Regulus: Please Follow Proper Procedure

On the battlefield outside the western slope, the gravel on the ground has been baked through by the high temperature and is slowly cooling down. The night wind blows over, bringing up layers of fine hot ash.

The bushes were burnt, but the branches remained brittle and crumbled into powder and fell down when the wind blew.

Cutting Curse and Exploding Charm plowed several deep trenches on the ground. Transfiguration turned up the soil from the ground and mixed it with gravel.

Several pieces of granite have cracks on their surfaces, and heat is still escaping from the cracks.

The wounded groaned on the ground, and the sounds came from different directions. Someone had a broken leg and was tying up the wound with a broken sleeve.

Someone's face was covered with blood, and he was slumped on the ground, his eyes were blurred, and he was muttering something repeatedly.

Auror and Apparition started working as soon as they landed.

One team spread to the periphery of the battlefield and sealed off the scene. The other team was responsible for classifying the wounded, tying up those who could move, stopping the bleeding first and then tying up those who could not move, and putting the dead together.

Laurent Gaston, as the senior Auror who led the team, did not work with his subordinates and was looking at the young man at the moment.

Regulus·Attalos·Black, he flipped through the files before landing.

Department of International Magical Cooperation has continued to keep files on important Pureblood families in neighboring countries, and Black family's files are filled with three cabinets.

Father Orion·Black, the leader of Black family, and a member of Wizengamot have made it clear that they have joined the Voldemort camp.

Mother Walburga·Black, Black family is the main branch, brother Sirius·Black, Gryffindor are traitors of the family.

Regulus I was born in 1961, thirteen years old, Hogwarts Slytherin is studying in the second grade.

Last year, Christmas Banquet defeated Bellatrix·Lestrange alone, and burned Lestrange Manor.

The source of the information is the internal rumors of UK and France Pureblood families. There is no official confirmation, but the fact that his combat ability far exceeds that of his peers is confirmed in the file.

France is much more concerned about the internal movements of UK Pureblood families than UK Ministry of Magic.

While UK was still having a meeting to discuss whether Voldemort was a threat, France had almost finished building the files of the core members of Death Eaters.

Gaston himself holds the title of deputy director of international security affairs at the Law Enforcement Department. He knows his colleagues UK very well.

Voldemort, a Dark Wizard who is gathering armed forces in UK, openly recruits followers and has a clear organized promotion of Pure-blood supremacy's ideas.

UK Ministry of Magic's law enforcement department responded by holding a meeting. Their attitude towards the name was to pretend not to hear it. They did not even write the full name in the official document and replaced it with someone who cannot be mentioned.

Ridiculous.

In the last Wizengamot joint vote, France proposed to send a joint Auror action team to UK, but it was rejected by UK on the grounds of sovereign jurisdiction.

Under sovereign jurisdiction, there is a fire in your backyard, and your neighbor wants to help put out the fire, but you say it is an internal matter of your home.

Pretend to be deaf and dumb, and you will perish.

But this is their UK people's business.

As for the person in front of him, Gaston saw the situation on the battlefield clearly the moment Apparition landed.

A young man brought down dozens of adult wizards.

Files are on paper.

Gaston has worked in the Auror system for nearly thirty years, and has handled hundreds of files showing that his combat abilities far exceed those of his peers.

Most of it is exaggeration, and a small part is that people of the same age are too poor. The one in front of me is obviously neither.

Gaston stood there, waiting for the young man to come over.

A thirteen-year-old child at a crime scene with Auror and injured people everywhere should take the initiative to approach the person in charge. This is a basic cooperative attitude.

He waited for a moment, waited for a while, and then continued to wait.

Regulus is motionless.

Then he tilted his head, looked away from Gaston, and began to look at Auror who had already started working.

A few were trying to stop the bleeding of the wounded, a few were using detection spells to scan the ground for Magic Power remnants, and two were squatting next to Delacroix's body, poking it back and forth with a copper probe.

Baruk on the shoulder changed its position, with its eight legs curled up, its spider head resting on its front legs, and its amber eyes staring at the unfriendly human opposite.

Gaston waited there for almost half a minute, making sure that the young man had no intention of coming over on his own initiative, and his face twitched slightly.

Then he walked over by himself, and the two Aurors following him stopped a few steps away, each turning sideways to guard the perimeter.

Gaston stopped one meter away from Regulus. This distance was closer than the standard conversation distance, and there was a subtle sense of oppression.

He was more than half a head taller than Regulus. He lowered his head and looked at him with a serious tone and serious eyes. He spoke in English with a heavy French accent.

"Mr. Black, I am Laurent Gaston, French Ministry of Magic Law Enforcement Department, deputy director of international security affairs, and the person in charge of the scene tonight. I need you to tell me what happened here."

Regulus turned his head and looked up at him.

He is in his fifties, with short gray hair sticking to his scalp, a square face, wide cheekbones, deep eye sockets, loose eyelids, a straight nose bridge, a large nose tip, and nasolabial folds stretching from both sides of the nose to the corners of the mouth. He looks older than his actual age.

He nodded slightly. "Mr. Gaston, my family manor was invaded tonight, and I launched a defense.

The identity of the intruder should be Delacroix Smuggling Gang, and there are about forty people in total. You can check the specific composition yourself."

Gaston glanced at him and then at the surrounding battlefield.

More than forty people were beaten like this, and you told me that you defended yourself?

