0851 Explanations
It wasn't just Graves who appeared through the torn barrier, he arrived at the head of what seed to be MACUSA's entire rapid response division. A full squad of Aurors followed in his trail, as they stepped through the barrier breach.
As they went out to secure the periter of what had once been an elegant Muggle café, their faces showed unconcealed shock at the scope of the devastation in front of them. The cafe that had had been luxuriously and elegantly decorated just minutes ago was now reduced to rubble and ruins.
"Mr. Graves!"
Alia's voice had both relief and uneasiness as she stepped out from behind Bryan. Her robes were torn and stained with dust and debris, her hair disheveled from the winds that had swept through the café during the battle.
Despite her obvious exhaustion, she straightened her shoulders and approached her superior with professionalism and asked in surprise. "How did you co to be here?"
"How did I co to be here?"
Graves's lips were tightly pressed as he repeated her question, anger flashing across his face.
He seed to be struggling to contain his fury.
"What a ridiculously naive question, Miss Depp. Perhaps you've forgotten that we're standing in the middle of Muggle territory: a densely populated area of Manhattan where hundreds of non-magical people go around their daily lives."
His gesture covered the devastation surrounding them, the magical barrier that had sealed them off from the outside world, and the lingering traces of dark magic that would take hours to fully dissipate.
"What exactly do you imagine the reaction of those nearby Muggles would be upon discovering that a building they pass every day had suddenly been shrouded in impenetrable darkness with blood-sucking monsters running out of it?"
Alia opened her mouth to give explanations, so form of justification for the choices that had led to this catastrophe. But before she could speak, Graves had already dismissed her from his attention, turning instead to focus his stare on Bryan Watson.
The emotion blazing in his eyes suggested that he had been expecting, Bryan to cause trouble sooner or later.
"The Security Departnt's rapid response teams have already initiated ergency protocols," Graves continued, his voice taking on the clipped, professional tone.
"All Muggles within a six-block radius have been evacuated under cover of an industrial gas leak ergency. A complete periter has been established, and our Obliviators are standing by to modify the mories of anyone who might have witnessed supernatural phenona.
The Muggle news crews who arrived to cover the news have been intercepted and their equipnt were confiscated."
Bryan could hear the unspoken costs behind each of Graves's statents.
"But Mr. Watson—"
When Graves spoke Bryan's na, it carried with it all the accumulated frustration and suspicion that had been building since their first encounter.
This was no longer the controlled, diplomatically cautious figure who had participated in the Learning Machine review committee. This was the head of magical law enforcent confronting soone he viewed as a clear and present danger to public safety.
"You are going to provide with a complete, detailed, and thoroughly reasonable explanation for every single event that happened here tonight. I want to know exactly what happened, step by step, and how I should classify this incident in my official reports."
His eyes swept over the destruction once more, sorting each scorched surface and his face turned livid.
"Furthermore, you will explain why you felt justified in using your wand again without proper authorization."
Graves seed to be genuinely furious, so filled with indignation that he seed to have temporarily forgotten exactly who he was confronting.
Bryan Watson wasn't just another foreign wizard causing trouble in his jurisdiction. He was the Vice Chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards, a figure whose political influence also extended far beyond any single magical governnt.
Moreover, he was now a crucial business partner whose who had just reached a trade cooperation agreent with the MACUSA's departnt of International Magical Cooperation.
But Bryan, despite Graves's harsh tone, remained perfectly composed. His expression showed understanding rather than anger. He could understand the feelings of the Security Departnt director, who had been under enormous public pressure these past days, when faced with yet another major security incident that would likely make newspaper headlines.
"I completely understand your concerns, Director Graves, and I apologize for the difficulties this situation has created for you and your departnt. I can certainly provide you with a complete explanation of tonight's events, including the circumstances that led to this confrontation and the specific defensive asures I was forced to use."
Bryan said with a smile and released the wand in his hand, letting it float back to Alia, then said calmly, "So, shall we discuss this here, or would you prefer to return to MACUSA first?"
Bryan's composed deanor caused Graves's anger to subside sowhat. He hesitated, his gaze turning to the vampire floating beside the two n. After just a brief glance, he looked away and turned to the dejected man behind Bryan.
"Haruto Lee?"
For a mont, Graves seed stunned, then his eyes suddenly beca sharp, focusing once again on Bryan's face.
"Let's return to MACUSA first, Mr. Watson. You have quite a lot of explaining to do."
It was destined to be a tumultuous night.
To deal with the Security Departnt's interrogation, Bryan spent almost the entire night at the MACUSA building, clarifying the issues.
Of course, he hadn't violated the Statute of Secrecy or the relevant laws established by the MACUSA. As for using his wand again without a wand permit, given that his life was threatened and he had acted in ergency self-defense, this could hardly be considered a major issue.
Due to the Learning Machine sales permit matter, Graves had lost face, and Bryan had expected Graves might use this opportunity to create so obstacles for him.
Indeed, Graves had erupted in fury when he learned that Bryan had received that invitation, and that Alia had also known about it, yet neither had inford the Security Departnt. Instead, they had chosen to accept the invitation, resulting in this fierce confrontation.
