In the quiet night, Felix walked briskly on his feet, followed by a line of crooked wizards, their jaws jingling to and fro as if they were playing some odd rhythm.
The group turned into an alleyway, the shops on either side were closed, only the dirty windows of the Hog's Head Inn remained dimly lit, the door opened and a bushy grey-haired and bearded Aberforth came out to take out the rubbish and couldn't help but open his mouth in surprise at the scene.
"Good evening." Felix greeted calmly, his feet continuing forward with no intention of stopping to chat.
Aberforth stared, watching as a wizard with a stiff body and head dangling to their chest passing in front of him, and he yelled at Felix's back in annoyance, "So - the incarnation of Death is back to work? It doesn't look like a bad haul." He muttered empathetically, "Which one of the guests is unlucky this time, Puddifoot? Three broomsticks?"
His words stirred Felix's memory.
At a time when rumours of the Elder Wand were spreading, Felix had, as he did today, appeared along with the night, picking out vermin one by one like an old farmer inspecting his own fields, and the Hog's Head Inn, with its unique bar culture of allowing customers to hide their faces, in addition to its price advantage, was well received by the shady wizards, making the Hog's Head Inn the most favoured area for Felix's hunting.
Felix turned his head over his shoulder, flashed a broad smile to Aberforth, and continued to walk away.
Aberforth frowned and cursed twice, and instead of taking out the rubbish, he turned and went back into the shack, slamming the door with a loud thud. "What's wrong?" One of the guests inside asked drunkenly, "I thought I heard someone talking about death."
"Shut up!" Aberforth yelled, his hair standing on end, "If you don't get your drink money soon, I'll tie you up on the sign at the door, you vile thief."
The male wizard with the dishevelled ginger hair looked up from his glass, opened his bloodshot eyes, and said with a confused look in his eyes, "Aboufousse?" He hiccuped, "We're good mates for sure ... isn't it just some money? I have ..."
He rummaged through his dirty pockets and pulled out a few gold galleons and slammed them on the table.
"Where did you get that money?" Aberforth was astonished.
"Well ... I've recently got close, close to a big man, another ... that's the Minister of Magic, the Minister of Magic - you know? " The man giggled twice and downed two gulps of liquor into his mouth, a "hiss~ha~" inhaling sound released from his mouth, "Wow! Man, that's some strong booze."
If Felix had been able to come in and sit down for a moment, he would have recognized the unkempt man at once - he is a friend (and colleague) of every thief and smuggler in the UK, and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Mundungus.
Felix had introduced him, along with Rita Skeeter, to Amelia Bones, so it wasn't hard to guess who the big man that Mundungus was talking about was.
Felix stood in the dense night darkness, his gaze remained calm as a dozen wizards descended from the sky.
These wizards are all Aurors, the wands in their hands glowing with light, illuminating their vigilant faces. A woman strides out of the crowd and walks over to Felix.
It is Amelia Bones.
Felix handed the men over to Aurors and stepped aside with Ms. Bones, and spoke in a whisper.
"It is recommended to keep them in solitary confinement for at least -" Felix calculated, "four months."
Ms. Bones raised her eyebrows.
"Are you interfering with justice here?"
"Oh come on, I'm your advisor, you'll know how serious this is once you've interrogated the leader, who's a really clever man, I've seen the plan and there's a real chance he'll succeed with the lack of transparency of information." Felix gave a brief rundown about the men and Ms. Bones' jaw dropped in shock.
In a nutshell, this man, Mr. DeWitt, who went by the name 'Noel', had planned to move around, gain Grindelwald's trust, use rhetoric to trick him into working for him, and then receive the old man's political legacy through a series of meticulous plans and tactics.
The key link in the plan is the recent riots in the US and Grindelwald's teaching at Hogwarts. DeWitt has no intention of keeping it a secret, as he says he will, instead he will use Grindelwald as a banner to recruit people while using spies lurking in the International Confederation of Wizards to create conflict, and when the time is right, he will trigger his plan.
