A certain broken Hogwarts

After locking the captured men in an abandoned hut near Shafiq Estate beforehand, Owen took Kurt to the bookstore in Knockturn Alley.

"This kid... wants to help out at the shop?" Natasha stared at Kurt, who didn't seem very bright, and looked him up and down. Her gaze lingered for a moment on Kurt's bright orange-yellow hair, which was so vibrant it almost glowed.

"Do you know how troublesome it is to raise children?" Her expression twisted slightly. "Boys this age are always full of energy, jumping around and never still for a moment. They often lose control of their emotions without warning, making a scene and suddenly snapping at girls—"

"Ahem, really?" Owen coughed lightly, interrupting Natasha's increasingly inappropriate remarks. Why didn't he remember having this period in his past life?

Natasha glanced at him sideways, shrugged, and said with a sigh, "Of course. You're still young, Owen, probably not at that age where everyone hates you..." But he's already disobedient enough now, what will he do next? She felt inexplicably uneasy.

Irving resisted the urge to roll his eyes, striving to maintain his composure, and said calmly, "If you keep talking like that, I might have to take a pay cut."

Natasha quickly shut her mouth and tried to signal Lupin, who was pretending to be a wooden figure, with her eyes.

Lupin smiled helplessly and said gently to Owen, "Should we let him stay here? You know, it's not very safe here if there are any more intruders."

"I can fight! I'm obedient and capable!" Kurt shouted seriously, trying to appear mature and reliable. He thought for a moment, then suddenly closed his eyes and pondered something. He suddenly grew taller, and even the contours of his face became more angular.

"Huh?" Natasha's eyes lit up. She circled Kurt with a look of amazement, clicking her tongue in wonder, instantly forgetting their previous conversation, and asked curiously, "You're a Disguise Magus? Can you transform into me?"

She affectedly tossed her long, deep red hair, looking at the other person with anticipation.

Kurt looked at her intently, as if he were testing her. He frowned slightly, and his face and figure began to change rapidly. His hair grew longer and turned red, his facial contours softened, and the shape and position of his features shifted, making his appearance and figure increasingly resemble Natasha's.

In the blink of an eye, a smaller version of Natasha appeared before everyone.

Kurt looked down at his chest and his face fell. "My abilities aren't fully developed yet. Right now, I can only adjust my height and build on a small scale..." His voice remained unchanged, still a slightly deep male voice.

Owen watched his transformation with interest and said with a smile, "You'd better learn how to change your voice, hmm, the magic spell to change your voice."

"I know how to use it, my grandfather taught me!" Kurt nodded repeatedly, looking at him with admiration, but the expression on Natasha's face looked awkward no matter how you looked at it.

"Very good." Owen shifted his gaze without changing his expression, looking at Natasha and Lupin, and said, "Did you find anything unusual in the bookstore? Like a hidden door or something...?"

Lupin's expression turned serious, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Ever since the bookstore was targeted, I've suspected that something might be hidden here. A few days ago, when the bookstore was being repaired, I searched the entire building but didn't find anything of interest or any hidden doors."

Irving nodded. It seemed that Kurt's grandfather's treasure was indeed not hidden here. He still trusted Lupin's abilities and character.

"Alright, I should go now. Kurt can stay here from now on; there are empty rooms upstairs." He didn't want to stay any longer.

Natasha, who was enthusiastically pinching Kurt's cheeks, turned her lips down again upon hearing this and muttered under her breath, "Employing child laborers is not a good idea..."

"You could say he's a relative's kid or something," Owen said casually, nodding slightly before turning and walking out of the bookstore.

Kurt's reluctant gaze followed his retreating figure. Owen felt that the burning gaze was almost burning through the clothes on his back, so he expressionlessly Apparated.

He went straight to a dark alleyway on the border between Diagon Alley and Knockout Alley, and then, familiar with the area, he walked through a narrow alleyway and entered the bustling Diagon Alley.

He quickly returned to the place where he had been teleported away by the Portkey, where Blaise was pacing anxiously, and Melete was pacing back and forth, wagging his tail restlessly.

Upon seeing Owen, Blaise let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, then trotted over and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him vigorously: "Are you alright? You have no idea, I almost sat on your cat and turned it into a pancake!"

Melett raised her hind leg and kicked the guy hard in the calf, then jumped up and pounced into Owen's arms. Blaise cried out in pain, clutching his leg and hopping around.

