The world below woke into confusion.
It didn't happen with thunder, screams, or explosions.
It happened quietly.
One vault missing.
Then another.
Then another.
Until panic spread like fire through dry fields.
MINISTRY LONDON
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was first to report irregularities.
A junior Auror entered the Minister's office pale and shaking, holding a trembling folder.
"Sir… we have a problem."
The Minister didn't look up at first.
"We always have problems," he muttered.
"No, sir," the Auror whispered.
"Not a problem. A… disappearance."
Now the Minister looked.
"Missing artifact?"
"No, sir. Missing vault."
Silence.
Then
"…What?"
The Auror swallowed.
"The entire Knockturn Alley sub-level is empty. Every dark artifact, every sealed volume, every cursed relic. Gone."
The Minister stood so fast his chair tipped.
"What do you mean gone? Stolen? Destroyed?"
"No signs of fire, magic, or entry. Doors are untouched. Wards never triggered. Nothing was broken."
"Then how?"
The Auror's voice cracked:
"It's as if it was… removed without touching anything."
HOGWARTS SCOTLAND
In the castle's restricted section, Madam Pince trembled as she unlocked a barred cage only to find rows of empty space where tomes should be.
Books chained shut for centuries were simply… gone.
No wards broken.
No sound.
No warning.
Albus Dumbledore arrived moments later, his face calm too calm.
"How many?" he asked quietly.
"Thirty-six volumes," Pince whispered.
"And a vault of runes from the Founders themselves."
Dumbledore laid a hand on the empty shelf.
No residue.
No spell signature.
But something was missing.
Something fundamental.
"Someone," he murmured, "has taken knowledge no one should have."
Professor McGonagall appeared in the doorway, breath sharp.
"Albus rumors are spreading. The goblins are panicking. Several private collections vanished overnight."
His eyes narrowed thoughtful, not afraid.
"This is coordinated."
EASTERN EUROPE UNKNOWN RUINS
A group of masked dark wizards gathered in an underground hall.
Or rather they should have.
Instead there were ropes, empty ritual circles, and petrified silence.
No bodies.
No footprints.
Just absence.
Not death.
Not destruction.
Extraction.
One wizard sank to his knees, whispering:
"This is no wizard's doing… no spell… no curse…"
Another whispered:
"Then what?"
A trembling voice answered:
"…A predator we cannot sense."
MINISTRY EMERGENCY SESSION
The Wizengamot chamber buzzed with chaos.
Voices shouted:
"An attack!"
"Impossible!"
"No magical trace means it's internal!"
"No this is foreign magic!"
Someone finally screamed the question everyone feared:
"Is this a war?"
Silence fell.
No one had an answer.
ABOVE EARTH THE OBSERVER
Zack watched through the ship's sensor feeds.
He saw:
fear
confusion
attempts to explain the impossible
leaders clinging to logic that no longer applied
The magical world lacked language for what happened.
Not vanishing.
Not teleportation.
Not theft.
Extraction without detection.
A concept outside magic.
A concept belonging to science.
Zack did not smile.
He simply recorded.
> DATA: Magical society assumes all threats require magical detection.
Outcome: Incorrect.
Status: Advantage maintained.
For the first time since his awakening, the world reacted.
But reacted blindly.
Zack whispered calm, analytical, almost gentle:
"…You're not under attack."
A pause.
"You're under study."
Below, governments debated war.
Above, Zack processed.
Knowledge was step one.
Understanding came next.
But what followed after that
would change the world forever.