Chapter 526 Death of Baldur

Chapter 526 Death of Baldur
December 12th, 18 days until Christmas.

At breakfast time, Sherin opened the Daily Prophet and a striking piece of news caught his eye - a serious medical accident occurred at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and Broderick Bode, an employee of the Ministry of Magic, died.

He frowned slightly and scanned the newspaper. The report said that Bode was unfortunately attacked by a devil's snare while in hospital, and was suffocated to death by being tightly entangled. When the medical staff arrived, it was too late to save him. The official classification of this incident as a "medical accident", but Sherin knew in his heart that this was no accident.

This incident is exactly the same as in the original book.

Broderick Bode, like Sturgis Podmore before him, was apparently under the Imperius Curse, and this accident was intended to silence him.

He had long noticed that Voldemort or Walpurgis was coveting something in the Department of Mysteries, but the problem was that Voldemort was now alone and had no one to use to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic, and it was even more impossible for him to do it himself, otherwise he would be exposed and lose the advantage of hiding in the dark. So, who sneaked into the Ministry of Magic and cast the Imperius Curse on Bode?

According to Bol's intelligence, the Shadow of the Dragon did have a spy in both the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix, but Bol did not know the identity of the spy. Moreover, as far as Schelling knew, Morgan should still be in North America at the moment. As smart as she was, she must be aware of the importance of the secrecy of the spy. He did not think that Walpurgis and Voldemort would use her spy.

The only thing that was certain, then, was that someone in the Ministry of Magic was working for Voldemort or Walpurgis.

Xie Ling's mouth corners raised. He knew who he should ask about this matter.

……

Hogwarts, cellar, Snape's office.

Snape stood behind his desk, his hands folded over his chest, his expression gloomy. His black robe cast a shadow in the dim light, making him look more like a meditating bat.

Sherin stood across from the desk, his eyes narrowed slightly. "You should have seen the 'medical accident' at St. Mungo's."

Snape nodded and said softly, "Broderick Bode, an Unspoken Man, was strangled to death by a Devil's Snare disguised as a potted plant at St. Mungo's Hospital. This was clearly a murder."

"Professor, do you know what this is about?" Xie Ling asked in a deep voice.

"It's Ludo Bagman," said Snape simply.

"Who?" Xie Ling didn't react for a moment.

Snape raised his eyes coldly, with a hint of contempt in his tone: "Former British Quidditch national team beater, current head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports... and also a Death Eater."

"Bagman...Death Eater?" Sherin's pupils shrank slightly, and he said in a somewhat surprised tone.

Snape nodded and said in a cold voice, "Because he owed a large gambling debt, he didn't dare to return to the Ministry of Magic, so he has been wandering outside. But somehow he fell into the hands of the Dark Lord and eventually became a Death Eater."

It seems that Voldemort has done a lot of other things recently besides recruiting banshees and ogres. It must be said that turning Bagman into a Death Eater was a good move.

As Head of the Department of Sports and Physical Education, Bagman's position in the Ministry was high enough for him to come into contact with many people, but not so high that he would easily attract the attention of others.

Sherin thought for a moment, then said slowly, "So, Bode is controlled by Bagman?"

"That's right." Snape nodded slowly. "Bagman cast the Imperius Curse and allowed Bode to sneak into the Department of Mysteries under the identity of the Unspeakable. But as luck would have it, Bode's actions eventually attracted the attention of another Unspeakable."

"Who?" Xie Ling narrowed his eyes.

Snape whispered a name: "Sol Crocker."

"Did he notice something was wrong with Bode?" Sherin asked.

"To be precise, it was an unexpected coincidence. Crocker accidentally discovered Bode's actions and severely injured him in the fight." Snape said slowly, "Bode was already in a state of imperius and mentally unstable. After being attacked by Crocker, his brain was damaged and he completely lost consciousness. He couldn't even maintain the imperius curse. When the people from the Ministry of Magic found him, he had become a mental patient who couldn't communicate and had to be sent to St. Mungo's."