"I'm fine." Owen reached out and hugged Melett, gently comforting the anxious little guy. The cat nuzzled his chin vigorously in his arms, its tail tightly wrapped around his wrist, its golden cat eyes reflecting his face intently.

Owen scratched Melett's chin, comforting her for a while, then smiled and asked Blaise, "What happened to you before?"

"That sneaky guy cast a Confusion Charm on me!" Blaise put his leg down, panting heavily. "I just found something great at that thrift store over there, and a wizard with his face covered by a scarf was right next to me, secretly pointing his wand at me and casting a spell!"

"And then I got confused. He gave me a metal ball, told me it was some new and interesting thing, and said, 'Why don't you go share it with your friends?'" He gritted his teeth. "And then I ran over and shoved it at you!"

"I woke up right after you disappeared. Your cat, the raccoon, quickly led your mother over... Luckily, you were alright," Blaise said with a grim face.

"Who told you to always slack off when practicing spells in the study group?" Owen had a faint, lazy smile on his face, squinting as he enjoyed the warmth of the sunlight on his body.

"Ah, okay, I'll try my best," Blaise mumbled, then his eyes lit up as he reached into his pocket with his right hand. "Owen, look what I found!"

He took out a round box about the size of his palm and handed it to Irving.

This familiar scene made Owen pause for a moment before shaking his head with amusement and taking the round box. The fancy lid suddenly popped open in his hand, and a doll that looked like an Easter Island statue sprang out, opening its mouth and shouting loudly.

"Oh, look at your face, you look like you're about to die, and that effeminate look of yours! I don't understand who gave you the courage to show your face in public? If I looked like you, I'd rather bury my head in the toilet and suffocate myself..."

With a "smack," Blaise lunged forward and slammed the lid shut, abruptly ending the ear-piercing shouts.

"This is the good stuff you were talking about?" Owen looked at him with a half-smile, and it looked like he was about to emit black smoke.

"Uh, I didn't know it could swear. Looks like I haven't quite figured it out yet..." Blaise felt a chill run down his neck for no apparent reason. He wiped away nonexistent cold sweat and chuckled sheepishly, "Maybe it's random? The first time I turned it on, it showered me with compliments, and the second time it even professed its love to me romantically..."

"Try it again if you don't believe me?" he said, reaching for the box again.

"Never mind, you can keep it and play with it." Owen shoved the box back into Blaise's hand. "I should go home now. See you when school starts."

"See you when school starts!" Blaise waved and watched him disappear into the bustling crowd.

After leaving Diagon Alley, Owen Apparated directly to the vicinity of Shafiq Estate and entered a long-abandoned, dilapidated house at the edge of the woods.

This place is located halfway up the mountain where Shafik Manor is situated, some distance from the Muggle village below. The house appears to have once been the forest ranger's hut, but it has been uninhabited for a long time; a large hole has collapsed in the roof, and only dark openings remain of the windows.

The room reeked of damp, musty grass and wood, and the captured man remained unconscious. Nyx stood proudly on the windowsill, her beautiful tail feathers drooping outside, reflecting a shimmering light in the sunlight.

Upon seeing Owen, Nyx let out a melodious chirp, filled with joy and excitement. Clearly, it was still eager for more after the previous battle.

Owen put Melett on the ground and let her go out to play. Then he smiled at Nyx and waved his wand to cast a sound-blocking spell around the house.

Looking at the man lying on the ground, Owen's smile slowly faded, turning cold and indifferent. A thin layer of mist veiled his clear black eyes, as if they had transformed into a deep, dark vortex.

He waved his wand at the man, and the miscellaneous items on the man's body flew off as if they had grown wings and landed on the dusty ground.

The man carried very little: a money pouch containing dozens of gold Galleons and silver Sickles; an ordinary watch; a sharp dagger inlaid with gems, its blade cursed; and a peculiar badge with a skull scepter on the front and two lines of ancient magical script on the back.

It wasn't ancient runes, but a more ancient magical script. Owen hadn't studied this script, but there were books on it in the Wallfacer's Space.

He entered the wall-facing space and looked up some information, deciphering the meanings by comparing them with a magic script dictionary: the Society for the Exile of the Dead.

"The Exorcism Society...that seems to be the name of this organization." He thought, clicking his tongue with some interest. "That's an interesting name."

The ancient incantation "Zhu Wang" can be interpreted in several ways. It can be translated as pursuing the secrets of death or pursuing the dead, or it can be understood as pursuing the Grim Reaper or pursuing transcendence from death.

