"Misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding!" Rolf shouted as he threw his hands up in surrender.
Yvonne looked at him, speechless, but didn't comment. Investigating Grindelwald would require the cooperation of the French Ministry of Magic, and it wasn't a good time to get on his bad side.
Their friendliness did not have much effect, as the Aurors were clearly hostile. Bruno, the leader of the Aurors, suppressed his anger and hissed.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused? There are tens of thousands of Muggles in this city who saw you flying on a Thunderbird! Some of them even took pictures of you and sent them to their friends and family. For this, the Ministry of Magic must send hundreds of Aurors to clean up the mess you've made!"
Rolfe shuddered as Bruno growled at him, but he was experienced enough to not be intimidated by Bruno's aggressive tone.
"Please calm down, Captain Bruno. In fact, this situation is completely unexpected…"
"You're trying to say you were trying to catch a thunderbird and flew over Paris on official business?" Bruno interrupted with a sneer.
This reason was not very reliable, as he had heard reports of two wizards riding a Thunderbird around Paris in a very arrogant manner.
As Bruno waved for the Aurors to bring them in for questioning, Ivan said, "Gellert Grindelwald… you've been trying to track him down and capture his followers, haven't you?"
Ivan had come up with this theory when he first saw the symbol of the Hallows in the hotel, and now that he had met Grindelwald, he was one hundred percent sure of it.
Bruno was visibly taken aback, and he swallowed the words he had been about to say. He gave them a long look, then asked them fiercely, "What exactly do you know? And where did you get this information?"
"Captain Bruno, it's Grindelwald's fault that we're in Paris," Rolfe said with a shrug, then proceeded to recount the events of the night before.
However, when it came to their entry into the Necropolis of Nicolas Flamel, Ivan took over the story, deliberately leaving out the part about him and Grindelwald fighting over the Resurrection Stone.
Rolfe could, of course, tell that Ivan was hiding something, but he wisely chose not to reveal it. Compared to the French Ministry of Magic, he was much more wary of offending this wizard, who was young but extremely powerful.
However, their argument did not gain Bruno's confidence, as it sounded like a very fantastic adventure story.
"You both accidentally spotted Grindelwald while you were chasing the Thunderbird, and managed to break into Nicolas Flamel's grave to fight him and escape before the place completely collapsed?" Bruno asked Ivan and Rolfe, his voice full of doubt.
How could these two boys compete with a legendary Dark Wizard like Grindelwald?
He even suspected that Ivan and Rolf had accidentally stumbled across the spatial node near the town and sneaked in with the recently tamed Thunderbird, hoping to steal the treasure inside.
This was more in line with what he had seen…
Bruno's lack of trust was written all over his face, and Rolfe was left with no choice but to turn to Ivan to see how the wizard would react.
"Captain Bruno, if you have any doubts about this, you might as well try it yourself…" Yvonne replied coolly.
"Try? How?" Bruno asked, narrowing his eyes.
"With a wand, of course!" Ivan sneered.
… .
"That's the general idea, Mr. Minister…"
Five minutes later, inside the French Ministry of Magic, Bruno was making a weak report, rubbing his aching chest.
So fourteen of you Aurors couldn't even last a minute against an underage brat? The French Minister glared at Bruno. It seemed the Ministry of Magic had been at peace for so long that they had forgotten how to fight!
Bruno opened his mouth to protest, but he had nowhere to vent his frustration. It wasn't that they didn't train hard enough, but they were too strong.
Ivan was able to easily counter all the magic they cast during the battle, and Bruno doubted that even ten Aurors would make a difference.
After giving Bruno a warning look, the French Minister spoke kindly to Ivan and Rolfe.
"Monsieur Scamander… and Monsieur Harles, you have done well this time. On behalf of all the wizards in France, I thank you for your help. When the Aurors I sent to capture the four saints have verified your achievements, they will reward you accordingly."
"There's no need for a reward. I just want to know what you're going to do with the teacher's coffin," Ivan said noncommittally. He didn't think they would offer anything very valuable.
On the contrary, the other party's kind attitude made him feel inexplicably uneasy…
The Minister frowned at Ivan addressing Nicolas Flamel as his teacher, then stressed, "Nicolas Flamel is the finest French alchemist, a legend who has lived for over six hundred years, the pride of France, and his coffin should be buried in the French National Cemetery of the highest order!"
Yvonne nodded. It was a good arrangement. He had intended to take both coffins back to England for burial, but he thought that Nicolas Flamel would prefer to be buried in his native land.
As they were talking, an Auror pushed the door open and whispered something in the French Minister's ear. The Minister's smile immediately disappeared and he stared at Ivan and the others, muttering to himself.
"The men I sent did not find the four saints you mentioned in that forest."
"That's impossible! They don't have wands and they're injured. There's no way they could have broken free of the binding spell I put on them!" Rolfe exclaimed urgently.
Ivan was also surprised, but his expression remained calm as he guessed, "It seems you were too slow. Grindelwald probably saved them early."