#138 - Snoop

After speaking to everyone with a smile, Anduin waved his sleeves and walked straight out of the house.

After exiting the house, Anduin subtly glanced at a shadowy corner nearby. During the earlier battle, he had sensed someone watching him, and when Yaxley cast the Killing Curse, that feeling became even clearer. He could sense a magical reaction coming from that direction.

“Heh, it seems these guys' actions have been watched by some people all along. Yaxley, you better step up your game. Everyone is watching you, this fat bait, to catch a fish. I hope you can last a little longer, and not get caught by someone else before I reel you in.” Anduin sneered, then left the place without looking back.

Inside the abandoned cottage, the group of young wizards breathed a sigh of relief when Anduin finally left. Many of the younger wizards even collapsed to the ground, their bodies limp from the sudden release of tension.

They recalled everything that had happened today, their hearts filled with grief, and then they looked at Yaxley, who was still lying on the ground, with resentful eyes. They were in this situation because of him.

“Yaxley, you’ve ruined us! Didn’t you say joining the Committee was to restore the glory of pure-bloods? Where’s the glory now? All we’ve gained is shame!” A senior wizard roared at Yaxley, his voice full of resentment.

“Hmph, what do you have to be ashamed of? We’re the ones who are really unlucky. You upperclassmen will graduate soon, including Yaxley, but what about us? We still have to endure Anduin’s endless exploitation!” Another fourth-year pure-blood wizard sneered.

“It’s not over! That bastard humiliated us, which means he humiliated all pure-blood wizards! He must pay the price!” Travers shouted, enduring the severe pain as he retorted to the wizard. He and Wilkes had been beaten the worst just now.

“Pay the price? What, do you want to get beaten again? So many of us aren’t his match, don’t drag us down.” The fourth-year wizard retorted.

For a moment, the group of young wizards argued with each other. In Anduin’s words, this was blame-shifting time; humans always liked to attribute their failures to others.

Like an invisible man, Rosier quietly stayed aside, watching these guys while secretly recording the names and positions of these young wizards. This was the task Anduin had given him. Which of these pure-blood wizards were still unwilling to give up, and which had given up resisting and retaliating, were all recorded in his heart.

After experiencing today, Rosier didn’t dare to disobey Anduin at all. Moreover, he had received Anduin’s promise that, due to his contribution in providing information and adding the potion, he would be exempt from paying his protection fee, and he was also promised a share of the profits in the future. So now, he and Anduin were completely on the same boat.

After arguing for a while, the young wizards eventually dispersed unhappily. At this time, Yaxley finally recovered and struggled to get up from the ground. He had heard all the arguments in the cottage. The Pure-Blood Committee was finished, and his ideal had been shattered in these few hours.

Bearing the pain of his body and the unwillingness in his heart, Yaxley staggered out, leaning against the wall. Watching everyone gradually leave, his eyes became bloodshot with anger and resentment, and with the side effects of using the Unforgivable Curse on his soul, he was enveloped in layers of gloom.

He glared at the direction of Hogwarts once more, then disappeared into the wind and snow without looking back.

Back at Hogwarts, Anduin reunited with Velen and Vivian in the Forbidden Forest cabin. Seeing him return unscathed, the tense and worried expressions on their faces gradually relaxed.

“What happened? What exactly happened on your end? Did Yaxley really attack you? Now that you’ve escaped, you should report to the headmaster immediately. Attacking a student off-campus is no small crime.” As soon as Anduin entered the cabin, Velen Higgs quickly inquired about his situation.

Originally, Anduin didn’t want to worry them, so he didn’t explain his plan in detail. They didn’t know that Anduin had just fought with those pure-blood wizards, and they didn’t know that the other side had mobilized so many people. They thought Anduin had just escaped from the ambush with ease.

It’s no wonder they thought so. Anduin was not only unscathed, but he didn’t even have any dust on him. No one would have thought he had just experienced a battle.

Anduin didn’t intend to hide anything from them, so he roughly recounted what had happened, except for Rosier’s involvement.

“What? They mobilized so many people to deal with you? And Yaxley actually dared to use the Killing Curse on you. Doesn’t he know the consequences?” Velen’s expression changed drastically after hearing Anduin’s experience, and he asked in shock.

Anduin didn’t tell them that he had previously instructed Rosier to add a little Madness Potion to Yaxley’s potion. He knew that Rosier was responsible for preparing energizing potions among these pure-bloods, so it was very convenient for him to do this. Madness Potion would cause people to make irrational behaviors, and it was considered a low-profile version of the Blood Frenzy Potion.

Enticing Yaxley to use the Unforgivable Curse was originally part of his plan.

“I don’t know.” Anduin pretended to be ignorant: “Who knows what he was thinking? Anyway, these messes are all over now, aren’t they?”

“But is it really appropriate for you to collect protection fees from these little wizards? That’s against school rules. What if they report you to the head of house or the headmaster? Wouldn’t it have been better to just send them away? Why go the extra mile?” Vivian asked worriedly.

Anduin glanced at Vivian and smiled, “It seems you’re not very familiar with some of the rules of the wizarding world. Let me ask you a question, how would they know that I’m the one extorting them?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Vivian asked, puzzled.

Anduin smiled at Vivian, then looked at Velen, signaling him to explain it to Vivian.

Velen nodded and looked at Vivian: “In the wizarding world, convicting someone has always been a very difficult thing. For example, if I hurt you, but if I’m not caught on the spot, I can say that the person was impersonating me with Polyjuice Potion, or that I was actually controlled by the Imperius Curse. Or, for example, if I leaked a secret, I can say that I was given Veritaserum, understand?”