Owen thought for a moment, put the badge aside, pointed at the man with his wand, and said, "Recover quickly."

When the man's eyelids began to twitch, he lowered his wand and softly uttered, "Out of body."

In Owen's view, the Imperius Curse was truly the most suitable spell for interrogation, far more effective than the Truth Potion or Legilimency, which were easier to deceive, not to mention the Crucifixion Curse. Using the Crucifixion to extract information was absolutely the most inefficient method, or rather, those who used this method actually intended to torture the person more.

Owen's soft incantation drifted through the cabin like a gentle breeze rustling through the treetops. He lowered his eyes, feeling the tingling sensation of the Imperius Curse reaching his fingertips.

The man slowly opened his light blue eyes, sat up from the floor, and looked at him calmly and steadily. It was clear that he was usually a composed and determined person.

"Tell me, what's your name?" Owen looked down at him, his voice light and indifferent.

"Andres Velos," the man said slowly, his voice deep and resonant.

"Then, Veros, tell me your origins?"

"I was born in Greece," Velos said, looking directly into Owen's eyes, his expression blank. "I came to this country ten years ago."

"Greeks?" Owen raised an eyebrow. If that's the case, then old Garnier, the traitor, is from France, and Veros is from Greece; it seems the Exile Society is a transnational organization.

"Tell me about your organization, Veros. It's called the Exterminator, isn't it?" he said calmly.

Velos opened his mouth, a look of struggle appearing on his face, and veins bulging on his temples.

Owen's fingers twitched as he gripped the wand, but he didn't sense any sign of the Imperius Curse being broken. It wasn't that the other was resisting the Imperius Curse, but rather that it seemed to be struggling with something within its own body.

After a long while, Velos, panting heavily, slowly shook his head at Owen, closed his mouth, and looked at him without saying a word.

Owen frowned, his gaze sweeping coldly over the other man, and said slowly and firmly, "You can't reveal any information about the Extinction Society?"

Velos watched him silently, neither admitting nor denying, but Irving had already gotten the answer from his performance.

"Nothing at all?" Owen paced back and forth, receiving no reply. He closed his eyes and sighed softly. "In that case, you can't possibly be the leader of the Extinction Society."

It is impossible for the leader of an organization to be unable to reveal the organization's intelligence!

Irving gently bit his lower lip, clicking his tongue inwardly, "Tsk, what a hassle."

He thought the matter was over, but now it seemed the trouble was far from over. Veros wasn't the leader of the Extinction Society, so what was destroyed today was likely just one of their strongholds. This organization was far larger and more troublesome than Owen had imagined.

This method of keeping secrets from organization members is not something an ordinary dark wizard organization can obtain. It reminded Owen of his own book, "The Book of Secrets," and he wondered how effective the secret-keeping spells in that book were.

Owen narrowed his eyes, pointed the tip of his wand directly at Veros's forehead, and chanted, "Leechence!"

His gaze followed the window of the other's eyes into the depths of the brain, where a dazzling array of fragmented memories overwhelmed him. Fortunately, his ability to manipulate memories had improved significantly, and he quickly extracted what he wanted from the chaotic fragments, only to find that these fragments related to the Death Chase were shrouded in a thick fog, making them completely indistinct.

Owen exited Legilimency and thought, unsurprisingly, "As expected, obtaining information through force is not feasible."

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "You attacked me to get the sapphire I took from you, right?"

Veros stared at him with an unchanging expression, like a wooden sculpture, revealing nothing.

"Well then, I'll go home now, and you can stay here and talk to yourself about the Extinction Society..." Owen probed.

Velos slightly twitched his eyelids, then slowly shook his head and said in a low voice, "I can't."

"I've brought your men here, you talk to him!" Irving crossed his arms, but saw that the other man was still shaking his head.

Next, he tested the organization using various methods and confirmed that its security measures had very few loopholes.

Veros cannot reveal any of the organization's secrets to outsiders, nor can he take any action that would intentionally leak information. This is a subjective judgment he makes of himself, preventing him from disclosing information about the organization in situations where there is a possibility of leakage; it is a mandatory "voluntary" secrecy.

The principle is simple: after being captured, he understood that his every move was under surveillance. Under such circumstances, if he revealed the secret, it would be discovered by outsiders. Therefore, after realizing this, he could only bury the secret of the Deathbringer Society in his heart and could no longer reveal any information about the organization, even while under the control of the Soul-Stealing Curse.

