With a "pop," Lupin and Sirius suddenly appeared in a barren forest.
The ground, originally covered in thick snow, had been trampled into irregular footprints. Some of the footprints disappeared abruptly while walking, just as their own footprints appeared out of nowhere.
"This should be the place," Sirius looked around and said, "I came here with James once before."
"Hmm, let's take a look." Lupin tugged at his scarf and said with a grim expression.
They walked forward through the snow, and at the end of their vision, a manor appeared. High walls stretched endlessly, almost surrounding an entire hill.
A wandering man who was strolling nearby saw them and immediately became alert, and walked toward them. One of his hands stayed in his pocket, and the wrinkles in his clothes vaguely revealed the outline of a long wand.
Before he could speak, Sirius pulled out a piece of parchment and waved it. Dark green, cursive writing gradually appeared on the parchment.
The man's expression immediately relaxed. He took the parchment and glanced at it.
"The British Ministry of Magic?" The man's English had a heavy Austrian accent, and his voice sounded rough. He said, "I've seen quite a few of you today… Is Dumbledore coming?"
"I don't know," Sirius said expressionlessly. "Dumbledore has his own arrangements."
"Of course, of course… after all, it's Dumbledore..."
The man muttered, handing the parchment back to Sirius. "Go on in, but don't expect to find much. Just some poor Muggles."
"Have any Muggles discovered anything here?" Sirius asked as he tucked the parchment into his pocket.
"What do you think? They're like cockroaches, living everywhere. The first to arrive at the scene was a Muggle."
The man yawned tiredly and said, "Luckily, there's a wizard living nearby. He intercepted the Muggle before he could call the police. We've done our best to Obliviate all the Muggles who saw this place, but... who knows?"
He shrugged helplessly. "I've heard Muggle networks are pretty advanced now. Whether the news got out, no one can say for sure."
Sirius thanked him, and he and Lupin walked toward the manor.
Behind them, the man continued to walk back and forth, ready to drive away any Muggles who accidentally wandered in.
After they had walked some distance, Lupin asked, "The Austrian Ministry of Magic?"
"Yes," Sirius replied.
"You know, they share jurisdiction over Nurmengard with the German Ministry. Since Grindelwald escaped from prison, both sides have barely had a rest, and the situation is extremely tense.
If it weren't for Kingsley helping me get this letter, I wouldn't be able to bring you in today."
Lupin furrowed his brow as he looked at the expanding manor in front of them, along with the foreign wizards busy nearby.
The five places Grindelwald attacked were actually all outside of the UK. Two were private islands in the sea, and the other three were located in the United States, France, and Italy.
This manor is located within Italy, near the border between Germany and Austria.
Italian wizards are notoriously laid-back and prone to procrastination, with extremely low work efficiency, especially when the instigator of this attack is the terrifying Dark Lord himself.
The Italian Ministry of Magic prefers to avoid getting involved. Under the guise of this being an "international incident," they pulled in the German and Austrian Ministries of Magic and extended a cordial invitation for the British Ministry of Magic to assist, while they themselves hid in the background and refrained from stepping forward.
Therefore, Lupin could barely see any Italian wizards at this location. The area was filled with German and Austrian wizards, and both sides communicated in German, which Lupin could only partially understand.
He didn't interject hastily; he just listened silently, observing, while his mind recalled the information he had received before setting out—
…
"To be honest with you, Professor Dumbledore,"
The head of SMC said with a pained expression, finally unable to withstand the pressure. He whispered, "The design of the Streaming mirror includes three layers of encryption. Even with identical linked charms, it... it is nearly impossible to hijack our signal."
"The only one who could pull this off, apart from Aslan Magic Workshop's laboratory, is Wade Grey... but the alchemy lab isn't the culprit. Everyone's been working overtime on the communication pea project lately..."
"Moreover, each alchemist at the lab only masters part of the technique. To achieve this level, at least three people would need to collaborate, and even then, it would only be a possibility. Just because it's possible doesn't mean it can be cracked."
The director seemed to believe that Wade Grey, despite his youth, had become an accomplice to Grindelwald.
