#584 - Did she do it? (Seeking monthly ticket recommendation)

“I see.” Pete wore a knowing expression. “In that case, please have Director Andreas arrange it. As Minister of Magic, I must personally express my condolences to the victims.”

His eagerness to visit the victims stemmed not only from wanting to uncover the true experiences of the wizards in the parks but, more importantly, from wanting to understand the situation of the collaborating wizards. Many of them had been members of civilian groups and had fueled the fire during the promotion of the Secession Bill.

Although most of these individuals were unaware of the connection between the civilian groups and the Ministry of Magic's upper echelons, and those who knew had taken strict confidentiality measures,

if the collaborating wizards were to reveal these facts, it would be easy to associate them with Pete's faction. Even if it were just testimony without concrete evidence, it would still have a significant negative impact on Pete and his allies.

However, based on the information Pete had gleaned from the newspapers, there was no such description, and he didn't know if the wizards were afraid to expose it or if it was being temporarily concealed.

So, what he could do now was minimize the damage to avoid hindering the implementation of the Secession Bill.

But how could Andreas not understand his intentions? The reason for housing those people together was to prevent the club from targeting these witnesses.

Therefore, he smiled apologetically, "I'm very sorry, Minister Pete, but those wizards are in very poor physical and mental condition. Many have even been brainwashed into idiots by those detestable Silver Spears. Even if you were to visit, they might not recognize you, so please forgo the visit."

“Furthermore, I have already contacted the Wizengamot Council, and a hearing on this incident will be held tomorrow. Representatives of the victims will be present at that time, and you can wait until tomorrow to speak to them personally on the scene.”

“The inquiry is starting tomorrow? That's fast!”

Pete was startled upon hearing this, and a sense of foreboding suddenly arose in his heart. Then, he subtly hinted to Andreas that he still hoped to see them in person, at least to offer condolences to the two 'heroes'.

But Andreas had been intensively trained by Anduin and immediately began to play tai chi with Pete, the core meaning being 'no way!'

Seeing Andreas suddenly become so smooth and impervious, Pete's face turned quite ugly.

With Andreas's side completely unapproachable, Pete had no choice but to find a random excuse to leave the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

But Pete had not given up on this. He always liked to act cautiously, so this kind of situation where he was completely in the dark made him very uneasy. He didn't even know who the enemy was, or what those rescued wizards knew.

With this anxiety, Pete visited several Wizengamot councilors in succession, including Edmund of the Schmidt family.

But these guys either knew as little as he did or played tai chi with him like Andreas. Edmund even played a game of refusing to see him.

In Pete's eyes, it seemed that he had been isolated by all the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic in a single day, and Michelle and others who had completely sided with his director and superiors were in a very similar situation, unable to obtain any information at all.

At this moment, Pete felt as if an invisible hand was slowly tightening around him, until it completely silenced him.

“No… that mastermind is probably coming for me.” Pete wasn't stupid, and he realized the seriousness of the situation.

But just how bad was the situation?

You have to know that facing different situations, they have to make corresponding preparations, but the trouble now is that apart from the newspapers, they can't receive any useful information at all.

Has the matter of the civilian groups been exposed, or has their connection with the club been leaked? Or is it the worst-case scenario, that his and Michelle's identities have been discovered?

Impossible!

Pete shook his head decisively, denying the possibility. Among those park wizards, only Clement knew his identity.

He still had some confidence in Clement's loyalty, and even if the other party wanted to leak the information, they couldn't. Clement's brain was under an extremely strict magical contract.

Excluding the worst-case scenario, does that mean the matter of the civilian groups has been exposed and linked to them, these secessionists?

Thinking it over, Pete could only come to this conclusion. This could also explain why those Wizengamot guys were so aloof from him.

If that's the case, the matter is not irreparable. Anyway, those collaborating wizards can't provide any actual evidence. As long as heavy benefits are promised to those Wizengamot members later, it should be possible to cover up this matter.

It's just that Pete couldn't understand the Schmidt family's position at all. In the past, they had always cooperated very well, but now they didn't even want to see him, as if they were planning to distance themselves from him.

While Pete was frowning, 'Goldfinch' on the Silver Spear headquarters side was also encountering trouble.

