It Takes Skill to Play Hide-and-Seek with "Mad-Eye" / Lollipops Can Easily Give You Away

The first thing to be exposed was another corner next to Lucius's seat, where a camera that had already been focused suddenly floated up, the shutter clicked with a crisp sound, and the flash of the camera directly dazzled Lucius's eyes!

As a signal, other locations in the bar suddenly lit up with various flashes, immediately launching into a burst of photos.

Immediately afterwards, all the 'guests' who had nothing to do with the conversation also drew their wands and rushed excitedly toward Lucius and 'Peter Pettigrew'!

Chapter 316 Playing hide-and-seek with 'Mad-Eye Moody' requires skill

What's going on?

It took the entire bar about a second to go from silent to spinning. Lucius hadn't even recovered from the blinding flash of the camera when he saw a group of strange-looking guys yelling and rushing toward him!

"Damn it! Lucius Malfoy, you actually informed the Auror!!"

After his hysterical roar, Harry pretended to be angry, reached into his pocket, pulled out a round object, and slammed it to the ground!

"Just you wait! I will definitely get my master's wand back!!"

Angry curses and choking smoke spread throughout the bar at the same time. In the blink of an eye, most of the bar was plunged into darkness, and nothing could be seen at all.

"Damn black wizard! He actually used Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder!"

"Cough cough... Anti-Apparition Jinx has been cast here, he can't escape!"

"Get the other one under control first!!"

A cacophony of shouts, accompanied by the firing of spells and the sounds of bodies knocking over tables and chairs, erupted in chaos in the corner where Lucius was.

"That guy was wearing Invisibility Cloak; he ran out the back door!"

However, a slightly lame wizard with a terrifying demonic eye accurately spotted the stealthy figure in the dark mist, as well as the bar's back door that was quickly opened!

The wizard was none other than the infamous 'Mad-Eye Moody' Moody. Seeing 'Peter Pettigrew' trying to escape, he quickly flew after him, simultaneously unleashing two powerful yet silent spells.

Petrificus Totalus, Stupefy!

However, to his astonishment, he discovered that the other party seemed to have anticipated this, and had even added Protego Maxima over Invisibility Cloak invisibility cloak for protection, so that they easily withstood his Nonverbal Spell and ran out of the bar through the back door right under his nose!

"Trying to run? Not so easy!" Moody's scarred face became even more ferocious as he quickly gave chase, leaning on his crutches.

But just before leaving the bar, he suddenly and inexplicably turned back and shouted into the bar, "You've done enough fooling around today, you should go home right now!"

Only then did he hurriedly run out the back door of the bar.

Right after he left, in a booth at the bar, a young woman with unusual clothes and bubblegum-pink hair pouted unhappily.

"Hmph, what's this? You went chasing after them all by yourself, and all you do is yell at me to come back... Hmm, what's this?"

The young woman, who appeared to be around twenty years old, was muttering to herself when she suddenly noticed a camera eerily 'floating' past her feet before disappearing again.

After that, the bar's main entrance was quietly opened a crack, then quickly closed again, as if something had just slipped out.

"Hmph, you can't escape!" The young witch's eyes lit up at the sight, and she immediately chased after her in a flurry of activity.

Shortly after she left, a group of guys who were only there to get the news but had absolutely no interest in the arrest operation also left the bar one after another...

Oh, except for one particular Beetle, who is still perched by the window, intently watching the dissipating smoke.

"Let me go! Let me go right now, you bunch of bastards! Do you know who you're offending?!"

As the thick smoke dissipated, the bar became bright again. Lucius, who hadn't had a chance to escape, was now pinned to a table by several Auror.

"Of course we know who you are, and we also know who you were plotting with. So, Mr. Malfoy, you'd better wait until we get back to the Ministry of Magic to say what you have to say."

One of the Auror, with a darker complexion, seemed to have been chosen by the group to speak with Lucius. He was also the only wizard present who dared to confiscate the Yew Wand.

"Back to the Ministry of Magic? Sure, but I need to see Minister Fudge immediately!" Lucius replied coldly. "Kingsley Shacklebolt Shacklebolt, I want you to understand clearly that I was framed by Peter Pettigrew Peter!"

"I cannot judge this matter. I believe the Minister of Fawley and the judges of Wizengamot will make a fair judgment," Kingsley Shacklebolt Shacklebolt replied in a deep, slow voice. "Fortunately, Mr. Moody has already gone after him and will surely be able to bring Peter Pettigrew back to stand trial with you."