He was both sorrowful and incredulous, worried that the Alliance would soon acquire various magical items—especially the method for crafting the Streaming mirrors, which would disrupt their business. His expression was extremely complicated.
"In fact, a week ago, Wade Grey went missing while he was out," Dumbledore said, furrowing his brows. "I've always suspected that it was Grindelwald behind this. It seems... it really was him."
…
After hearing the news, Sirius had privately reassured him:
"This isn't your fault, Moony, at least not entirely."
"Grindelwald did this himself—who could stop him? Even if he didn't succeed at the time, could you have kept the kids locked in the house? If they decided to take someone, you couldn't have stopped them."
"I'm just glad you didn't notice anything unusual at the time. Otherwise, I might have lost another friend by now, Moony."
After the signal hijacking incident, Sirius had also said:
"...The Ministries of Magic of all countries are overwhelmed, but I think this is a good thing... at least it proves that Wade is uniquely valuable to that person. For now, he's not in danger."
"He's a smart kid, Remus. Believe in Wade... he'll hold on until we can rescue him."
Lupin knew that Sirius was trying to help him escape his feelings of guilt, but he couldn't even manage to fake a reassuring expression.
His pain wasn't just from his own negligence, but also from the worry... that when they finally had a way to rescue Wade, Wade might choose the other side instead.
Unlike Sirius, who was always busy and carefree, Lupin had spent more time with Wade and communicated with him more frequently. He had already sensed, faintly, that Wade had certain thoughts...
Unlike Harry, who is naturally kind and somewhat naive, Wade seems to have been born with a habit of looking at problems from a higher perspective, and he is... more detached.
Look at the scenes in the video, where blood and fire intertwine! Compared to the Ministry of Magic, there is no doubt that Wade would be more aligned with Grindelwald's methods—this was Lupin's first reaction when he saw the video.
Punishing the wicked, eliminating evil, making decisive and ruthless choices—this modern-day Robin Hood approach undoubtedly has a strong appeal to young people.
Lupin worried that the boy might be unwilling to come back, and he was even more concerned that Wade might do... something in the Alliance, losing his place here.
The only thing worth being thankful for is that Wade is not entirely without attachments here. He has parents, teachers, and close friends—these emotional ties will hold him back and stop him from falling into darkness.
…
The hijacking of the Streaming mirror signal didn't end after just one incident, but kept reappearing at regular intervals. It arrogantly interrupted the current programming, repeatedly broadcasting a few seconds of video to promote the recent actions of the Alliance.
They even learned not to interrupt during exciting moments of the show, but instead to take over the brief few seconds at the beginning or end of the program, or during the advertisement time played by Aslan.
Now, wizards around the world who had Streaming mirrors were receiving almost the same signals. Aside from news from their own Ministries of Magic, they were all watching the exact same program, and the Alliance and Grindelwald quickly became a topic of discussion throughout the wizarding world.
The criticisms and resistance weren't as numerous as Lupin had originally thought.
Unlike the fearful and anxious attitude of wizards from neighboring countries, most of the wizards who were far away and felt that Grindelwald's resurgence didn't pose a direct threat to them actually welcomed his return.
Lupin had met many wizards from other countries through his work, and exchanging contact information was considered basic etiquette. The wizards who had sent him messages said:
"It was about time!"
"Did you see those poor kids? I really can't believe that there are still people in the world who can treat kids so cruelly!"
"Muggles have taken over our land, defiled our image, and even the air we breathe has been polluted! I really hope someone will punish them!"
"I understand your point, Remus, but the ones he killed were the ones who deserved it, weren't they?"
"Stay safe, my friend. Even if you join the Alliance, I won't say anything… I think they have a very charismatic leader."
…
A leader?
The leader who kidnaps underage children?
Lupin's anger surged, but he had no way to release it.
Grindelwald's frequent attacks on Muggle forces would normally provoke the entire Ministry of Magic's hostility, but their goal was to eradicate the evil forces that coveted magical power and to rescue the children who were victims.
This was different from indiscriminate attacks, and it gained the understanding and support of most people.
What was even more shocking was that this person was treading dangerously close to the line that would break the International Statute of Secrecy but hadn't fully crossed it yet.
