Chapter 49. Arrest. Part 2. A Threat
Half an hour later, a man of about forty in a gray suit, with a gold badge on his chest and a grim expression, strode into the Aurors' room.
"You ten idiots! What the hell were you doing in the Muggle world, using magic in front of over three hundred of them? Have you completely lost your minds?!" he roared, veins bulging on his forehead as a lock of chestnut hair fell across it. "If you morons hadn't thought of casting a joint Obliviate, you'd be out of a job, and I could've been demoted because of you!"
"Captain, we didn't even understand what was happening ourselves!" the squad leader protested, almost in tears. The rest nodded fiercely. "Every time we Apparated to the Ministry, we ended up somewhere else!"
"It was like someone was screwing with us!"
"Yeah! We kept landing in the weirdest places! A toilet, men's and women's baths, a pool, even the bottom of the ocean! That's nothing but mockery!"
As he listened, the captain frowned. He did not hear any lies, and that could only mean one thing: someone with a grudge was trying to set him up.
"It felt like a curse," another Auror added angrily, deepening the captain's frown.
"Did you run into anyone before the mission?"
"Lots of squads. We cannot say exactly who."
"Tch! That is that bastard Fowler's work. Only he would stoop that low!"
The others blinked, and then realization hit. They traded stunned looks.
"We really did see him. He even wished us good luck."
"Knew it! Fowler! I will get you for this! How dare you set me up like this?! You crossed the line, do not expect mercy!" The fire burning in the captain's eyes made the Aurors swallow hard. They had never seen him this furious.
"Captain Robinson, please, calm down. You're shouting. What if someone hears?"
"Let them hear! I'll make him pay!"
"Yes, yes, of course, but, sir, first we have to finish with the suspect," an Auror said, relieved to see Robinson starting to cool down. "He's behind that glass."
He pointed at Severus with a nervous smile. Severus was snoring, a dopey grin on his face.
Seeing that peaceful expression, Robinson's eye twitched and his anger flared again.
"Why the hell is he asleep?!" He stomped to the glass, slammed his fist into it, and yelled into a glowing magical circle, his voice echoing through the room. "STOP SLEEPING, YOU ARE NOT AT HOME!"
"Piss off... you old fossil... let me sleep..." Severus mumbled without waking, and Robinson's fury rose another notch.
"What did you say?! I will make you!"
"Captain!" Five of his subordinates grabbed Robinson in alarm. "Our mission is not to beat him up! It is to interrogate him!"
"I know that!"
Robinson tore free and stormed into the room where Severus was chained to the chair.
"Get up!" He stepped close. No reaction. He snorted, and then, smirking, leaned right up to Severus's ear and shouted, "GET UP, YOU BASTARD!"
And still, nothing. Just some slurred mumbling. Robinson froze, thrown off. No one had ever reacted like this.
"What?" He leaned even closer to catch the words.
The next moment, a startled yelp rang out, and Robinson flew backward several meters.
"My head. What did I hit?" Severus asked, sounding groggy and mildly confused. "And take this rag off my eyes. I cannot see anything!"
With a groan, Robinson pushed himself up off the floor, one hand rubbing the back of his head, the other rubbing his chin.
"Captain!" Two Aurors rushed in, looking worried, to help Robinson, but he shoved them away and stood on his own.
"You... you did that on purpose!"
"Huh? Who are you? What do you want from me? And why did you hit me on the head?!"
"You hit me!"
"Um, how could I? My hands are chained to the chair," Severus said doubtfully.
"You hit me!"
"You little..." Robinson went purple with rage.
"Y-you... you are going to hit me again?! I will not let this go! I will find someone to deal with you!"
"Hmph. Remove the blindfold."
An Auror stepped forward and ripped the blindfold from Severus's eyes. Then he shoved a shriveled black hand suspended from a string directly into his face.
"We found this among your possessions," he said with a smug grin. "Anything to say for yourself? You're looking at ten years in Azkaban for possession of something like this."
"Where the hell did you find that? I hid it really well!"
The Aurors froze, staring at each other in disbelief. They had planted it.
Their main objective was to drag Severus to the interrogation department on charges of possessing dark artifacts. If they found nothing, they would plant something and use it as pretext to confiscate all potions from the warehouse for analysis. Another team had been sent to Hogwarts to seize the remaining potions stored there, along with any funds.
