"Let him go. He's old, and his legs aren't good... Whatever you want, the Burke Family will satisfy it." The wizard's pleading voice had taken on a sob. "We'll never oppose the Harrises again."
"Shut up!" an elderly male voice snapped, though it lacked strength.
"Aren't you still lively?" The woman's playful voice was thick with threat. "I'll warn you one last time. Stand up... or tell us who ordered the explosion."
There were a few sounds of movement.
"For Merlin's sake! This explosion wasn't your own—wait? What are you doing? No!"
Scrimgeour strode quickly into the conference room where the purebloods had just gathered. The fat man glanced at him and gave him a friendly smile, but his hands were lifting a wheelchair, and the gaunt-faced Herbert Borgin was sitting in it.
Another female Auror, nicknamed Doctor, with her hair combed back, also looked toward him, but the movement of her hands did not stop as she shoved the window open.
Scrimgeour froze for an instant, stunned by the scene before him. Then, realizing what they intended to do, he was shocked and immediately barked, "Are you mad?! Stop it at once! Put him down!"
"Chief, we were only scaring him." The fat man casually tossed the wheelchair back onto the floor.
Herbert's body bounced from the impact, and the wheelchair slid forward a short distance.
Scrimgeour's gaze fell on Herbert. The old, stiff, emaciated body slumped in the wheelchair looked utterly incapable of fighting back. If not for the rise and fall of his chest, one might almost have mistaken him for dead. "Absurd! What are you doing?!! Were you going to throw him out the window alive?!!!"
Herbert's drooping, aged eyelids opened. He stiffened his neck and looked expressionlessly at Scrimgeour, showing no intention of speaking. Even