Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 224 Department of Mysteries

On the desolate streets, there were only a few shabby-looking offices, a tavern and a dump truck that was almost overflowing.

The situation at this moment was chaotic. Many people were crowded in front of a red phone booth, and many voices sounded at the same time.

"Sorry, Dumbledore, I'm late. Muggle trams are really annoying."

"It's okay, Molly Arthur is already waiting for us at the ministry, right?"

"He's already here, but can I ask why? Why did you call Ron and Percy too? Did they do something wrong?"

"not at all--"

"Let me tell you, did you see the cage in my hand? There is something wrong with their pet Banban, a big problem."

"Banban? Professor, why is Banban here? I remember it was in school."

"I have to remind you, Mr. Weasley, that you should remain vigilant even when you are sleeping - well, even if it is Article 17 of the Archaeological Code."

"Article 17? Why do I remember it's Article 6? This is different from what you talked about last semester."

"Oh, what's the importance of this - Mom, my chairman's badge is missing. Could it be that I lost it? This is my first time coming to the Ministry of Magic. I must leave a good impression. I might come back to the Ministry of Magic in the future.

What about this job?"

"Don't worry, my dear, think about it again-"

"Don't think about it. I saw Fred and George playing with their badges yesterday. I don't even know what has become of them now."

"How dare they! Unforgivable! Huh? Is that Professor Angela?"

"Yes, it's her."

Toby stepped forward and asked Angela with his eyes. After receiving a satisfactory answer, he turned around and said, "She is here to be a witness just like you."

Percy immediately showed off that he had become the boy president of the student union, Ron greeted him in a panic, and Mrs. Weasley shook hands with Angela, marveling at the other's beauty.

"A wizard can actually grow like this." She said in disbelief.

"You're not the first person to praise her like this." Toby grabbed Angela's arm and said, "It's time to go in. It doesn't look like a big place. Why do we have to use this way to get to the Ministry of Magic? No way.

Use floo powder?"

Dumbledore said gently: "Obviously, Fudge is very dissatisfied with our arrival, so he made this arrangement."

A group of them got into the phone booth. Percy and Ron had to cling to the door. Dumbledore stood in front of the crooked phone and picked up the phone.

After dialing a series of numbers, the dial whirred back to its original position, and a woman's indifferent voice sounded in the phone booth, but the voice did not come from the phone. It was loud and clear, like a watcher.

The missing woman was standing beside them.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and your business."

"Albus Dumbledore, Tobey Highmore, Angela, Molly Weasley, Ron Weasley, and Percy Weasley."

Dumbledore said the names of several people in a steady tone, without missing any one. His voice had the power to calm people down. Both Percy and Ron became much more honest, and the uneasiness in Molly's eyes also disappeared.

A lot.

"We are here for a case that was not properly resolved many years ago, so we are coming to the ministry for trial today. I hope you have been notified in advance."

"Thank you," the woman said in a cold voice, "Guest, please pick up the badge and pin it in front of your clothes."

Ding Lingling, clatter, something slipped out of the metal chute usually used to withdraw coins - it was a pile of badges. Percy frowned and stared at his name on it, followed by the word "Trial"

.

"The first time I came to the Ministry of Magic was as a suspect." He muttered quietly, "There's no better way to start."

Dumbledore just smiled gently, and Toby glanced at Percy.

"That's not what I meant, Professor." Percy immediately apologized in a low voice: "Of course I am willing to help you and the principal, but I am not sure why I am here. Scabbers is obviously fine, before Ron wants to leave.

I’ve been raising them for a long time.”

"I'm not leaving." The person who whispered became Ron: "You obviously gave it to me because you didn't want it."

Mrs. Weasley gave Ron a hard look, causing him to lower his head immediately.

At this time, Toby suddenly asked: "Do you want to be the Minister of Magic?"

Percy's eyes widened: "What?"

"Maybe it's not impossible -"

"Ahem!"

Dumbledore coughed twice suddenly, and glared at Toby like Mrs. Weasley, warning him not to cause trouble before the trial, as they would have a lot of battle to fight later.

"Okay then." Toby showed a kind smile, and he put his arm around Percy's shoulders affectionately, with such strength that people couldn't break away.

"By the way, Mr. Weasley, you are not an admirer of pure-blood supremacy, are you?"

"What?!"

Fortunately, another voice interrupted the ambitious thoughts, and the indifferent woman said: "Visitors from the Ministry of Magic, you need to be inspected at the security checkpoint and register your wand. The security checkpoint is located at the end of the main hall."

The ground of the phone booth suddenly trembled. They slowly sank into the ground. The sidewalk outside the glass window of the phone booth rose higher and higher, and finally there was darkness above their heads. They could see nothing and could only hear the monotonous sound of the phone booth sinking into the ground.

There was a harsh friction sound until a thin golden light shone on their feet, and then the golden light gradually widened, making the person unable to open their eyes.

Toby slowly took off his sunglasses with half-moon lenses, put them back in his pocket and put them away.

