Chapter 20 Victim

"You really know how to use this thing?"

"Am I an idiot? A moron? Did I not even graduate from Hogwarts?"

"No... I didn't mean it like that..."

The young man, whose face was so pale that it seemed abnormal, explained weakly under the tree.

On the top of the tree, a short wizard wearing glasses sat on the branch of the fir tree, holding the alchemical telescope he had bought from Diagon Alley, carefully observing the manor in the distance.

This telescope, which is made with special alchemical technology, was not cheap at all. It caused the short wizard to bleed a lot and made him feel bad.

But it was worth every Knut.

Even though they were over two thousand meters away from the Duke's manor, they could still clearly see through the windows into the drawing room, where the fireplace had just gone dark!

"Will they come today?" The young man asked anxiously.

"If they weren't, they wouldn't have gone to see those people yesterday."

"Seriously, Eldred..." The young man took a deep breath, "Do you really think we should..."

However, the short wizard abruptly cut him off.

"Shut it! They're here!"

The young man immediately clamped his mouth shut as if stitched closed.

"We guessed right, it's still Kingsley Shacklebolt who's leading the team." The short wizard muttered, his eyes fixed on the figures stepping out of the fireplace one after another, "His two subordinates are Savage and Proudfoot, and that useless potioneer from Ministry."

"Arsenius Jigger? If they managed to drag that fool along, that's the best news we could've hoped for. Wait a minute...."

"That boy… he's from Diagon Alley! What's he doing here!?"

"Who?" The young man couldn't help but ask.

At this moment, the short wizard caught sight of the last figure emerging from the flames of the fireplace, and he even subconsciously stopped breathing.

Quickly, he put away the telescope that he had bought at a high price, and with his short and fat body, he was as agile as a monkey as he climbed down from the fir tree in seconds.

The young man's already extremely pale face became even paler, and he swallowed nervously, "Who is it?"

"Snape! Severus Snape!" The short wizard spat out the name like a curse.

The young man stared at him in horror.

"You said… you said he'd never agree to come!"

"By all logic, he barely even leaves that bloody castle! Why would he bother with something like this? Why is he here?"

The short wizard was also pulling his hair, his expression twisted in frustration.

But soon, he suddenly looked up at the young man.

"We have to make a decision, Sanguini!"

The young man was extremely frightened and he stammered.

"Things have already… already gone too far. Do we really... really have to..."

"You are the one who caused this mess! Now you should be the one who makes the decision!" The short wizard spoke fiercely.

The air became quiet, with only the young man's heavy breathing as the sound.

Finally, after a long pause, his voice steadied.

"Fine. Then we'll do it... I promised... I promised..."

...

Severus brushed the soot from his robes as he stepped out of the fireplace, which was obviously much more exquisite than that of an ordinary person's home.

Harry, who had arrived first, was staring in awe at the enormous, opulent chandelier hanging from the eight-meter-high ceiling.

It is a noble manor no matter what, and every detail exuded understated luxury and heritage. Even the well-traveled Severus couldn't identify the exact value of all the furnishings.

Kingsley had already made contact with the wizard stationed here. He seemed to have received some unpleasant news, as his expression was grim.

"...If they could really be cured by those Muggle doctors, then what do they need us for?"

At that moment, a middle-aged man in a dressing gown, exuding an air of dignified grace, entered the reception room.

"Pleasure to see you again, Mr. Shacklebolt." The master of the manor, the current Duke of Beaufort, greeted.

Upon seeing him, Kingsley, who was always good-tempered, suppressed the dissatisfaction on his face and took the initiative to step forward and shake hands with the man.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Somerset. We've come this time with experts in… healing, to attempt to awaken your daughter."

"Well, I appreciate your tireless efforts." Mr. Somerset said indifferently, "And what about the perpetrator? Do you have any new leads?"

"My colleagues are still investigating. The Ministry is treating this matter with the utmost seriousness. I'm confident we'll solve the case soon."

"How did you get in? Why didn't you use the front door? My butler stood there waiting for a full half-hour." He frowned.

Kingsley gave an awkward chuckle.

"Perhaps he didn't see us? Well, we didn't notice him either. It was just a coincidence that we both missed each other."

Mr. Somerset didn't seem inclined to press the matter further. His eyes swept over the robes worn by the group, lingering briefly on Harry before muttering under his breath.

"And there's even a child. Good heavens, what on earth is the government doing? The uniforms of your professional departments are really unique. Is all the taxpayers' money spent on this?"

He shook his head, ending the conversation with Kingsley, and turned to an elderly man dressed as a butler beside him.

"Rost, accompany them."

The butler nodded respectfully, bowed and watched Mr. Somerset leave.

Kingsley was afraid that Severus and the others might misunderstand something, so he quickly leaned in and whispered, "The identities assigned to us by the Muggle Prime Minister are 'specialists' from a Muggle government department handling unusual cases. They don't know our true identities."

No one else said anything about this, but the Ministry's potioneer and Jigger were visibly irritated by Mr. Somerset's attitude, their brows furrowed in displeasure.

After the brief meeting with the manor's owner, the butler led them to the room where the victim, the Duke's daughter, was being kept.

As soon as they entered, they saw a doctor and two nurses operating some sort of medical equipment.

"Please step outside for now. From this moment onward, we'll be taking over."

Kingsley said sternly.

Seeing a group of people wearing strange robes walking in, both the doctor and nurses were stunned.

But under the butler's repeated apologies, they reluctantly set down their equipment and left the bedroom.

"Please close the door on your way out, sir."

Kingsley turned to the butler.

However, the butler stood his ground.

"I can't leave! I must remain here… You have no right to be alone with the young lady!"

Kingsley took a deep breath and didn't say anything else. Instead, he turned around and glanced at one of his subordinates.

The Auror understood what he meant and took out his wand without hesitation.

"Confundo."

After he chanted the spell, the next second, the butler suddenly seemed to remember some urgent task. He turned on his heel, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

After completely clearing out the outsiders in the room, they began to observe the victim lying on the grand four-poster bed.

She was a young, beautiful girl, who looks no older than twenty.

But at this moment, her eyes were tightly shut, and even her breathing seemed to have disappeared, as if she was dead.

"Who's going first, gentlemen?"

Kingsley looked at the three potioneers present.

Hearing this, both the Ministry's potioneer and Jigger immediately turned their eyes to Severus.