As for the name Delacroix, of course he knows that Southern France is the largest Magical Creatures smuggler. The files in the department are piled up half a person high, but he has never caught any substantial evidence. He failed tonight.

Gaston asked, "When did you discover the intrusion?"

Regulus twitched the corner of his mouth slightly. "Just now."

Gaston was silent for a while, his eyes moved from the palm-sized dark red spider on his shoulder to the blood on the front of his robe.

Then he asked, "Are you injured?"

Regulus followed his line of sight, lowered his head and looked at it, his mind moved slightly, and the drop of blood that had dried up disappeared instantly.

Then he raised his head and shook his head. "No."

Gaston nodded, looked away, and spoke a string of familiar words, "Mr. Black, this is currently Ministry of Magic Law Enforcement Department's on-site investigation procedure.

As the only combat participant at the scene when the incident occurred, you need to cooperate with our standard procedures, including stating the incident, identifying the scene, and providing relevant physical evidence."

"I will cooperate," Regulus also nodded, mouthing a bunch of useless nonsense. "Black family's manor has been legally operated in France for hundreds of years. The security is in charge of Mr. Felix·Laval. Tonight's invasion has been repulsed, and I have informed you."

Gaston's jaw muscles bulged.

He opened his mouth to continue, when footsteps approached quickly from the right.

A young Auror ran over and stood next to Gaston. He glanced at Regulus out of the corner of his eye, and then took another look. He was surprised at first, and ridiculous at second.

He leaned close to Gaston's ear and whispered, "Mr. Gaston, we detected Magic Power residue after Killing Curse was launched on three injured people. One corpse was clearly killed by Killing Curse. He was male, about thirty years old."

Gaston's expression changed instantly.

Just now, he was habitually serious, a professional face that he had cultivated after thirty years of working Auror, without much real emotion.

The seriousness now means that he is really serious, with his brows furrowed and his lips pressed together.

He waved young Auror to retreat, then turned back to look at Regulus, his eyes became cold and his tone became harsh.

"Traces of Killing Curse were found at the scene, and someone was hit by Killing Curse and died."

Gaston's lower jaw was retracted and his upper body was slightly pressed forward. This posture made his brow bones appear higher, casting a shadow on his slack eyelids, hiding his eyes.

His eyes peeked out from the shadows, and his whole person changed from a stylized and business-like person to a sinister, oppressive person who no longer left any room.

"I need your wand to be tested for Prior Incantato. This is standard procedure."

Regulus's Magic Perception has never been taken back.

On the entire western slope, the characteristics of more than twenty Auror and Magic Power are clearly visible in the perception.

Most of them are combatants, with a sharp texture, a sense of restraint that has been systematically trained, and a stable core.

But there are three people who are different. Their Magic Power is also stable, but it is more rounded and not sharp.

There was one behind Gaston, talking in a low voice with a young Auror, and the other was standing at the edge of the wounded area, holding a record book in his hand, lowering his head and writing something.

A civilian came to the crime scene, Gaston was the deputy director of the Law Enforcement Department, and there were several administrative people who coordinated with him.

Combatants are responsible for the scene, and civilians are responsible for negotiation, characterization, and aftermath.

Therefore, France had no intention to treat this matter simply as a crime scene from the beginning.

"I can cooperate with Prior Incantato in the inspection," Regulus looked into Gaston's eyes and said sincerely, "If you have the official investigation letter from UK Ministry of Magic Department of International Magical Cooperation."

Gaston's brow bone is pushed down a little further, and the shadows in the eye sockets are heavier, but Regulus doesn't like this at all.

His tone was still sincere. "My wand was purchased at Ollivander. According to International Confederation of Wizards<Cross-Border Wand Testing Accord>, testing of wands registered in other countries requires written authorization from the country Ministry of Magic. If you want to go through formal channels, you can apply and I will cooperate."

Gaston was silent for a moment.

Of course he knows about International Confederation of Wizards's agreement, but will UK Ministry of Magic issue a letter of assistance to Black?

Considering the position of Black family in Wizengamot, not to mention that the person in front of him is the heir of Sacred Twenty-Eight, let alone the investigation letter, Minchum probably doesn't even want to touch this application form.

Even if it is issued, the paperwork process from Paris to London and back to Paris will take half a month.

What else to check? Half a month is enough to replace ten wands.

But he couldn't give in at the scene, there were traces of Killing Curse, there were dead people, he was leading the team Auror, and more than twenty subordinates were watching him.

Checking the wand is standard procedure, not checking it is a violation.

Gaston took another step forward, trying to keep up the pressure. "There are Killing Curse, dead, and Spellcasting at the scene. This nature is no longer about your manor being invaded. If you refuse to cooperate, I can only assume that you are concealing key information related to Killing Curse."

Regulus was unmoved. "Mr. Gaston, you are making a connection between my legitimate defense and Killing Curse. This suggestion itself constitutes an accusation.

If you have evidence proving that I am related to Killing Curse, you can file formal charges. If not, then your current approach is to pressure a foreign heir of Pureblood families to cooperate with your investigation that does not comply with procedures."

Gaston's brows furrowed even deeper.

He looked into the boy's eyes, and there was neither provocation nor fear, nor any conventional reaction that a thirteen-year-old child should have when facing an adult Auror.

His voice softened a little. "Mr. Black, I understand your position, but someone died at the scene Killing Curse--"

Regulus interrupted him, but his voice became harder. "I said, go through official channels."

The air froze between the two people.