Mr. Hughes' pupils suddenly contracted, and his fists clenched involuntarily.
"That organization is experimenting on living wizards! You mean... within the Magic Congress, even among the Aurors I trust, someone is giving them information?"
Victor looked at him, and when he wasn't smiling, there was only a nearly cruel calm in his eyes.
"Mr. Hughes, have you ever seen someone in a war who knows their compatriots are going to be slaughtered but still leads enemies for a piece of bread?"
"Do you know that some people can sell their wives, children, even parents for a bag of gold?"
"Not to mention some drugs; people controlled by them will do anything to get a small bag of powder!"
"Watch more Muggle news, and you'll find that what shocks you isn't even considered news in their society."
These words pierced deep into Hughes' inner fears like a poisoned dagger.
All the color drained from his face, and he tried to keep his voice steady as he asked, "You know something, don't you? Is this why you launched operations unilaterally without first contacting the Magic Congress for cooperation?"
Victor didn't answer; he just reached out to touch the black dog's neck and then took off a dog tag.
The black rope and wooden tag were hidden around the black dog's neck, and Hughes had completely missed it before.
At the moment, Victor gently applied force and pried open the dog tag to reveal a small mirror a bit larger than a coin.
Hughes had only seen mirrors of this size in his wife's makeup box.
Victor placed the mirror on the bench between them and said, "It's a storage mirror with recordings. I don't need to teach you how to use it, right?"
"Take a good look... and use your own eyes to find the answers!"
The small mirror reflected the reddish glow of the setting sun, like a bomb about to explode.
Hughes stared at the mirror, his eyes showing silent struggle.
...
Late at night, after a busy day, the Magic Congress Headquarters finally quieted down, and the lights in the various offices had long been turned off.
In the dark hallway, only a few paper airplanes were still flying weakly at low altitude.
But on the top floor, the office of Congress President Nikolo Hossun still had a light on, and the atmosphere inside was particularly tense.
"Is this his answer to you?" Hosone toyed with the small silver round mirror in his hand and said, "A recording?"
"Yes," Hughes replied. "After placing the mirror, he just left with his dog. Considering the people behind him... I didn't force him to stay."
Hosone nodded slightly: "You did right not to act. Whether it's Dumbledore or the British Ministry of Magic behind Kravchuk, it is not suitable to clash with them now."
He placed the Flow Mirror on the table with a light "click."
Hosone leaned back in his chair, rubbed his forehead, and said tiredly, "Then let's see what answer they've left us."
Hughes tapped his wand lightly, and the Flow Mirror flew out, rotating and enlarging, releasing bright and soft light.
At that moment, both men simultaneously recalled the scene at the banquet when the forged video suddenly appeared.
The sound was even particularly similar—
"Ahhh..."
A woman screamed: "President! Chairman Hosone! Something... something major happened!"
As the image gradually became clear, both of them frowned simultaneously.
"It's the scene from the banquet day," Hughes couldn't help but say an unnecessary sentence.
Hosone nodded slightly; he naturally saw it too.
The video's angle was peculiar, and it had undergone some editing, clearly showing everyone's reactions before and after the incident.
"Wizards are real!"
"Scourers! It's those lunatics who call themselves Scourers!"
"Don't stop me! I must go home immediately!"
In the shaking light and shadow, everything appeared so chaotic. Hughes watched the Aurors' momentary hesitation and astonishment, and their pushing and obstructing actions amid the chaos, and couldn't help but frown tightly.
Meanwhile, Hosone leaned slightly forward, placing his fingertips on his chin, his pupils reflecting every face of panic or confusion.
—At the moment of the incident, whose face showed no surprise?
When the Magic World was exposed, who felt joyful about it?
And who kept themselves hidden behind others, positioned just right to observe the entire scene?
Yet at that moment, everyone's reactions were so reasonable, including those whose names he doubted.
Until the golden powder suddenly sprayed out, some people's expressions showed extremely subtle changes.
Hosone's heart sank heavily, but then he slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
This answer... is not the most dangerous, nor can it be said to be unexpected.
The boulder always hanging in his heart was finally able to be slightly put down, and he even felt a sense of his shoulders becoming lighter.
"Nikolo, did you see that young wizard with brown hair in the corner?"
Hughes said cautiously, "He carefully hid his figure, especially after the incident, was almost not present in the footage..."
Moreover, it's odd to dress conservatively in such an occasion.
Hosone recalled the video's content and asked, "You mean... the young man who chatted with Laira's assistant for quite a while?"
"Yes," Hughes said.
Hosone shook his head, "Although there's no evidence, that person... is highly likely to be someone sent by the British to cooperate with Victor Kravchuk on the operation."
Hughes was taken aback: "Why do you say that?"
Not suspicious, just curious.
Hosone said, "You should have noticed the way Alastor Moody looked at that person—they definitely know each other, maybe even very well, Moody seems to be quite protective of that young man."
When the screams sounded, he immediately stood in front of the other person.
But what was the young person's expression then?
The camera didn't intentionally focus on them, making those two figures in the corner really hard to notice.
Hosone closed his eyes to rest for a moment, then opened them and said, "Watch it again."
Hughes nodded and waved his wand.
The screams sounded again—
"Ahhh..."
"President! Chairman Hosone! Something... something major happened!"
"Wizards are real!"
The quill on Hosone's desk jumped up, stood on a piece of parchment, moved twice after quite a while, and wrote a name.
Unlike Vid's poppet, Hosone was more familiar with his colleagues and clearer about their responses when a crisis hit.
Therefore, even identical shock or fear had different interpretations in his eyes.
A series of names appeared on the parchment, then several were crossed off sequentially until only a few remained.
"Investigate them, Ezra."
Hosone said in a low voice, "I want to know who they have met, every word they've said, even what trash they have handed over to the House-Elves to dispose of!"
"If the internal pests aren't cleaned, our wall will eventually collapse!"