The faint light of dawn shines through the gaps in the heavy curtains, and is engraved in the room. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The info stove was still burning, with the occasional slight cracking sound of wood.

A middle-aged man sat at his desk, staring heavily at a news photo in the Daily Prophet — a dilapidated house with a dark mark. He raised his pipe and took a hard puff, exhaling a light purple smoke.

"Captain Blarod's Killed!" - Below the title, it reads: Yesterday evening, the Ministry of Magic received a report that a Dark Mark had appeared in the sky over Iling. The Aurors, who were among the first to arrive at the scene of the incident, discovered that the apartment beneath the Dark Mark was the residence of Braud, the leader of the Magical Law Enforcement Team.

-- There were a lot of signs of fighting at the scene, and it was clear that Blaud had put up fierce resistance. But sadly, he didn't make it. The Auror office said Captain Blarod's body may have been killed, though the body has not been found. But by all indications, they tried to torture him in order to obtain internal intelligence from the Ministry of Magic.

At the moment, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Magic has stated that it will strengthen the security of senior officials of the Ministry of Magic. Insiders of the Anti-Dark Arts League asserted that if strong measures were not taken, the next person to be killed would be Piers Hinkenes, the director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

There was a knock on the door, and Pierce hurried through the front page of the newspaper, not wanting his wife to worry about him.

"Julie, did I wake you up when I got up?" Pierce put down his pipe, trying to put on a gentle smile.

Julie wears an apple-green silk dressing gown with a cup of hot tea. Walked over and gently placed it in Pierce's hand. Then he suddenly knelt down and grabbed the cuffs of his robe with both hands.

"Pierce, resign. Julie's eyes glistened with tears, "Think about our child, he can't lose his father at such a young age." ”

"Julie, you're-" Pierce scrambled to help his wife up and put her in a chair, "the situation is under the control of the Ministry of Magic now, don't worry, I won't-"

Julie reached out and flipped the newspaper from the fifth edition of the Quidditch schedule to the front page. Pierce didn't have time to stop it, and his hand froze in mid-air.

"You were a guest at his house last night, and if you had gone a little later, you might have been—" Julie choked up and didn't continue.

Pierce sighed deeply and turned to stand in front of the fireplace, which had a small window with pictures of various sizes.

He turned his back to his wife and was silent, not knowing what to say. , eyes wandering back and forth between photos.

"Listen to me, dear. Julie couldn't help but speak again, "Resign, let's go to Spain to find my brother, it's safe there." Or we stay in England, but don't take up a position in the Ministry of Magic. Think about what happened to Amelia, think about our kids, who just went to school in Durmstrang. ”

He paced, his eyes swept over the picture from time to time. A family of three stood by the lake, laughing happily. The son looked like himself, standing in the middle of the husband and wife, wearing Durmstrong's fur cape, looking full of energy.

"That adversary is not something the Ministry of Magic can fight, and Dumbledore heard that he was also seriously injured-"

"Don't say it. Pierce interrupted his wife harshly, his gaze not hesitating, but unwavering, "I'm not a coward, Julie. Now that I've accepted this position, I'm going to do it to the end, and I won't leave the Ministry of Magic unless Rufus fires me. ”

"But—" Julie choked up, expecting him to change his mind.

But Pierce turned away from her, staring at the leaping flames and continued, "The situation is terrible - since you understand it too. But that's why someone has to step up and stand up to the front. What do you want Edgar to say about his father, who told his friends that his father had abandoned his position and taken his family abroad during the time when the mysteries were rampant? No! Even if I would die on the job, he would be able to pat his chest and say that my father was a dutiful man. He will understand what my decision today is for. ”

Julie silently shed tears, and Pierce felt that his tone was too serious. Came over and squatted beside his wife, "If I resign and leave, someone will definitely take my place." It was John, who also had three children, and his father had dragon plague syphilis. I think he will not hesitate to take my place, I know you are worried about me, but you also see it. The ministry is stepping up our security measures and I'll be fine. ”

He took one last look at a photo of himself wearing a Ravenclaw Quidditch uniform, a wedding photo with his wife, and a family picnic. After looking at them one by one, he straightened his robe and said to Julie.

"I'm going to work, you can go back and sleep again. ”

Julie nodded touchingly, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes. After the door closed, she sat down for a while, got up and began to tidy up the house, cleaning up the soot left behind by Pierce's late night.

This kind of scene may not only occur at the Sinkens house. Students who sit in the auditorium, eating breakfast, complaining about their D grades, will not know that their parents are tossing and turning for the Death Eaters to move again.

Occasionally, when a few people whispered about the murder of another Ministry of Magic official, they would not have imagined how frightened the adults who had experienced the first war.

"Today's front page," Rogge pointed to the newspaper in the center of the table, "the head of the law enforcement team is dead. ”

"Blalaud - what a strange name, isn't it? Daphne gave him a cold look.

Phoenix saw that Dumbledore was still not in the teacher's seat. He'd been looking for a chance to talk to Dumbledore for the past few days, but Snape said he didn't know where Dumbledore was or what he was doing.

Judging from his last Dumbledore situation, he was basically out of danger. But that spell couldn't be removed, at least not by Snape.

I hope Dumbledore doesn't die outright, at least when they're done talking and making things clear. When he was planning, he really didn't expect that Dumbledore might risk his own life and save Harry first. If you add in the speculation about Harry's importance - forget it, it doesn't make sense.

Phoenix shook his head and sat down.

"It's the same as last time," said Phoenix, "and I remember the first war, when the Department of Magical Law Enforcement suffered the heaviest casualties. ”

"That's for sure, they're the largest department of the Ministry of Magic, or they're law enforcement. Naturally, the Death Eaters would take care of them. Rogge analyzed seriously.

"They made a provision for the magical Animagus. Daphne digressed from the topic and read the article in the international section.

- Magical Animagus in the course of practice, the serious consequences that may arise. The events that broke out in New York last week, whether by accident or manipulation by manipulators, showed the destructive nature of this magic - the emergency measures are as follows: 1. Wizards who wish to learn the magic of the Animagus must report to the magical agency. And to practice transfiguration, make sure that a Ministry of Magic official is present - it must be made up of members of the Experimental Spell Committee and the Magical Creatures Management Agency. 2. Underage wizards are not allowed to practice-"

"We seem to have broken the law. Rogge said to Phoenix with a frown.

"You have to trust the power of the Ministry of Magic's law enforcement agencies, and I promise that no one will report to the Ministry of Magic unless something really happens. Phoenix said nonchalantly.

"I don't think the Ministry of Magic will take it seriously, after all, who would try to become a dragon. Daphne thought for a moment and said.

"It's hard to say, Draco definitely wants to try. Rogge grimaced exaggeratedly, "The last time we went to the dragon farm together, you didn't see his excitement." ”

"If it was a normal day, he would have jumped on you to teach him this magic. ”

"Don't be funny, his dad is going to kill me. ”

The atmosphere cooled down. The eyes of the three people were the same, looking at the close-up photo of Bai Lauder's house in the newspaper. The magic ceiling of the auditorium struck with a bolt of lightning.

Draco's father, Lucius, was still imprisoned in Azkaban, and it seemed that the Death Eaters had no intention of rescuing him.

"Let's go to class. Phoenix whispered. (To be continued.) )