He walked back to the duty desk and set the file bag on its surface. Spreading his hand, he looked at his palm. A layer of dark red debris was lodged in his palm lines, though he had no idea when it had gotten there. He rubbed his palm twice against the seam of his trousers, then leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and let out a long breath.
The complete loss of control began accelerating on the afternoon after the Enforcement Squad left.
"You all heard what the Enforcement Squad said before they left, right? To prevent anyone from betraying the rest of us, I suggest we conduct security screenings on the remaining scum. What if there are hidden rebels among them?" a tall Auror proposed to the others in the office.
An iron box sat in the corner of the duty room, filled with folded paper slips. Someone would draw one, unfold it to check the cell number written on it, then get up and leave.
The room was thick with a blend of tobacco and sea salt. Sunlight from outside the window cast the faint bloodstain on the floor in a pale brown outline.
The Auror captain sat behind the duty desk and watched. He neither joined the drawing nor tried to stop it.
The door to Bella and Rodolphus's medical cell was opened at dusk.
A young Auror opened it. His head was crudely wrapped in bandages, leaving only his eyes and mouth exposed. The dark circles beneath his sunken eyes and the bloodshot veins in them showed that last night's operation had not truly left him unscathed.
He carried a faint burnt smell as he pushed the door open. The clasp on the wand holster at his waist was undone, and the wand