"Will Behrens..." Scrimgeour forced the name through clenched teeth, his whole body on alert.
Of course he knew Will. These days, hardly anyone in the Wizarding World failed to recognize the silver-eyed young man before him.
But that wasn't the point. The point was—why was he here? How had he gotten here?
It was the final stretch of the Hogwarts fifth-years' O.W.L. exams. Will should have been at Hogwarts, taking his exams.
Even if he had time to spare, he couldn't just appear inside Scrimgeour's office! This wasn't some public toilet by the roadside. It was one of the most secure places in the entire Wizarding World.
Yet Will Behrens had slipped into his office without a sound. Scrimgeour hadn't even noticed him until he spoke from behind him...
Scrimgeour tightened his grip on his wand. Something was wrong. The person before him couldn't be Behrens. No fifth-year student could do this.
Someone with magic this powerful needed Polyjuice Potion to impersonate a schoolboy?
"Who are you, really?" Scrimgeour raised his wand and aimed it at "Will Behrens's" head.
Will seemed utterly unconcerned by Scrimgeour's tension. He even gave him a friendly smile.
"Don't be nervous, Mr. Scrimgeour. I am Will—Will Behrens. I'd like to talk to you about the future of the Wizarding World."
"Whatever you intend to do to the Wizarding World, you'll have to do it over my dead body! The Head of the Auror Office doesn't make deals with dangerous people!"
Will found Scrimgeour's stubbornness rather interesting.
"Then we needn't make a deal. Why don't you see the state of the Ministry of Magic for yourself?"
Will waved his wand. His figure rippled like water and slowly began to fade.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Scrimgeour struck at once, as though afraid Will would escape, though he stopped short