The Disappearing Key

"Scenario re-enactment!"

Wisps of golden mist emerged from their wands and spread out in all directions. The surrounding wizards retreated again and again, clearing a space of about thirty square meters.

A moment later, the golden mist condensed into an illusory figure, undoubtedly Minister Igor.

Ivan was relieved to see this. He had almost forgotten that the North American Magical Congress of America possessed a magical ability to track magical traces.

The truth, then, would soon be revealed.

Percy was apparently thinking along the same lines, his eyes wide open, not wanting to miss a single thing.

The magical image was very blurry, and all that could be seen was Minister Igor pacing up and down the aisle, as if he were waiting for someone.

A second or two later, Percy appeared at the other end of the corridor.

Minister Igor looked surprised, and hurried over to say something to Percy.

However, due to the residual magic, it was impossible to see the exact shape of their mouths, and no one present was able to lip-read the contents of the conversation, so they could only see Percy suddenly pull out his wand, aim it at Minister Igor, and cast a Killing Curse.

A blinding green light flashed in midair.

The latter obviously did not expect the other party to suddenly try to assassinate him. A look of shock and confusion appeared on his face before he was struck by the Killing Curse and fell to the ground.

The image showed Percy leaning down to touch Minister Igor, and a second later, the magical image stopped, and the golden mist dissipated.

"It seems clear now! It was this British wizard who killed the Minister!" a Russian wizard said fiercely.

Percy's face was as white as a sheet. He never expected the image to be like this.

Had he really killed the Minister?

"No, it wasn't me… it was the Imperius Curse, someone controlled me with the Imperius Curse!" Percy shouted frantically, but no one paid him any attention.

Connor stroked his chin and keenly sensed that something was wrong. He immediately waved his hand and instructed the Aurors from the Department of Mysteries to cast [Reappearance].

"Stop right here!" Conal suddenly called out on the third try.

The golden magical image froze, and the two illusory figures froze in mid-air. It was the scene where Percy cast the Death Curse on Minister Igor.

Connor stared at him for a long time, then turned to Ivan and asked, "What do you think, Hals?"

"It is clear that Minister Igor was not entirely unguarded against Percy…" Ivan pointed to the still form of Igor.

The crowd followed Ivan's finger and saw that Minister Igor's hand had touched the wand at his waist when Percy was casting the spell.

For some reason, however, Igor did not move until he was hit by the Killing Curse, as if he were petrified.

However, this was highly unreasonable, as Percy had attacked the Minister for Magic of Russia, and the Minister was well-prepared for the attack.

"It must have been the Imprisonment Charm! There must have been a third wizard there…" Ivan said slowly, his mind reconstructing what had happened.

Grindelwald first used the Imperius Curse to control Percy, then used the Invisibility Cloak to follow him to Minister Igor's office, and finally used the Imprisonment Charm to assist Percy in his murder, framing the British wizards for the murders, and stirring up trouble, thus disrupting the negotiations.

Even after understanding this, Ivan still had many questions, such as how Grindelwald had managed to sneak into the heavily guarded North American Congress headquarters and how he had managed to get Minister Igor out on his own.

Ivan looked back at the Russian wizards and asked curiously, "If I may ask, gentlemen, why is your Minister alone in such a remote place?"

Ministers were often heavily protected, especially on other people's territory, and it seemed unreasonable not to keep up with a few Aurors on guard duty.

"Well… we don't know. Minister Igor only told us that he wanted to see someone important before he left, to talk about something…" the Russian wizard said hesitantly. At the time, they also thought it was inappropriate, but Minister Igor had always been very particular about traveling alone, and he was not weak. This was the headquarters of the Magical Congress, so they did not try to stop him.

"Important people … to talk about something …" Ivan thought for a moment, then suddenly looked at Piers. "Minister Piers, put yourself in Minister Igor's shoes. Under what circumstances would you make the same decision?"

Pierce thought about it for a long time, then shook his head hesitantly. He was not a reckless man like Igor, who cared about his own safety.

"What if I have dirt on you, or we need to talk about something that's not convenient for outsiders to know?" Yvonne asked, her voice heavy.

Pierce's face fell. If Ivan was right, then he might have left the Aurors behind and gone on his own.

Connor had an idea, but he glanced at the watching wizards and swallowed his words.

"You can't extract any more images?" Ivan asked, pointing to the still magical images in front of them. There was still too little information, and it would be difficult to ferret out Grindelwald.

"Not at all. The reason we were able to recreate this image was because of the residual magic from the Killing Curse cast by Mr. Percy." Connor sighed helplessly, then waved his hand to signal the Aurors of the Department of Mysteries to remove the spell.

The frozen golden image returned to normal, with the image of Percy shooting the spell that killed Igor and then crouching down.

"Did he end up looking for something?" someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.

Ivan was taken aback. After Percy's explanation, neither of them had considered the possibility, but now it seemed likely.

Conal seemed to have suddenly thought of something. He stepped forward and whispered to the Russian wizards, then had the Aurors strip Percy naked and examine him carefully. Finally, his face turned ugly and he spoke slowly.

"The key's gone! Grindelwald was after that!"