“What's going on with Phoenix? These past few days have clearly been her safe period, so why isn't she even replying to messages?” Goldfinch paced back and forth irritably in the headquarters' reception room, muttering to himself.

He had come to headquarters early in the morning and initiated an emergency contact with all Spears through the mask. Many Spears had responded one after another.

But Phoenix, who he was sure he could contact, was missing, which made Goldfinch frown for a while.

“Could Phoenix have returned to France? If the distance is too far, there will be a long delay in transmitting messages using the mask, and in extremely distant directions, it's almost impossible to connect.” The Ashwinder next to him also looked at Goldfinch with some doubt.

“Impossible. I just communicated with her two days ago. She will be in Germany these few days assisting with the situation in East Germany.” Goldfinch shook his head decisively. “By the way, is there any news from Thunderbird? Didn't you contact him with an owl two days ago? And theoretically, they should be close to Germany by now, so they should be able to contact them with the mask!”

This is the convenient technical limitation of the club. Since the location of the Thunderbird is too remote, apart from using portkeys to transmit messages, they can only use more traditional communication methods.

“There's still no news.” The Ashwinder shook his head helplessly. “Neither owls nor masks can contact them. It's as if the transport team has evaporated into thin air. I was just about to report to you. Should we send someone to look along the way?”

“Let the Chameleon go!” Goldfinch sighed helplessly. “If there are problems with the goods from Northern Europe as well, then the trouble will be great. What's going on lately? Why are the club's troubles coming one after another?”

The Ashwinder also looked troubled, but at this moment, his figure suddenly paused. “Someone has appeared at the entrance of the headquarters. It's that Thunderbird guy!”

“Oh? I didn't expect him to be the first to respond. That's rare. Quickly bring him in!” Goldfinch raised his eyebrows in surprise. Could it be that this unruly guy is more reliable after all?

Before long, the impetuous Thunderbird kicked open the door of the reception room and rushed in. “What's the meaning of the emergency contact you sent? Have the people and magical creatures robbed from the parks been found? Or has the mastermind been found?”

“What do you mean? Don't you read the newspapers every day?” Goldfinch replied irritably, then threw the morning paper at him.

“Those Aurors rescued the people from the Silver Spears?” Thunderbird was obviously stunned after reading the headline. “What does this mean? Did you arrange for people to transfer those parks?”

“Am I that idle?” Goldfinch burst out in anger when he saw that even Thunderbird thought he had done it. “The matter inside is obviously not simple. Can't you see that?”

“Not simple? Are you saying someone impersonated us and attacked those parks?” Thunderbird looked enlightened. “Then the culprit must be the beneficiary of this matter. Is it Andreas of the Ministry of Magic, or that so-called Schmidt family?”

“But that's not realistic.” Thunderbird paused and felt something was wrong again. “You have to know that just settling these people is troublesome enough. In addition, there are thousands of magical creatures. Can they hide so many things? Didn't you also investigate them some time ago? Didn't you find anything unusual?”

“That's what makes it so strange!” Goldfinch also said incomprehensibly, “Whether it was Andreas or the local wizarding families in Germany, I conducted in-depth investigations, especially regarding personnel transfers, but they all behaved very normally, which means that those watching over the park wizards were not their people.”

“If they're not their people, then whose people are they? Could it be our people?” Thunderbird muttered in confusion for a few moments, then suddenly realized, “Could it be?”

“That's right!” Goldfinch understood that Thunderbird had also realized the key point. “I'm afraid this matter was really done secretly by someone within the club, otherwise it would be impossible to transfer so many people smoothly and silently!”

“Then, to be able to do all this, they must be familiar enough with these parks and have enough manpower under their command, and preferably not be local personnel…” After Thunderbird muttered along this line of thought for a few moments, he suddenly looked up at Goldfinch. “Where's Phoenix? When will she be here? These two days should be her safe period, so she shouldn't be unresponsive, right?”

“Alas…” Goldfinch sighed annoyedly, “Until now, I haven't been able to contact Phoenix. In theory, she should be in Germany right now.”

“Is it her? Is that possible?” Thunderbird grabbed the newspaper in his hand in excitement and crumpled it into a ball. “What reason does Phoenix have to do this? Could it be that her so-called research has been able to deduce the formula for the Elixir of Life?”