Chapter 851
Prove You Are You
Chapter 851 Prove You Are You
In the blink of an eye, the courtyard, which had been bustling with people just moments before, was now only occupied by officials of the Magic Council and Aurors, their bodies covered in golden powder and their faces as if shrouded in shadow.
Almost everyone's pockets were burning hot, and getting hotter and hotter.
There's no need to bring out the Book of Friends; everyone knows the truth perfectly well.
Those were messages from colleagues who had been alerted by the highest level of alarm and rushed to a meeting, only to find the meeting room empty.
“Ms. Picqueli,” Hawthorne said, “you stay behind with your men and clean up the mess.”
“Understood,” Ella said solemnly.
She knew exactly what she had to do—
Instead of arranging for someone to clean the courtyard, the task was to collect all the clown fragments and gold powder, and examine the magical residue and physical composition within them;
Secondly, we need to investigate who brought such a large pumpkin carriage in, how it was placed in the courtyard, and whether someone was subjected to a sophisticated confusion spell.
In addition, all guest information needs to be verified to confirm whether they are present in person, whether they have returned home safely, and whether they have exhibited any unusual behavior tonight.
Hawthorne was quite confident in Ella Picqueli's abilities, and then turned to Salina, saying:
“Miss Goldstein, you will lead half of the Aurors to deploy and guard key locations in New York and Washington.”
"Although what happened in the video was fake, we can't rule out the possibility that the 'prank' will be played out again for real once we let our guard down!"
Salina had initially thought she would be Ella's assistant, but upon hearing this, she realized the weight of her responsibility and nodded emphatically, saying, "Understood!"
She quickly began to gather people.
Hawthorne continued, “Mr. Grimm, you don’t need to go to Mr. Scamander, but you should contact the head of the FMC.”
His gaze was sharp as a knife: "I need to know whether that realistic 'surprise' we just witnessed was seen by only us, or whether it was also simultaneously shared with... other people!"
"Yes!"
Rex Grimm replied calmly.
Finally, Hawthorne's gaze swept over the remaining people: "The rest of you, come back with me for a meeting!"
…………
After sending the emergency reports to the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, Kingsley Shackles turned around, his face appearing particularly grave in the flickering lamplight.
Alastor Moody sat to the side, his eyes closed, his demonic eye seemingly staring at something in the distance.
But Kingsley knew that at this moment, his colleague was far from being able to sleep soundly.
"Alastor".
Kingsley closed his tired eyes, rubbed his temples, and said in a low voice:
"This matter is probably very bad."
"...It's just a prank, the Magic Council can handle it. What does their embarrassment have to do with us?!" Moody said in an unfriendly tone.
"Handle it?" Kingsley smiled wryly. "Hawthorne and the others will probably be holding meetings all night tonight, right? If I send my report back, even the Ministry of Magic might have to work overtime."
Moody paused for a moment, then asked dryly, "...That serious?"
"Yes!"
Kingsley felt an invisible pressure on his shoulders, and he sighed.
"The scariest thing is... the content in the video is fake, but it could become real at any moment!"
He frowned, his tone grave:
“We all know that there are indeed wizards among the Purifiers. They don’t need to torture or control innocent hostages; they can demonstrate magic in public!” “If they really do that… the Law of Secrecy will be completely broken! The barrier that wizards have maintained for hundreds of years will vanish completely!”
Kingsley slowly exhaled, feeling an unusual tightness in his chest and a slight itch in his neck, as if a sword was hanging over his head, about to strike him down.
"This script... is crazy enough, but it's not difficult at all to bring it to fruition!"
He said through gritted teeth, "And none of us... can completely stop it!"
Kingsley glanced around, cast another soundproofing spell, and then continued speaking to Moody in a deep voice:
"And in tonight's 'farce,' the Magic Council's response strategy, reaction speed, the Aurors' modus operandi and task assignments... all these things that only their own people knew were clearly seen by that guy hiding behind the scenes!"
Kingsley had assumed that, given Moody's personality, his reaction to what he had said would be more intense than anyone else's.
No, I should say that Moody's certainly able to imagine the worst-case scenario without me having to explain it myself!
However, the reality was completely different from what he had imagined—Moody opened his eyes, turned his demonic eye to the back of his head, and blinked twice with his normal eye, but subconsciously avoided Kingsley's gaze!
He bluntly denied it: "You're overthinking it, Kingsley."
After a pause, Moody seemed to realize that his words lacked conviction, so he quickly emphasized his point:
"The Mirror... no, I should say Muggle television has been around for a long time. Over the years, if the Purifiers really wanted to expose magic, they would have had countless opportunities!"
"Today's prank was just a 'prank'... Perhaps the instigator was some guy who was extremely dissatisfied with the Magic Congress and deliberately wanted to embarrass Hawthorne!"
Kingsley: "...?!"
His pupils contracted sharply, and he instantly drew his wand, leaping into the air. As he steadied himself, he pointed the wand directly at Moody, his voice low and filled with murderous intent as he asked:
"You're not Alastor...who are you?"
Moody's eyebrows twitched, his face turned ashen, and anger flared up, but rationally he could understand why Kingsley was suspicious.
"Alastor Moody".
He said in a muffled voice, "Don't believe me? Then think back to when you first became an Auror and we went to deal with a crazed werewolf. When we saw the scene, you threw up all over me!"
"And when we were chasing that fairy smuggler, you fell into a trap first, and then someone provoked you into jumping into the swamp. Wasn't it me who pulled you out?"
"And then there was that time in '75, when a ghoul hid in the forest and attacked passing Muggles, and then you..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Kingsley interrupted him, exasperated. "No need to say anything more. I believe you are Alastor."
He lowered his wand, but the sharpness in his eyes did not diminish: "Since you are you, I need to know even more—why you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Kingsley had a sudden inspiration and realized:
"Alastor, you...do you know something?"
Moody's lips pressed into a hard line, his gaze involuntarily wandering.
He had always played the role of the interrogator, never expecting that he would one day be "interrogated" himself.
This brief silence had already given Kingsley the answer.
He gasped, then asked incredulously, "...Wade did it?"
(End of this chapter)