Wade raised his orange juice and took a small sip. Using the rim of the glass as cover, he replied in the same faint voice:
"It's rare for all the key figures to gather in one place. How could I miss such a good opportunity to observe them?"
After a pause, he added, "Weren't you holding this banquet for the same reason?"
Moody: "..."
For some reason, he felt his face grow warm.
"We weren't."
The old man said stiffly, "They arranged all of this. Before I came in, I didn't even know so many people would be attending the banquet!"
"...Oh." Wade did not know what to say, so he gave a perfunctory response.
From that one remark, he could hear all kinds of complicated emotions—indignation, frustration, repression, reluctant compromise. It was clear the Auror team had gained nothing these past days.
Once again, Wade was glad that his decision not to stay at Hogwarts waiting for news had been the right one.
After two seconds of silence, Moody asked, "Who is this person you're disguised as? Your identity won't be exposed, will it?"
"Ah, no." Wade said, "This man took his girlfriend on a trip to Europe. He won't be back within a week, and he won't contact anyone."
Moody fell silent again.
To transform into the appearance of a target, all one needed was a single hair... and someone skilled enough in Transfiguration did not even need that.
But a disguise target willing to cooperate with Wade's actions... could Dumbledore have arranged that too?
The old Headmaster naturally had an extraordinarily vast network, but Moody could not shake the feeling that something was off.
An Auror's instinct rang sharply in his mind.
At the instant that thought flashed through his mind, Moody's rotating Magical Eye suddenly froze.