Jackson Trade Square West, in a seemingly inconspicuous shack.

Presumably to prevent the light from being seen, the only two windows in the house were tightly covered by curtains, and even then, only a faint oil lamp was lit in the shack.

The faint light could not dispel the darkness, making the room look eerie.

At the small round table, slightly illuminated by an oil lamp, sat two unremarkable men, a man and a woman. The two of them looked to be in their early twenties, and at most no more than thirty years old, so it stands to reason that they should be the age of steady and active.

But somehow, although they were talking, the tone of their voices was faintly gloomy.

“…… What to do? Couldn't find a target anywhere, we ...... Should I 'go home' and report the situation to my master? The woman said softly, looking a little uneasy.

"No, we can't just go back...... Look for ...... again Look for ...... man, though he seems to be older, but he is more timid than the woman, "or the master will whip us again...... No...... Definitely don't ......"

As soon as the woman heard the word "whip", she was shaken and habitually gnawed her nails. For a moment, there was an unpleasant "rattle" sound in the quiet shack.

“…… We...... Where to find it? After a while, the woman retracted her finger and said to herself, "Mike, they're not back yet...... Could it be that they also encountered that terrifying spider? ”

"No, it won't...... Didn't we escape too? The man shook his head vigorously and said, "Although the big spider is very powerful, it can't make us completely unable to move...... If you give up some of your strength, you can still escape. ”

"Then why did they ...... Why can't you come back yet? The woman took a deep breath and began to gnaw on her nails again.

Because of her habit of relieving mental stress, her nails have been gnawed into pits. Not only that, but the tips of almost every finger are covered with new wounds over old ones, which looks quite terrifying.

"Let's look for it again...... You can go anywhere......" said the man, craned his neck, "we can't stay here any longer, we must go back when noon arrives tomorrow...... Look for ...... again Look for ...... again."

"Wait a little longer...... the woman suddenly covered her chest, a little cold sweat oozed from her forehead, "The time is almost up......"

"Ah...... Hmm......" The man also subconsciously touched his chest as she spoke, and then nodded silently.

In the darkness of the shack, the man and woman were quiet again, and only the "rattling" sound of the woman gnawing her nails from time to time still echoed in it.

Time passed bit by bit, and they still hadn't finished their task, but now they could only huddle on their stools and tremble slightly as if they were waiting for death.

New York time, three o'clock in the morning.

The two of them, who were silently waiting for something with their eyes closed, suddenly tightened their muscles suddenly, and they pressed their chests almost at the same time.

Their faces gradually distorted, and their mouths clenched their teeth let out one suppressed roar after another, and their breaths became short and heavy.

If you look closely, you may be able to see that under the dim light, their foreheads, the backs of their hands, and the necks are bruised, and every part of their skin is exposed. Their sweat slid down their cheeks and onto their chins, then dripped down drop by drop.

They seem to be in extreme pain!

But even so, they still didn't dare to let out too much sorrow, they were constantly restraining themselves, just so as not to reveal where they were hiding.

Because they know that if they are accidentally exposed, there will be never-ending punishment that awaits them. To them, the whip of the master is ten thousand times more terrible than the pain of this timed onset!

Ten minutes later, the two collapsed weakly on the dirty dusty floor, but they didn't care. They were just thinking - there are only nine hours left until tomorrow noon!

After a moment's pause, they immediately got up and removed their headheads from the shelves beside them. After fastening their cloaks, they blew out the oil lamps and walked briskly towards the gate of the hut.

"I'll go to the North and East, you search here first, and then go to the South—" The woman roughly assigned the search area, and then they began to go their separate ways.

……

On the other side, Maka, who was also searching for Sirius, had already sent out all the alienated eight-eyed giant spiders that remained with her.

And he himself was not idle, but went door-to-door with the little ones.

However, when he transformed into a hummingbird's Animagus form and jumped out of the chimney of one house, he did not continue to fly towards another house as before, but stayed in mid-air for a few seconds.

