Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 197 For Galon's sake

As expected of the Auror's office director, Scrimgeour maintained his composure perfectly, and no one could tell that he was enduring excruciating pain... Only the uncontrollable, slight twitching of his facial muscles occasionally gave him a clue.

Siren felt that he and Snape should have something in common, but he didn't know if they would be willing to share their experiences.

Scrimgeour was still pretending, and Siron didn't expose him, looking at Dumbledore as if he knew nothing.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, what brings you here? I have class to teach."

“It’s Mr. Scrimgeour who’s looking for you,” Dumbledore said.

“Oh, I almost forgot… Let me introduce you, Siron, this is Rufus Scrimgeour.” He pointed to Scrimgeour, “who is also the Head of the Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic.”

"Rufus, that is Siren Ollivander, an excellent student."

"Hello," Xilun greeted her.

But Scrimgeour just nodded stiffly.

"Rufus, what's wrong?" Dumbledore blinked. "Didn't you have a lot of questions to ask? Now that Shiren is here, why aren't you saying anything?"

Scrimgeour's facial muscles twitched again.

Is it that he doesn't want to talk?
I can't say!

His muscles were tense, and he was clenching his teeth to resist the lingering pain, unable to open his mouth at all.

“Sirius…” Scrimgeour took a deep breath, opened his mouth quickly, and said, “Passing by.”

"Sorry, I didn't hear you clearly just now." Xilun asked in confusion, "What happened?"

“Sirius…” Scrimgeour had to repeat himself.

"Huh, Xiaotian, what?" Xilun took a step forward. "Could you speak louder?"

“Sirius!” Scrimgeour’s face turned ashen.

"What Wolf Star?"

"..."

"Oh, I know, Sirius Black." Just as Scrimgeour was about to explode, Sirius finally looked enlightened.

On the other side, a barely perceptible smile appeared at the corner of Dumbledore's mouth beneath his silver-white beard.

He was certain that Siren had done it on purpose; Scrimgeour's voice was indeed very soft, but not to the point that he couldn't hear anything at all.

But he had no intention of paying attention to any of this; he simply watched quietly from the sidelines.

Sirius was recounting his previous encounter with Sirius Black, much like what he had said at the school hospital, but with one odd detail.

When Xilun was speaking, he would occasionally bump into the shelf next to him.

The frame was made of iron, and it would make a sound if touched even slightly, which would always make Scrimgeour frown.

By the time Xilun finished speaking, his face had turned deathly pale, and cold sweat was dripping down his forehead.

"Oh?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

He felt that Scrimgeour's current state was related to Siron, was it the action of hitting the iron frame?

Dumbledore suddenly thought of the Birthbird.

An old friend of his once said that if someone has been pecked by a thunderbird, the wound will ache whenever he hears thunder, no matter how much time has passed.

Perhaps the sound of knocking on the iron frame is like that.

“Sirion,” Dumbledore said. “Rufus came to deliver Galleons to you, remember? You provided a very useful clue.”

"Of course I remember." Xiren's foot stopped in mid-air, and he didn't "accidentally" kick the metal frame again.

"It's been so long since we heard anything, I was worried that the clues I provided didn't count."

“Don’t be in such a hurry, we always need to confirm. Mr. Scrimgeour is here now, isn’t he?” Dumbledore said with a smile, then looked at Scrimgeour.

“Oh… Rufus, look at you, you really should get some rest,” he said with concern. “Rest at Hogwarts, I can prepare a guest room for you.” “No, no need,” Scrimgeour said, his voice trembling slightly, as he took a bag and placed it on the table. “This is… a reward.”

Xiren took the bag; it was much lighter than he had imagined. He opened it and saw that it was filled with golden Galleons.

"Why is it only 100 Galleons?" Siren asked Scrimgeour. "Didn't the newspaper say there was a 1,000 Galleons reward for providing a clue?"

Scrimgeour wanted to say something, but after hesitating for a moment, he took out another bag.

"That's only two hundred, not enough... Oh, it's not two hundred Galleons, it's one hundred and ninety-three..."

“Sirion,” Dumbledore interrupted him, “I think you must be mistaken. The newspapers say that a reward of one thousand Galleons will be given for providing clues that lead to the capture of Sirius Black.”

"Although you provided important photos, it's not enough for the Ministry of Magic to catch him, understand?"

As he spoke, Dumbledore winked at Sherren.

Xilun immediately understood what he meant.

Alright, after all, the other party is the Auror's office director, and he just sent him a hundred gallons.

“Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Scrimgeour.” Siren stuffed the Gallon into his pocket and said sincerely, “Don’t you really need to rest for a while? I have a spare bed in my dormitory.”

Scrimgeour did not speak.

However, Xilun was just being polite and left the principal's office after saying that.

Neither Dumbledore nor Scrimgeour stopped it.

Soon, Xilun walked down the spiral staircase, stood in the corridor, and looked back.

He knew perfectly well that Scrimgeour's visit to Hogwarts this time was not specifically to deliver Galleons to him, but rather that he had other business to attend to.

But before his plan could even begin, it was disrupted by a misuse of Legilimency.

Even the way Xilun kept bumping into things while he was speaking was intentional.

But contrary to Dumbledore's expectations, the clanging of metal had nothing to do with the backlash from Occlumency. Siron was simply using it to mask another sound, to create confusion.

Walking through the corridor, the castle was deserted.

Because I came out early, class hasn't ended yet.

But Siren didn't intend to go back to Defense Against the Dark Arts class; instead, he waited a while longer on the eighth floor.

A few minutes later, Scrinker also left the principal's office. He looked very anxious and hurried downstairs.

But as he passed a metal suit of armor on the second floor, Scrimgeour stopped and inexplicably tapped the suit of armor next to him with his finger.

"boom……"

The crisp sound echoed through the empty castle.

"No response. Looks like I was overthinking it," Scrimgeour muttered to himself as he continued downstairs.

But then, he seemed to realize something.

"Who's there!" Scrimgeour suddenly turned around, his wand appearing in his hand, the tip pointing directly at a...black cat on the third-floor railing?
The black cat meowed once and ran away quickly.

"It was just a cat after all." Scrimgeour put away his wand and couldn't help but rub his forehead.

He really shouldn't have used Legilimency on that Ollivander; the backlash was just too unpleasant.

If it were just simple pain, that would be fine. Compared to the real Cruciatus Curse, this kind of pain is bearable. But if it affects judgment, that would be a bit troublesome.

He had just inexplicably felt a sense of being watched, but there was only one cat around. It couldn't be that the cat was watching him, could it?

“I shouldn’t have agreed to make this trip for Fudge,” Scrimgeour said through gritted teeth, quickly going downstairs, through the hall, and leaving Hogwarts Castle.

……

(End of this chapter)