When the time comes -
Old man Grindelwald would naturally be portrayed as an ambitious man trying to make a comeback and be imprisoned back at the first opportunity. DeWitt may be at that time rightfully crowned as the number two (self-appointed) head of the Acolytes under the banner of being Grindelwald's heir.
Not to mention, the inevitable fall of Dumbledore's reputation that would accompany this affair would also drag Felix into this mess.
"Pretty good planning, it is just a shame that he didn't practice the Occlumency well." Felix said sighing, "And didn't know about me well enough, I'm not as bright as Dumbledore, who has to care about his reputation all the time."
Ms. Bones rolled her eyes in resignation, "You're surprisingly honest. But are you telling the truth?" She trailed off.
"You find it incredible too, don't you? But there's never a shortage of ambitious people in this world, let alone ambitious people who gamble heavily," Felix said, "so when I confirmed he is an enemy, I breathed a hard sigh of relief, because frankly, if all that suspicion and malice later turns out to be just personal - -you know, like corporate rivalries or something," he shrugged, "I would have found it tricky too, but of course, now they're your problem."
Ms. Bones gave him a blank look.
She stroked her hair and after a moment said, "As it happens, I'm planning to meet with the new Confederation President Babajide recently, the spy is called Wollaston, an official assistant under the Confederation, isn't he? I'll move as soon as I get these people settled."
She walked over and instructed the Aurors a dozen feet away to confine the men one by one with their magic, and of the three Aurors on guard, a female Auror with pink hair stood out in the darkness.
Felix paced over to her.
"Tonks."
Tonks looked around warily and after a few seconds she spoke in a whisper-like voice, "What is it?" "How have you and Remus been?" Felix asked quietly. Tonks' shoulders slumped, looking moody, and she said feebly, "Ugh, just like that."
"Lupin's birthday will soon -"
Tonks jerked her head around and looked at Felix up and down, and it was Felix's turn to wonder.
"Do you have time that day?" She asked eagerly.
"Uh-"
"We'd like to invite you to Remus's birthday party, what do you think?" She asked with a look of anticipation.
"It's okay, but-"
"It's a deal!" She said decisively, and then with a "please" look on her face she asked, "Well - is that okay?"
Felix cleared his throat and muttered in a quiet voice, "It seems there's something going on that I don't know about."
Tonks sighed with a glum face.
"I'll be brief about it, we're planning to spend our birthday at my parents'."
Felix blinked and immediately had the urge to back out, "Well, on second thought, something might come up that day, it happens to be Monday ... or maybe another day-"
He was startled.
Tonks had made her face look haggard and her hair greying, and several extra wrinkles had appeared on her forehead, a natural ability of the Metamorphmagus with a gift to change her appearance from birth.
"I'm worried to death, you won't have the heart to watch Remus being questioned alone, right? If you are there, there will be someone to help pull the weight or something in case of a fight ..." she glanced at the bound wizards, "You can easily subdue a dozen dark wizards alone, not to mention just three."
Felix looked at Tonks and mentally contemplated just how pessimistic she is about the family dinner that would soon follow, to even contemplate such a notion.
At last, everything was in place, Ms. Bones brought out two portkeys and the group of Aurors split into two groups, each forming a circle in a slightly comical position, tugging the unconscious prisoner with one hand and touching the portkey with the other, and after a dazzling blue light, the group disappeared into the darkness.
"Don't never forget-" Tonks' shout came to a screeching halt.
Felix stayed where he was, mulling over his role in the awkward dinner party that would soon follow, and he preferred to deal with a dozen more dark wizards rather than be the jokester who enlivened the atmosphere or the terrorist who put down the Tonks family.
He quickly had an idea.
"Sirius? Lately - don't hang up in a hurry, got something important to ask you ... yes, something to do with your best friend, well Tonks wants to liven things up a bit ..."
