#45 - Chapter 45 You are all playing me
Watching Rita Skeeter's twisted face, Sebastian's lips curled into a playful smile.
He unleashed a surge of magic from his body, pressing down on her.
In just an instant, the expression on Rita's face froze.
She felt as if she were standing before a dragon, and its mere presence made it difficult for her to breathe.
This feeling reminded her of the past.
When the Dark Lord was at his zenith, she had only caught a glimpse of him from afar in Diagon Alley, and she had been terrified out of her wits.
She frantically drew her wand, pointing it shakily at Sebastian.
Before she could even utter a harsh word, she was astonished to see a layer of frost forming on the tip of her wand, which quickly solidified into thick ice crystals.
As soon as the ice crystals appeared, they spread towards her fingers at an alarming rate.
"Ah!!!"
A piercing shriek erupted from Rita Skeeter's throat.
She hurriedly released her wand, letting it fall to the ground.
Instantly, her entire wand was encased in thick ice crystals.
Then, with a "snap," it fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
Seeing her wand shattered on the ground, Rita Skeeter could no longer suppress the fear in her heart.
She collapsed to the ground, trembling, and said, "You... you... how dare you? The Aurors will come and arrest you!"
In Rita Skeeter's expectations, the worst-case scenario was nothing more than a war of words between the two sides through the Daily Prophet and Swan Media.
Being attacked with a wand?
This option had never even occurred to her.
Because, no matter how you looked at it, Sebastian had no reason to attack!
Although he was a powerful wizard, he had already achieved success and fame, and had even become a professor at Hogwarts.
How dare he?
Wasn't he afraid of going to Azkaban?
"Aurors?" Sebastian chuckled lightly, "Madam, do you wish to receive the help of the Aurors?"
"I am very happy to help!"
"How about this, I'll help you cast a warning charm!"
With that, Sebastian drew his wand and cast a spell out the window.
Then, he looked at Rita Skeeter and placed a small bag of Galleons on the table.
"I am very sorry about your wand, you can go to Ollivander's to choose a new one."
In less than half a minute, the door to the house was kicked open.
"Auror Office, nobody move!"
Hearing the Aurors' arrival, Rita Skeeter finally suppressed the fear in her heart.
She jumped up excitedly and rushed towards the door.
"Mr. Auror, I want to report a crime!"
Sebastian sat on the sofa without any panic.
He waved at the two wizards who entered and greeted one of them.
"Hello, Dawlish!"
Upon seeing the Aurors, Rita Skeeter's courage immediately returned to her.
She hid behind Dawlish, pointing her finger at Sebastian and shouting wildly.
"Mr. Auror, he attacked me!"
"Quickly arrest this murderer and lock him up in Azkaban!"
Dawlish walked towards Sebastian and said sternly, "Mr. Swan, please cast a Prior Incantato."
"We need to check if you have attacked this lady!"
Sebastian stood up and generously handed his wand to Dawlish so that he could personally cast Prior Incantato to check the spells his wand had cast.
Warning Charm!
Muggle Repelling Charm!
Cleaning Charm!
......
More than a dozen spells flashed by, without any offensive spells appearing.
Dawlish returned the wand to Sebastian and said with a smile, "It seems it was all a misunderstanding."
"Mr. Swan, you are innocent."
"Innocent?!" Rita Skeeter immediately jumped up, "This man attacked me, how could he be innocent."
"My wand is broken!"
Sebastian looked at Rita Skeeter with pity.
How could such a clever person be so dim-witted?
Couldn't she see that these two Aurors in front of her were his people?
Sebastian had already arranged everything before coming!
With his personality, he never fought unprepared battles.
As for checking the wand, it was just to make it easier for Dawlish to write a report after returning to the Ministry of Magic.
"Silence, are you questioning the Aurors' ability to handle cases?"
Dawlish shouted loudly, "According to the evidence gathered at the scene, your wand was clearly broken by yourself."
