Harry carefully got out of bed, making sure not to disturb Draco, and tiptoed to the door, gently pushing it open.
"Who's there? Who is it?"
However, the empty hallway showed no sign of anyone.
Only a few small black kittens, who had been playing and running around, noticed him.
The guards of the French Ministry of Magic gave Harry a disdainful glance before striding away, heads held high.
Harry stood frozen behind the door for a mont. He was certain he hadn't misheard… the strange voice had woken him up, and it wasn't sothing he'd imagined in a dream.
Still in his pajamas, Harry continued to peer down the hallway. By chance, he looked up at the ceiling and noticed a faint, glistening trail of moisture on the pipes hidden in the shadows.
The mark was subtle. If Harry hadn't happened to glance in that direction, he would never have spotted it.
Following the trail, Harry walked forward. A group of Ministry's guards tilted their heads curiously at him, but since these black cats clearly knew his identity, they didn't treat him as an intruder.
The trail led him all the way to the Ministry's main atrium before it disappeared… or rather, the pipes were embedded into the walls, leaving no further traces elsewhere.
It was only when he reached this point that Harry suddenly realized sothing.
He looked around. The silent, empty hall was filled only with countless pairs of glowing eyes belonging to the little black cats, watching him wordlessly.
A shiver ran down his spine. The next second, he turned abruptly and sprinted back the way he'd co!
He ran all the way back to the Auror Office's corridor, dashed into the bedroom, and shut the door tightly behind him before burrowing under the covers.
His return had been noisy enough to wake the drowsy Draco.
"What are you doing?"
Harry didn't answer, closing his eyes and trying to steady his breathing.
When Draco got no response, he rely muttered sothing under his breath, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
For the rest of the night, Harry drifted in and out of sleep, struggling to fully relax. His mind kept replaying the strange voice that had woken him.
Tossing and turning, he finally made it to morning.
At breakfast, Lupin and Severus joined him and Draco in their room.
Seizing the opportunity, Harry told Severus and Lupin about what had happened the night before.
"A strange voice?"
Severus frowned.
anwhile, Draco sneered.
"It was just a nightmare, why are you making such a big deal out of it? You really are still just a kid!"
But Severus pressed seriously,
"Are you sure the voice was real… that you heard it with your ears, and not in your mind?"
Clearly, he was suspecting the fragnt of Voldemort's soul within Harry.
However, in the original tiline, Harry only began sensing Voldemort's presence when the Dark Lord started planning his resurrection.
Right now, Voldemort should still be a wandering spirit in the forests of Albania, so why would Harry be sensing anything?
Lupin also picked up on the gravity in Severus's tone.
Severus's gaze remained fixed on Harry. After a mont of hesitation, Harry carefully recalled the mont he'd first heard the voice the night before and finally said with certainty, "I'm sure I heard it with my ears. It ca from outside the room. I even went out to look and saw those water marks on the pipes. I followed them all the way out of the Auror Office's area and into the Ministry's main atrium before I realized what was happening and ran back."
Because Draco was present, he didn't admit that the real reason he'd run back was out of fear.
Severus fell into thought, 'If the voice hadn't been in Harry's mind or a dream, but sothing he'd actually heard… what kind of sound could Harry hear in the middle of the night that Draco wouldn't react to?'
By now, Severus already had an answer in mind. He said to Harry, "If you hear anything like that again at night, co straight to my room and find ."
Harry nodded. Draco, however, rolled his eyes, thinking they were overreacting as he continued eating his fried eggs.
After breakfast, Severus asked Lupin to continue their previous day's work in the archives while he went to find Yuma.
Yuma was clearly swamped. Ever since the Aurors had intensified their investigations and started arresting people en masse the previous afternoon, every Auror's schedule had been packed. They were buried in interrogations, trying to screen the flood of detainees.
"I'm about to lose my mind! Those idiots have hauled in nearly every black-market potion dealer in France! These people usually just peddle illegal potions… how could they possibly be involved in this?"
The mont he saw Severus, Yuma couldn't help but vent.
Severus cleared his throat and cut straight to the point.
"Does any departnt in the Ministry keep snakes?"
This strange question caught Yuma off guard. He hesitated for a mont before shaking his head.
"Aside from the guards, the Ministry strictly prohibits unauthorized animals, or magical creatures, from entering."
Hearing this answer, Severus seed to confirm sothing. He nodded and, before leaving, gave Yuma a warning.
"I suggest you remind your colleagues that even if they're eager to make arrests, they shouldn't focus solely on external threats. Be careful… while you're busy chasing them, they might have already infiltrated your headquarters unnoticed."
With that, Severus turned and headed to the archives. Yesterday afternoon, with the help of Lupin and three Aurors from the archives, they had already compared about 70% of the architectural records within the French wizarding community. The remaining files should be fully processed by noon today.
Watching Severus leave, Yuma frowned slightly. He took the warning seriously and turned to report it to Girard.
When Severus arrived at the archives, he found Lupin holding a yellowed piece of parchnt and comparing it to a photograph in his hand, his expression noticeably grim.
"Found sothing?" Severus asked.
Lupin handed the parchnt to Severus. Attached to it was a black-and-white photograph showing a corner of a building.
The photo was clearly part of a series, but even this remaining fragnt had been torn in half, evidently deliberately destroyed.
On the parchnt was a line of text:
[August 13, 1944, Austria]
"What's this about?"
Severus took the parchnt to the three archive Aurors. After examining it, one of them explained:
"The Auror Office's Archives don't store all classified docunts from the Ministry. A very small number of the highest-security files were once compiled separately and stored in the Minister's office safe."
"The docunt you're holding is likely one of those top-secret files related to Austria."
"Can Girard apply to access those high-level files?" Severus asked.
The Auror hesitated for a mont, and then he gave a subtle reminder.
"Director Girard might have the authority, but the Minister would likely have reservations. The highest-security docunts are all matters concerning the safety of the French Ministry of Magic."
In other words, no matter what, Severus and the others were still British wizards.
On French soil, they couldn't possibly have unrestricted access… especially not to files tied to national security.
But Severus didn't actually need to see those files himself. He could simply take the photos he had already taken to Giral and let her determine whether there was any issue. That would be enough.
anwhile, as Severus and the others conducted their final checks in the archives, the French Aurors had finally uncovered unexpected leads in their widespread investigation and arrests!
Nicolas Flal's house-elf was brought to the Ministry, where it identified a crucial piece of evidence.
"Yes! That's the Mistress's necklace!" The Flal house-elf wailed upon seeing the opal necklace, "Master gave it to the Mistress for their 300th wedding anniversary! After that, the Mistress wore it almost every day!!"
Its testimony electrified every Auror present. All eyes turned to the source of the discovery… a small-ti vendor who usually peddled illegal goods in shady alleyways.
The young-looking wizard was terrified. And he scread:
"Soone sold this to a few days ago! It wasn't mine! A man in a black hooded robe said these items had shady origins! I haggled the price down and bought them!"
The lead Auror's eyes glead.
"So it wasn't just the necklace? What else did he sell you?"
"Only three things! An old opal necklace! A crystal ball with an unreadable prophecy! And a Muggle object! I paid 23 Galleons and 7 Sickles for the first two… the third was thrown in for free!"
The wizard shrieked, not daring to lie. Any witch or wizard living in France knew how disastrous it would be to get tangled in Nicolas Flal's kidnapping case!
The Auror Chiefs exchanged glances. Soon, their subordinates retrieved the three items the vendor had described and laid them out for inspection.
Reviews
All reviews (0)