Chapter 215: Paris Nights
On the hard wooden desk, parchment materials written in French were stacked neatly, next to them were sheets of paper provided by the hotel, covered in scribbled handwriting from a ballpoint pen, totaling 15 lines of short statements, each corresponding to a suspicious case.
“I’m used to using a quill, and suddenly switching back to a ballpoint pen feels really uncomfortable.”
Melvin put the parchment back into the document bag, leaving only the organized handwriting, and muttered under his breath, “Terrorist attack, spousal homicide, gang fight, drug dealer debt collection… life for Paris residents isn’t peaceful either.”
“Every murder scene has traces left by wizards.” Riddle reminded him in a sinister tone.
Melvin tapped the ballpoint pen lightly on the paper: “In the terrorist attack and gang fight cases, in the few minutes after the incidents, many bystanders heard loud cracking sounds, like gunshots, but the police hadn’t arrived yet, and the perpetrators didn’t use guns, so the Department of Magical Law Enforcement suspects that wizards used Apparition to escape the scene.”
“These must just be ordinary wizards who panicked in unexpected situations, worried about getting into trouble, not wanting to be bothered by Muggles or deal with the Ministry of Magic afterward, so they simply fled the scene.”
Riddle understood the mindset of dark wizards well, “If they were dark wizards or villains, they would have planned their escape route before acting, either blending into the crowd disguised as ordinary people or having a secret getaway, and wouldn’t leave such obvious traces.”
“I think so too.”
Melvin crossed out several cases related to Apparition: “Next is the spousal homicide on Champs-Élysées Avenue, a Muggle-born woman suspected her wealthy husband of cheating, followed him and saw him on an intimate date with someone else, flew into a rage and killed him, stabbing him 7 times in the chest… During the post-incident interrogation, she appeared dazed, disoriented, with memory loss, suspected of being under the Imperius Curse.”
“Tch…” Riddle sneered, “Some people always blame their faults on the Imperius Curse, trying to escape trial with it!”
Melvin cleared his throat, ignoring the Dark Lord’s pointed remark: “Then there are the drug dealer debt collection and gang fight, these two cases are connected, the gang’s main business is drug trafficking, during a late-night transaction one side suddenly backed out leading to conflict, after arguing they found the gold used for the transaction missing, escalating the conflict, and the next day it turned into a gang fight where the leaders of both transaction parties died.”
“There are troll-like idiots among both Muggles and wizards, people like that deserve to be ruled by others, making their stupid brains think would only cause trouble for everyone else.” Riddle judged calmly, “The box holding the gold was right under their noses, the gold inside mysteriously disappeared, and they firmly believed it was the other side without any reason or evidence.”
“The Department of Magical Law Enforcement suspects a wizard nearby secretly stole this batch of gold.”
Melvin looked at the handwriting on the paper, “Additionally, in the sewer at the crime scene, several fat rats were found, their bodies intact with no external injuries or signs of serious illness, suspected of being affected by the aftermath of the Killing Curse.”
“I’ve seen the photos in the materials, those rats’ condition is very strange, definitely some kind of evil dark magic, but not the effect of the Killing Curse.”
“No external injuries on the body, affected by dark magic, how can you be sure it’s not the Killing Curse?” Melvin was a bit curious, he was now quite proficient in dark magic himself, but still far from an expert like Riddle.
“The Killing Curse doesn’t bring intense pain, victims under the spell usually have serene expressions, not twisted faces and bulging eyes like this.” Riddle had the air of a professor lecturing, full of solid information in the classroom, “A dark wizard wouldn’t bother using the Killing Curse on a few rats, the idea in the materials that they were affected by the aftermath is utterly foolish, these rats were scattered in positions, the farthest about a dozen feet apart, how powerful a spell would it take to cover such a large area?”
“More like some kind of area-effect magic…” Melvin mused thoughtfully.
Riddle gave him a sideways glance: “Don’t bother thinking, currently no dark magic can achieve that effect.”
“Could it be some other dark wizard’s own invention?”
“Do you think dark magic is child’s play? Every dark magic originates from pure malice, creating dark magic is far more difficult than ordinary magic, requiring not only magical talent but also targeted malice, only a few wizards have that talent.” Riddle spread his hands, quite proud, as he was one of those rare few.
