Alex's heart skipped a beat at those words. Could it be that, besides being able to appear in two places at once, the Golden Snidget also had the power to change appearances? Maybe that person was a skilled Transfiguration wizard as well?
But Alex pushed the thought aside. This wasn't the time to get distracted. The interrogation demanded top-notch acting from him, and he couldn't let Claremont read any cracks in his performance.
His cold, indifferent demeanor seemed to throw Claremont off balance, so Claremont quickly shifted topics. "Even if you don't care about that, you did order me to start reaching out to civil groups in East and West Germany, trying to bring them together and lead them.
After years of relentless effort, the 'West Reich Initiative ' that I lead, along with the Munich Thaumaturgy Club' which branched off from it, now command the loyalty of hundreds of wizards and nearly as many key collaborators. Have you forgotten how we managed to deepen the tensions between East and West Germany all these years? It was through subtle enchantments and influence that we stirred the conflict.
From the very start, I understood your true goal: the complete division of Germany. There are many civil organizations in East Germany that align with us, including some who collaborate closely with our club.
Take the 'East German Trade Union,' for example, I know that Master Phoenix from our club kept in touch with them. She was the one who encouraged and manipulated an East German wizard to assassinate the eldest son of the 'Schmidt' family in public.
Following that, they used public opinion to shield that wizard under the protection of the 'East German Progressive Trade Union.' That's why the Schmidt family and their allies fully backed your efforts, moving forward and pulling back alongside you in the Wizengamot, even pushing the division bill further ahead."
The members of the Schmidt Family Alliance had no idea what was really going on, they thought Claremont was just going along with the pressure to split the bill. So how could he possibly betray them? Even if Andre was willing to let him off the hook, Claremont feared that the Schmidt family would come after him anyway.
At that moment, Claremont looked utterly defeated, like a broken man, and his words hit the others like a thunderbolt. Andre was so shocked he couldn't find the words to respond. It turned out that those Silver Wands in the club weren't just stirring up a civil war among wizards, they were actually targeting powerful wizard families.
That explained why Eisenberg had so much support from Wizengamot commentators when he introduced the so-called "Division Act" after taking office. Andre had always suspected the Schmidt family and other councilors were secretly working with the Silver Wands, but he never imagined there was such a deep, hidden agenda behind it.
At the same time, Andre finally understood why the "Phoenix," who was in charge of the French branch, kept showing up in Germany. Every now and then, she appeared at a previous surveillance point but never showed herself openly.
She was probably managing these civil organizations in East Germany, playing a key role in the German split plan. Maybe she and Golden Snidget had designed the entire scheme together.
But Andre wasn't convinced yet. He still wore a stern expression, clearly seeing Claremont's betrayal of the club.
"That doesn't explain anything," he said. "You're not even connected to the Schmidt family, so it's easy to cut ties. And don't forget, I promised to help you disappear."
Claremont swallowed hard, fear rising inside him. "No, Andre won't let me off that easily," he admitted.
"Did you forget? To help you gain a foothold in the Ministry of Magic and win over some ministers, I once encouraged the child of the Department of Magical Transportation's director to harm his son.
That injury left him limping and unable to move properly. You also used that situation to drive a wedge between the two directors.
The director of the Department of Transportation was actually the first person to join the club. Then there was also the Director of the Department of Management and Control of Magical Beasts, I put in a lot of effort to get him on board.
I was the one who convinced him to embezzle the company's public funds to gamble on Quidditch. Have you forgotten?
And that place we have? I built it from scratch. If Andre and the people at the Ministry of Magic truly knew all the good things I'd done, how could they possibly let me go?
No matter how foolish I might seem, there's no way they'd exclude me now!"
The fear of the Golden Snidget seemed to be etched into Claremont's soul. The moment he sensed suspicion from the Golden Snidget, he panicked and spilled all the dirty work he had done for the club, desperately trying to prove that he had no reason to betray them.
To him, leaving the club meant certain death without a proper burial. Meanwhile, Andre, who heard Claremont's confession, felt a surge of anger burn through him.
Years ago, his son had a duel with the child of the Director of Magical Transportation over something trivial, and the other party had seriously injured his son. Andre had never forgiven the Director for that, holding a grudge all these years. But now he realized there was more to the story, it all stemmed from the Silver Wand playing tricks.
Just as Andre's fury was about to explode, he suddenly felt a strong pressure pressing down on him. Turning around, he saw Alex holding him back.
Annoyed by the interruption, Andre had no choice but to hold back his anger for the moment. He knew the bigger picture mattered more.
Claremont was clearly terrified by Alex, and now they had to figure out how to deal with him and dig up more information. "Really?" Alex sneered as he regained his composure after calming Andre's outburst.
"Maybe you don't have a reason to betray the club, but based on the information I've received, the rumors are actually coming from you."
His expression suddenly turned cold and deadly, his eyes narrowing sharply. "Not to mention the vanishing cabinet I found after entering the place's core hub, you're supposed to be my most trusted subordinate, yet you had something like this in your hands and never told me. How am I supposed to believe anything you say?"
Claremont's face drained of color the moment he realized Alex knew about the vanishing cabinet. The pair of vanishing cabinets didn't belong to the Silver Wand; they were developed by Golden Snidget as a secret tool for the club's ultra-long-distance smuggling operations.