St. Mungo's Hospital.
Rufus Scrimgeour and Kingsley Shacklebolt hurried over but were stopped outside the ward by a healer.
"How is he?" Kingsley asked, trembling.
"The situation is very bad," the therapist shook his head. "Both of his legs were almost smashed, and there were many wounds on his body. Although he used Apparition to get here as quickly as possible, it may be caused by pain. The reason for his confusion was that he was also separated during the disembodiment. When we found him, he had almost no good flesh on his body."
"Will he survive?"
"We'll try our best," the doctor said. Len stood outside the treatment room like a statue.
The gentleness and elegance of the past were replaced by some kind of deep anger. He stood like a volcano about to erupt.
After a while, he suddenly turned around and left but was caught by Scrimgeour. "What are you doing?"
"Arrest people!"
"You know we have no evidence."
"I will find evidence!"
"Shacklebolt, calm down. You will give the enemy an opportunity..."
"Rufus..."
Kingsley's trembling voice made Scrimgeour startled. He looked at his companions and found that there was actually something in the eyes of the usually calm black man. Tears.
"Shackle, you..."
"Basker just gave birth to a daughter two months ago, and now he is like this, how can I explain to his wife and daughter?"
Scrimgeour fell silent and let go of Kingsley's hand.
"Don't worry, I won't be so reckless. I got a tip that Alex Wood is Murphy Darkholm's assistant. Lucius once caught this person and he confirmed it."
"We will catch Alex and get enough evidence from him."
Scrimgeour looked at Kingsley for a while and could only say, "Be careful, remember, the enemy is very cunning."
Kingsley emphasized. He nodded, "I will make him pay the price!"
...
"Alex Wood, he was the first person to buy potion materials for Murphy in Diagon Alley." Bald Papade hid behind a bush. Said to Kingsley and the other three Aurors.
"When I caught him before, he was still processing materials for Murphy. I must be able to dig out a lot of secrets from his mouth."
Papade said, rubbing the wounds after being kicked to pieces by Murphy last time. There is no nose coming back.
"Malfoy asked you to come, right?" an Auror said slightly mockingly.
"How is it possible? It is the duty of every wizard to help Aurors fight crime."
"Hmph."
Although these Aurors must restrain Murphy, who is trampling on the law wantonly, for the same game Malfoy, who was on the edge of the law and had done many immoral things, didn't have a good impression of him.
It's just dog eat dog.
However, they are still happy to see it happen because of infighting.
"Have you seen Alex, can you recognize him?" Kingsley asked with piercing eyes, glaring at Papade.
The Auror captain in front of him exuded a terrifying aura, which made Papade feel as uncomfortable as a mouse seeing a cat.
"Yes, of course I can, that face is easy to recognize."
"Okay, you will follow me in the attack later. After catching the person, everyone will immediately return to the Ministry of Magic through the Portkey! No staying, do you understand?!"
"Got it!" the Aurors replied in unison.
At this moment, after a period of space distortion, another Auror appeared next to Kingsley, "Boss, he's here!"
Everyone lowered their bodies and cast the Disillusionment Curse on themselves.
More than twenty meters away from them was an owl hut. According to the Auror investigation, Alex Wood would come here every once in a while and use a public rental owl to send back a cloth bag full of gold coins to his home.
Sixty Galleons each time, no more, no less.
At this time, a cloaked figure emerged from the trees on the opposite side, looked around, and walked furtively toward the owl loft.
"This guy is really a filial son." One Auror whispered.
"Illegal crimes are the greatest form of unfilial piety!" another Auror sneered.
Kingsley stared at the figure and asked Papade, "Is it him?"
"He's wearing a hat, I can't see clearly."
"Boss?" The Aurors were waiting for Kingsley's order.
But the latter was still waiting, watching the man put a few silver coins into the small box outside the shack, opened a cage, and took out an owl from it with some fear, but did not immediately give the order.
"Boss, he has a door key and may disappear at any time after sending the letter!" an Auror reminded.
Kingsley watched the man take out a cloth bag from his waist and struggled to tie it to the owl's leg. Suddenly, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.
"Boss!"
However, there was no time to think carefully about the source of the uneasiness. "Do it!"
Suddenly, five Aurors Apparated outside the owl loft and pulled the hooded man away. People surrounded him, and when he appeared, he recited a spell, "Collapse!"
"Bang!" The man was hit by five spells one after another without even shouting out an exclamation, and he became even more unconscious.
Kingsley stepped forward, pulled down the man's hood, and felt relieved when he saw that face.
But he still cautiously pulled Papade over, "Look clearly, is it him?"
"It's him! He's Alex Wood!"
"Okay, take him and let's go!"
...
At the same time, on the other side.
Diagon Alley, headquarters of the Daily Prophet.
Rita Skeeter meets her guest.
"You are such a busy man, Mr. Murphy. It's not easy to meet you."
Ever since Murphy sent Lucius to Azkaban, Rita Skeeter had been wanting to interview him. But it was not until today that Murphy suddenly agreed to her interview request.
"You are also a busy man, Reporter Skeeter." Murphy said, throwing a dozen Daily Prophets on the table. "In just a few months, you have scolded me dozens of times."
Only the stack was visible. The pages of the newspaper that were specially opened by Murphy were full of reports about Murphy, and most of them were: "Dark wizard or messenger of justice? The secret of Murphy Darkholm", "A rich man descended from the sky? Murphy's Strange Legacy" and other articles that are full of gimmicks but have few good words.
"I'm just reporting it based on the facts," Skeeter said without blushing. "Are you planning to reveal some of your secrets during your interview with me today?"
She said, taking out a notebook, which automatically floated in the air, and a quill immediately started writing on it.
"I don't have any secrets," Murphy said. "It's your secret. I happen to know one."
"Murphy's gloomy face was full of vigilance. He claimed that he didn't have any secrets, but from those evasive eyes, it is not difficult to see that he has many unspeakable stories..."
"You
are really good at joking." After Skeeter compiled a short essay of three to four hundred words, he finally looked at Murphy again, "We will start from your story. Let's start from the past. Your parents are a pair of dark wizards and you are an orphan. What impact does this have on your character?"
"..."
"The tragic orphan life makes Murphy reluctant to open up about his past. Keep it secret..." Rita muttered, and as she spoke, the quill pen wrote faster on the notebook.
"Heh."
Murphy suddenly chuckled and pulled out his wand.
With a "Bang!", the quill and notebook suddenly ignited without fire, and in a moment they shook and turned into a pile of ashes.
(End of chapter)