The Setbacks of Finding a Portkey

The penultimate floor of the French Ministry of Magic is constructed from a steeply sloping platform, next to which is a room with a glass door.

This appears to be an office, with the words "Les Archives Ancêtres" (Original Archives Office) written in French on the door. Through the glass doors, one can see a series of stationery and work equipment on the desk inside, including a circular automatic telegraph machine that Accio like a snake and a silver metal quill pen.

"We shouldn't have made a mistake," Vanessa said to the wizarding team, looking at the list of office tasks displayed in front of the office door. "This section includes tasks such as greeting guests, managing communications, and system services. The Portkey should be kept here too."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go in and get it!" Spindu impatiently drew his wand and cast a lock-picking spell on the lock.

The door lock remained untouched.

"There should be a powerful Anti-Alohomora Charm here," Vanessa said, frowning.

She then tried another unlocking spell, but the lock still didn't respond.

"It seems the only option is to force this door open. I wonder how strong the defensive magic of the French Ministry of Magic is." She sighed, preparing to use a destructive spell to blast open the office's glass door.

Just then, a magnetic female voice suddenly rang out.

"Or... let me give it a try?" Miranda said thoughtfully.

Vanessa glanced at the intern with surprise, but still stepped aside, thinking that it was worth a try.

The others weren't so patient. Spindu, for example, said discontentedly, "What do you know, you're just a young girl who hasn't even graduated yet? Do you think you can open a door that Vanessa and I couldn't open?"

Miranda ignored him and pressed the tip of her wand against the handle of the glass door.

"Open Sesame," she read aloud.

The next moment, the door lock suddenly cracked in two, and the two pieces fell to the ground simultaneously from both sides of the glass door. Where the handle used to be, only two lonely bolts remained, blocking the junction of the door and the wall.

As Miranda reached into the hollow handle and pulled the bolt off, she explained to Vanessa others, "Before the Open Portal and Alohomora Open Sesame was a widely used lock-picking spell. However, because it would damage the lock's structure, it was gradually replaced by harmless lock-picking spells."

"However, precisely because it has been superseded, many wizards have never even heard of the spell, so most places haven't set up corresponding counter-spells. In this case, using Open Sesame can be surprisingly effective!"

Miranda smiled, opened the door, and gestured for Vanessa to enter.

"Goshawk, it seems you have quite a broad knowledge base!" Vanessa exclaimed in surprise, looking at Miranda with admiration.

Then, as if suddenly struck by a thought, her surprise turned to astonishment. "Wait, Miranda Goshawk, you're the author of the Book of Spells?!"

Miranda nodded reservedly, a smile playing on her lips, and casually glanced at Spindu.

Spindu, who had just been questioning Miranda's magical abilities, awkwardly turned his head away, unsure of what to say.

"Looks like our team struck gold this time." Vanessa smiled and took the lead into the office to find the location of the Portkey.

Five minutes later, the wizard team stood in front of a metal frame, their faces grim.

The shelf was clearly labeled "Portkey," but it was completely empty; not a single Portkey remained.

"We should have realized that the evacuation of the French Ministry of Magic was most likely accomplished using Portkey," Vanessa said, frowning. "So it's only natural that they used up all their inventory at once."

"What do we do then? The Pure-blood Party might arrive here soon. Are we just going to sit here and wait to die?!" Spindu asked anxiously.

"Actually, I do know the spell for making Portkey — Portus," Miranda said again in this critical moment. "If we can find the authorization key here, I think I can temporarily make a Portkey to England."

"Then let's hurry up and go find it!" Spindu scratched his shiny bald head and rushed toward the desk located by the office door.

However, he stopped abruptly before he had walked halfway to his desk.

Then, Spindu slowly raised his hands and retreated, drenched in cold sweat.

"I didn't expect to find volunteers from the International Confederation of Wizards here. This is quite a haul!" A group of dark figures walked in, and the leader, a man in black robes, spoke up. "Oh, and there seems to be a Hogwarts student too?"

Vanessa's eyes narrowed, she gave a wink to the team members around her, and quietly slung her wand behind her back.

"Lord Grindelwald said that the Wizarding World's living strength should be preserved, so that student can be kept alive. As for the others, just kill them." The leader of the black-robed men waved his hand casually and said to the Legion of subordinates behind him.

"Goshawk, Grindelwald is relatively merciful to his students, so you can choose not to intervene. Otherwise, you might get hurt in the melee," Vanessa whispered to Miranda. "When you truly become powerful, remember to avenge us."

"But I didn't come to the battlefield just to be a bystander," Miranda said slowly but firmly, shaking her head at her dutiful captain. "In fact, I joined your squad precisely for these kinds of urgent battle situations!"

Vanessa gazed into Miranda's blue eyes and chuckled softly.

"Good."

The next moment, the two sides clashed fiercely!

A colorful spell was cast throughout the Original Archives Office, making the glass doors and walls gleam.

Vanessa, as a veteran Aurors, was naturally a force to be reckoned with. In this battle, she unleashed tremendous fighting power, single-handedly withstanding the pressure of nearly half of the entire wizarding team.

To everyone's surprise, Miranda single-handedly blocked a third of the Accio curse, and even seemed to handle it with ease.

The presence of these two formidable fighters made the remaining team members fight with relative ease, and they even gradually forgot that this was a life-or-death battle.

However, the wizard squad was inherently at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. After a few minutes, several wizards in the squad began to feel overwhelmed, and the combat pressure they shared decreased, while the pressure on the others increased.

Feeling the increasing pressure, Vanessa fiercely unleashed a spell and shouted at Miranda, "Goshawk, it's time for you to back down! Don't let our entire team be wiped out!"

Miranda gritted her teeth, using her Shield Charm to block a barrage of fire, her face suddenly turning pale.

In this life-or-death moment, she once again felt the helplessness of insufficient power. The bottleneck blocking her path of magic became increasingly apparent, and Miranda was powerless to change it.

Just then, a golden halo quietly appeared beside Miranda.

"Miranda, I just sensed your arrival in France through the Two-Way Mirror. I think you could join our family... Wait, why is there a fight here?"