Therefore, he couldn't possibly be talking to himself or discussing the organization with his own people when no one was around, as Irving claimed. Because he has the intelligence and judgment to understand that there would definitely be outsiders listening in at that moment!

Of course, this method of secrecy is not without loopholes. You just need to make the other party believe that their situation is safe, and let them passively reveal the organization's secrets without their knowledge, just like how Kurt was able to eavesdrop on some information when he was locked in the church basement.

In an instant, more than a dozen solutions flashed through Owen's mind. He chose the simplest and most efficient one, telling Nyx and Melett to stay and keep watch, and then Apparition away to make preparations.

He first returned to his parents, collected a few strands of hair from a captive, and took the man's robe and wand. Then he returned to Shafik Manor, retrieved some Polyjuice Potion from his room, and finally took the deep blue gem and the Book of Secrets with him.

After transforming into the appearance of a member of the Deathbringer using Polyjuice Potion, Owen put on his cloak, changed his wand, and returned to the cabin, putting everything back in its place.

Then, he smiled slightly at Veros, pointed his wand at him, and uttered "Oblivion," altering the other's memories. Afterward, he untied the ropes binding him, ending the Imperius Curse's control.

Velos blinked, looking at the familiar figure before him with a puzzled expression, then frowned sharply. He reached into his pocket but couldn't find his wand.

"You forgot you left your wand in the church? I barely managed to escape with you," Owen said with a serious expression.

Velos's brow furrowed, his almost tangible gaze sweeping across the room: "Where am I?"

"I've found a temporary place to stay, and it's safe for now," Irving said.

Velos looked at him sharply and said sternly, "We shouldn't be here!" They had other hiding places; they shouldn't be hiding in a place like this.

He immediately became suspicious, his vigilance heightened, but his face returned to calm.

"Oh, wrong one, let's start again." Owen's serious expression instantly brightened as he waved his wand and quickly chanted, "Forget everything!"

Velos's eyes became blank again. He shook his head, glanced at Owen, and reached into his pocket once more.

"You forgot you left your wand in the church? I barely managed to escape with you," Owen said solemnly. "Those people use Apparition Tracking Charms, our hiding place has been exposed, and we have no choice but to stay here for now."

"Is it safe here, Jones?" Veros silently scanned his surroundings.

"It's relatively safe; those people haven't come looking for us." Owen lowered his eyes. "But it's just the two of us left..."

"The dead died for a good cause, and as for those captured, we will rescue them," Veros said without any emotional fluctuation, then frowned. "Why haven't you addressed me?"

"Uh, what's wrong, Veros?" Owen looked at him.

Velos's eyes sharpened in an instant.

"Wrong, let's start over." Owen waved his wand once more.

"Andres...you're wrong, try again!"

"Big brother... no, revert to a previous save!"

"..."

"Captain!" Owen called out, then, seeing the other man's calm expression, he immediately wore a dejected look. "Our mission failed, and we lost so many men..."

Velos gazed intently at him and said slowly, "It's alright, we won't be punished. Now we need to figure out how to get out of here. Lend me your wand for a moment, and I'll take you to my hideout."

Irving tilted his head to look at him, his expression suddenly turning blank: "You've been found out. Let's start over."

As Veros jumped up, he waved his wand again, altering the other's memories.

...Owen shouted angrily, "Our mission failed! I knew those incompetent people's ideas were unreliable!"

Velos waved his hand impatiently, shook his inexplicably dazed head, and said, "Owen Shafik's strength has indeed exceeded my expectations. This was my oversight, and I will apologize to the Chairman. The Chairman, he..."

He stopped mid-sentence, as if an invisible hand had suddenly gripped his throat. His face darkened, and his gaze towards Owen turned icy.

Owen waved his wand with a hint of exasperation, binding him tightly. He rubbed his temples, looking troubled, and said, "I didn't expect the Deathbringer's secrecy magic to be able to identify its members? Hmm, once an outsider infiltrates, members are prohibited from revealing the organization's secrets?"

Velos stared coldly at Owen, his expression unwavering in the slightest.

"Forget everything!" Owen erased the other person's memories once again, gently twirling a strand of hair by his ear with his fingers, pondering what to do next.

He could write a dozen or so scripts for Willows, then gather the other prisoners of the Exiles to act out the scenes. Guided by the scripts, they could eventually obtain the information they wanted. But with Hogwarts about to start, Owen didn't have the time or energy to design such a complicated scheme.