Robinson's personal task was different: extract the potion recipes through blackmail and the threat of Azkaban, and if necessary, the Imperius Curse.
The reasons were practical. They couldn't purchase enough potions that morning, so they had to use a membership card and pay extra galleons they didn't have. Most funds went toward the war effort: buying artifacts and potions, training recruits, providing medical aid to the wounded, and other expenses. Then there were the salaries for Ministry employees and Aurors.
St. Mungo's, Hogwarts, and many other institutions were also funded by the Ministry. In short, the expenses kept mounting, and the Minister's deep pockets weren't deep enough.
That same pressure had driven taxes up to twelve percent, but since so many wizards were fleeing the country, revenue was falling anyway. So they resorted to dirty tricks just to climb out of the hole and avoid taking loans from goblins at their insane rates.
With those recipes, they could produce potions in far larger quantities and export them, earning massive profits, enough to stay afloat.
That was why they'd authorized the use of the Imperius Curse if Severus refused to cooperate.
"Just as I thought," Robinson said with a snort, unaware the artifact had been planted. "Now you have two options. One: you go to Azkaban and spend the rest of your life there. Two." He leaned in. "You transfer the rights to your recipes to us, and we drop all charges."
"Uh, you want to send me to Azkaban over a simple back-scratcher?" Severus asked, blinking at Robinson's grim expression.
"It is a dark artifact!"
"Well, considering where it's been, it really might be the darkest artifact of all," Severus said thoughtfully.
For a few seconds, the Aurors visibly froze.
"Where it's been?"
"Well, you know, I don't have a girlfriend yet," Severus began, his cheeks turning pink.
With immediate disgust, Robinson flung the hand away.
"So nobody scratches my back, especially there, under the shoulder blades. So I made this artifact. It is also great for cleaning behind a wardrobe or under a fridge."
"You want me to ignore how it looks?"
"I have no taste! I thought it would look cool, so I made it like that," Severus said, smiling at the hand.
A few seconds later, under the Aurors' shocked stares, the hand floated up, flew back to him, and began scratching his leg.
"Sorry, I've been itching for ten minutes. But please, continue. What else am I accused of?" The hand moved to his shoulder and began slowly massaging it.
With a grim look, Robinson drew his wand and flicked it. A blue flash burst out, blasting the hand several dozen meters away. Then he aimed the wand directly at Severus's forehead.
"What are you doing, Captain Robinson?" Severus asked with a smile.
"You are just mocking us, aren't you?"
"Hm. You are perceptive."
"And you also know why we dragged you here."
Yeah. It wasn't hard. I'm actually surprised you waited so long to talk to me. I was hoping for a warmer welcome.
"And what is your decision?" Robinson asked, irritation creeping into his voice.
"Fine, I'm not opposed to handing over the recipes. But..."
"But?"
"Three and a half million."
"Three and a half million what?" Robinson asked blankly, while a couple of Aurors understood and went pale.
"Galleons, what else? That's what I'll earn in ten years," Severus said, unable to hide his grin. "If you get my recipes, you'll recoup it in a year, selling at a much larger volume. And that's not even counting the ninety percent profit you'll make abroad."
Instead of saying "I'll report to my superiors," Robinson smirked and pointed his wand at Severus.
"You will tell us the recipes yourself, whether you want to or not."
"I see. Then I was wrong. I thought you were smarter," Severus said calmly. "Looks like I will have to visit your superiors myself."
"Imper." Robinson began.
But he didn't even finish.
Robinson slammed into the wall. Severus calmly rose from the chair, smiling boldly at the ten Aurors waving their wands at him, horrified to find they could not cast a single spell.
"Not working?"
Instead of answering, eight of them rushed him while two bolted for the door.
"So you can do more than wave wands. I am impressed," Severus said, tilting his head. He dodged a punch, then two tried to grab his arms from behind. He casually hurled them into the Aurors flanking him, effortlessly dropped the remaining three, and looked toward the two Aurors frozen at the door, unable to open it.
"Not bad," Severus said, cracking his knuckles as he walked toward them with a smile. "You have clearly trained in martial arts and know how to work as a team. But I am on a completely different level."
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