from the darkness.
A glow flashed by, and the Stupefy whistled through the air with momentum. In the blink of an eye, it struck the incantation-casting wizard in the chest with a muffled bang!
The impact echoed in the enclosed space. That wizard had intended to light up the venue to help his colleagues lock on targets. His incantation half-complete, he had no time for any defense and was instantly sent flying by the immense force, crashing into the wall like a ragdoll, falling to the ground unconscious.
It was unclear whether it was the Stupefy’s effect or simply being knocked out.
“…”
Darkness and silence enveloped the venue once more.