Moreover, given Veros's caution and keen insight, it would have been easy for him to spot problems throughout the process. And he's not a puppet; he won't always follow Irving's script.

In other words, Owen would have to be prepared to rewrite the script a hundred or eighty times to have any chance of obtaining enough information. But in reality, the possibility that Willos has been rendered an idiot by the multiple Oblivion Curses is even greater…

"However, there are other ways." Owen's expression turned icy, and the dark mist in his eyes thickened. "Secrets aren't only discovered when they're spoken. That's when psychology comes in handy."

He glanced down at Veros, who was discreetly surveying his surroundings, seemingly looking for an opportunity to escape. He met Owen's gaze without fear, his eyes calm yet carrying a barely perceptible scrutiny.

This is a person of strong will who is very good at hiding their emotions and intentions. To understand the mind of such a person, one must first break their will.

The simplest and most direct way to break a person's will is...

Irving suddenly curled the corners of his mouth into an elegant and charming smile, but his entire demeanor became extremely dangerous, causing Willows, who was silently observing him, to tense up like a hedgehog with its quills popped out.

"I'm sorry, Veros, but I have to do something extremely rude to you now," Owen said with a slight bow, his tone sincere.

He raised his wand towards Veros and whispered in a soft yet cruel voice, "Crucible!"

Veros looked as if he had been punched hard, his body instantly curling into a ball. His previously composed expression shattered, his features contorted in extreme pain, his eyes darting wildly in their sockets, and he let out a piercing scream.

Owen squinted, listening to the echoing howls around him, a slight smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips. He slowly took out a silver pocket watch, staring blankly at the ticking hands on the dial.

As time passed, Veros's screams gradually grew weaker and weaker, eventually fading into a series of "hoarse" sounds as his body trembled and convulsed unconsciously.

Watching the other person's eyes gradually become empty and lifeless, Owen snapped the pocket watch shut, raised his wand, and ended the torture.

Velos lay exhausted on the ground, staring blankly at the dilapidated roof, as if he had become a cold corpse. The prolonged torment had brought him to the brink of mental collapse; his mind was hazy, and he could no longer concentrate on thinking.

"Veloci, let's talk." Owen's voice was clear and pleasant, like a refreshing spring. "You're from the Extinction Society, right? In fact, I'm not completely ignorant of you, and I know very well what your purpose is."

Upon hearing the name "Death Extermination Society," Veros's numb and empty eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

Owen, who had taken in every subtle expression on Owen's face, smiled more broadly: "I know you, the Death Seekers, are a secret organization that explores the mysteries of death. You seek to transcend death, and your members are spread all over the world... no, your main area of ​​activity is in Europe, with your headquarters in France, England... ah, it should be Greece!"

Seeing a flicker of emotion in Veros's eyes, Owen's lips curled into a smile, his voice becoming even more captivating, as if he were singing a beautiful ballad: "Ten years ago you came to this country and established... no, you were put in charge of managing the Deathbringer's influence here. You've been searching for something..."

He took out a deep blue sapphire and the Book of Secrets from his pocket, held them in his hands, and waved them in front of Velos.

Watching their expression, Owen smiled and put away the book in his right hand, while his left hand toyed with the faintly glowing blue gem. He said with certainty, "You're looking for this gem. You stole it from Zabini's house. It's a key to unlock the treasure..."

"You want that treasure because it can help you uncover the secrets of death..." he said in a soft, almost murmured voice, keenly sensing a hint of confusion in Veros's expression.

"It seems he doesn't know the inside story," Owen thought to himself, and decisively ended the topic.

"Your other mission target is old Craig Garnier. You traced the Garnier family back to where young Craig sold the treasures..." Owen recounted slowly, his deep eyes fixed on the other's face. "Old Craig was once a member of the Deathbringer, but he betrayed us, conspiring with other traitors to steal your important treasures..."

"That should be a..." Owen noticed Willos's unconscious glances at the sapphire and said with certainty, "A gem! There's more than one sapphire like this; together they form the complete key!"

"Because I took this gem from you, and you traced it back to me through the witnesses that day, and you want to take it back from me."

Noticing the unusual expression on the other person's face, Owen suddenly narrowed his eyes: "Not only that, you also want to kill me! Because I discovered your secrets, killed your people... Ah, for some reason you don't know, the leader of the Extinction Society ordered you to kill me!"

