Rowle Is Finished (Bonus Chapter)

The scene before him left Skylar in disbelief.

Inside the storage room were at least a dozen iron cages, each containing a naked woman. There was obvious yellow mucus at the junction of their eyelids, a sign of Conjunctivitis Curse. Their lips were tightly closed unnaturally, clearly the effect of some kind of Langlock. Their hands were bound behind their backs, and their feet were tied together with another rope, making them lie on the ground like worms.

Even with his two lifetimes of experience, Skylar was stunned by this scene.

His Magic Eye could see that most of these women were Muggle or Squib, with almost no magical energy fluctuations, but one of them was a genuine witch, and he was certain that it was Griffith who had been kidnapped.

Scrimgeour and Robards also came in, their faces equally grim.

They all knew perfectly well what Black Sin Square was all about and were mentally prepared for what it was like inside, but when they saw it with their own eyes, the turmoil in their hearts was still hard to calm down for a long time.

"These bastards..." Robards couldn't help but curse, "Do they have no basic moral shame at all, doing something like this?"

"Uncle Scrimgeour..." Skylar said slowly, his tone chillingly cold, "Is this the evil the Ministry of Magic has tolerated for so many years?"

Scrimgeour, already seething with anger, widened his eyes at Skylar's words. "I must admit, the Ministry of Magic may have been too lenient in the past, Skylar," he said resolutely. "Now, I promise you, I will correct this mistake, even if it costs me my life!"

This time, even Robards didn't dare to say anything to dissuade him.

After all, the cruelty and evil of Black Sin Square had greatly shocked him.

Skylar was right about Scrimgeour.

He was a profound man, an ambitious man, and a Slytherin, well-versed in the art of self-preservation and ruthless tactics. Yet, he possessed none of the sense of justice and integrity expected of an Auror. In the original story, although he committed many wrongdoings, such as capturing a ticket seller to impersonate Death Eaters and resorting to any means to uphold the prestige of the Ministry of Magic, he ultimately chose to sacrifice his own life for Harry's safety.

He still had a bottom line in his heart, and the tragic scene before him had undoubtedly crossed that line!

The two guards were arrested on the spot.

Scrimgeour used a special communicator to summon the other Auror, who rescued the women one by one. Their memories would be rewritten, and then they would be handed over to the Muggle World government for processing.

Skylar didn't get involved in what happened after that. He refused Robards's escort and returned to Diagon Alley, then got back to school using Floo Powder.

He believed that under these circumstances, Scrimgeour would certainly deal severely with the mastermind behind it all. Moreover, once his Auror subordinates had witnessed this scene, it wouldn't be so easy to completely suppress the matter—don't forget, among his Auror subordinates was Kingsley Shacklebolt, who came from one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

Two days later, on Tuesday morning, Skylar received two letters delivered by owls.

The first letter was from his partner at Puddlemere United, Philbert Devril. Devril had been in a panic and had no idea what to do after Griffith' disappearance, so he could only cling to Gwenog Jones, even though he knew it was probably useless, but at least he could keep a glimmer of hope and see if he could get even a little bit of compensation to reduce his losses.

He lost far more than just a mere 1,000 Galleon in transfer fees.

His poaching efforts this season have begun to bear fruit. Puddlemere United has finally shaken off the slump of the past few years and has shown a very impressive performance this season, rising to second place in the league with unstoppable momentum, closely following Ballycastle Bats.

This is still the team's performance during the adjustment period. He is confident that the team will definitely have a chance to challenge for the championship next season.

This was followed by a rapid increase in the team's fan base, booming sales of tickets and merchandise, and a surge in the team's market value (and the net worth of its shareholders)...

Unfortunately, after Griffith's disappearance, all of this may well have come to nothing...

And his troubles are piling up: a rapid loss of fans and supporters, a sharp drop in ticket demand and prices, a shrinking team value, and dissatisfaction from investors with powerful backers...

When he received Skylar's letter and saw that Skylar asked him to postpone his attack on Gwenog, he was still resentful! In his view, Skylar did not have any personal experience of the pain (Skylar's contract stipulated the transfer of such risks), so he felt that Schelling was talking without any real understanding of the situation.

Less than three days later, Skylar had rescued Griffith —his surprise far exceeded the financial gain. This was because, with his shrewd business acumen, he had keenly sensed the power Skylar wielded. To be able to contact the Head of the Auror Office in such a short time and use the Auror's influence to rescue someone—how much power must have been behind that!

As intelligent as he was, he understood the value Skylar represented – his vast network of connections and his hidden intelligence capabilities. Such a person was absolutely worth the effort to cultivate a good relationship with.

So, in addition to the usual thank-you letter, Skylar also received a big gift in this letter – the share transfer agreement for Puddlemere United.

Yes, Devril clearly understood the importance of binding Skylar tightly to his cause, and he decided to further strengthen the bond between Skylar and himself. Therefore, he transferred some of his shares to Skylar for free. Now, Skylar held a third of Puddlemere United's shares!

