Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 224 Department of Mysteries

A few seedy-looking offices, a tavern and a dump truck full to the brim on the bleak street.

The situation at this moment was chaotic, many people crowded in front of a red telephone booth, and many voices rang out at the same time.

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

"It's all right, Molly. Arthur's waiting for us at the Ministry, isn't he?"

"He's already here, but can I ask why? Why are Ron and Percy called? Did they do something wrong?"

"not at all--"

"Let me tell you. See the cage in my hand? Their pet Scabbers has a problem, a big problem."

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

"I have to remind you, Mr. Weasley, that you should be vigilant enough even when you sleep—well, let's say it's No. 17 of the archaeological code."

"Seventeen? How did I remember that it was the sixth? This is different from what you talked about last semester."

"Oh, what's the big deal—Mom, my chairman's badge is gone, maybe I lost it? This is my first time at the Ministry of Magic, I must make a good impression, and I may still be there in the future." It's working."

"Don't worry, honey, think about it again—"

"Don't think about it, I saw Fred and George just took the badge to play yesterday, and now I don't know what it has become."

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

"Yes, it's her."

Toby went forward, questioned Angela with his eyes, turned around and said after getting a satisfactory answer, "She is here to be a witness just like you."

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

"A wizard can still grow up like this." She dared not believe it.

"You're not the first person to praise her like that." 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 come to the Ministry of Magic in this way? No. Floo powder?"

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

The group of them got into the phone booth, Percy and Ron had to press against the door, and Dumbledore stood in front of the crooked phone and picked up the receiver.

After dialing a series of numbers, the dial whirred back to its original position, and a woman's indifferent voice sounded in the telephone booth, but the voice did not come from the microphone, it was loud and clear, as if someone was watching The missing woman stood beside them.

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

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

Dumbledore spoke the names of several people in a steady tone without missing a single one. His voice carried a calming power. Both Percy and Ron became much more honest, and the uneasiness in Molly's eyes disappeared. Quite a lot.

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

"Thank you," said the woman's indifferent voice, "Guests, please pick up the badge and pin it in front of your clothes."

Ding Lingling, clattering, something slipped out of the metal chute used to eject coins - a large pile of badges, and Percy frowned at his own name on it, followed by the words "Judged" .

"The first time I came to the Ministry of Magic as a suspect." He whispered, "There is no better opening than this."

Dumbledore just smiled mildly, and Toby glanced over at Percy.

"That's not what I meant, Professor." Percy immediately apologized in a low voice, "Of course I'd like to help you and the principal, but I'm not sure why I came here. Scabbers is obviously fine, before Ron wants to leave him I've had it for a long time."

"It's not about leaving." The person who muttered in a low voice became Ron: "Of course you didn't want it, so you gave it to me."

Mrs. Weasley gave Ron a hard look that made him hang 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—"

"Cough cough!"

Dumbledore suddenly coughed twice, and he gave Toby a look like Mrs Weasley, warning him not to make trouble before the trial, and they will have a long battle to fight later.

"Okay then." Toby smiled kindly, and he took Percy's shoulder affectionately, with such strength that it was impossible to break free.

"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 again: "Visitors from the Ministry of Magic, you need to be checked at the security checkpoint and register your wand. The security checkpoint is at the end of the main hall."

The ground of the phone booth trembled suddenly.They sank slowly into the ground.The sidewalk outside the glass windows of the phone booth rose higher and higher until at last it was dark above them.They could see nothing but the monotonous, harsh grinding of the phone booth as it sank into the ground.Until a thin golden light hit their feet, and then the golden light gradually widened, and those who shone couldn't open their eyes.

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

He looked at a large group of wizards guarding the underground door. Those people were all dressed in neat uniforms, looking aggressive, and their eyes were unprecedentedly vigilant.

"What a grand welcome ceremony." Toby leaned close to Dumbledore and whispered: "It seems that the White Devil's title is considered real, maybe we should take this opportunity to try the quality of the Ministry of Magic, anyway, the legend of Moody The Aurors have retired."

"But his disciple is 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 wishes you a pleasant day." The woman's voice sounded, and the door of the phone booth slammed open.

"It will definitely be very pleasant." Toby beckoned the others out of the phone booth and followed the principal.

At this time, Dumbledore had already met an Auror headed in front of him. The man looked like a living old lion, with strands of gray mixed in his tea-brown hair and bushy eyebrows, and behind the gold-rimmed glasses were His piercing yellow eyes, and despite his limp, had a striding ease about his walk that made one feel immediately that he was a sharp, tough fellow.

"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."

Based on 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 time for this trial.

But this punch just hit the cotton softly, Dumbledore nodded calmly, and continued walking into the hall.

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

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

He stared straight at Toby and asked, looking him up and down, ignoring Angela herself who was standing aside.

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

"Sorry, dear." Arthur said apologetically, "I only got the news this morning, and they didn't allow me to notify you in advance that someone would come to greet you—if this can be regarded as greeting."

"What's the matter?" Molly asked in a low voice, she saw the Aurors faintly surrounding Toby: "Are those people going to attack Haimo?"

"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 faint confrontation with this guy named Scrimgeour.

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

"To take care of our guests from afar."

