Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 70 What immense official power!

"Your name?"

"Alex Wood".

Who do you work for?

"Murphy Darkholm".

"What will you do for him?"

"I help him process the potion ingredients, make the potions for him, and then sell them to Muggles."

"How long have you been doing this kind of thing for him?"

"I...I don't know, I'm not sure..."

"To ask another question, what kind of potions does he sell to Muggles?"

"White, white essence, and... beauty potion..."

"Boss!" The Auror, watching Alex relentlessly spilling secrets, shouted excitedly, "He confessed! He confessed everything!"

"But the testimony of the truth serum won't be believed by Wizengamor..." another Auror said, distressed.

"Then let's not go through Wizengamo!" said the elder Auror. "Let that reporter in, and we'll make his testimony public! That way, everyone will know what Murphy did!"

"That would be too risky. They might say we used torture to extract a confession. We would still have to take him to Wizengamo before we can convict Murphy."

"It'll be too late to bring him to Wizengamot. Once the truth serum wears off, he might recant! We'll get nothing! Nobody heard his current testimony; they could even say it's fabricated! We should let others witness what he says!"

Everyone fell silent, then looked at Kingsley again. "Boss, let's make a decision."

Kingsley hesitated. He was an honest Auror, and if possible, he didn't want to convict someone through underhanded means. He wanted to bring criminals to justice in a fair and square manner.

However, that Auror was right. Wizengamor wouldn't believe testimonies obtained through truth serum, and once the effects wore off, Alex Wood was very likely to recant his testimony again. They couldn't expect him to identify Murphy in court.

Perhaps it's best to let this opportunity pass for now.

Murphy Darkholm is an enemy more cunning than he imagined, and it may take a longer tug-of-war to truly gain leverage over him.

If Scrimgeour were here, he would surely advise him to wait patiently, because enemies driven by greed are always more impatient than Aurors. With enough patience, one can wait for the enemy to reveal their own weakness.

But can he wait that long?

Thinking of Frank, who had lost his memory for more than a month and was still somewhat forgetful, and of the bloodstains all over the floor outside the Basque ward, Kingsley Shackler felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly by a hand.

If we keep waiting, how many more brothers will get hurt?

Who will be the next Auror to be carried into the ward? Garian, Layton, or Lysette?

How will I face their family and children then?

"Boss! We can't stop them anymore! Rita Skeeter is making a scene about exposing our illegal detention, and Chief Crouch is here too!" an Auror reported to Kingsley as he entered.

Kingsley looked at the Auror, and suddenly felt a sense of relief.

Given the circumstances, he had no other choice.

"Let her in."

……

Rita Skeeter, in a menacing manner, shoved aside the Auror who had been blocking her way and strode quickly toward the interrogation room, followed by a photographer.

Murphy and Barty Crouch followed closely behind, both with gloomy expressions.

Rita Skeeter didn't actually know what was going on, but she sensed a news story. She didn't care what actually happened; she just wanted to make a big fuss about it, the bigger the better, so that everyone would see it and her report would seem more valuable.

Upon entering the interrogation room, she saw Alex Wood slumped in a chair.

"Illegal arrest! Torture!" Rita Skeeter immediately became excited. "Quick, take pictures! Quick, take pictures!"

"Wait!" Barty Crouch yelled, "Kingsley! What's going on?"

"Chief Crouch, we've obtained testimony that Murphy Darkholm violated the Wizarding Secrecy Act!" Kingsley said. "Alex Wood, Murphy's assistant, has confessed everything!"

"Oh?!" Barty Crouch felt a sense of relief.

When he heard Rita Skeeter shouting about illegal detention, he was tense. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he found out that Kingsley had arrested Murphy's people. But this was still a very unfavorable accusation against the Aurors. As the Director of the Enforcement Division, he naturally had an obligation to find out the truth.

He had been arguing with Murphy the whole way, and the latter seemed to be trying her best to pin the "illegal arrest" on him, which made him very annoyed.

But when he heard Kingsley say that he had obtained the evidence, Barty Crouch breathed a sigh of relief and even inwardly cheered for Kingsley.

He was a rather ruthless man, and he never hesitated to use unconventional methods when dealing with crime.

If the results prove that Murphy is the criminal and Alex is an accomplice, then what's the big deal about arresting him early? At worst, we can just issue an arrest warrant for Kingsley later.

"What happened? Explain yourself!"

Barty Crouch immediately said that he knew all too well how these media outlets distorted the facts and that he had to give his own people a chance to speak.

"Reporting to the Director, we received intelligence that Alex Wood was manufacturing potions for Murphy Darkholm to sell to Muggles. This is a serious violation of the International Wizarding Secrecy Act. We immediately arrested Alex Wood and just completed the interrogation. He has confessed to his crimes and confirmed Murphy Darkholm's criminal activities."

"Good!" Barty Crouch nodded. "Ms. Rita Skeeter, you heard that. It wasn't an illegal arrest by the Aurors; the evidence against them is irrefutable. We should immediately imprison these two criminals in Azkaban!"

"Oh? As expected of the Director, what a display of official power! You can send people to Azkaban without a trial by Wizengam. Not only can the Aurors make illegal arrests, but now even Wizengam is under your control. From now on, won't you be able to arrest whoever you want, imprison whoever you want, and convict whoever you want?"

Murphy, who hadn't spoken since entering, suddenly spoke up.

"Don't take things out of context!" Barty Crouch snapped. "When did I say there wouldn't be a trial?"

Although the Wisengamo governing body is a subordinate agency of the Legal Enforcement Division, it is only used for administrative tasks such as arranging, convening, and taking minutes of meetings. It cannot directly manage the members of Wisengamo, nor does it have the right to interfere with Wisengamo's resolutions and trials.

Wizengamo is a legislative and judicial body, and its law enforcement and prosecutorial functions must be separated from those of the Auror Office. Otherwise, holding all four powers—legislative, prosecutorial, law enforcement, and judicial—would directly lead to an uncontrollable power monster, where anyone could be declared guilty.

Criticism of the judicial executive's powers has never ceased, and this is the kind of accusation that Barty Crouch dreads most.

During the First Wizarding War, Barty Crouch imprisoned Sirius Black in Azkaban without trial. Although this overstepping of authority was not condemned due to the prevailing public opinion at the time, it actually enhanced his reputation.

But now, seven or eight years have passed since the first Wizarding War. If he dares to do this again, it will surely cause everyone to feel insecure, and he won't be able to hold his position as the head of the Enforcement Division for long.

However, Murphy wasn't going to let him off the hook. "Using truth serum on people you suspect—is this your way of conducting trials?"

(End of this chapter)