Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 130 The Sound Harry Heard

French Ministry of Magic, Auror Command, Temporary Interrogation Chamber.

At this moment, almost all of the top executives of the French Auror were gathered here. Laurence Girard, the head of the Auror command, sat in the main seat at the front, with more than a dozen chiefs of staff sitting behind her.

Sitting in the interrogation chair in front of them was a middle-aged male wizard with a blank expression and vacant, dazed eyes!
This male sorcerer had distinct Arab features and was clearly the prisoner that the Aurors had finally captured in Lyon – Thomas Shafiq.

A former Death Eater, now the prime suspect in the kidnapping of the Le Maire couple!
However, his mental state at this time was clearly not that of a normal person who could accept interrogation.

Furthermore, the Aurors had no way of extracting the information they wanted from his mind, even after it had been reviewed by the Wizarding Ethics Committee.

The French Aurors, who had initially been excited about capturing Shafiq, were now clearly frowning.

Organized by Girard, experts in Oblivion Charms and brain-related knowledge, both from within the Ministry of Magic and from St. Mungo's, conducted a thorough examination of Shafik.

Ultimately, they reached the same conclusion.

The Death Eater before him, who had once served a certain demon but ultimately escaped legal punishment, had a completely blank mind.

The excessive amount of the Oblivion Curse completely wiped out his mind, turning him into a fool who could barely think, let alone extract any useful memories from it!

Just then, Yuma brought Severus and Lupin into the interrogation room.

Upon seeing Severus enter, Gilard stood up and, without any unnecessary formalities, got straight to the point.

"I believe Yuma has already conveyed the details to you, Mr. Snape. Do you have any good solutions for the current situation?"

Severus did not answer her question immediately, but instead walked up to Shafik first.

As an expert in mind control and brain-occlusion, he is quite adept at manipulating the human mind.

But after observing Shafik's current condition from the surface, he couldn't help but frown deeply. Then, he took out his wand from his sleeve, pointed the tip at Shafik's temple, and slowly turned the wand while chanting incantations.

However, apart from the faint silver light that initially shone from the tip of the wand, nothing else was extracted from Shafik's brain.

After a brief examination, Severus shook his head and made a final diagnosis.

"The extensive use of the Forgetfulness Curse has caused extremely serious damage to his thinking physiologically. This cannot be reversed simply by removing the effects of the Forgetfulness Curse. Apart from his heart still beating and his breathing still being conscious, he is now almost no different from a dead person."

Hearing that he and other experts had made the same judgment, Gilard still asked one more question, unwilling to give up.

"Isn't there a suitable potion that can bring him back to life?"

Severus simply turned to look at her and quietly recounted an incident that had occurred in England.

"After the Mystic disappeared, a group of madmen under his command were desperate to find him. They chose a couple named Longbottom in the English Aurors and repeatedly tortured them with the Cruciatus Curse. The poor couple survived, but went insane. The Cruciatus Curse caused irreparable damage to their bodies, and they have been lying in St. Mungo's for eight years now. Shafik is in a similar situation."

Severus's words silenced everyone present.

The French Aurors were extremely unwilling to give up, and they regarded Shafiq as the biggest breakthrough in the case.

When they first captured him, everyone thought they were close to finding Nicolas Flamel and his wife, but the outcome was unacceptable to everyone.

Someone slammed their fist on the table.

"Insane! Those people are absolutely insane!"

If Shafiq had been killed by the Killing Curse and then discovered by the Aurors, they wouldn't have felt so angry.

However, his current state is clearly a provocation by the murderer!
The Auror didn't capture him willingly; rather, the murderers wrecked him and then dumped him on the Auror who arrived shortly afterward.

If these people can go to such lengths with their accomplices, what about the Flamels?
Are they really safe?

This was a question that everyone present could obviously answer, and the entire interrogation room fell into an unusual silence.

After a long while, Gilar sighed, stood up, and spoke in an icy voice.

"They are insulting us."

"If you can tolerate even this level of insult..."

"Then I think the Auror Command can be disbanded from the French Ministry of Magic."

