Even Wizards Hide in Plain Sight

As for these Wizard not preparing their own food but going out to buy it, they know they need to be more careful when doing things that leave too many traces.

While it's possible for even the most meticulous plans to overlook something, it's generally more likely to find clues by starting with the most easily overlooked points.

"... If all Wizard had a brain like yours, that would be terrifying."

Mr. Bauer paused for a moment, then sighed.

"I wish everyone could think like me; the world would be a much more peaceful place."

Manus shook his head:

"So, there really are traces of this?"

"Yeah, this has almost become an urban legend... There's been an unusual amount of trash appearing at the Downing Street recycling center for a while now."

Downing Street?!

Manus hadn't expected it to be here; even Wizard sometimes play tricks on those they don't know. But where would they find a habitable spot?

People often talk about 10 Downing Street, making it seem as if the street is very prosperous, but these residences are used as government residences.

However, all the houses in front of that number have been demolished. Theoretically, there should be a number 9, but in reality, this actual house number does not exist.

Wait a minute, it might actually be possible...

The Fidelius Charm?

Surely you can't actually live at the Prime Minister's or Chancellor's house?

"Yes, no one would suspect there's a problem there; to be precise, no one would think there's a problem there, even if it were a problem."

Mr. Bauer looked utterly enigmatic.

Those who discovered this dared not say anything, only daring to utter a few words when they were drunk.

"Surely the Ministry of Magic wouldn't be unaware of this, would they?"

Manus thought for a moment. Besides asking passersby, wasn't the fastest way to get information to a place like a tavern?

"I don't know about that. I guess a few new conspiracy theories like this pop up every month, so they think this is a conspiracy theory too."

That seems to make sense...

The saying "the darkest place is under the lamp" is a classic blind spot in thinking. Downing Street's security level should be quite high, both among Muggle and Wizard.

Manus remembered that the Ministry of Magic and the Prime Minister had a cooperative relationship, and it was impossible for them to be completely unrelated in the actual work they were doing. The Ministry of Magic should also be involved in the Prime Minister's security.

In this situation, if these people can indeed evade the existing security forces in Downing Street and successfully hide there, it would be very difficult for them to be found by those searching for them later.

No wonder there's been no news of these people for so long; Manus doesn't think it's only the Ministry of Magic searching for them.

Compared to the Auror were searching for these people simply out of a sense of duty and responsibility, while also dealing with other matters, and had every reason not to be able to find them...

No matter how you look at it, the Death Eaters, driven by Voldemort's wrath to exterminate these people, were clearly facing a more urgent situation.

The Auror of the Ministry of Magic won't really be in any trouble if they can't find anyone, because everyone is still searching, and they still have a lot to do. They can't just send everyone out to look for a bunch of random guys.

But Death Eaters can't find anyone, Voldemort will really go berserk and use the Cruciatus Curse on them to urge them to act.

At the same time, Death Eaters don't use the gentle methods that Auror employ when searching for people; they use techniques like Confundus Charm and Imperius Curse to gather information.

Even so, there has been no news of any Death Eaters finding these people, nor any subsequent developments.

If these people are hiding in Downing Street —that wouldn't be surprising.

The destructive power of Death Eaters is well-known, but they may not have the ability to sneak into such a place without alerting the Auror, just like these people. That's a skill.

Even if they find out the location, they'll probably have to figure out a way, and might even have to force their way in...

Manus was momentarily stunned that Voldemort could do such a thing.

"You haven't told anyone about this, have you?"

Mr. Bauer waved his hand:

"No, I didn't even tell Elizabeth. Some things are just asking for trouble if someone who isn't capable of understanding them."

Once you know something, it's hard to go back to not knowing it, and you don't know how to behave in that state, which might even cause you to make mistakes. Therefore, the best way to deal with such troublesome matters is to avoid them altogether.

Mr. Bauer himself had no choice; he only learned about the matter after he came into contact with it.

Manus smiled upon hearing this, not finding anything wrong with Mr. Bauer telling him about it.

"Do you need me to process your memories of this incident?"

Mr. Bauer hesitated for a moment upon hearing this:

"Um, forget it. I don't want to miss a piece of my memory. People with memory problems seem to have something wrong with them... Besides, I didn't intentionally look into this before. I've forgotten about it now, but I'll come across it again later."

Manus nodded knowingly to indicate his understanding, and then said:

"The Obliviate's approach is indeed rather crude. If your mastery of this magic isn't refined enough, this situation can occur, somewhat like the side effects of Veritaserum. And the situation you described does exist, so I recommend another solution."

Manus then explained his solution, which, in short, was to place this memory in a deeper part of Mr. Bauer's memory—Mr. Bauer would not forget these memories, but would be in a state of almost forgetting them.

Therefore, Mr. Bauer would not be able to immediately associate it with the relevant events when he comes into contact with them, thus eliminating the possibility of subconsciously reacting as if he knew about it.

To recall these events, one only needs to repeatedly recall them. In this process, fragments about why these memories were processed in this way will first emerge. If Mr. Bauer turns his attention to other things, these memories will sink back into the depths of his memory.

"This method can't counter magic that forcibly affects your mind, such as Veritaserum, Confundus Charm, or Imperius Curse, but it's enough to fool ordinary people and the normal lie detection abilities of Legilimency. It can even fool some impatient Legilimens."

Manus added an explanation to Mr. Bauer, who was already interested:

"However, it can still effectively protect you. After all, if you encounter Wizard who can use these spells on you... even if you don't know these things, you still can't guarantee your safety."