"Mad-Eye Moody..."

Thinking of that crazy old man who would risk his life to capture Death Eater, Lucius suddenly felt uneasy again.

If Moody does manage to capture Peter Pettigrew, and the latter keeps pressing him during interrogation, trying to drag him down with him, things could get quite complicated.

"Disappeared? Impossible, you couldn't have escaped."

In the dark alley behind the bar, Moody cautiously searched his surroundings, his round, magical eyes constantly emitting a bright blue light, unwilling to miss even the slightest clue.

This area is also within the range of the Anti-Apparition Jinx, and he had already scouted it with his Magic Eye, knowing that there was a dead end outside the back door of the bar, so he was quite certain that 'Peter Pettigrew' hadn't gone far!

"There it is!"

Suddenly noticing the anomaly, Moody, whose combat experience was ingrained in his bones, raised his hand and unleashed a Confringo, blasting a metal barrel in the corner into pieces.

"This is... that damned rat, resorting to such a petty trick!"

However, when he went to check, he found only some tattered clothes in the bucket, along with shards of glass scattered all over the floor.

Moody picked up a piece of broken glass, sniffed it carefully with his nose, which was missing a large piece, and immediately knew that the bottle contained a high-purity Shrinking Solution.

"It's the sewer!"

With just this tiny clue, the experienced Moody immediately learned of 'Peter Pettigrew's' escape plan and promptly blew open the sewer grate and jumped in.

There's no mistake, after the other person slipped out of the bar, they must have left their clothes behind to distract the other person, while I drank Shrinking Solution and probably also used Animagus Transformation at the same time, which is how I squeezed through the narrow gap in the sewer grate!

"You absolutely can't escape this time."

The environment in the sewers was extremely harsh; not only was it filthy and dark, but it was also muddy and slippery. Occasionally, rats would scurry around Moody whenever he heard footsteps.

But he wasn't worried at all, because his magic eye could see through everything even in such an environment, and 'Peter Pettigrew' had nowhere to hide.

"I finally found it!!"

Finally, as a mouse frantically fled into the distance, Moody, with his incredibly perceptive magic eye, accurately spotted the missing second toe on the mouse's right front paw!

That's definitely Peter Pettigrew!

Upon spotting his target, Moody grinned excitedly and hurriedly sprinted forward with his unsteady steps. His leather shoes echoed as they stomped through the puddles of the sewer.

However, shortly after he left, the thin curtain of water that had been scattered across the ceiling and walls of the sewer suddenly began to gather and flow upwards along the walls, eventually transforming into a transparent bird that quietly flew away...

Chapter 317 Lollipops are an easy weakness to exploit.

"Damn it... we lost them so quickly?"

At this moment, less than ten meters from the bar's entrance, the young witch looked around at the dark, deserted emptiness. Her earlier enthusiasm quickly faded, and she began to stomp her feet in frustration.

Sure enough... she managed to lose track of the guy who had sneaked away with the camera.

Well, to be objective, you can't really call it losing track of someone.

The action of 'following' requires maintaining a certain distance; losing sight of her target after less than ten meters from the bar was utterly futile—she was completely clueless.

However, there was nothing that could be done about it. After all, during her training as an apprentice Auror, although her ability to hide and disguise was always outstanding, stealth and tracking were absolutely a major challenge for her.

Helpless, she could only go back to the bar and slump down in the spot where the 'camera' had just been.

"Hmm... what is this?"

While looking around listlessly, the young witch noticed a thin, white, round rod next to the outer table leg.

"This is... Honeydukes Acid Pops, you can't go wrong with it!"

As a true snack lover, even though she had graduated from Hogwarts more than two years ago, the young witch could still recognize at a glance that what she was holding was definitely one of Honeydukes' sweets.

So, the guy who escaped with the camera and disappeared earlier came from Hogsmeade Village?

So, if the guy who kept sending out anonymous tip-offs and causing Moody's and his team so much trouble a few days ago is in cahoots with the person who took the photos, or if they're even the same person...

We might find some information if we go to Hogsmeade Village!

"I'm warning you, show me some respect! I'm not only innocent in what happened today, but I'm also one of the victims. It was Peter Pettigrew who sent me a threatening letter, which is why I came to this meeting. That escaped convict had been hiding at Hogwarts all along; it's obvious that Dumbledore was harboring him!!"

