328: The Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters

Members of the Order of the Phoenix were all stirred by the explosion at Gringotts.

After all, many of them held positions within the Ministry—Kingsley and Tonks were both Aurors, while Mr. Weasley didn't belong to the combat division, so he didn't hear the initial reports.

Tonks had hoped to join Piers's team, but as a young Auror, she had no such opportunity and missed seeing Voldemort appear inside the vault.

Kingsley, however, was senior enough—and conducted himself with the utmost respect toward the Minister. Unfortunately, Piers had to leave so hastily that he only briefed Kingsley back at headquarters.

As a result, the Order of the Phoenix was scrambling to get a clear picture of what had truly happened.

Reporters, like sharks sensing blood in the water, swarmed the scene.

Everyone wanted first-hand information—and Piers, acting as spokesperson, stepped forward to handle the press.

He remained composed—this time he had an ace up his sleeve. They had also made a significant arrest, and that would help spin this disaster into a positive.

Piers announced:

"This incident was caused by escapees from Azkaban who took Gringotts staff hostage, proceeded into the vault, and detonated explosives, resulting in the massive explosion."

"Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Aurors, the offender—Amycus Carrow—has been successfully apprehended. The Ministry will be pressing charges for his escape and this crime."

"Here, the Ministry extends its thanks to the Silverhand Security team for their assistance in maintaining public order. The Ministry will provide medical care to those injured in the incident."

Piers smiled calmly, speaking with flawless precision.

He made no mention of Death Eaters or Voldemort—but did not shy away from identifying Amycus by name.

Everyone already knew this was the work of a former Death Eater.

And yet, the Ministry's swift response gave the public a great sense of security.

Amycus was painted as someone driven by greed for Gringotts' treasures—no one even connected this incident to Voldemort.

Besides the one fallen Auror, they identified a second fatality.

After verification, it was confirmed to be another escapee from Azkaban.

Barty Sr. personally issued compensation to the fallen Auror's family, ensuring they would face no financial burden.

The Order of the Phoenix, however, sensed that things were far from simple. Lupin began tracking traces of Death Eaters.

He didn't believe they broke into Gringotts just for money.

Kingsley took over the internal investigation of Gringotts while Lupin shadowed a suspected Death Eater from the sidelines.

…

"Damn it, my brother got caught," Alecto Carrow muttered, watching Amycus being taken away.

She seethed with fury.

"Who's there!"

She spotted Lupin—in this narrow alleyway, it was just the two of them.

Lupin hadn't expected her to be so alert. To uncover the Death Eaters' motive for entering Gringotts, the best approach was to capture one of them.

Without a word, he aimed to stun Alecto.

But Alecto was no stranger to dueling Lupin. Back in those days, Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix had clashed too many times.

"Oh.. It's you?!" Alecto recognized him.

Her face darkened with hostility as she fired three spells in rapid succession.

Lupin dodged the first, blocked the second with a Shield Charm.

The third one glowed ominously green—Lupin cast Accio to pull a table from a nearby house to block it.

Not wanting to attract attention, Alecto turned to Disapparate.

But Lupin wasn't about to let her escape. He fired a Disarming Charm that hit her squarely.

Her wand flew from her hand, disrupting the spell mid-cast.

"Give it up," Lupin said, wand pointed at her.

"You wish! We are here!"

The ground beneath Lupin gave way—he plummeted into a hidden pit as the earth crumbled beneath him.

Explosions rang out all around.

Several Death Eaters appeared, and Alecto seized the chance to retrieve her wand.

Travers, one of the Death Eaters, began conjuring an Avada Kedavra—but was swiftly interrupted.

"Impedimenta!"

It was Tonks—she had arrived, and not alone. Moody had also come, his magical eye spotting Lupin being surrounded.

The Order of the Phoenix clashed with the Death Eaters.

"Moody."

Rodolphus Lestrange sneered. After all, it was the Order who had thrown them into Azkaban in the first place.

Moody growled, "What kind of twisted plan are you lot pulling?"

The Death Eaters glared daggers at the Order. Rodolphus snarled, "So it was you lot. You set us up, didn't you?"

