Chapter 899
The Light in the Night
Chapter 899 The Light in the Night
Hughes' pupils suddenly contracted, and his fists clenched involuntarily.
"That organization is experimenting on living wizards! You mean... someone is tipping them off, even among the Aurors I trust?"
Victor looked at him, and when he wasn't smiling, his eyes held only a cruel calmness.
"Mr. Hughes, have you ever seen anyone in war who, knowing their fellow countrymen would be slaughtered, would still lead the enemy for a piece of bread?"
"Do you know that some people would sell their wives, children, and even parents for a bag of gold?"
"Not to mention some drugs, people controlled by them will do anything to get a small packet of powder!"
“Read more Muggle news, and you’ll find that what shocks you isn’t even news in their society.”
These words were like a poisoned dagger, piercing directly into Hughes' deepest fears.
His face drained of color, but he tried to keep his voice steady as he pressed on, "What do you know, right? Is this why you acted unilaterally without prior contact or cooperation with the Magic Council?"
Victor didn't answer, but simply reached out and touched the black dog's neck before taking off a dog tag.
The black rope and wooden sign were hidden around the black dog's neck; Hughes hadn't noticed them at all before.
At that moment, Victor used a little force with both hands to pry open the dog tag, revealing a small mirror inside that was slightly larger than a coin.
Hughes had only ever seen a mirror of this size in his wife's makeup box before.
Victor placed the mirror on the bench between the two of them and said, "You don't need me to teach you how to use the Stream Mirror that stores video recordings, do you?"
"Take a good look...use your own eyes to find the answer!"
The small mirror reflected the reddish light of the setting sun, like a bomb about to explode.
Hughes stared at the mirror, his eyes revealing a silent struggle.
……
Late at night, the Magic Congress headquarters, which had been busy all day, was finally able to quiet down, and the lights in all the offices had long been turned off.
In the dark corridor, only a few paper airplanes were still flying weakly at low altitude.
But on the top floor, in the office of Congress Speaker Nicklo Hawthorne, a light remained on, and the atmosphere inside was unusually somber.
"Is this his answer to you?" Hawthorne toyed with the small, round silver mirror in his hand. "A video recording?"
“Yes,” Hughes said. “After putting down the mirror, he left with the dog. Considering the people behind him… I didn’t force him to stay.”
Hawthorne nodded slightly: "You were right not to make a move. Whether it's Dumbledore or the British Ministry of Magic standing behind Kravchuk, now is not the time to clash with them."
He placed the telescope on the table, making a soft "click" sound.
Hawthorne leaned back in his chair, rubbed his temples, and said wearily, "Let's see what answers they left behind."
With a light tap of his wand, Hughes sent out a Mirror of Light that spun and grew larger in the air, emitting a bright yet soft light.
At that moment, both of them recalled the scene at the banquet when the fake video suddenly appeared.
Even their voices are remarkably similar—
"Ah ah ah ah..."
A woman screamed, "Chairman! Chairman Hawthorne! Something terrible has happened!"
As the image gradually became clearer, the two of them frowned in unison.
“It’s the scene from the dinner party,” Hughes couldn’t help but blurt out a pointless remark.
Hawthorne nodded slightly; he had naturally noticed it as well.
The video was shot from a unique angle and was edited to clearly show everyone's reactions before and after the incident.
"Wizards really exist!"
"The Purgers! These are those lunatics who call themselves the Purgers!" "Don't stop me! I need to go home right now!"
In the flickering light and shadow, everything seemed so chaotic. Hughes watched the Aurors' momentary hesitation and astonishment, and their haphazard pushing and shoving, and couldn't help but furrow his brow.
Hawthorne leaned forward slightly, his fingertips touching his chin, his pupils reflecting every face, whether terrified or panicked.
—At the moment the unexpected happened, whose face remained unsurprised?
When the magical world was exposed, who rejoiced?
And who is it that always hides themselves behind others, yet is positioned perfectly to observe the entire scene?
However, at that moment, everyone's reaction was perfectly reasonable, including the names he suspected.
It wasn't until the golden powder suddenly sprayed out that some people's expressions underwent extremely subtle changes.
Hawthorne's heart sank heavily, but then he slowly let out a sigh of relief.
This answer... is not the most dangerous, nor can it be said to be unexpected.
The huge weight that had been weighing on his heart was finally lifted a little, and he even had the illusion that his shoulders had become lighter.
“Niclow, do you see that young brown-haired wizard in the corner?”
Hughes said cautiously, "He was very careful to hide himself, especially after the incident, and he hardly appeared on camera..."
Moreover, it's a bit strange that he's dressed so simply for this occasion.
Hawthorne recalled the content of the video and asked, "You mean... that young man who chatted with Lyra's assistant for quite a while?"
“Yes,” Hughes said.
Hawthorne shook his head: "Although there is no evidence, that person... is most likely someone sent by the British to cooperate with Viktor Kravchuk's operation."
Hughes was taken aback: "Why do you say that?"
It's not doubt, just skepticism.
Hawthorne said, “You should look at the way Alastor Moody looks at that guy—they definitely know each other, maybe even know each other well, and Moody seems to be very protective of that young man.”
When the screams rang out, I immediately stood in front of the other person.
But what was the young man's expression?
The camera wasn't intentionally pointed at them; the two figures in the corner were really hard to notice.
Hawthorne closed his eyes to rest for a moment, then opened them and said, "Let's watch it again."
Hughes nodded and raised his wand.
The screams rang out again—
"Ah ah ah ah..."
"Chairman! Chairman Hawthorne! Something...something terrible has happened!"
"Wizards really exist!"
The quill on Hawthorne's desk jumped up, stood upright on a piece of parchment, and moved twice before finally drawing a name on it.
Unlike Vader's puppets, Hawthorne was more familiar with his colleagues and knew better how they would respond when a crisis struck.
Therefore, even the exact same shock or fear can be interpreted differently in his eyes.
A string of names appeared on the paper, then several were crossed out one by one, until only a handful remained.
“Investigate them, Ezra.”
Hawthorne whispered, “I need to know every single person they’ve met, every single word they’ve said, and even what kind of garbage they’ve given to the house-elves to take away!”
"If we don't get rid of the internal worms, our walls will collapse sooner or later!"
(End of this chapter)