In other parts of the bar, several Auror were busy cleaning up the mess, such as restoring tables and chairs and erasing the memories of the bartenders and ordinary patrons; the rest of the people were all keeping a vigilant watch over Lucius Malfoy.

This talkative Pure-blood seemed to be somewhat related to the young witch, but she didn't care at all and had no intention of claiming kinship with him.

However, the young witch heard every word of the nonsense he uttered while in custody.

The witch, of course, scoffed at this guy's slander of Headmaster Dumbledore, but there were other things she cared about very much.

Peter Pettigrew Peter had been hiding at Hogwarts, but the person who wanted to capture him was in Hogsmeade...

We definitely have to go check that out!

At that moment, the young witch once again revealed the same mischievous expression she had shown before, and quietly slipped away when no one was looking.

"Damn it, he got away!"

Not long after, Moody returned to the bar through the back door, his demonic eyes gleaming menacingly, clearly in a terrible mood.

He jumped into the sewers to chase 'Peter Pettigrew' and soon caught the rat he thought was the target. But after some examination, he discovered that it was just a rat whose front toes had been deliberately cut off!

I was actually tricked by Peter Pettigrew?

Moody could hardly believe tonight's outcome. He had dealt with Peter Pettigrew Peter before in the Order of the Phoenix, and that guy wasn't nearly as clever back then!

"Where's Tonks?" Moody, still furious, glanced around the room with his magic eye and realized that the apprentice Auror he had been helping with the training was also gone.

"Have no idea..."

I didn't see her.

The young witch named Tonks had sneaked over today. With the room in such a mess, everyone's attention was drawn to Lucius and Peter Pettigrew, and no one really noticed her.

"That troublesome girl, where has she been gallivanting off to again? Oh well... let's go back."

With a helpless sigh, Moody knew he couldn't find the runaway young witch, so he could only order the Auror to retreat.

Not catching Peter Pettigrew is definitely the biggest regret of the night.

However, they managed to catch Lucius Malfoy, a big fish, and even seized the You-Know-Who's wand from him, so it was a great victory.

"Hmph, Death Eater ~"

Moody stared coldly at Lucius Malfoy's retreating figure with his Demon Eye, his smile growing increasingly sinister and ruthless.

When the Dark Lord fell, Lucius Malfoy used the excuse that he was under the Imperius Curse to escape from Azkaban, Moody didn't believe it...

How could he possibly have that kind of luck again this time?!

Meanwhile, 'Peter Pettigrew', who had successfully escaped Moody's pursuit, has reappeared somewhere near the Leaky Cauldron on Charing Cross Road.

Now, he has returned to his original form Harry.

The 'camera' that had been secretly taking pictures was now magically floating beside him, swaying as if seeking a reward.

"Don't worry, there'll be plenty of candy!"

Harry pulled a handful of Acid Pops from his pocket and handed them to the other person, who then returned the camera to Harry with satisfaction, revealing his true form in the process.

It has long white fur and a pair of large, somewhat melancholic black eyes, making it look like an elegant ape-man.

This is a Demiguise, which Harry borrowed from Scamander in a letter specifically to complete his plan.

The Demiguise Beasts are naturally adept at concealment, and ordinary wizards cannot detect their tracks at all. With its help, Harry successfully captured a lot of evidence of Lucius that night.

Of course, to ensure it could focus on its work, Harry had asked Hermione to buy a lot of Acid Pops from Honeydukes as payment.

This incredibly sour substance could easily burn a young wizard's tongue until it blistered, but it just so happened to be the Demiguise's favorite.

"Mad-Eye Moody, as expected of a member of the Order of the Phoenix, his strength is not to be underestimated."

As Harry put the gluttonous Demiguise into his pocket, he recalled his brief encounter with Moody and couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.

Dealing with a powerful Auror like Moody is indeed quite troublesome. Even though Harry's Shield Charm was already at a high level, his Protego Maxima was still broken by Moody in just two moves.

His Mystic Eye was even more troublesome than any spell. In addition to its ability to see through objects and observe minute details, it could also penetrate both the invisibility smoke bomb and the Invisibility Cloak, catching Harry completely off guard.

Fortunately, Harry knew he would be facing Moody, so he prepared Shrinking Solution, a bag with Undetectable Extension Charm, and a live rat with its toes removed, among other things. Otherwise, he might have been caught red-handed.

In short, the part of this grand drama that required Harry's personal involvement is finally over.