The sea suddenly fell deathly silent.
Even the sound of the waves seemed to stop for a second.
Lucius Malfoy watched the doll wiggling its backside at the Aurors. His expression went from vicious to dumbfounded, then slowly turned purple.
He had spent five thousand Galleons!
Five thousand Galleons had bought him this whole crate of... prank toys?!
That black-market merchant had sworn these were all reverse versions of the "Dark Magic Annihilation Bomb"!
He had even demonstrated one for him on the spot.
"Holmes!!!"
Lucius let out an anguished scream. The hatred in his voice was even purer than that of the Death Eaters moments earlier.
He wanted to curse up a storm.
Damn Holmes. He even scammed his own side.
Now, not only had he been cheated out of his money, but at this life-or-death moment, he had put on a comedy show for the Aurors!
Scrimgeour froze for a moment. Then the muscles in his perpetually stern face twitched a few times.
"Hmph..."
He snorted, as though anger had driven him to laughter, or as though he was mocking the stupidity of the other side.
"The Weasley Twins... they deserve some credit this time. Have Arthur keep a tighter rein on his sons when we get back. How could something like this end up on the black market?"
Despite his words, Scrimgeour's hands never stopped moving.
While the Death Eaters were in disarray over their "weapon malfunction," Scrimgeour shoved the control lever forward.
The silver speedboat tore through the waves, charging straight at the rearmost Death Eater boat-Macnair's.
"Prepare for impact!"
The mechanical female voice made its cold announcement.
Red runes suddenly lit up on the ram at the speedboat's bow. It was an advanced version of the Reductor Curse.
"No!!"
Terrified, Macnair hurriedly raised his left