"What?"

Before Moody could get more answers, the Death Eaters all Disapparated.

Tonks helped pull Lupin out of the collapsed pit. The two of them exchanged a look, both bewildered.

"What setup?" Lupin asked, full of doubt and suspicion. "Don't tell me that explosion wasn't caused by the Death Eaters?"

"We can't be certain," Moody growled, the scars on his face looking especially menacing. "We'll have to ask Dumbledore first."

"Padfoot!"

A dog ran over, and Lupin called out.

Sirius transformed back into his human form, grumbling, "Those bloody Aurors locked the place down so tight, even a dog couldn't get in."

"But I did catch a familiar scent," his expression turned dark with hatred. "Bellatrix."

"That mad hag wasn't caught. Looks like the explosion might've been aimed at the Death Eaters."

They all shared many doubts about the incident—but unfortunately, no one could give them answers.

For now, they could only wait for Kingsley to get testimony from the goblins. They dispersed on the spot, careful not to act too familiar with each other.

After they left, a door creaked open.

Gus Fring stepped out, patting his chest and saying, "That was intense. A bunch of Death Eaters, and some other lot—and even that old bastard Moody."

He wore a sly, satisfied smile, clearly up to no good. At his feet, a Knut rolled by; he picked it up and wiped it on his clothes.

"My rich boss is going to be very happy to fund this."

Stuffing the Knut into his pocket, he strolled off in high spirits.

A young man with an Asian face stepped out from another door, startled. "This is what you meant by making big money?"

"Don't underestimate it," Gus Fring replied. "These folks are generous. One job can rake in a whole bunch of Galleons."

He tilted his head at the young man and smiled. "If it weren't for you wanting to make more money so your little brothers could live better, I wouldn't have brought you along."

"Just getting over here cost a fortune in Portkey fees," he grumbled.

The young man stayed silent. It was indeed a quick way to make money.

And more importantly, no fighting was involved—just keeping a close eye on certain people for their wealthy benefactor.

"I'm a merciful wizard, after all. Never liked fighting and killing," Gus Fring muttered.

The young man followed behind him.

The two of them left together.

...

Gringotts sat on the border between Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley.

When the explosion happened, Tommy responded quickly and arrived at once.

Partly to help, of course—but more importantly, he was following his boss's orders.

John had once said, the day Gringotts blows up, Tommy was to go check out the aftermath immediately.

And now, the results were in.

One Death Eater was dead, one was captured with a severed hand, and another had been rescued by Voldemort himself.

When Pierce mentioned Voldemort had personally appeared, Tommy was shocked as well.

If the Ministry personnel hadn't arrived in time, Pierce might not be alive now.

Having brushed shoulders with death, even the head of the Auror Office couldn't help but feel rattled.

"At least now no one will try to steal credit from you."

Barty Sr. returned to the Ministry first. Pierce delegated the scene cleanup to his subordinates and went with Tommy to a bar in Knockturn Alley for a drink.

One was Johnny Silverhand's right-hand man, the other was Barty's.

Both of them handled messes—they had a sense of camaraderie born from shared burdens.

Tommy poured Pierce a drink. Pierce's hand trembled slightly as he accepted it, and he smiled bitterly. "The Death Eaters' motives for appearing at Gringotts remain unclear. The goblin Raring doesn't know either."

"But," Pierce took a small sip of the drink and smiled like a fox, "sometimes, the truth isn't all that important."

The public only cares about who did it, not why.

Locking someone up in Azkaban is enough to make the Aurors look good.

In a short time, two Azkaban fugitives had been recaptured, and with one dead, that made three caught.

As for the remaining seven, in Pierce's eyes, they were just seven golden tickets.

Catching them all—maybe it wouldn't be long before he could become the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Of course, that was assuming Amelia would vacate the position for him.

"Haah~ Alright, I should get going," Pierce said, putting down his glass and pulling out a few Galleons.

Tommy Shelby pressed a hand over his, smiling. "Naturally, it's on me."

Pierce chuckled and left cheerfully.

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