Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 311 Fishing

Soon, several more Aurors came and searched them, forcing them to change all their clothes, shoes, socks, and other items to prevent them from hiding wands, potions, or invisible stretch bags.

Then, some of their hair was plucked from each person's head. Fortunately, the Aurors didn't do anything more outrageous. They simply made them change into the clothes provided by the other party, assigned each person a room, and explained what time meals would be served before leaving.

So they were left out for two days. During these two days, their movements were not restricted too much. Apart from not being able to leave the courtyard, they could move around freely and talk as they pleased, and no one cared about them.

Three meals a day automatically appear on the table, and disappear automatically after they are eaten. The room is always spotless, and even the toilet is always sparkling clean.

Occasionally, they would catch a glimpse of a house-elf, but the creature seemed to try its best to avoid being in their sight, always quietly doing its work and disappearing without a trace.

Although no one stopped them, no one wanted to chat these past two days; everyone was so frustrated by their own stupidity that they became withdrawn.

The most talkative of all is the goblin Brin. On average, he curses "the despicable English wizard" every five minutes, curses a foolish companion every fifteen minutes, laments the injustice of his fate every half hour, and shouts every two hours.

However, after most of the day, he was too exhausted and could only groan angrily.

Two days later, their residence welcomed its first guest, who was also the subject of their investigation: Murphy Darkholm.

"Let us out! You despicable human!" the fairy Brin yelled as soon as she saw Murphy.

The latter glanced at him, and immediately two burly men rushed out from behind Murphy. One grabbed the fairy, and the other slapped him hard across the face twenty times in a row, until the fairy's nose was crooked.

Then Brin burst into tears.

But as soon as he made a sound, the slaps came again, this time thirty times.

The fairy's nose broke.

His nose was bleeding profusely, several of his sharp teeth fell out, and the rest left his mouth full of bloody gashes, but he didn't dare to utter a sound.

Murphy remained expressionless. The two burly men brought out a stool for everyone. One wizard tried to sit down, but as soon as his bottom touched the stool, he saw Murphy's expression and jumped up again.

"Please sit down," Murphy said calmly.

Everyone sat down, except Mary, who stood.

As the burly man was about to step forward, Murphy waved his hand. "You are all investigators sent by the Wizarding Federation. You were sent here because you suspect me of violating the Wizarding Secrecy Act."

"We have no doubt that you have violated the secrecy law!" Mary said.

"Oh?" Murphy glanced at her, then looked at the others. "Is that what you all think?"

"No, I don't know!" shouted a dark-skinned man who appeared to be of Indian descent. "How can she draw such a conclusion without any investigation! I don't believe her!"

Murphy nodded approvingly. "I enjoy dealing with reasonable people."

"However, I've come here to ask you all a question," Murphy said. "What is the fundamental reason why the Wizarding Secrecy Act cannot be violated?"

……

A few minutes later, Murphy left, having asked a question while simultaneously using Legilimency without a wand.

But no one knew the reason; they were just following orders.

Let them stay locked up for now.

Anyway, there are already "investigators" working outside.

……

Yes, during the days Mary and the others were detained, the "investigators" were actually working the whole time.

They frequented Gringotts, the Ministry of Magic, and various shops in Diagon Alley, interfering in every matter.

"Why are there only these few goblins working at Gringotts now? Where have all the other goblins gone? Did you fire them because of racial hatred? Why haven't we seen any female wizards? Is this suspected of gender discrimination? What are the salaries for each department? Why are Hogwarts graduates paid more? Is it because of nepotism? I suspect there is discrimination involved. You'd better write a detailed report explaining the situation, I hope it's no less than ten parchments. And start making changes now."

"Oh, right, the secrecy law. What do you think about Muggles exchanging Galleons? What's the limit? How do you plan to verify the identity of those applying for the exchange? How do you confirm if they are really students' parents? What if a dark wizard wants to launder money? It seems you have no contingency plan. This shows a lack of secrecy thinking, a lazy approach to the secrecy law, treating it as a mere formality, and being reluctant to implement it."

"What does this department do? Oh, prohibit the misuse of Muggle items? What does 'misuse' mean? How do you define Muggle items? Do toothbrushes count? What about Muggle clothing? Are you only referring to electrical appliances? Then do telephones count? No? Why do televisions count? What's the logic behind this? Okay, the logic is unclear, the boundaries of power are blurred, and there is a risk of abuse of power."

"What are you selling? I know, but I still need you to answer. Okay, the trade of magical creatures. How can you guarantee that these magical creatures won't be seen by Muggles? No guarantee? That's a violation of the security law… I suggest you turn yourself in…"

"You're selling wizard costumes. Have you considered what Muggles will think when they see people wearing these clothes? Oh, you didn't think about how much the risk of wizards being exposed increases. You're also selling wizard hats? Okay, the risk of wizards being exposed increases dramatically. Alright, I suggest you turn yourself in."

……

"What evidence do you have to offer?" In a corner of a dark tavern, two wizards sat facing each other, one of them asking in a low voice.

“I have testimony,” another man said. “We were all persecuted. We were fired simply because we didn’t want to suck up to Murphy! Oh yes, we participated in the crackdown on the fairies. If you ask me, it was a massacre. The international community will like that. A dozen of us signed it; it’s strong enough evidence. But you have to promise to get us out of here. To America, France, Spain, whatever. We can’t exchange foreign currency, so you have to give us some money…”

"Okay, don't worry, the Union won't forget you. Give me your testimony."

……

"My son has been imprisoned in Azkaban by him!" a witch exclaimed. "A completely fabricated charge! He says he embezzled money from the Ministry of Magic, but it's only a few hundred Galleons! We're so wealthy, do we need a few hundred Galleons?! He's just eliminating dissidents! Many of our families are unhappy with him! Can the Federation help us?"

"Yes, of course! We have President Dumbledore!" the wizard on the other side assured him.

"Great! I have a list here. You can contact them. Everyone has been fed up with Darkholm for a long time."

……

White Weasel Mountain.

Barty Crouch handed Murphy a list. "This is verified. As soon as they heard they were investigators from the Federation, they all jumped out on their own. Some of them have something in their hands, or they're planning to unite and rebel. Although they won't amount to much, they're still a problem."

Murphy glanced at it casually; there were a dozen or so names on it. "Go ahead and grab them."

Those investigators have other uses, but since they're just sitting around doing nothing, they might as well use them for fishing.

Sure enough, these silly fish took the bait as soon as they saw it.

"By the way, someone else said Kingsley contacted them. Should we send someone to keep an eye on Kingsley?" Buddy asked.

Murphy shook his head. "Someone's already watching. That guy came with the President of the United States."

The Ministry of Magic is currently under investigation by the Federation, and things are also unsettled in Muggle society, seemingly due to dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of their pressure on Britain. The President of the United States has also arrived in Britain for a state visit and just got off the plane yesterday.

Kingsley, surprisingly, came along as a bodyguard.

The reason they are bodyguards, rather than higher positions like secretaries, is probably because the relationship between the U.S. Ministry of Magic and Muggles is rather tense, and they generally have very little interaction with Muggle society.

When the President of the United States came over at this time, Murphy naturally had to pay attention. As soon as he did, the Aurors discovered through their magic detectors that a wizard had infiltrated the bodyguard team, and then they found out that it was Kingsley.

Although he had changed into a Muggle's appearance, the magic detector wouldn't lie.

Perhaps he is already considered one of the best at hiding himself among the Aurors.

Unfortunately, times have changed.

The old technology is no longer effective.

(End of this chapter)