The interrogation room remained quiet, but soon the Auror Chief stood up from his chair, followed by more Auror executives.

They turned and left the interrogation room without a word, each of them with an unusually cold expression, clearly harboring a burning anger within!

As Girard said, this was a blatant humiliation. It wasn't just one person who was humiliated, but all the Aurors of France—a slap in the face!

They now have to launch a more drastic operation.

Although the Aurors' previous search operations throughout France were large-scale, they ultimately exercised some restraint. They did not push too hard on some prestigious, high-status, and well-connected pure-blood families out of consideration for their relationships.

But now they can't care about that anymore.

After everyone else had left, leaving only Severus, Lupin, and Yuma in the interrogation room, Girard solemnly expressed his gratitude to Severus.

"I already know about what happened at the monastery. The children's safety is thanks to your timely discovery. Are you currently looking up information in the archives?"

Severus, of course, had nothing to hide from this, and he nodded in agreement.

"There are some clues that still need to be verified and investigated."

"You can contact Yuma if you need anything. If he doesn't have the authority, he can come to me."

Severus didn't say much. He understood that although Girard had clearly stated that he would give full support, there were some documents that were obviously not suitable for a British wizard like himself to consult.

However, he wouldn't pay too much attention to it. Conducting a large-scale review of the information through those photos was indeed an important attempt he was going to make.

However, he wouldn't place all his hopes on this. If he could make a discovery, that would be great; if not, he could simply find another way to approach the problem.

Soon Severus and Lupin also left the interrogation room. They went back to the archives to compare the photograph taken outside the apartment building and began a large-scale screening process.

Assisting them were three Aurors who were in charge of managing the archives.

The changes within the Ministry of Magic quickly impacted the entire French magical community.

The Aurors began to mobilize in large numbers to raid and arrest people in the black market that they usually turned a blind eye to.

Meanwhile, special personnel visited several already "renowned" pure-blood families, conducting searches and interrogations within these families.

Such behavior undoubtedly infuriated a group of pure-blood wizards who usually held themselves in high esteem!

They used their connections within the Ministry of Magic and their control over newspapers and media to try to attack the Aurors' actions.

However, to everyone's surprise, their connections within the Ministry of Magic proved utterly useless this time.

After the interrogation concluded in the afternoon, Girard went to meet with the French Minister of Magic and didn't emerge for over an hour. At that moment, the Aurors' actions received the highest political endorsement, and those pure-blood families couldn't interfere in the slightest!

The entire French magical community was clearly on edge, with a large number of illegal wizards being arrested and questioned and investigated separately.

The monastery in the suburbs of Paris, sponsored by the Lemaîtres, was also constantly under surveillance to ensure that no possibility was overlooked.

While the French Aurors were carrying out their operation, Severus and Lupin spent an afternoon in the Auror command archives, but they hadn't yet found anything on the first afternoon.

Until nightfall.

The Ministry of Magic, which was bustling and crowded during the day, had mostly seen its employees leave, except for a few essential duty departments.

As night falls, under the dim, flickering lamplight, creatures that usually hide in the shadows during the day begin to emerge.

The black cats of the French Ministry of Magic, besides performing daily tasks similar to the paper airplanes of the British Ministry of Magic, also serve as loyal security guards for this enormous building at night.

They strolled in groups along the corridor, appearing utterly harmless.

Meanwhile, in the corridor of the Auror Command Center, several black cats were licking their fur, grooming themselves.

A faint rustling sound made them instantly twitch their pointed ears!

The little black cat alertly lowered its raised hind leg, tilted its head back, and tried to find the direction from which the sound came.

But upon closer listening, they could no longer detect any unusual activity. After circling around twice more, they forgot all about this trivial matter.

However, Harry, who was already fast asleep in his bedroom, suddenly sat up abruptly in bed!

[Found it. You need to find that thing. You need to find it. This is the command.]

A strange sound rang in his ears, startling him awake from his sleep.

But after sitting up, Harry looked around the bedroom under the dim light of the nightlight. Apart from Draco, who was fast asleep, there was no one else there!
(End of this chapter)