The elderly Wizards' Purity Party members, newly returned to freedom, were remarkably calm.
Half a century had passed, and the world outside had changed beyond recognition.
Because of them, their children and grandchildren had lived under the German Ministry of Magic's surveillance all along. What they had lost was not merely freedom, but fifty precious years with family and friends.
Vincent did not let them dwell in sorrow for long. The German Ministry of Magic had sent people, and they needed to leave Germany faster.
Mach 2 was already the limit they could endure. As La Voiture Noire flew away from the Black Forest, a squad of Aurors in Thestral carriages finally arrived at Erkstag.
Like Azkaban, Erkstag was guarded with extreme vigilance, and without transportation, one could only enter and leave on foot.
After listening to Muller's account, the Aurors all wore grim expressions.
Muggle fighter jets—there was no way Thestral carriages could catch them.
They reported the situation, only to receive orders to maintain order at Erkstag. Other teams would handle the pursuit.
The moment German Minister of Magic Thaddeus Berger learned that forty-one elderly Wizards' Purity Party members had escaped together, he declared a state of emergency across Germany's Wizarding World, sealed the borders, banned all wizards from entering or leaving, and even paid a personal visit to the Muggle prime minister.
While the two government leaders spoke, La Voiture Noire quietly landed beside Lake Constance, southeast of the Black Forest, at the border where Switzerland, Austria, and Germany met.
Under the puzzled gazes of the forty-one elderly Wizards' Purity Party members, La Voiture Noire magically transformed into a small submarine.
Vincent faced them. "Everyone, our next stop is Austria."
At the mention of Austria, they all thought of Nurmengard.
The prison Grindelwald had used to imprison