A seagoing freighter had just docked at the Port of London when several figures suddenly appeared atop a harbor warehouse.
The blonde woman in a long trench coat had barely appeared before she weakly gripped the railing, taking quite a while to catch her breath.
A man wearing a suit jacket above and ludicrous clown trousers below walked over behind her. "Mary, are you all right?"
Mary Thompson, captain of the American Aurors, waved him off. The man took out a small bottle and handed it to her. "Pepperup Potion. It helps with seasickness. Just a sip, or your ears will start smoking."
Mary accepted the bottle and took a small sip. Before long, some color returned to her pale face. "Thank you, Conrad."
"We really should have listened to Kingsley Shacklebolt and used a Portkey." Conrad sighed. "Unfortunately, the others don't seem to trust him very much."
There were several other people on the roof, dressed in all manner of strange outfits and bearing distinct appearances, seemingly from different countries.
"The International Confederation of Wizards is being too cautious." Mary looked at them. "If the other side cooperated, a team like this could be impartial and fair. But they've already refused five times! They clearly have no intention of cooperating properly. The personnel are too scattered. I'm afraid this investigation will come to nothing."
Conrad sighed as well. "They also don't really believe President Dumbledore's claims. After all, they sound rather sensational."
"But we know it's true." Mary frowned. "More than two years ago, I met that Murphy Darkholme. He was still a wanted criminal then... but he left a deep impression on me..."
Mary recalled what she had seen in the Grand Canyon in the United States. Even now, it still felt somewhat unreal.
But if Murphy really