Immediately after, he rushed straight in a certain direction without hesitation.

In an alley not far from the house he had just had, he saw a cloaked figure running sneakily to the other end of the alley.

He was familiar with the figure's magical reaction, but although he was familiar, he almost missed it.

That weirdly weak magic fluctuation is too hidden! If he hadn't been paying attention to it since just now, maybe he would have really let the other party slip under his nose.

After following her for a while in her Animagus form, Maca quietly landed on the roof of a house and transformed into a human form again. Then he put a phantom spell on himself, and quickly chased after him.

He didn't know how to turn the silent person in the form of black mist back into a human form, so he could only use a sneak attack to take advantage of the other party's unnoticed attack and strike first.

The man didn't run very fast, he hurried a few steps before immediately catching up with the other man, and decisively threw a rather powerful full-body restraint spell at the man.

The spell took effect, and the other party fell into the dark alley without saying a word, even though he was stiff, and he didn't have time to react at all.

“…… When you don't turn into black mist, isn't your resistance to spells the same as that of ordinary people? Maca stepped forward quickly, turned the man lying on the ground over, and lifted the other's hood, "...... Female? ”

The woman couldn't even move a finger under the effect of the whole body restraint spell, only the pair of eyes could still move. Maca didn't hesitate any longer, even staring into the other's eyes and casting a Dementor Spell.

But just for a moment, he immediately frowned, and subconsciously shook his head.

"What is this?" Maca frowned and whispered to herself.

The woman hadn't practiced Occlumency, and his Regent Mind had worked — probably.

That's right, Maca can only be described by the word "probably", because when he reads the other person's memory, what he feels is a large area of chaos and unspeakable pain and fear.

Remembrance is not just about looking through other people's memories, it also allows the caster to empathize with the emotions and emotions of the subject.

What Maca felt in the mind of the woman who was lying on the ground in front of her was a vague and distorted chaos, and a fear that went deep into the bone marrow.

That feeling took over most of the woman's heart, making it difficult for Maca to read more clearly.

The clearest image Maca has ever seen through this retrieval is a gloomy dungeon filled with wails, with the silhouette of a figure with its upper body hidden in the darkness.

“…… I see, is that really the case? Maca's eyes narrowed, and she said thoughtfully, "But who could that person be?" Greenwald's remnant? A staunch supporter? Excellent researchers? ”

He lowered his head again, took out the elixir and poured some into the woman's mouth, then stretched out his staff and waved it lightly at the other person's face.

"Answer me, where's Sirius Black?"

“…… I don't know. ”

"What are you doing here?"

"Search for Sirius Black."

"Do you have any companions for this operation? Where are they all? ”

"There are four people in this operation, Joshua is now searching in the West End, and the whereabouts of Mike and Andrew are unknown."

"Why are you chasing Sirius Black?"

"It's an order."

"Where are your strongholds?"

Maca kept asking questions, but when he asked about their stronghold, the woman was at a standstill under the effects of the elixir.

Although she kept opening and closing her mouth, there was only a faint "gurgling" sound in her throat, as if some kind of deep-seated fear was trying to prevent her from telling the truth.

"Let me ask again, where is your stronghold?"

"In-"

Maca frowned and repeated the question, but before she could think that the other party had barely managed to squeeze out a word, her eyes immediately widened, and a hoarse roar came out of her throat.

And her countenance, distorted again, seemed to be in great pain.

At this moment of sudden appearance, Maca suddenly sensed some kind of magic fluctuation from black magic. And the source of that strange fluctuation is-

“…… Chest. ”

There was no time for him to avoid anything, so he quickly unbuttoned the tie of the mantle and the outer robe, and then forcefully pulled the collar of the shirt inside.

On the scarred skin on the other's chest, a deep imprint pattern was emitting a faint black-purple glow. And around that brand, a large number of dark red veins extended from it, faintly revealing an evil aura.

"The mark of the Deathly Hallows," Maca thought to herself, her eyes fixed on the branding pattern, "...... What exactly is Greenwald planning? ”