"Have you seen enough? If you've seen enough, come out! ”

While Maca and the trench-clad wizard were still wandering around black and white London, a figure appeared from outside the space.

It was undoubtedly Helbo, who had not entered the space where Maca was, but as if he could see what was going on inside, he looked in the distance in the direction of Big Ben.

And the next moment after that, all the Muggles who had been sent to the Ministry dungeon by Maca began a terrible mutation.

Obviously, if those Muggles had an isolated problem, it could be called "accidental". But if it happened at almost the same time, then no one would believe it if no one was behind it.

……

"At present, the ten underground floors where the dungeon is located have been completely isolated, and none of the Aurors who were sent down before have returned......"

In the conference room of the Ministry of Magic, Snape and Slughorn were listening to a debriefing on the current situation.

Judging by the entire known story of the report, the Muggle mutation that broke out in the dungeon was quite sudden. If it weren't for Marka and Kingsley's careful planning of emergency responses in advance, it would have been too late to say anything.

"According to the instructions of the head of the room, two groups of team members were patrolling the corridor outside the dungeon. And the healers sent by St. Mungo also left the cell immediately after the routine examination of the Muggles......"

So, when the cell door was breached, only one group of remaining team members died. Everyone else, including the therapists, has now been confirmed alive. ”

After hearing the Auror's debriefing, who was in charge of escorting the therapist at the time, Snape thought for a moment and quickly asked:

"So what? Do you have any more specific details about those Muggles? ”

"Oh, Hankins knows better than I know about this."

When the Auror saw him ask, he immediately turned to the other Auror behind him.

"He's Tommy Hankins, and this morning he was the one in charge of patrolling after the therapist's check-up time—" he introduced, "and their group left after we escorted the therapist away, just over ten minutes before the third group left to buy us time at the end. ”

Speaking of which, the Auror couldn't help but pause slightly.

They are Aurors, and things like sacrifice in the line of duty are already mentally prepared when they become Aurors. However, it is sad that a colleague died trying to ensure that his two squads completed their mission.

However, they were enlightened after all, and after a small pause, he turned pale:

"In addition, Hankins' team is also the team responsible for activating the multiple protection spells, and they have completed the task of emergency isolation of the ten underground floors."

"On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, thank you again for your efforts." Scrimgeour nodded with a sincere expression on his face.

Snape ignored Scrimgeour's words, of course, and after the Auror had briefly stated his colleague's work, his eyes fell on the Auror, whose surname was Hankins.

"Hello, Mr. Snape."

Hankins took a step, his hard facial contours revealing his gritty heart.

"I did pay special attention to the state of Muggles at the time," he said earnestly, "Actually, the first thing that made us perceive the anomalous change was a kind of black gas. The black air clinging to the ground, diffusing little by little through the crack in the door of the cell—I think it was a bit like Voldemort's Black Death, but of course, I can't tell if it's different. ”

"And it wasn't long before the solid metal cell door was broken by some great force, and the Muggles burst out of it."

Snape frowned slightly, frowned, and said:

"Like the Black Death, all over your body?"

"No, that's not it," Hankins shook his head, "the black gas is gone quickly, and when those Muggles appear, they're basically the same as normal people." ”

As for this, he suddenly turned around and said:

"But more importantly, I think they should have at least some wisdom - some of the Muggles clearly tried to get around them when the three groups stayed in the way. If it weren't for the desperate efforts of the colleagues in the third group, maybe our second group would not have been able to complete the task of isolation. ”

The dungeon on the tenth basement floor of the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Mystic Affairs on the ninth basement floor have existed since the time of the Wizards' Council, the predecessor of the Ministry of Magic, and naturally include the multiple protective magic used for isolation today.

And this is the reason why McGonagall and Snape chose to wait and see first.

But in fact, what can be used as a temporary support is actually only the isolation between the tenth and ninth floors of the basement.

After all, the Department of Mystic Affairs on the ninth floor of the basement is too special, and if those alienated Muggles break into that level, the situation will really be out of control.