His steps lightened as Felix put away the communicating mirror and was even in the mood to consider what tone of voice to use in the morning to offhandedly spill the beans on what had happened tonight, the dark lord Grindelwald had become an object to be used and manipulated in some people's eyes, and he couldn't wait to see Grindelwald's reaction.
"I'm just curious," Grindelwald said slowly when Professor Sprout left from the neighbouring table, "why did he approach you."
"Is this another one of those sharp counter agendas you've had in mind?" Felix asked.
Dumbledore who had just finished listening to Felix with a serious face, now returned to his usual look, spreading butter and jam on his slice of bread as if nothing had happened.
"It's normal for some young man to underestimate me after I've disappeared for half a century," Grindelwald said slowly, "but - Felix Hap, that name has gained a lot of notoriety in recent years, what makes someone think that you are easy to be used in a conspiracy?
The implication of his words seemed to imply that Felix should reflect on himself and what impression he had made on the public.
"On that note," Dumbledore said with a sudden faint smile, "Felix has actually always been most remembered as a scholar, even if he has had a few bouts in public to promote his learning. He has never been publicly associated with any political activity. Perhaps - in the opinion of that Mr. DeWitt - the fact that a young man of only twenty-five has achieved so much just shows that he has devoted all his time and energy to study magic."
Grindelwald chuckled, "So the man sitting next to me is someone with an incredibly simple mind."
Felix was pensive.
"It does sound a lot better than the title of dark lord or dark demon, I mean how come more and more people have been writing to me with salutations since school started, especially this month during the festive season when greeting cards and chocolates could fill a bedroom. Albus, you must have the same experience, right?"
Grindelwald's expression froze, and he paused, looking at Felix and then at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore's wrinkled face flushed slightly, and he coughed lightly twice, not quite comfortable, "Felix, Minerva asked me to tell you that three students have felt the throbbing of the Animagus. It will be difficult to change that number in the short term."
"Okay, I understand." Felix thought for a moment and said, "Tonight then, in fact, I'd like to think that in another week or two there may be a new student who will succeed."
"Why do you say that?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
You know, it is not an easy thing to feel the throbbing of the Animagus, and it is not unusual for many people to drag their feet for months or years on this, and during this time, the wizard undergoing the ritual must recite the spell twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, without fail. This process is actually a great test of perseverance and dedication, much more difficult than having a leaf of mandrake in your mouth.
"Because of the Patronus charm." Felix said, "The current three - Hermione Granger, Hannah Abbott, and Draco Malfoy - have one thing in common, they have mastered the Patronus Charm."
"The first two are members of the 'Frontline Lookout' club, and Harry has spent a lot of time in the club teaching this spell, and as for Draco, he's not a member of the club, but he's secretly mastered it as well, probably to try and compete with Harry... ..."
Felix thought the boy was a bit of a dolt, because even if he had learned it he didn't get to use it, for the reason that his dad, Lucius, was working under Voldemort at that time, but ... stupid people have stupid ideas.
"All in all, the incline is still pretty obvious. The fact that those two seventh years in the Transfiguration Club haven't received any feedback so far just backs that up. When Minerva and I were discussing this, we thought that the Patronus Charm tapped into the wizard's spiritual powers, which happens to fulfil the requirements for the second stage of Animagus' practice."
Dumbledore thought quickly for a while and nodded his head.
"That's a reasonable conjecture; some magic affects others, possibly in a gainful way or in reverse," he said with a smile on his face as his pupils dilated slightly, "and it's a massive research topic."
He glanced thoughtfully at Felix.
"Perhaps it is only by relying on a student population as large as Hogwarts that magic can be pushed forward to keep progressing, no wonder those in the Ministry of Magic have been studying it for decades without much results ..."
At nine o'clock in the evening, the wind was howling and the rain was pouring down.
--------------
Thanks for all your love and support.
Read 50 days or 100 chapters in advance on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: www.p@treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Happy Reading!!!