He looked at the large number of wizards guarding the underground door. They were all dressed in neat uniforms and looked very energetic, with unprecedented vigilance in their eyes.

"What a grand welcome ceremony." Toby leaned next to Dumbledore and whispered: "It seems that the title of the White Devil has been confirmed. Maybe we should take this opportunity to try the quality of the Ministry of Magic. Anyway, Moody is a legend.

The Auror has retired."

"But his disciples are still there." Dumbledore said calmly: "But you are right about one thing. I am afraid that in Fudge's eyes, I am really on par with the Dark Lord."

"The Ministry of Magic hopes you have a nice day today." The woman's voice sounded, and the door to the phone booth swung open.

"It will definitely be very pleasant." Toby greeted the others and walked out of the phone booth, following the principal.

At this time, Dumbledore had already met an Auror in front of him. The man looked like a living old lion. His dark brown hair and thick eyebrows were mixed with wisps of gray. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses,

He has a pair of sharp yellow eyes, and although his legs are a bit lame, he walks with a graceful stride, making people immediately feel that he is a sharp and tough guy.

"Rufus Scrimgeour." The man introduced his name and position: "Director of the Auror Office, they are all my subordinates. On behalf of all the staff of the Ministry of Magic, I would like to welcome the arrival of the greatest white wizard in the world."

From this sentence alone, Toby could tell that this man was at odds with Dumbledore. It seemed that Fudge had done his homework in advance and spent a lot of effort preparing for this trial.

But the punch only hit the cotton softly. Dumbledore nodded calmly and continued walking into the hall.

Scrimgeour stepped aside and sent a few of his men to follow Dumbledore, staring at his back for a while, and then walked towards Toby.

"Who is Angela, the vice-principal of Wagadu?"

He asked, staring directly at Toby, looking him up and down, turning a blind eye to Angela herself standing aside.

Toby turned his head indifferently and waved for the people behind him to follow. Mrs. Weasley quickly hugged Arthur who was standing behind the Auror tightly. Ron and Percy looked around uneasily.

"Sorry, dear." Arthur said apologetically: "I only got the news this morning. They didn't allow me to inform you in advance that someone will come to greet you - if this can be regarded as a greeting."

"What's going on?" Molly asked in a low voice. She saw the Aurors vaguely surrounding Toby: "Are those people going to attack Haimer?"

"Probably not." Arthur whispered: "They don't dare to mess around in the hall, at least they have to give Dumbledore face."

At the same time, Toby had a vague confrontation with this guy named Scrimgeour.

"Tonks." Scrimgeour suddenly called someone's name, and a pink-haired lady among the Aurors looked up at him.

"Go and take good care of our guests from afar."

Tonks' temperament was obviously more out-of-the-box. She didn't seem to expect that this task would fall on her. She walked towards Angela excitedly. Toby also heard the other party ask curiously: "Your hair color is really bad."

It looks good. How do you take care of it? Oh, by the way, do you speak English?"

"Of course." Angela responded cheerfully: "This is all because of the shampoo that Toby usually sends me. It's so easy to use - oh, you -"

She watched as Tonks' hair changed to the same color as hers in the blink of an eye.

"Disguisemagus." Tonks said proudly: "I was born with a talent that I could master when I was just born."

"It's amazing." Angela exclaimed. She glanced at Toby, and after the other party signaled, she and Toby walked away laughing.

Only then did Toby hear Scrimgeour say to himself: "I heard that you cured the Longbottoms' illness? I just met them not long ago. How did you do it?"

Toby walked slowly in the hall, turning a blind eye to the two-digit number of Aurors surrounding him. He raised his eyebrows and said: "Are you planning to judge me from now on? Even though I have seen many countries

Ministry of Magic, but this is the first time I’ve seen it, starting from the lobby——”

At this time, Scrimgeour suddenly interrupted: "Are you interested in becoming an Auror?"

Toby turned to look at Scrimgeour, who was walking side by side with him, with a strange look in his eyes.

Scrimgeour continued to say calmly: "I know you have this ability, Toby Highmore. I have also personally reviewed the case records related to you. They are available in various countries, and they are older than Fudge's.

.If you agree to join the Ministry of Magic, I will have a way to protect you during this trial and will not let you end up with the same fate as Dumbledore——"

This time, Toby suddenly interrupted: "Same fate as Dumbledore? Are you so confident that you can deal with Dumbledore? Do you think you guys alone -"

Toby looked around and said: "Can Dumbledore be caught? Not to mention that you are the ones with the problem. It is you who are unwilling to see the truth clearly."

"No, I can see it very clearly." Scrimgeour looked directly into Toby's eyes and said: "In Nurmengard, I saw Grindelwald with my own eyes, and I know what exactly you are planning. Believe me,

I know Dumbledore far better than you, my student, do."

"My student?" Toby frowned and asked, "You never went to Hogwarts?"

"I graduated from Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Scrimgeour named his alma mater.

