Not Easy

"Thanks, bad luck."

Rufus stopped, looked down at the drink spilled on him, then looked up at the figure that had bumped into him and was now walking away. He was quite annoyed, not expecting to encounter such bad luck so early in the morning.

Rufus picked up his wand, wiped the stain off his body, looked at Hopkirk nearby, and frowned as he asked, "What's going on? Why is Hertok Dagworth here, and why is he in such a bad mood so early in the morning?"

"They just had a fight," Hopkirk said, pointing to the Director's office door. "Don't ask any more questions."

"They had a fight?" Rufus really didn't understand Hopkirk's words. Just being able to see Dagworth at the Ministry of Magic was already a rare occurrence.

"There's been another problem with the Trace." Hopkirk hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "It seems to be related to Dagworth, which is why he came to the Ministry of Magic so early this morning. However, it seems the talks broke down and ended badly."

"It's not a big deal," Rufus said, even more puzzled. When people talked about Trace, they mostly associated them with underage wizards. However, the fact that Potions Master like Dagworth would personally make the trip was already quite unusual.

And the negotiations actually broke down, which feels a bit unbelievable.

Hertok Dagworth held a high position in Potions and was a member of Wizengamot. The Ministry of Magic would have given him some face on such a trivial matter, yet the negotiations broke down.

No matter how you look at it, Rufus found it incredible.

Hertok Dagworth was in a terrible mood. In fact, he had known all along that the talks would break down, which was why he preferred to spend money to resolve the issue rather than negotiate with the Ministry of Magic.

Although Hertok rarely followed the Ministry of Magic's affairs, he had heard some things about the current Director. It was said that whenever she drank too much sherry, she would start spouting shockingly cruel and heartless opinions.

There's no way you can reach an agreement with someone like that.

The other party refused to write a letter of apology.

Even though Hertok had already explained the situation clearly and stated that he was willing to pay the other party a sum of money privately as a token of gratitude after getting the Gold Membership Card back.

However, I was still rejected.

In her words, there was absolutely no problem with the Ministry of Magic's Trace, and she had not received any explanation from them.

Therefore, the negotiations broke down immediately.

Hertok stood at his doorstep, took a deep breath, and prepared to see Brood one last time to see if the other could offer him any damn advice.

Since losing his Gold Membership Card, Hertok has been in a bad mood and his temper has become increasingly irritable.

When Hertok went to the Lake Cottage again, he found that he could no longer locate its exact location.

"Everything's really going wrong," Hertok murmured, gazing at the lake. He realized he couldn't find Brood, and even the owl couldn't deliver the message.

"What on earth is going on? What is Brood up to?"

Hertok stared angrily at the lake, but there was no island or manor in it at all; it was as if all traces had been erased out of thin air.

The opponent used advanced magic to completely conceal the Lake Cottage.

Hertok considered himself a master Potions Master, but he was far from being a master Charms.

He tried to find the dilapidated dock and small boats, but after walking around the lake, he found nothing, as if the memories in his mind were all false.

Just as the Potions Master turned to leave, he suddenly noticed a House-elf appear silently behind him.

"Please follow me," the House-elf stepped forward, bowed slightly to Hertok, and then extended his palm. The latter understood what the other meant, and the moment he reached out his hand, the House-elf Apparition.

When Hertok came to his senses, he found himself standing in front of a house, and the person he was looking for was sitting at a table in the yard, smiling and waving in his direction.

"What the hell are you doing!" Hertok was in a bad mood. He strode forward and sat down in the armchair opposite Brood, poured himself a cup of black tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Failed?" Although Bard Brood was asking, his tone made it clear that the other party had failed.

"That guy didn't want to, damn it, I explained everything to him and her properly." Hertok poured himself another glass, drank it all in one gulp, trying to suppress his anger. He knew his tone was very bad.

"I wasn't talking about that. I was asking if you went to see Albert?"

"Hmm, that little guy is a bit clever." Hertok frowned as he spoke of Albert, giving Brood a reproachful look. "It seems he knew I would ask him for the Gold Membership Card Gold Membership Card, so he hid it away long ago."

"Clever tricks?" Brood ignored Hertok's gaze and didn't quite agree with the assessment.

"Isn't that right?" Hertok said, pursing his lips.

"I warned you before, don't use those underhanded tricks." Brood looked at Hertok and reminded him again, "Don't expect him to give you a friendly look next time you see him."

"What else can I do?" Hertok drank another cup and slammed it down on the table. "I just spoke with that old woman, and she rejected it outright, or rather, she denied it outright."

"Being caught in the middle, do you think it's easy for me?" Hertok couldn't help but complain. "I just want my membership card back."

"What did he say he would do with the Gold Card?"

"Who, that boy?" Hertok frowned deeply, and after recalling for a moment, said, "He seemed to have said he would melt down the Gold Membership Card and sell it in the Muggle World."

"It's pretty much what I expected." Brood nodded, then cautioned, "Don't try to force him to submit. You won't succeed, and you'll only end up in trouble."

"I'm curious, why do you value that boy so much? Is it his talent, ability, or something else?" Hertok looked at Brood with a puzzled expression and asked.

"This is none of your business." Brood didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"I'm very curious," Hertok asked.

"Maybe my judgment is better than yours," Brood joked. "So, I'm optimistic about him."

Hertok remained silent; naturally, he didn't believe such nonsense.

"If you want to get your Gold Membership Card back, you'll probably have to go after the Ministry of Magic," Brood warned. "Don't ignore my warning, or you'll definitely be in trouble."

Ever since Brood discovered that Albert dared to venture into the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night, and even managed to defeat a large swarm of spiders surrounded by Acromantula and rescue Fred and George, he knew that Albert was not as simple as he had imagined.

It is said that a wand matches its owner's personality. Albert's wand is made of redwood, which means that Albert may have already possessed the ability to turn danger into safety.

In other words, Albert did not enter the Forbidden Forest simply out of recklessness like the Gryffindor students, but rather he had a plan to make a safe escape beforehand, and he even had his own way of doing so even if Brood did not appear.

Keep in mind, Albert was only twelve years old! Ever since that incident, Brood has held Albert in very high regard.

If Hertok were to actually charge headfirst into it, he would probably hit a metal plate and end up with a bloody head wound.

However, Hertok was in a terrible mood and had no interest in listening to any of this. Once he calmed down, he decided to write a letter to Dumbledore, asking the headmaster of Hogwarts for help, at least to prevent their second meeting from getting any worse.