“Whatever dark magic it is, it’s not something an ordinary wizard could master.” Melvin had a lead, circled and marked two cases, “Tomorrow I’ll suggest to Mr. Graves to investigate in this direction.”
“If possible, take me to see the bodies of the two victims, I want to see exactly how they died?” Riddle licked his lips, his scarlet eyes gleaming with excited unnatural light, “To think there’s dark magic in this world I haven’t seen.”
“Speaking of dark magic, there’s something else I want to ask you about.”
Melvin folded the white paper on the desk and looked up at those scarlet, eerie eyes, “You know the Cruciatus Curse, right? I have a friend who’s a Healer, he recently took on a special patient who suffered prolonged severe torture from the Cruciatus Curse, completely lost memory and sanity, no normal thinking ability left, do you have any treatment suggestions?”
“Cruciatus Curse? Prolonged torture, completely lost sanity?” Riddle suddenly took interest.
Melvin nodded, this guy was clearly more interested in the torture process: “The abnormal magic power in the body has already been removed, their own disrupted magic power is gradually recovering flow, thinking ability is rebuilding bit by bit, but still can’t recall past memories.”
“Sounds like hit with a powerful Obliviate?”
“Powerful Obliviate, yes.” Melvin smiled, “My friend has another patient there, also hit with a powerful Obliviate, all memories in the brain gone, only some instincts left, intelligence stuck at three or four years old, can this kind of condition be recovered?”
“The answer is on the surface of the riddle, Melvin.”
Riddle showed a gentle smile on his face, “Memories buried deep in the mind can only be unearthed by intense stimulation, nothing is more suitable for breaking an Obliviate than the Cruciatus Curse, searing pain straight to the heart, unforgettable for life…”
This phantom was like a devil peddling dark magic.
Melvin couldn’t help but fall into thought, intense pain uncovering memories hidden by the Obliviate, there are many records in History of Magic, mental abnormalities or amnesia triggered by intense stimulation called dissociation states, then restored by intense stimulation, Muggle medicine also has related cases.
Could the Lumbardons and Lockhart’s conditions be treated this way?
The young snake on the desk suddenly flicked its tail, waking from sleep in alarm, blankly looked around the room, consciousness not fully awake yet, buried its head under its tail again, subconsciously flicking its tongue:
“Hiss…”
Melvin felt like he had a headache too.
……
“Boom!”
London’s last international Portkey of the day activated in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, instantly vanishing from the spot, dragging all surrounding travelers into another dimension, the space suddenly emptying with a faint humming sound.
Instantly crossing two thousand miles.
The red-haired Weasley family huddled together, landing steadily amid the disorienting weightlessness.
In the corridor outside the Egyptian Ministry of Magic welcoming room, another red-haired figure had been waiting early, immediately stepping forward.
That wizard wore a black leather robe, handsome face, tall and thin, hair longer than many witches, tied in a ponytail, earrings on his ears with fang-shaped ornaments dangling.
“Why did you come at night? Wouldn’t daytime be more convenient for traveling?”
“Coming daytime would require you to take leave.”
Mrs. Weasley shot back, then seeing his outfit immediately started nagging, “Bill, look at what you’re wearing? These clothes, these boots, and your hair, keeping long hair in the desert, aren’t you afraid of the heat?”
“I’ve arranged accommodation for you, follow me.” Bill Weasley was long used to his mother’s ways, automatically filtering the nagging, calmly looking at his younger siblings behind, “Gringotts approved a long vacation for me, over the next few weeks, I’ll take you to see the pyramids here.”
George and Fred huddled together scanning the surroundings, Ron looked at his brother with admiring glances, thinking this outfit was super cool.
Even the usually pompous Percy became meek and modest in front of this big brother, who had achieved prefect and president during school, graduated with certificates in 12 subjects, the object of his study and imitation.
Only Arthur faced his eldest son without any reservations, chuckling and patting his shoulder.
Bill was a bit helpless: “You didn’t actually need to come to Egypt, I could go home for Christmas this year, applying for a long vacation now might mean I can’t go back for Christmas.”
“It’s fine, just think of it as celebrating Christmas early.”
“The family coming to Egypt for travel, using Ron’s money again, is the burden at home heavy?”
“You wouldn’t know!” Arthur puffed out his chest proudly, “This time I won the top prize in Witch Weekly, 700 Galleons, enough to cover our trip with some left over, we’ll get a Projection Mirror for home when we go back, to support Professor Levent’s business, he’s helped us so much before.”