Sherin put his finger on his chin and said thoughtfully, "You mean, Crocker accidentally discovered Bode's affairs, and then defeated Bode in battle... This seems to have too many coincidences."

Snape did not answer. There was silence.

This is actually quite unreasonable. As a silent person, it is normal for Bode to enter the Department of Mysteries. Why is it said that he was discovered by Crocker? How did Crocker know that Bode had ill intentions?
The only explanation is that Bode, under the Imperius Curse, tried to attack Crocker in order to complete the mission, but unexpectedly was killed by Crocker.

That's possible. But, as both are Silent, why is Crocker's fighting ability so much stronger than Bode's?

Moreover, it is not easy to avoid a sudden attack by a long-time colleague, let alone to counterattack the opponent in time. In the original book, Voldemort used Yaxley to control several officials of the Ministry of Magic, and there was no example of anyone successfully counterattacking.

This Crocker probably has an extraordinary background.

Xie Ling finally broke the silence and continued, "So, in order to silence him, Voldemort arranged for someone to kill him with the Devil's Snare."

Snape said calmly: "Obviously."

The office fell into a brief silence, with only the gurgling sound of bubbles bursting from the crucible in the corner.

"But there is one thing I still don't understand." Sherin said slowly, "What exactly does Voldemort want?"

Snape's expression turned gloomy, and he shook his head slowly: "That, I don't know either."

Xie Lin narrowed his eyes slightly and said thoughtfully: "But no matter what, one thing is certain - what they covet is in the Department of Mysteries."

He paused, and said in a more serious tone: "And this thing is extremely important to them. First it was Sturgis Podmore, and now it is Bode, which shows that they are determined to get it."

A gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he said in a cold voice: "This failure will not stop them, but will only make them more cautious. They will definitely attack again."

Snape nodded and said with a deep look in his eyes: "Dumbledore thinks so too."

"Speaking of which, how does the Order of the Phoenix respond to this?" Xie Ling said with a strange expression.

"The Order of the Phoenix has always arranged people to take turns on duty to guard the Department of Mysteries, but since Sturgis' accident, they only have one invisibility cloak left, so they can only send one person on duty at a time." Snape said.

Schelling shook his head and said, "We can't defend the Department of Mysteries with just these people. Voldemort is not alone. The next person who attacks may be a more dangerous person."

"So...you mean..." Snape frowned, thinking about what Sherin said.

Xie Ling showed a wise look and said with a smile: "Didn't Dumbledore reconvene the first generation of the Order of the Phoenix? I think it's time for them to end their lives."

"It's difficult..." Snape shook his head slightly. "Many of them are not directly assigned by Dumbledore. As far as I know, Yusuf Kama, Eulalie Hicks, and Banti Brodeck all have their own missions."

A barely perceptible cold light flashed across Xie Ling's eyes, and he whispered, "Are they all in Great Britain?"

"I'm not sure," Snape said slowly, "but I think so. At least I saw them at the last meeting."

Xie Ling sneered. He had built the British intelligence network into an all-permeating dragnet. As long as they were still in Britain, it would be impossible for them to completely avoid his surveillance.

Moreover, it won’t be long before Arthur Wesley is attacked by Nagini in the original book, but this time, the attacker will no longer be a giant snake, but may be something even more dangerous.

Whoever is guarding the Department of Mysteries will probably have a hard time staying safe.

"Tell Dumbledore a message for me. Tell him that Voldemort will send out more dangerous people in a few days. Tell him to be careful. Otherwise..." Xie Ling paused for a moment and sneered, "Hey, the Order of the Phoenix may have its first casualty."

(Note: Although the Order of the Phoenix has lost Mundungus and Podmore in succession, the former is missing and the latter is imprisoned, neither of which can be considered casualties.)
Consider this information as a small favor to Dumbledore.