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Inside the trunk.
Lynn had arranged this place into a tactical sand-table room.
At this moment, the four of them stood in a circle at the center of the room. Before them, on the ground, stood a miniature model—a model of the Ministry of Magic that Lynn had shaped to be almost identical to the real thing.
The texture of the marble walls, the details of the magical fountain, the style of the elevator gates, and even the small print on the floor signs were faintly visible.
"Alright, guys, the first meeting of the operational headquarters is starting." Lynn clapped his hands, signaling everyone to focus.
"Edgar, you're the most familiar with the internal structure of the Ministry of Magic here. Next, you'll give everyone a key introduction to our 'target point'—the Ministry of Magic's interrogation room—where it might be and its surroundings."
Edgar puffed out his chest upon being named.
He walked over to the model, took a long, thin bamboo pole from Lynn, cleared his throat, and put on the air of a professor.
"Ahem~ Well then, Professor Burns will now explain the overview of the Ministry of Magic to everyone. First, we'll start with the main hall on the first floor. There is the famous Fountain of Magical Brethren here, and the security desk is usually located at—"
"Get to the point!" x3
Three blunt interruptions rang out simultaneously.
Edgar's shoulders slumped, and his put-on airs vanished instantly. "Alright, alright, haste makes waste... Since you've asked so sincerely—the Ministry of Magic's interrogation rooms are located on the second floor of the building. Most of that floor belongs to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Wizengamot and the Improper Use of Magic Office are also over there. Routine interrogations and inquiries are usually conducted there."
He tapped several areas on the second floor with the bamboo pole.
"However," Edgar changed the subject, his bamboo pole moving down to point directly at the very bottom of the model, "there is another, more intimidating interrogation room—or rather, a holding cell—at the very bottom level of the Ministry of Magic building."
"It's said the environment isn't very friendly."
"But Lockhart's current charges are mainly fraud and misuse of the Memory Charm. Theoretically, he won't be thrown directly into the bottom level. He's most likely in an interrogation room or a temporary detention cell in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement on the second floor."
After Edgar finished, he paused, his gaze sweeping over his three friends, seemingly waiting for them to digest the information and ask questions.
Sure enough, William spoke first. His thinking was always practical. "What about the timing? What are the Ministry of Magic's working hours?"
"Standard working hours are from nine in the morning until five in the evening," Edgar answered quickly. "But every department has night and weekend staff on duty, though..." He shrugged, showing a you know how it is expression.
"Being on duty—especially in non-emergency departments—as long as there's no sudden incident, there's a high probability of slacking off, dozing, or doing The Quibbler crosswords. The late hours of the night are when people are most tired, and their alertness is relatively low."
"Good, we have a time window." Lynn nodded. "Next question."
Ollie softly raised his biggest concern. "Identity and safety. What if... I mean, if we are discovered by the staff on duty or the patrolling security magic? How do we hide our identities? How do we retreat?"
This question made Edgar fall silent.
Lynn, however, snapped his fingers, looking well-prepared. "That's easy to solve! For identity concealment, I have this—"
Lynn pulled four masks out of a box behind him.
"I've also prepared Aging Potion. Drinking it will make us look like adult wizards—or at least our body size and voices will be. Combined with the masks, it's double insurance."
He distributed the masks.
One was a silver mask with a cold metallic luster; one had a head crest decoration; one was blue and angular; and the last one had a silver base but with exceptionally rugged lines.
"I'll wear this silver one. Code name—Zoffy." Lynn held up the first mask to demonstrate.
Edgar took the head-crest mask, a bit dazed. "Then what about me? My code name is...?"
"Your code name is 'Crutch.'"
William held the blue mask.
"Your code name is One-Handed Bemstar, or you can be called Scientist."
Ollie looked at the rugged silver mask in his hand.
"Real Man."
The three of them looked at Lynn in unison. "What kind of weird code names are these?"
Lynn's expression didn't change. "They're just code names. As long as they're easy to remember, don't worry about the details." He paused, then shouted at a higher volume, "Levi! Come here for a second!"
With a slight ripple in space, Levi appeared on Lynn's shoulder, affectionately rubbing his hair with its beak.