Tonks' temperament was obviously more jumpy, she didn't seem to expect that this task would fall on her head, and walked towards Angela excitedly, Toby also heard the other party asking curiously: "Is your hair color really good?" It looks good, how do you take care of it? Oh, by the way, do you speak English?"

"Of course." Angela responded cheerfully: "It's all because of the shampoo Toby sent me, which is very useful—oh, you—"

She watched Tonks' hair change to her own color in the blink of an eye.

"Transfiguration Magus." Tonks said proudly, "I was born with this inborn talent, and it was there when I was just born."

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

Only then did Toby hear Scrimgeour say to himself, "I heard that you cured the Longbottoms? 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 Aurors surrounding him. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you going to judge me from now on? Even though I have seen many Aurors from many countries The Ministry of Magic, but it's the first time I saw it from the lobby—"

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

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

Scrimgeour continued to say in a calm manner: "I know you have this ability, Toby Highmore, and I have personally read the case records related to you, which are found in various countries, and they are even earlier than Fudge. .If you agree to join the Ministry of Magic, I will have a way to keep you in this trial, and you will not end up like Dumbledore—"

This time, Toby suddenly interrupted: "The same end as Dumbledore? Are you so confident that you can deal with Dumbledore? Think you guys-"

Toby looked around and said, "Can you catch Dumbledore? Not to mention that it's you who have the problem. It's you who don't want to see the truth clearly."

"No, I can see clearly." Scrimgeour looked directly into Toby's eyes and said, "In Nurmengard, I saw Grindelwald with my own eyes, and I know exactly what you are planning. Believe me, I know Dumbledore far better than you, a student."

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

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

Scrimgeour named his alma mater.

After this, Toby never spoke a word to Scrimgeour.

The wand inspection process went very smoothly, and Toby was already mentally prepared for this, but his eyes looked extra scary, staring at the staff's operation process without blinking.The other party was so scared that he finished the inspection as quickly as possible, and quickly returned the black walnut wand to Toby.

Angela is the most special, because the Waggadu School of Magic has always been famous for casting spells without a wand, so it seems natural that she doesn't have a wand.Despite this, Angela was required to wear a pair of tough steel gloves to prevent her from bending her fingers and causing trouble during the interrogation.

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

Toby can still recognize this difference. He has taught himself the art of wands, and he was originally preparing for making scepters.

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

"Let's go."

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

The White Demon King. Could it really be the White Demon King?

A group of people walked through the gate in a mighty way, and came to the smaller hall on the other side.There were at least twenty elevators there, blocked by elaborate golden bars.Several of them were deliberately guarded to make room for them.

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

Before they could say that they wanted to go with the child, they were surrounded by two Aurors and walked into the elevator without stopping.

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

The rest are Toby and Dumbledore.

The one who went first was Dumbledore, followed by the rest of the Aurors. The fence gate of the elevator blocked Toby's sight a little bit.

Now only Toby was left, and most of the other Aurors, Scrimgeour was also there.The wizards who came back and forth looked at them curiously, but no one came over to say hello.

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

After the elevator fell down again, Toby walked over and said, "You don't have to be on guard against me like this. If you really read those files, you should know that I'm not the kind of unscrupulous dark wizard."

Scrimgeour followed him closely, and just replied coldly: "If you regret it now, there is still time."

Toby didn't understand where Scrimgeour's confidence came from. Did the Ministry of Magic really intend to convict Dumbledore?
In Toby's opinion, the reaction of these people was still too radical.

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

It was he who escorted Hagrid to Azkaban in the first place, and that was the time when Toby followed to find the threat to remove the pharaoh's mask.

Toby suddenly remembered that he still didn't know who Dumbledore's eyeliner was in the Ministry of Magic. The other party helped Dumbledore provide the exact time when Hagrid was taken to Azkaban.

But the headmaster just mentioned that Moody's disciple is also in the Ministry of Magic. It's hard to imagine that Mad-Eye will have a successor.

At this time, after blocking the door, Kingsley said urgently: "Can I go with you? You should be going to the tenth courtroom, right? I just want to go to the ninth floor."

Toby could see that Scrimgeour didn't want to be disturbed at this time, but the word "nine floors" made him change his mind, and Kingsley was able to squeeze in smoothly.

With a burst of tinkling, rattling, rattling, the elevator slowly ascended, and the chain rattled.

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

An indifferent woman's voice rang out from the phone booth: "Department of Mysteries." Then the voice fell silent.

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

Kingsley ran straight for the door, Scrimgeour looked at Toby and said, "We should go too, the tenth courtroom is on the tenth floor, the elevator can't get there, the last floor has to be walked— What are you looking at? Watch your eyes, you won't be able to see much at this level—it's all for your own sake."

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

"Department of Mysteries?" he whispered, "I like the name. You know, archeology is also full of mystery. Is this the same as I imagined?"

Scrimgeour urged him to hurry up to a staircase on the left, unwilling to stay here for 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 again, whether it was an Auror or a striker.

He couldn't hear anything anymore.

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

Toby could feel it.

Now the distance is very close, close enough to hook the magic circle he engraved on his body.

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

Yes, Toby knew—

The orb is in the Department of Mysteries.

(End of this chapter)