After this, Toby never spoke to Scrimgeour again.

The process of wand inspection was extremely smooth. Toby had been mentally prepared for this, but his eyes looked extremely scary, staring at the staff's operation process without blinking. He was so frightened that the other party completed the inspection as quickly as possible, and hurriedly checked the wand.

The black walnut wand was returned to Toby.

Angela is the most special, because Wagadu Magic School has always been famous for wandless magic, so it is natural that she does not have a wand. However, Angela was still required to wear a pair of hard steel gloves to avoid her

Bend your fingers during the interrogation and cause some trouble.

The only surprising thing is that the wand Toby saw Dumbledore handed over was not the one the headmaster usually used.

Toby could still recognize this difference. He had taught himself wandology and was originally preparing to make a wand.

The principal never mentioned this to Toby. He didn't know that the principal actually had two wands and successfully passed the inspection.

"let's go."

Dumbledore glanced at Toby and said, causing Toby to immediately look away from Dumbledore's pocket without showing any strange thoughts.

The White Devil. Could it really be the White Devil?

The group of people walked through the gate in a mighty manner and came to the smaller hall on the other side. There were at least twenty elevators there, blocked by exquisite golden fence doors. Some of them were deliberately guarded to prevent empty elevators.

out of position.

"Come in batches." Scrimgeour pointed at the Weasleys and said, "You go first."

Before they could say that they wanted to leave with their children, they were surrounded by two Aurors and walked into the elevator step by step.

Then came Ron and Percy, and then Angela. She still walked with Tonks, but the number of Aurors with her also increased. In addition to Tonks, there were two female Aurors.

.

The remaining people are Toby and Dumbledore.

The first person to leave was Dumbledore, followed by the remaining half of the Aurors. The elevator gate gradually blocked Toby's line of sight.

Now only Toby was left, along with most of the other Aurors, and Scrimgeour. The wizards coming and going looked at them curiously, but no one took the initiative to come over and say hello.

It seems that the Ministry of Magic is more wary of Toby than Dumbledore.

After the elevator came down again, Toby walked over and said: "You don't have to guard against me like this. If you really read those files, you should know that I am not the kind of dark wizard who has no scruples."

Scrimgeour followed him closely, but replied coldly: "If you regret it now, it's still too late."

Toby didn't understand where Scrimgeour's confidence came from. Did the Ministry of Magic really intend to convict Dumbledore?

In Toby's opinion, these people's reaction was still too radical.

Just as the fence door was about to close, it was suddenly held down by a hand, and a vaguely familiar face to Toby appeared outside the door - he randomly remembered that this person was Kingsley, who was also an Auror.

He was the one who escorted Hagrid to Azkaban in the first place, and it was him who followed Toby in search of removing the threat from the Pharaoh's Mask.

Toby suddenly remembered that he still didn't know who Dumbledore's spy at the Ministry of Magic was. The other party provided Dumbledore with the exact time when Hagrid was taken to Azkaban.

However, the headmaster just mentioned that Moody's disciples are also in the Ministry of Magic. It is unimaginable that Mad-Eye would have a successor.

At this time, Kingsley said with some urgency after blocking the door: "Can you let me go with you? You should be going to the tenth courtroom, right? I happen to be going to the ninth floor."

Toby could tell that Scrimgeour didn't want to be disturbed at this time, but the word "nine floors" still made him change his mind, and he successfully let Kingsley squeeze in.

With a tinkling sound and a clicking sound, the elevator slowly rose and the chain clicked.

The main hall is located on the eighth floor of the Ministry of Magic, and the elevator takes only a few seconds to reach the ninth floor that Kingsley mentioned.

The cold woman's voice in the phone booth rang: "Department of Mysteries." Then the voice fell silent.

Outside the door was an empty corridor with no doors or windows, except for a simple black door at the end of the corridor.

Kingsley ran straight towards the door. Scrimgeour looked at Toby and said, "It's time for us to leave. The tenth courtroom is on the tenth floor. The elevator can't reach it. You have to walk to the last floor -

What are you looking at? Take care of your eyes, this layer of things won’t make you look at anything more – it’s all for your own benefit.”

Toby slowly looked away from the black door. By this time, Kingsley had passed through the black door and disappeared.

"Department of Mysteries?" He whispered: "I like this name. You know, archeology is also full of mysteries. Is this place what I imagined?"

Scrimgeour urged him to hurry up to a staircase on the left, refusing to stay here too long.

"None of this has anything to do with you."

Toby didn't hear what Scrimgeour said next, maybe he was trying to persuade himself to join the Ministry of Magic, either as an Auror or a Striker.

He couldn't listen to anything anymore.

The delicate magic circle covered by the witch robe is ready to move.

Toby can feel it.

The distance is now very close, close enough to trigger the magic circle engraved on his body.

That was an important step in the ceremony, making the magic ball his exclusive "scepter".

Yes, Toby knew—

The magic orb is in the Department of Mysteries.