“Sigh…”
Bill found his parents’ spending habits both amusing and helpless, earn how much spend how much, never worrying about the future, lavish when affluent, frugal when the wallet is empty.
But he didn’t say any buzzkill words, the Weasley family had always been like this, mom wouldn’t let them go hungry, Bill just nodded: “Is that Professor Levent close with Ron?”
“Pretty good, why do you ask?”
“Wizards here in Egypt are also interested in Projection Mirrors, Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic both plan to collaborate with Professor Levent, also, the Alchemy Research Center has a project, saying to use Portkeys instead of the Floo Network for global signal coverage, planning to discuss with the professor.”
Arthur scratched his balding head: “When we get back, I’ll have Ron ask him for you.”
……
“So pretty.”
The sweet-looking little witch leaned on the windowsill, not minding soiling her robe, hands propping her cheeks, body leaning slightly forward, gazing at the city nightscape.
Distant lights twinkled along the Seine River bank, outlining the contours of the Louvre Museum and the opera square, grand and magnificent.
Beside the girl was an intellectual woman, sitting at the small table flipping through the newspaper, eyelashes brushing, brown eyes full of curiosity, clearly just a thin sheet of newspaper, not even color-printed ink, but the people on it were lifelike, even waving at her.
“Mom, stop looking, no important news.” Hermione grumbled as she sat next to her mom, “But Flourish and Blotts’ service is really thoughtful, even in Paris, France, they can send the newspaper over, so I can keep up with the wizarding world news.”
“I’ve arranged the itinerary for the next few weeks.
“We must visit the abbeys in Paris, those ancient abbeys are full of traces left by wizards, and the Louvre Museum, many collections inside were left by wizards, maybe some magic that interests me.
“Maybe I can look for nearby wizard markets, might help with my thesis homework.
“Professor Binns assigned limited thesis length, maybe I can write some Muggle Studies papers ahead of time, Professor Levent always has us view the world from both Muggle and wizard perspectives, Paris is great material.”
The newspaper on the table turned a page, the little witch hugged her mom’s arm, chattering nonstop, the intellectual woman’s gaze softened involuntarily, showing a bit of indulgence.
Sending Hermione to that boarding school far away in Scotland, compared to this magical ancient magic, the change in the girl’s personality delighted her more.
If there’s a chance, she’d really like to properly thank that Professor Levent.
……
“Mr. Owl, hello.”
Melvin held back a laugh, greeting seriously.
Mr. Graves’ face had two dark circles, looking just like the spectacled owl in owl, clearly hadn’t slept last night, probably up all night studying materials, not sure what clues he found, coming to find Melvin in the faint morning light, afraid he’d slip away.
Mr. Graves ignored his teasing, face weary: “I ran into Mr. Bonnel this morning, told him we’re not joining the patrol today, we’ll investigate the case alone.”
Bonnel was last night’s Auror captain, Melvin pictured the middle-aged wizard’s face, a common face on Paris streets, no deep impression: “He didn’t ask why?”
Mr. Graves shook his head: “No.”
“He doesn’t know you accessed the files?”
“Probably not.”
Mr. Graves frowned recalling the earlier conversation, not entirely sure, but he didn’t dwell on it, glanced at his wristwatch, “Doesn’t matter, let’s start investigating, a full 15 suspicious cases, we’ll be busy for the next week.”
“You’re not thinking of investigating each one by visiting, are you?” Melvin’s expression was odd.
“What else?” Mr. Graves was stunned for a moment.
“Now I know why you never got promoted before.” Melvin shrugged, “Bring out the files, I’ll analyze the case details for you, from now on, I’m the investigation team leader, you’re my assistant.”
“I’ll be… your assistant?”
Mr. Graves gritted his teeth, yesterday evening he invited Melvin into the group, this morning he became the subordinate, the drop too stark.
But this meant Melvin already had leads, proving his invitation last night was right, Mr. Graves suddenly felt wise, thinking this way, it seemed acceptable.
Flipping out the parchment files, listening to Melvin eliminate and analyze, sorting clues, the tricky case details gained concrete feasible directions.
Mr. Graves’ groggy head after staying up all night suddenly cleared, even better than Pepperup Potion.
“…So, our focus is on these two cases, first go to the scenes for inspection, then to the Muggle police station, see if we can check the bodies up close.”