"He not only wants to take back the sapphire, but he also wants to kill me!" Owen toyed with the wand in his hand and pursed his lips.

"Although you failed, your leader will not give up. He is Greek, no, he is..." Owen probed and found that Veros did not know much about the leader.

In the following time, he brought up some other topics, and eventually managed to piece together the whole story.

The Death Seekers are a sizable secret society, primarily operating in Europe, with its headquarters in Greece. This organization is dedicated to finding a way to transcend death, attracting many members who join secretly. The organization's leader is extremely mysterious, and few know anything about him.

For years they have been trying to find the keys to unlock a treasure that may hold secrets about death.

Over a decade ago, Craig Garner Sr. betrayed the organization, stole a key, and went to England to live under an assumed name. Last year, due to Craig Sr.'s unexpected death, Craig Jr.'s extravagant spending attracted the attention of the Exiles, which in turn triggered all the subsequent events.

A group of organization members, led by Veros, kidnapped and tortured Kurt and his father, and searched all of Craig Sr.'s properties. Owen's bookstore was innocently dragged into this vortex.

The person who broke into the bookstore last summer trying to recruit Natasha was indeed a member of a small group of thieves. This group was a peripheral organization established by a member of the "Death Chaser" and had no knowledge of the "Death Chaser" organization.

To prevent the bookstore from being blown up, Owen released his Dark Guardians to drive away the intruders and warned those outside who had ill intentions.

This led the members of the Extinction Society to mistakenly believe that the bookstore had been taken over by a mysterious and formidable force. Because they did not place much importance on the bookstore, focusing most of their energy on tracking down Old Craig's accomplices, they temporarily refrained from probing and provoke, only leaving some people outside to gather intelligence and monitor the bookstore's situation.

A year passed, and this summer, the Death Chaser still hadn't caught old Craig's accomplices. They thought of the bookstore; having failed to uncover any trace of the organization behind it all year, Veros personally led a team to infiltrate the bookstore, intending to conduct a clandestine search.

As a result, they were discovered by Natasha and Lupin, kicked out of the bookstore, and Natasha secretly cast a tracking spell on one of Veros's men.

This incident then caught Irving's attention. It must be said that Irving was incredibly bored at the time, and since someone happened to be involved, he happily decided to watch for some entertainment.

Unfortunately, Veros learned by chance that a gem was kept in the Zabini family's possession, and the swift and decisive Veros led his men to steal it without hesitation. By a twist of fate, Owen switched their trunks and stole their most prized possession.

Veros and his team quickly traced it back to Irving and learned of his connection to the bookstore. This coincidence made it impossible for them not to speculate about conspiracy theories.

So they began investigating everything about Owen, spying around outside Shafik Manor. But the historic Shafik Manor was shrouded in countless curses, making it difficult for them to break in and steal as easily as they had broken into Zabini's house.

During this process, perhaps they discovered something special about Owen, perhaps something happened, or perhaps there was some misunderstanding... In any case, the leader of the Extinction Society decided to kill Owen and ordered Veros to kill him.

But Owen always stayed at Shafiq Estate and wouldn't go out. In an attempt to lure him out, Veros led a raid on the bookstore. However, the raid failed because of Owen's carefulness and caution.

It's worth noting that the people who attacked Mr. Shafik that day were not Veros's men, and he didn't know who was behind it. However, it's clear that the two consecutive attacks put the Shafik family on high alert, leading them to strengthen their overt and covert security measures.

Veros wanted to complete his mission before Hogwarts started, because killing Owen would be much more difficult once he returned to the school. To create an opportunity to act and lull the Shafik family into a false sense of security, he altered the memories of several members of the thieves' organization, using them as scapegoats to appease the Aurors, so that the Shafik family would believe the danger had passed.

Then their men lay in ambush in Diagon Alley, the Leaky Cauldron, bookstores, and other places Irving might go, waiting for him to walk right into their trap, right up to this day...

"Being targeted by an organization like this...that's a bit troublesome." Owen mentally reviewed the whole situation and pursed his lips.

"But maybe...it's interesting." He murmured to himself, his eyes slowly darting around in their sockets, a sly smile playing on his lips.

He finished off Veros with a Forgetfulness Charm and a Stunning Charm, intending to hand the guy over to his parents to deal with.

Stepping out of the dark, damp hut, Owen took a deep breath and beckoned the playful cat and bird towards home. (End of Chapter)