Given the first manifestations of the Muggle mutation, Snape immediately fell into thought. Slughorn, who was on the side, saw that he was no longer talking, so he took over the conversation.

"Minister Scrimthour," said the balding fat old man, who was finally no longer smiling as he usually did in the current emergency, "I remember the Auror mentioned it earlier, and then you sent someone down to see it?" ”

"Yes! Professor Slughorn. ”

Scrimgeour was naturally a student at Hogwarts in the first place. And for the former head of the Slytherin Academy in front of him, he, the former little snake, still showed considerable respect.

"A total of four strikers and two Aurors were dispatched, all of whom temporarily lifted the Ministry of Magic's anti-phantom manifestation spell and then moved through the apparition. It's a pity that none of the six of us came back," he said, "and after fifteen minutes of reaching the sight, we waited another five minutes or so, and finally we had to turn on the anti-apparition again and stop risking more people to go down." ”

"It seems that the situation down there does not seem to be optimistic!" Slughorn shook his head regretfully and said, "Minister Scrimthour, I think you're doing the right thing, and there's no way to give up. ”

After that, there was a silence at the long table, and no one knew what to do.

At the end, Scrimgeour suddenly said again:

"I'm going to send another letter to the International Federation of Wizards - if nothing else, at least I'll have to get a response from there."

From his words alone, it is clear that he had already sent letters, and most of them were in conjunction with the call for help when he sent someone to Hogwarts.

However, the federation has not yet replied.

……

Not to mention the silence on the part of the Ministry of Magic, but at this very moment, Luna was accompanied by Flitwick to the street park where Maca had disappeared.

It can be seen that the deep pit dug by Maca's own magic a few days ago has never been filled. And everywhere around the park, Kingsley led people to set Muggle expulsion spells, so that Muggles of unknown circumstances would not approach this place that might still be dangerous.

"Miss Lovegood, be careful! Don't go too fast! ”

Flitwick, the little man, flicked his short arms and legs and followed closely behind Luna.

Luna, on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to Professor Flitwick's screams, she seemed to be very curious about this place, and she didn't let go of almost every inch of space.

Since Aberforth was not directly involved in Maca's disappearance after all, and even heard about the general situation from others, he didn't bring Luna here last night.

No, actually, Luna spent the whole night wandering around London on her own.

"Miss Lovegood, have you found anything?"

"Oh, uh-huh......" Luna replied as she bent over and looked at the bottom of the pit, "Professor Flitwick, how deep do you think this pit is?" If I jump like this, will I break my leg? ”

"Ouch!" Flitwick quickly grabbed his wand and said sharply, "Don't jump, don't jump—not to mention whether you will break your leg if you fall, who knows if there is still magic arranged by Helpo down there?" ”

"Huh?" Luna straightened up and said, "Helpo's magic...... Will there be? ”

To be honest, a few days have passed, and even if there were any traces of magic left at that time, most of them have long since faded. So although Luna checked carefully, she hadn't found anything until now.

And if there's any place in this small park that hasn't been sensed, it's undoubtedly the seemingly deep vertical hole in front of you.

"Professor Flitwick, I'd like to go down and have a look."

"No, no, no, it's absolutely not going to work!" Flitwick hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Besides, Sirius, they must not have missed a look at this, if there is a clue, they will definitely tell it." ”

"But have you really seen everything else here except below? As for the outside of the park, the chances of finding maca are definitely even lower......"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Luna draw her wand and wave it on the ground, and the dirt that had been turned up by Maca digging a pit was immediately gathered by her, and soon turned into a strong rope.

After wrapping the ends of the rope around a nearby tree trunk and her own waist, Luna jumped into the pit.

"Hey!"

Flitwick wanted to stop Luna, who was inexplicably reckless, but he didn't expect that the other party's speed would be much faster than he expected. Especially when he didn't expect that Luna didn't even have the slightest hesitation, and jumped into it in one fell swoop.

Fortunately, Flitwick's reflexes are quite good.

Caught off guard, I saw him swing his two small short legs upside down, and quickly chased to the edge of the pit, and the wand in his hand quickly threw a silent levitation spell.