Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 54 Photochemical Camouflage

Murphy Apparated to a house in Kent and found the security fieldman named Schmidt Gibson.

The latter was somewhat surprised by his swift arrival, but didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he said, "Sorry, boss, the other party was very fast and their methods were unbelievable. By the time we found them, they had already left."

As he spoke, he switched the main TV to a video recorder and rewound a while, saying, "Look at this."

The television screen showed a scene of a warehouse, with a camera pointing directly at the warehouse gate. The time displayed was 22:06 PM.

The nighttime shot, seemingly frozen in time, continued for a while. Suddenly, the warehouse door lock came off by itself, the door opened a small crack, and then closed again.

Strangely, no human figures were visible in the footage.

Schmidt then switched the scene to the warehouse, which was still empty, but suddenly a box was opened, and a bottle of liquid was taken out and placed aside. Then, with a "snap," as if the flash of an old-fashioned camera suddenly went off, some white smoke came out.

But the camera still didn't capture anyone.

Murphy frowned. "Is there infrared video? I remember you guys installed infrared cameras, right?"

"have."

Schmidt switched to another video recorder, rewinding the footage to show the warehouse entrance again. This time, the image was a pale green, a result of the enhanced brightness from an active infrared emitter.

This time, they saw the guy who opened the warehouse door.

It was a stealthy figure, but the outline of his body remained unclear, like a chameleon blending into the night. Only when his movements were larger could parts of his body outline be discerned from the discordant parts of the image.

Inside the warehouse, the lighting was even dimmer, and the camera's performance was even worse. Only in the afterglow of the flash of the camera could one make out the person's overall appearance.

It was a man, wearing a long robe.

wizard.

"Did the thermal imager leave any records?" Murphy asked.

In addition to ordinary infrared cameras, Murphy also spent a lot of money to purchase an infrared thermal imager in the warehouse, just to guard against the wizards' illusion spells.

"I'll give it a try." Schmidt switched the TV signal to another device.

The television displayed a choppy screen that resembled a comic strip.

After all, thermal imaging technology was not mature enough at that time. The instrument that Murphy bought was not only extremely expensive, but also limited by hardware computing power, so it could only maintain a shooting rate of one frame per second.

However, this was enough for them to see the person's movements clearly.

After entering the warehouse, he rummaged around for a while, then began searching for something. He found the box, took out several bottles of medicine, and then took pictures with an old-fashioned camera.

After doing all this, he restored the scene to its original state, and finally took out a wooden stick and waved it before leaving the warehouse.

From the calm and skillful methods the other party used, Murphy knew that this time the person who came was definitely not an amateur like Papad from last time. This was a veteran who was good at disguise, stealth and intelligence gathering.

In the magical world, only Aurors possess this ability.

You're pretty quick, old lion.

"Boss, what kind of technology is this? Ordinary cameras can't capture any images at all. Did you anticipate this happening?"

"See that cloak he's wearing? That's photochemical camouflage, a military technology still in the experimental stage," Murphy made up. "Go find a few people to collect fingerprints from the warehouse."

"Okay, do you need me to contact some people to compare those fingerprints?" Schmidt asked.

These security companies have some cooperation with the police and intelligence agencies, so it's not difficult for them to use their systems to find out someone's identity.

"No need." Murphy shook his head, took out a stack of documents, and said, "Let the fingerprint experts look through these."

It's unlikely that an Auror's fingerprint information can be matched in the Muggle system, but the stack of documents in his hand contains information about the wizards and apothecaries he recruited.

Yes, he suspected that the person who infiltrated this time was likely an inside man.

Murphy bought this warehouse specifically to store the Beauty Potion.

After the apothecaries finished making the beautiful potions, a clerk from the Potions Master would store them in another warehouse nearby, and then several Muggle workers would move them from there to this warehouse every day.

This location has undergone two or three security measures and is very difficult to find using ordinary intelligence gathering methods.

It's highly likely that an Auror has infiltrated the store.

Sure enough, the experts quickly identified one of them using fingerprints.

Hammood Abram is a pharmacist of Central Asian descent.

Murphy remembered him as a taciturn, short wizard who had graduated from Hogwarts three years prior. He was said to come from a poor family, but he had a talent for potions and his beauty potions were usually of the highest quality.

However, Murphy couldn't be sure if he was the Auror spy.

The compound decoction is so potent that it can perfectly mimic the fingerprints of the target during its effect. Perhaps he was just an unlucky guy who was replaced by the Auror using the compound decoction.

But in either case, Murphy's task remains the same.

The next morning, he met Hammold at the Supreme Potion Shop.

After the shop assistant made up some excuse to call Hammold into a room alone, Murphy was already waiting there.

As soon as Hammold entered, he seemed to sense something was wrong and tried to reach for his wand, but Murphy was already prepared and reacted even faster than him.

"They'll all be petrified!"

"Capture the spirit, grasp the mind!"

Hammold's reaction made Murphy highly suspicious that he was an Auror, and without hesitation, he used Legilimency to obtain some information.

To his surprise, the spell received no response.

"Obestomy?"

There's no doubt now, the other party must be an Auror.

Who among ordinary people practices brain-blocking techniques?

However, do you think you can keep the secret by using Occupy Central?

Murphy tapped the other man's head with his wand, dispelling the petrification spell, then pried open his mouth, preparing to force-feed him some truth serum.

The latter shouted, "Murphy Darkholm! You have openly attacked an Auror! My colleagues are on their way to support you! Let me go! You're under arrest!"

"Oh? There's backup?"

Murphy was a little disappointed; it seemed there wasn't enough time to extract any information.

"Thank you for reminding me, then sweet dreams, Mr. Hammold."

"Forget everything, and all is emptiness!"

……

When the Aurors arrived at the Potion Master, Murphy had already left.

They eventually found their colleague by a sewer in Knockdown Alley, who had forgotten everything from the past month or so.

They then went to the residence of Hamud Abrams, who had been using it as a cover, but it had been burned to the ground, and whatever evidence he had found was now gone.

(End of this chapter)