"Levi, I need your help this time. You might need to change your appearance temporarily." As Lynn spoke, he waved his wand and pointed it at Levi.
The brilliant gold and red feathers on Levi's body faded at a visible speed, turning into a cement-like grayish-black. Even the tail and crest feathers lost their luster, making it look like... a slightly large gray pigeon.
Levi lowered its head, looked at its suddenly dusty feathers, then looked up at Lynn.
Lynn stroked its head and chuckled. "Low profile. It's better to keep a low profile."
"Each of us will take one of your feathers inside. Once we succeed—or if we encounter danger we can't handle—activate the feather immediately."
"No matter where we are in the Ministry of Magic, you'll be able to teleport us back here instantly."
"As for you, just come back after sending us there."
Levi sighed and nodded obediently... Hum~
An extremely faint vibration flickered and vanished in the corridor on the second floor of the Ministry of Magic.
Immediately after, four tall figures appeared out of thin air, landing silently.
It was Lynn, William, Edgar, and Ollie, who had taken the Aging Potion.
The potion had changed their physiques, making them look like adult wizards in their twenties.
"Lead the way, Crutch," Lynn said in a low voice to Edgar.
"Roger, Zoffy. Turn right ahead. Watch out for that Sneakoscope statue that reports anomalies on its own—it occasionally malfunctions in the middle of the night." Edgar quickly entered his role. He had clearly heard some "interesting stories" about the Ministry of Magic's night shifts from his parents.
The other three followed immediately, while tacitly pulling out invisibility cloaks from their pockets. Although they weren't the Deathly Hallows, their concealment effect was excellent when stationary or moving slowly.
Under "Crutch's" guidance, they silently crossed the empty corridor, bypassed several gargoyles standing in alcoves, and finally arrived in front of a wooden door.
The brass plate on the door read: Temporary Detention and Preliminary Interrogation Room.
"Stop." Lynn's voice came from beneath the invisibility cloak.
He pulled a magnifying glass out of his pocket. "Let me see if anyone is guarding him—and, by the way, confirm if this is the room."
This was a little gadget he had made when he was "bored"—the Wall-Penetrating Magnifying Glass. The principle was similar to certain detection charms, but it was more discreet, and the imaging was more intuitive.
He pointed the magnifying glass at the heavy wooden door and leaned into the eyepiece.
"Hey! Luck's on our side," Lynn's voice carried a hint of a smile. "I see Lockhart. It's this room. There really isn't an Auror on duty guarding him. They probably think he's not a threat."
With a click, the door opened.
The four figures filed in, and Ollie, who was last to enter, didn't forget to close the door behind him.
The four of them spread out, surrounding the simple bed in a semi-circle.
Lynn was the first to remove his invisibility.
William and Ollie stood guard by the door and window, while Edgar blocked the escape route on the other side of the bed.
"Lockhart!"
The figure on the bed jerked violently, eyelids twitching as he woke up in a daze.
He hadn't yet adjusted to the dim light, nor had he clearly seen who was surrounding the bed, and he hadn't even had time to scream or ask a question—
An indescribable pain that could instantly pierce through all confusion and defensiveness exploded within his body without warning.
The extreme pain caused his muscles to spasm instantly, and a discordant rasp escaped his throat.
"Ugh—Ah!! Mmm—!!"
It was Crucio. Lynn held his wand expressionlessly, the tip pointed at the twitching Lockhart curled up on the bed.
The pain lasted only a few seconds, but to Lockhart, it felt like centuries.
Lynn stepped forward and leaned down, his silver mask almost touching Lockhart's tear- and snot-streaked face.
"Speak. Where did you put that diary?"
Lockhart clearly saw the silver mask inches away and felt the cold gazes coming from the other three directions.
The aftershocks of the Crucio were still there, and the questioner's tone indicated that if the answer wasn't satisfactory, even more terrible torture would descend again at any moment.
"I... I don't know... No, wait! Don't!" Seeing Lynn's wand showing signs of lifting again, Lockhart screamed in a breakdown; he could only make something up on the spot.
"Tom... Tom, he's gone! He... he flew away by himself! He went to Slytherin House!"