Chapter 885: Auror Headquarters (Patreon)
Content
A lopsided sign on the nearest cubicle read AUROR HEADQUARTERS.
The last time Evan came here, he didn't have a chance to have a good visit. The door of this cubicle was closed.
They met Mad-Eye Moody again at the door, and they just chatted briefly.
He followed Harry and Ron to look surreptitiously through the doorways as they passed.
The Aurors had covered their cubicle walls with everything from pictures of wanted wizards and photographs of their families, to posters of their favorite Quidditch teams and cut-out articles. It was varied and all-encompassing.
A scarlet-robed man with a ponytail longer than Bill’s was sitting with his boots up on his desk, dictating a report to his quill.
A little farther along, a witch with a patch over her eye was talking over the top of her cubicle wall to Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Is this the Auror Headquarters?" Harry asked softly, peering in as much as possible, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"Yes, after your hearing you and Evan is over, I can show you around the Ministry of Magic, but you can't go in and disturb others' work," said Mr. Weasley, "but not the Auror Headquarters. The information inside is classified..."
"Good morning, Weasley!" As though hearing them talking at the door, Kingsley came over and said carelessly, “I’ve been wanting a word with you, have you got a second?"
“Yes, if it really is a second,” said Mr. Weasley, “I’m in rather a hurry."
They were talking to each other as though they hardly knew each other, and when Harry opened his mouth to say hello to Kingsley, Mr. Weasley stood on his foot, and Evan hurriedly stopped Ron, not letting others know that they knew Kingsley very well.
The group followed Kingsley into the Auror headquarters, along a row of cubicles, and into a large room at the very end.
Harry, Ron and the others looked around excitedly. It was a rare thing to visit the Auror headquarters.
Evan saw newspaper cuttings and old photographs papering the walls, most of which were photos of Caresius. Fudge and the Ministry of Magic seemed to blame the vampires for everything, including what had happened in the Triwizard Tournament.
After all, it was vampires who launched the attack at the Quidditch World Cup, and Cedric was finally confirmed to be a vampire.
Fudge did not want to admit the fact that Voldemort had returned, and Caresius and his people became the best scapegoats.
Among them, Evan also saw a photo of Elaine, but it had been taken many years ago. The yellowed photo showed the pale little girl about eight or nine years old, with a cute, little, fleshy face; wearing a dark Muggle elementary school uniform.
Had she not accidentally exposed two pointed tiger teeth, it would be hard to imagine that this little girl would be a vampire.
As noted below, she was a core member of the "Slytherin" vampire clan and extremely dangerous.
He didn't know where the Ministry of Magic found this picture, but this proved that the Aurors were not useless.
Evan had heard Elaine say that she didn't enter a wizarding school, but went to an ordinary Muggle school.
Compared with wizards, vampires seemed to bind more closely to Muggles, and were perfectly integrated into the world of ordinary people.
The only space free from newspaper cuttings and old photographs on the walls was a map of the world in which little red pins were glowing like jewels, mainly in the United States and Northern Europe.
These two places were also the most powerful areas for vampires, especially the United States. Unlike in Europe, the Dark forces such as vampires, werewolves, and Dark wizards were much stronger there.
This was mainly related to history, and the American wizards were more tolerant.
The atmosphere was more open, there were not so many so-called pure-blood wizarding families that had passed down for thousands of years, and the composition of the American Wizarding Congress was also very complex.
"Weasley, I need as much information as possible on flying Muggle vehicles sighted in the last twelve months. We’ve received information that those vampires seem to be trying to illegally modify Muggle vehicles and flee abroad..." said Kingsley brusquely to Mr. Weasley, and he winked at Evan and the others, motioning them to visit at will.
Evan looked around randomly in the room, and various small notes were posted on the surrounding walls, recording all kinds of information, from trivial things in Britain to things in other countries in the world.
Recently, the Ministry of Magic seemed to be planning to send someone to the United States to find Cedric’s family, and then carefully gather more information related to vampires.
In addition, there was the shaking of the Egyptian Gringotts and the riots of the Italian giants’ tribes.
As the most powerful country in Europe, the British Ministry of Magic had its own intelligence network all over the world.
It even included the news of a major earthquake in Osaka, Japan at the beginning of the year, which was recorded because of magical reactions.
"This is the intelligence room; you guys should be more casual. Don't be so formal," said Kingsley in a whisper, and then he said in normal tones, "And don’t take too long, Weasley, the delay on that firelegs report held our investigation up for a month. This is a very important matter."
“If you had read my report you would know that the term is ‘firearms,’" said Mr. Weasley coolly. “And I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for the information you want, we’re extremely busy at the moment." He dropped his voice and said, “If you can get away before seven, Molly’s making meatballs."
A few minutes later, he beckoned to Evan and the others and led them out of the Auror headquarters, through a second set of oak doors, into another passage, turned left, marched along another corridor, turned right into a dimly lit and distinctly shabby corridor, and finally reached a dead end, where a door on the left stood ajar, revealing a broom cupboard, and a door on the right bore a tarnished brass plaque reading MISUSE OF MUGGLE ARTIFACTS.
Mr. Weasley’s dingy office seemed to be slightly smaller than the broom cupboard. There was no way to compare it with the Auror headquarters, nor with the spacious office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement they just passed by. It was the department with the largest number of people in the Ministry of Magic, and the place was much larger.
Not to mention the office of the Wizengamot Administration Services on the same floor which was the most luxurious place in the entire Ministry of Magic after the Minister's office.
"Dad, this is the smallest office of the Ministry of Magic," said Fred. "The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office is not valued at all."
"Yeah … generally only people who are about to retire will be assigned here." George also whispered. "Fudge doesn't like Dad, it's no secret, and he also volunteered to stay here..."