The Hour of Judgment (6)

Apart from the faint, intermittent groans of pain from the Muggle girl whose outline had been warped beyond recognition on the experiment table, the room was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Everyone stared wide-eyed at Amosta Breen and the blonde girl beside him, their thoughts frozen.

"Impossible—"

Jasna's fingertips trembled. She shook her head slightly as she struggled to speak in a hoarse voice.

"You couldn't possibly have found this place, Breen. Apparition is forbidden here. How did you—"

Halfway through her words, Jasna suddenly realized something. She abruptly lowered her head and looked at the gold pocket watch in her palm.

"Your reaction was quick, Ms. Rosier," Amosta said mildly. "Just not very clever."

At that assessment, Jasna's lips tightened at once. She raised her arm high, as though she intended to smash the gold pocket watch viciously onto the floor. But before she could do so, an irresistible force pulled the watch from her hand and deposited it precisely in Amosta's palm.

"This pocket watch carries precious feelings, Ms. Rosier. If you don't like it, you can give it to me. As it happens, I have another use for it."

Amosta smiled faintly and openly slipped the pocket watch into his pocket. Jasna, watching him do so, seemed as though someone had seized her by the throat; she could not make a sound.

The leaden atmosphere in the room made it difficult for Louise to breathe. The hand that had supported her arm earlier was now tightly gripped in her own. She cautiously swept her gaze around the room. There were many things she could not understand, but that did not stop her from knowing that the people before her were the scum of wizardkind, a pack of utterly vicious criminals.

But seeing the fear in