Using magic in front of large numbers of Muggles, publicly attacking Muggles with magic—these were unforgivable crimes in the wizarding world.
But the Muggles who were attacked already knew of the existence of magic, and afterward, they were either dead or unable to act freely as victims.
The Ministry of Magic, upon arriving later, could calmly use the Obliviate charm to control the situation, preventing magic from being truly exposed to Muggles.
After every attack, the Alliance would launch a large firework into the sky. Even if Muggles saw it, they wouldn't think, "This is magic," but wizards living nearby would immediately recognize it. The Ministry of Magic could quickly arrive to investigate.
This controlled the speed of the event's spread, preventing overly alarmed Muggles from taking pictures of the scene and putting it on TV or in newspapers, which would have turned into an uncontrollable large-scale leak of magical secrets.
That person had been in prison for fifty years, yet not only had he not become a rigid, old fool, but he had also become more cunning and elusive.
From Dumbledore's increasingly busy figure, Lupin could tell— even Dumbledore now found Grindelwald more troublesome than before.
…
"The British Ministry of Magic's Sirius Black and Remus Lupin?" A red-bearded German wizard looked at the certificate in Sirius's hand again and said in broken English, "Your people are over there."
He pointed, and Lupin looked over to see a few British wizards walking out accompanied by two others.
Among the British wizards, the leader was a man in his fifties. His short gray hair was neatly combed, his dark blue-black wizard's robe showed not a single wrinkle, his posture was straight, and his expression was serious.
He spoke fluently in German to those around him, while the nearby Austrian short, chubby wizard wore an expression of clear respect.
"It's Barty Crouch," Sirius said with a complicated expression.
Barty Crouch had once been the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He had used harsh and cold methods to deal with Death Eaters and had openly opposed Voldemort. He had once been someone Sirius admired.
But it was also Barty Crouch who had thrown Sirius into Azkaban without trial.
—Although this was something Sirius had brought upon himself, and he didn't hold Crouch personally responsible, it had severely damaged Barty Crouch's reputation. Countless people publicly criticized his once-praised actions, and his son, Barty Crouch Jr., who was a true Death Eater, had been dragged back into the spotlight.
Since then, whenever the two met again, there was always some awkwardness.
The last time they had run into each other at the Ministry of Magic was more than a month ago. Now, Sirius noticed that, compared to before, Barty Crouch appeared to have aged quite a bit. It was clear that he had been going through a tough time lately.
Sirius hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided that business was more important. The two walked toward the group.
They heard Barty Crouch speaking seriously: "…Please understand, Franz, St. Mungo's is under a lot of pressure right now, and they've had to place patients in the hallways…"
"Yes, yes, we understand," the short, chubby wizard said with a pained expression.
"But there are just so many casualties this time, and most of them are Muggles… Our hospital really can't cope. If we leave them unattended, it's like letting them die. There are also some children from England and Northern Ireland…"
Barty Crouch paused, then saw Sirius. He froze for a moment, then gave a small, expressionless nod.
"Here's the plan…" Crouch said to the chubby wizard. "Patients born on the British Isles can be sent to St. Mungo's. Apart from that, we can take an additional twenty patients…"
"Fifty… can you take fifty?" the chubby wizard begged. "St. Mungo's healers are the best in Europe; they might be the only ones who can save those poor children…"
"What's going on?" Sirius pulled aside an Auror he knew and asked.
"It's the victims they rescued. Most of them have had magical creatures' blood infused into them, and there have been… some… unexplainable mutations."
The Auror said sympathetically but helplessly: "Muggle hospitals can't treat them at all. Even St. Mungo's might… Sigh, honestly, dying might be the better option."
Seeing that the others ahead were too busy to pay attention to them, Sirius took the opportunity to pull the Auror aside and whispered, "Tell me about your investigation results…"
Meanwhile, Lupin quietly separated from them and moved deeper into the manor.
He held his wand and passed through two rounds of security checks, but no one questioned him anymore.
Lupin repeatedly cast detection spells, trying to pick up any familiar magical traces from the buildings that had been scorched by flames, or perhaps find any information left behind by Wade.
But there was nothing, nothing at all.
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +235 Chapters
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