Vid flipped through his clothes a couple of times, even seeing that the things placed at the bottom of the suitcase had been rummaged through.
— The inspection was really thorough, yet the surface was perfectly restored.
Vid thought: If I really had a wardrobe space, could it return to me "unscathed" like this?
"Everything's been checked, no eavesdropping, no curses, and no Magic Items placed."
Lupin said coming out of the washroom, where he was in charge of checking the room.
"Are you sure?" Moody asked, uneasily: "Make sure there's not even an extra piece of paper."
"Yes, I'm sure," Lupin said patiently.
But Moody still held his Magic Wand, inspecting every inch of the hotel room, even outside the window.
Lupin sighed, "If it were me, just knowing that Alastor Moody was among the visitors, I wouldn't dare tamper with the room in any way."
"If I thought like you, I wouldn't be alive today!"
Moody's muffled voice came from beside him—he had his head stuck into the wardrobe for an inspection, and then he stood inside, closed the doors, and checked again, finally even searching the shoe cabinet underneath.
Lupin, seeing this, admitted to himself that his own inspection wasn't as meticulous.
Then, seeing Vid's fingers brushing against the clothes in the suitcase, his brows slightly furrowed in contemplation, he couldn't help but ask:
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with your suitcase?"
"Hmph!" Moody said as he lifted the mattress, "All his things have apparently been rifled through!"
"Rifled through?"
Lupin's expression turned cold. He crouched down like Vid but found no traces of rifling and modestly asked for instruction:
"Alastor, how could you tell?"
— Besides the Magic Eye being able to see through, does it also have powerful insight?
Lupin felt a twinge of envy, involuntarily touching his own original eye.
"Does this even need to be seen?" The Old Auror said naturally, "If I were Auror from the United States, and Vid Gray's suitcase was delivered under my nose, I'd inspect it thoroughly inside and out, even dismantling the outer shell!"
Lupin: "..." So this is the standard behavior among you Aurors?
"Stop looking at that suitcase, kid!"
Moody said to Vid: "Some Evil Curses are hard to detect until activated, especially with items used close to the body. For safety's sake, you should discard everything! Tomorrow, we'll buy you a new set..."
He thought for a moment, then decisively said, "No, buy three sets, we all need to replace!"
Vid didn't object, just sighed and regretfully said as he got up, "What a shame... My mom prepared all these carefully for me."
This was why he hadn't prepared a suitcase for himself before departing—Vid knew the suitcase he brought would be difficult to take back in its entirety.
Unlike Newt Scamander, if the Fantastic Beasts in his case escaped, they would cause a big mess, but the beasts themselves mostly lacked a value that made anyone take risks.
Someone wanting them could buy them, or catch them on their own, even Dragon Blood and Dragon Liver weren't that expensive.
The valuable part of Scamander's suitcase was the case itself, but The Undetectable Extension Charm was not a Spell exclusive to anyone.
While Vid Gray's suitcase, even just taking out a few unique Poppets for imitation or sale, could yield considerable profits.
Yet, when Fiona kindly offered to help pack his luggage, Vid didn't refuse—it made the meticulously prepared luggage more credible to others and diverted extraneous attention.
Otherwise, at the airport, not only his suitcase might have been detained, but they might have also undergone personal searches.
"Alright, then."
After ensuring there were no hidden dangers in the room, Moody dusted off and made arrangements:
"Remus, you go register the Magic Wand first, and I'll go after you return. If you are attacked and can't come back in time, Vid and I will immediately activate the emergency Portkey back to Hogwarts!"
In his mouth, even the trivial task of registering a Magic Wand seemed like venturing into a dragon's lair to retrieve a Treasure—a life-or-death crisis upon exiting.
Lupin nodded, took his wand, and left the room.
Moody noticed Vid was looking at him and said, "What is it? Have you found anything?"
"No, I'm just a little surprised," Vid said, "I thought… you, Professor, would find a way to evade these protocols!"
"I do hate others touching my Magic Wand, but we can't challenge the local law enforcement right away, kid."
Moody's face was grim, yet his demeanor uncommonly calm, with a seasoned pragmatic tone in his voice:
"On someone else's ground, following their dumb rules ironically lets them lower their guard, giving us more operational space. It's a strategy, not a concession."
Vid asked, "Do you have a backup wand, Professor?"
"What do you think?" Professor Moody grinned, "Don't tell me you don't, you little rascal! Compared to you, even young Remus seems like a rookie!"
Vid laughed, "Remus is actually very alert, just that he's skilled at different things than you, Professor Moody."
Remus Lupin had wandered for many years, familiar with the survival laws at the bottom rung and understood various marginal figures in the Magic World, capable of surviving in the harshest environments.
But since being employed by Vid, most of his dealings were with businessmen like Machioni, and due to the scarcity of the products, wherever Lupin went, he was always welcomed.
Even his past survival skills had regressed somewhat, naturally unable to compare with an Old Auror like Moody.
But Lupin also had his strengths; when Moody was aggressive, he would step back a bit; when Moody was rough and temperamental, he could smoothly and courteously smooth over the scene, something both Vid and Moody weren't adept at.
...
At night, the rain poured heavily, and a man holding a black umbrella hurriedly walked into Muggle Hotel near the White Bridge Inn.
Entering the door, the hotel receptionist glanced at him and silently pointed upwards.
The man put away his umbrella, revealing sunken cheekbones and deep smile lines, with deep chestnut hair meticulously combed, attempting to cover the emerging sparseness.
He took the elevator up, accompanied by a "ding," as the elevator door opened, he directly entered a particularly spacious hall where men and women were dancing cheerfully, the air filled with the scent of tobacco, spirits, and perfume.
The man with chestnut hair threaded through the crowd, quickly stepping into a private room, the umbrella in his hand leaving dark, soggy marks on the thick red carpet.
"He's here." After entering, the man sat directly on the sofa, speaking in a low voice, "Staying at the White Bridge Inn."
"I saw," said someone else in the room, "Quite a low-key entry, I expected… the kid would be more flamboyant!"
The man with chestnut hair took a deep breath, saying, "Our Aurors—I mean Goldstein and Grom—conducted standard contact and search. His suitcase only contained some travel necessities, books, and a Magic Wand. No particularly… special items were found."
"Moreover, there was no perceived abnormal Magic Fluctuation of space expansion on him, normal clothes, normal pockets, all the detection instruments raised no alerts."
"Quite surprising, isn't it?" the other person in the room chuckled, "But that's okay, I didn't expect to succeed right away… Be patient, my dear friend, hunting always requires a long wait and endurance."
"But… did you see that kid?" the man with chestnut hair said, "Calm to the point of eeriness, like deep water without a sound when a stone is thrown, Moody that old lunatic and Remus Lupin were unexpectedly easier to provoke."
"Even if he's as calm as a deep pond, hasn't he displayed a noticeable emotional fluctuation?"
Another person, speaking with confidence, said, "Find a way to let that reporter out! We need a bold, reckless dog to bite a hole in the protective veil over those British!"