"If you continue to be unreasonable and falsely accuse Mr. Swan, we have the right to take you back to the Ministry of Magic and lock you up in Azkaban!"
Rita Skeeter's face turned pale. She didn't understand why this was happening.
Wasn't the evidence obvious?
How could she have smashed her own wand to pieces?!
She looked at the stern-faced Aurors, then at Sebastian, who seemed to be smiling but wasn't. A shiver went down her spine.
She understood that these two parties were in cahoots!
She was really scared.
How could any two random Aurors be Sebastian's people.
The thought was terrifying!
How many of the Aurors in the Ministry of Magic had sided with Sebastian?!
Besides the Aurors?
How big of a network had Sebastian woven in the Ministry of Magic?
Rita Skeeter didn't dare to think about it any further...
She regretted it immensely!
She couldn't understand how she had been so foolish as to provoke this guy.
She had actually been deceived by the good image that Sebastian had cultivated, thinking that he was just someone who cherished his reputation.
She was too naive!
Seeing that Rita Skeeter was no longer speaking, Dawlish nodded to Sebastian and then walked out, closing the door behind him.
The sound of the door closing startled Rita Skeeter, who was lost in thought.
She looked at Sebastian with a look of terror.
"Can we sit down and talk properly now?"
Sebastian's gentle voice came.
"Of... of course!" Rita Skeeter shuddered and immediately nodded and bowed, "Professor Swan, please sit down."
After Sebastian sat down, Rita Skeeter carefully sat opposite him.
"Professor Swan, what are your instructions?"
"Don't worry," Sebastian comforted softly, "I did come here today to share an important piece of information with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, an ice crystal beetle, lifelike, appeared on the table in front of them.
Rita Skeeter felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
The appearance of this beetle was exactly the same as the beetle she transformed into with her Animagus form.
Damn it!
He actually knows that I am an Animagus!
He even knows my Animagus form!
What else doesn't he know?
Rita Skeeter's mind was in a mess, and she didn't know what to do at all.
"Madam Rita Skeeter, isn't this piece of information that I've shown you very valuable?"
Rita Skeeter's face immediately showed a smile that was more ugly than crying.
She stammered and replied, "Yes... very valuable!"
Sebastian's tone was frivolous: "Guess how much malicious coveting Swan Alchemy has suffered on its development path? And how did I treat those guys?"
"Madam Rita Skeeter, you have offended many people. They don't like you, this little bug, but they can't find you, so they are helpless against you."
"And many people value their status and are too lazy to bother with you!"
"But I'm different," Sebastian's tone changed, "I am a true Slytherin. When faced with disgusting attacks, I like to retaliate in an even more disgusting way!"
"You are used to smooth sailing, so I came to give you a lesson and help you remember!"
With that, Sebastian raised his wand at Rita Skeeter.
A dim yellow ball of light lit up, and then, with a whoosh, it struck Rita Skeeter's chest and disappeared into her heart.
"This is your punishment," Sebastian's face turned cold, "I have planted a 'seed' in your heart!"
"If you make me unhappy again..."
"Then, the fate of you, this little bug, will probably not be very pleasant."
Sebastian snapped his fingers, and the parchment filled with reports on the table immediately burst into evil orange flames.
"Fiendfyre!!!"
Rita Skeeter screamed and fell to the ground. She crawled to the wall as quickly as she could, using both her hands and feet.
With a look of terror on her face, she looked at Sebastian, who was sitting calmly on the sofa, as if a demon was sitting there.
Under Sebastian's precise control, the ferocious Fiendfyre was like a docile lamb, disappearing after burning the parchment, without even damaging the table.
In the blink of an eye, the parchment on the table was burned to ashes, leaving nothing behind.
Sebastian stood up and gave Rita Skeeter a very gentlemanly bow.
"Madam Rita Skeeter, I hope that we will not meet again for a long time!"
"Furthermore, I sincerely wish you a good dream tonight!"
"Goodbye!"
......
...
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