[Puddlemere United stake acquired!]

The second letter was from Scrimgeour. Under the influence of the Veritaserum, the two guards revealed the mastermind behind it all: it was none other than Dolfin Rowle of the House of Rowle!

The rumors of Dolfin Rowle's womanizing nature were no secret among the upper echelons of the Pure-blood families. It was said that in addition to his legally wedded wife, he kept seven or eight mistresses.

He had been searching for Muggle beauties outside, using magic to train them into slaves. Besides selling them for money, he also enjoyed them himself, satisfying his evil desires.

With witness testimonies in hand, Scrimgeour, knowing the importance of speed, quickly assembled the Auror, Hit Wizard, and reconnaissance teams, dividing them into dozens of squads. Simultaneously, they raided the House of Rowle's properties and secret hideouts throughout Great Britain (extracting information from two guards). Sure enough, they found Dolfin's private confinement in several locations; they had all been given "Amortentia," the most potent Love Potion, enough to make them extremely dependent on and infatuated with Dolfin.

With witnesses and physical evidence at hand, Dolfin has no way to clear his name this time, and his imprisonment in Azkaban is a foregone conclusion.

On the same day, Dolfin learned that his deeds had been exposed, and he knew the consequences of entering Azkaban, so his first thought was to escape!

However, he was neither Animagus nor did he know Human Transfiguration. After escaping several times using short-range Apparition, he was eventually captured by the Auror in a relentless pursuit. Only two days had passed from Skylar's intrusion into Black Sin Square to Dolfin's capture, demonstrating that the Auror were quite efficient when they were truly serious about their work, provided there were no internal obstacles.

Because Dolfin's actions had aroused public outrage, the Ministry of Magic handled the matter with maximum efficiency. On the same day Dolfin was captured, Wizengamot unanimously passed a trial and sent him to Azkaban for immediate execution!

The Dolfin Rowle incident attracted great attention from the public. People could not believe that such evil could exist in the wizarding world, and the public opinion demanding that the Ministry of Magic make a major overhaul of Knockturn Alley became the new mainstream.

Public anger was hard to quell, and officials closely associated with Knockturn Alley all wisely chose to remain silent, daring not to utter a single word in Knockturn Alley's defense.

On the same day, the ancestral home of the House of Rowle was attacked.

All the direct descendants of the House of Rowle in the ancestral home have mysteriously disappeared, and the books, antiques, and valuable decorations in the ancestral home have all been cleared out. The House of Rowle's property in Great Britain has also changed hands without anyone noticing.

Surprisingly, this incident didn't attract much attention. The Ministry of Magic seemed to ignore it, and the major media outlets didn't even mention it.

The House of Rowle's assets were divided and devoured by the Pure-blood families who came upon hearing the news. However, for some strange reason, the news of the House of Rowle's downfall did not spread quickly, and by the time most of the Pure-blood families heard the news and rushed over, only scraps remained.

Although they didn't understand why, they became wary of the families who had taken the lion's share first.

Especially noteworthy is that the family that took the largest share wasn't the powerful House of Malfoy, but the consistently low-profile Greengrass Family. Of course, the House of Malfoy didn't fare badly either, ranking second.

It's one thing that these two families have the power to do so, but the next family to take the third largest share is not the Parkinson and Burke Family, Malfoy's long-time allies, but the Nott Family.

From the perspective of the Pure-blood families, Greengrass, Malfoy, and Nott belong to three factions with different interests, which means that there are at least three sources of intelligence—the intelligence capabilities of these three families surpass those of others.

Of course, this was all Skylar's doing.

Since noticing Draco's unusual behavior, Skylar has developed some complex feelings towards his family. Having lived two lives, he knows the power to corrupt people, and he certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to be completely unguarded with his family.

Strictly speaking, the Greengrass Family and Nott Family allied with Skylar himself, not the House of Malfoy. Given the current ambiguity of the families' stance, it is especially important to distinguish oneself from the family's resources.

Giving the profits to Greengrass and Nott would strengthen their alliance, and according to their prior agreement, a portion of the assets they acquired would be returned to Skylar —in a secret, clandestine transaction, of course. This way, no one would know that Skylar was the biggest beneficiary of this whole affair.

Skylar received ownership of three shops in the Diagon Alley from Gareth. All three shops were already rented out on centuries-long leases, so Skylar could settle into the life of a landlord and collect rent.

Nott Sr. was also very generous, after all, things came easily. Skylar acquired from him a gambling den in Knockturn Alley that accepted bets on the British and Irish Quidditch League, the Pegasus Race, and the Broomstick Race (basically, football, horse racing, and car racing), as well as the property rights to a shop in Diagon Alley.

The shop was vacant, and when Skylar saw the address, his brow twitched. The address was 93 Diagon Alley —wasn't that the place the Weasley Twins planned to open in the original books?

At that moment, four words popped into Skylar's mind. "This store is bound to be a hit."

Property rights acquired for Diagon Alley area!

[Obtained from the underground gambling den in Knockturn Alley!]