Charles was currently in the inn's broomless lobby.
The Niffler, back on his shoulder, kept shaking its head.
After a long while, Charles finally spoke, breaking the silence.
"My demands are not excessive. Everyone who came here tonight must come out and let me search them."
No one responded.
Charles continued waiting patiently.
But Bell, behind him, could no longer hold back. Just as he was about to repeat the question, a mechanical voice from nowhere interrupted him.
"The outsiders who came here tonight have already left."
"And you..."
Charles raised a hand to stop Bell. After a moment of silence, he uttered a single word. "Go!"
Outside, Charles stared thoughtfully at the inn before him.
"Sir? Should we gather the brothers..."
As he spoke, Bell made a throat-slitting gesture.
"No need. They have their rules and cannot reveal client information. But they also hinted that their people were not involved. Our target may have just left this place."
The small squad that had been behind Charles had already dispersed.
At that moment, only he and Bell remained.
Charles decided to leave Bell behind to watch the inn while he found somewhere comfortable to wait for news.
A few minutes earlier.
Cypher had prepared himself for a direct confrontation.
He took Luna's hand and carefully approached the window, peering outside.
The bright moonlight from when they had arrived had vanished.
The entire village of Hogsmeade was shrouded in a hazy gray fog.
How could there be fog on a clear night where the stars were visible? Obviously, something was wrong with it!
Fortunately, Luna was a young witch with the complete inheritance of a Potions Master.
She took out a bezoar and held it in her mouth.
Stepping forward, she gently fanned some outside air through the crack in the window and into her nose.
"It's a Nundu! And it's mixed with other toxins. Even slight inhalation will cause numbness."
As Luna spoke softly, she swiftly pulled out a bottle of antidote potion and drank it.
Then she took out two more bottles.
"Cypher, drink one. Use half of the other to soak your mask. A makeshift gas mask."
Luna spoke briefly.
Cypher understood. He took one bottle and drained it without hesitation.
Then he poured the other half-bottle Luna handed him over his mask.
"They actually dared to oppose all of Hogsmeade."
Several possibilities rapidly flashed through Cypher's mind.
Grindelwald could not have come here in person.
Were they Saints under his command? Or one of his agents within the British Ministry of Magic? Or perhaps a Pure-blood family?
No matter how he thought about it, none of them had any reason to turn against Hogwarts right now, much less commit an act that signified an outright break.
It was only an herb. Was this really necessary?
As long as it is magic, it will leave traces. Dumbledore's words suddenly surfaced in Cypher's mind.
I can use the sensing spell to make them split up!
Cypher quickly explained his plan. Luna considered it and felt it was worth trying, so she nodded in agreement.
Cypher held his breath and focused, cautiously sweeping his consciousness outward like spiritual awareness.
At every street corner he had passed, he left behind a faint magical anchor.
These magical anchors were not particularly complicated. Many wizards could use them. Combined with another object and an incantation called "Mentus," they formed a special teleportation spell known as a Portkey.
The biggest drawback of this teleportation spell was that one had to leave an anchor somewhere before reaching it through a Portkey.
Yet it was precisely these teleportation anchors that forced the alerted Charles to divide his men and assign them to watch different locations.
Suddenly, a peculiar magical fluctuation came from one direction.
Cypher had no time to withdraw his consciousness.
A chittering cry, like that of a monkey, abruptly rang out in his mind.
"Oh? Interesting..."
In the blurry image he sensed, a man in a black trench coat had something like a frog-like monkey perched on his shoulder.
After that remark, the man seemed to begin chanting some strange magic.
Cypher could clearly sense a flow of magic filled with ominous energy gradually gathering around the man in black.
At present, Cypher had no desire to confront completely unknown Dark Arts.
He hurriedly withdrew his consciousness and stopped using the sensing spell.
"What is it?"
Seeing Cypher suddenly open his eyes with an ugly expression, Luna, who had been carefully watching their surroundings, grew anxious.
"I was discovered. We need to leave!"
With that, Cypher pulled Luna toward the rear window. On the way, he casually grabbed a cup and transformed it into a dagger.
In no time, he removed the rear window.
"No way! We tested it. A Sneakoscope can't detect your sensing spell!"
Luna stared at Cypher with an incredulous expression.
"That person had a monkey or maybe a frog on his shoulder. I couldn't tell which. It discovered me."
Cypher completely removed the rear window and set it aside, then pressed his back against the wall.
He gestured for Luna to step on his hands and climb out.
"It's a Tree Monkey Frog, a type of Magical Creature that can sense danger and malice. Your hostility must have made it sense danger."
As she climbed out, Luna explained to Cypher.
Outside, Luna safely landed on the ground.
Cypher tilted the window and handed it to Luna outside.
He quickly climbed through as well.
After landing, he took the window from Luna and put it back in place, securing it with several small stones.
Without a careful inspection,
the window looked as though it had never been removed.
"Casting magic always leaves traces!"
Dumbledore's warning still echoed in his ears.
Casting magic could interfere with the enemy, but not casting magic could interfere with them too.
Since that was the case, he had physically removed it. That was why Cypher had not used a spell.
In the backyard, someone lay rigidly on the ground.
He seemed to be one of the customers who had been drinking in the lobby earlier.
The two carefully went around him.
They found a broken shed and slipped inside.
Just as Cypher was recalling the map of Hogsmeade and planning an escape route,
a figure suddenly appeared in the backyard.
It was not Apparition, and the person's appearance did not match the person Cypher had sensed.
That person's superior or subordinate!
Some unknown form of magic similar to teleportation!
Cypher held his breath and hid in the darkness.
Using the shards of a wine bottle beside him, he watched the reflected image, countless speculations rising in his mind.
Behind him, Luna was curled into a ball. So as not to hinder Cypher if he needed to fight under extreme circumstances,
she did not even dare reach out and touch him.
In the image reflected by the wine bottle shards,
the newcomer took out his wand and first cast a green spell at the "corpse" on the ground.
Only then did he wave his wand at the wall before him, apparently checking for magical traces.
Clearly, he found nothing.
So he transformed into black mist again and vanished from the spot.
This scene showed Cypher how the man had appeared.
He had flown here as black mist. No wonder he had arrived without a sound.
Cypher silently counted ten breaths. Only after hearing no movement outside did he speak to Luna.
"He isn't the person I sensed. It seems there's more than one enemy."
"How could British dark wizards dare to do this here..."
Cypher placed a finger over Luna's lips, stopping her words.
"They aren't British wizards."
Cypher explained quietly, "There was a swastika engraved on his wand. I'm not sure which foreign faction he belongs to."
"We'll look it up when we get back... Wait, that was actually a bird snake! Why are its eyes red?!"
Hearing that, Cypher hurriedly pulled Luna into his arms.
A cool current of air enveloped them both, making Luna feel very comfortable. She even quietly rubbed herself against Cypher's chest.
Cypher did not notice Luna's little movement.
He silently watched the bird snake leave before releasing Luna.
"Sorry. Snake eyes probably have infrared sensing, and I was worried..."
Cypher's fingers gestured wildly in the air, as though he wanted to use his own invented sign language to explain snakes and infrared principles to Luna.
Luna shook her head wordlessly. Cypher did not know whether his judgment had been wrong or whether Luna simply did not mind that he had just held her.
The two were silent for a while before each cast a Silencing Charm and a Disillusionment Charm on themselves.
Since the spells were cast on themselves, they would leave no traces unless someone looked directly at them.
They stood and, taking advantage of the gaps between the red-eyed bird snake's patrols overhead,
quietly crept outside.
Before you continue