"You made a unilateral decision to et with a known terrorist and magical creature smuggler without proper authorization or backup," Graves had shouted, his professional composure finally cracking completely.
"You endangered not only your own life but the life of one of my Aurors, and you created a supernatural incident that required the mobilization of half my departnt to contain!"
Haruto Lee had been taken into MACUSA custody, where he would face charges for magical creature smuggling, illegal entry, and the use of Unforgivable Curses on Muggle civilians.
The vampire Morgans had also been detained in specialized containnt facilities designed to hold supernatural beings, though his ultimate fate would depend on the results of ongoing investigations into the larger smuggling operation.
Bryan had also provided Graves with crucial intelligence about Morgans's identity as an employee of the Blind Pig tavern, information that opened new paths for investigation into the criminal network that had been operating under Gnarlak's protection.
"Many wizards from the underground world frequent the Blind Pig. I imagine the Security Departnt won't have much trouble verifying its identity."
In Graves's office, Bryan said leisurely as he reclined on the sofa.
"Do you think—"
Graves's expression had been grim all night. Upon hearing Bryan's words, he fell silent for a mont, then a gleam flashed in his brooding eyes.
"These damnable vampires and other dark creatures never seem to learn proper respect for magical law. But you're right about their organization. They're all operating under Gnarlak's protection, and that despicable goblin has been providing shelter for underground criminals for decades.
If anyone has the connections and resources to orchestrate sothing of this magnitude, it would certainly be him. The cunning bastard has always been three steps ahead of our investigations. Ever since our last attempt to raid the Blind Pig, he's vanished, closed down his operations and disappeared."
'Without the Security Departnt's tacit consent, how could a place like the Blind Pig have operated for nearly a century?' This thought crossed Bryan's mind, but he said nothing.
"Well then—"
Bryan rose from the sofa.
"I believe we've covered all the relevant issues thoroughly and to everyone's satisfaction. If you have no objections, I think it's ti I returned to my hotel for at least a few hours of rest."
He straightened his robes with casual movents and continued. "After all, I have another invitation to attend tonight."
"What?"
Graves's brow furrowed imdiately. He stood up from his desk, glaring at Bryan.
"Another invitation, Mr. Watson? Please tell you're not planning to—"
"Oh, don't be nervous—"
Bryan knew the Security Departnt director had developed a psychological paranoia about him. He smiled and said, "It's Alia's parents. A few days ago, when I went to St. Josiah's Magical Hospital to visit Alia, her parents were there caring for her, and we t. The elderly couple seed quite fond of and invited to their ho for a simple family dinner—"
"Alia's parents... I see."
Graves deflated slightly as he processed this information, the paranoid tension leaving his shoulders as he realized that Bryan's evening plans didn't involve secret etings with another wanted criminals or supernatural creatures.
For a mont, it seed that Graves wanted to say sothing else. His mouth opened, and Bryan caught a glimpse of words forming. But then Graves' eyes t Bryan's clear, steady gaze, and swallowed the words he had intended to say.
"You're free to go, Mr. Watson. I sincerely hope that the remainder of your stay in New York will prove considerably more peaceful and uneventful."
By the ti Bryan returned to his hotel, the first light of dawn was turning the eastern sky rose and gold. The city that never slept was beginning its daily transition from the hectic energy of nightlife to the bustle of comrce and business, though the streets were still relatively quiet in the early morning hours.
His suite, when he finally reached it, felt like a calm shelter after the violence and bureaucratic intensity of the last night. Remus had already left for his scheduled etings with the goblin banking representatives for upcoming negotiations.
With a powerful wizard's abundant energy, going without sleep for a few days wasn't really a problem. Bryan went to his desk and raised his finger slightly, organizing the scattered materials on the surface. Then, after searching around on his person, the crescent-shaped vampire fang, appeared in his palm.
Once the ordinary tasks were completed, he reached into his robes and took out the object that had been occupying his thoughts throughout the long night of official questioning.
Clink—
The vampire fang made a soft sound as Bryan placed it on the surface of the desk. He sat leaning back in his chair, rested both arms on the armrests, interlaced his fingers, and fixed his sharp gaze on the fang.
Having absorbed that strange blood, this fang had already improved considerably in terms of its apparent quality compared to before. However, aside from this, it hadn't displayed anything particularly remarkable. The power contained within it remained dormant.
Bryan's mind returned repeatedly to the vampire's final attack: that pool of blood conjured from the coffin that had sohow managed to extinguish his Fiendfyre.
In terms of mastery of the Fiendfyre spell, Bryan had already reached the pinnacle. For that blood to accomplish such a feat could only an one thing: the blood contained power of a higher level—the power of souls.
Not the individual soul of the vampire who had created the blood magic, but rather the united spiritual energy of countless victims whose lives had been consud to fuel this abomination.
The accumulated hatred, suffering, and final monts of agony experienced by hundreds or perhaps thousands of innocent people, all were distilled into a weapon through the darkest applications of blood magic.
For the fang to have absorbed such a concentration of soul-based power so effortlessly ans only one logical conclusion: they shared the sa origin!
————————————
For More Chapters; patreon/FicFrenzy
Reviews
All reviews (0)