Lin Ze put those few gray-black particles under the lamp and looked at them for a long time. The more I looked at them, the more I felt a chill running down my back.
The shape, texture, and color of this thing all reminded him of something he didn't want to recall.
At the time of Brazil, after the vampire was scorched by "Dawn", it also left similar residue on the ground.
"That's not true..."
He muttered something softly and put the glass bottle back into Weiqi's hand.
"Keep looking and see if there are any similar traces nearby. It's best to expand the scope to the entire Knockturn Alley. Bring tools and don't touch it with your hands."
Weiqi nodded vigorously, and then asked, "Then... can I drop by St. Mungo's? My mother insisted on letting me go over to check my body, saying that I have been looking blue these days."
Lin Ze glanced at him, his face was indeed green, like spinach soup overnight.
"Go ahead and let St. Mungo's's people check this thing out. The account will be placed on Department of Magical Law Enforcement's head."
Weiqi was so happy that he ran away with the bottle in his arms.
"Is this guy a mama's boy?" Ben came closer and lowered his voice.
"I think... he might have been frightened by the Death Eaters attack last time."
Lin Ze turned around and clapped his hands to everyone. "Okay, let's go and do whatever we need to do. Summarize the clues we found before noon."
Everyone responded and dispersed.
Lin Ze is not idle either.
He planned to go to Knockturn Alley himself to see where the intelligence dealer Marge·Travers last appeared before he disappeared.
Knockturn Alley It's not much better during the day than at night. Most of the shops on both sides of the narrow alley are closed, but a few are open. The dark doorways seem to swallow up the people passing by at any time.
Lin Ze stopped at the door of Poison Dragon Bar, pushed the door open and went in.
Mr. K was still the same as before, leaning behind the bar to clean glasses. When he saw Lin Ze coming in, he raised his eyebrows.
"Xirin, you run to me in broad daylight. Aren't you afraid of being seen by acquaintances?"
"I'm here to investigate the case."
Lin Ze sat down opposite him and took pictures of Marge·Travers's files on the bar.
"Do you know this person?"
Mr. K glanced at the photo, then looked up at Lin Ze: "Although Marge's surname is Travers, she has nothing to do with Travers's family. She is just a gangster who specializes in selling information about the family's shortcomings. There are many people like this in Knockturn Alley."
"Tell the important point."
"The point is, two nights ago, someone saw Marge talking to a man in a gray cloak at the entrance of the alley. Then she followed the man and left, and never came back."
"What does the man in the gray cloak look like?"
"No one can see clearly." Mr. K shrugged.
Lin Ze frowned.
"Any other news?"
"Yes." Mr. K put down the cup and stretched out a hand towards him.
Lin Ze sighed, took out three Galleon from his pocket and put them in his hand.
Mr. K stuffed the money into his pocket, and then said slowly, "Early this morning, a drunkard came to my place. He must have seen a black mist deep in Knockturn Alley, and there was a face in the black mist."
"What kind of face?"
"He said it looked like a woman's face. It was very white, with no facial features, just a vague outline."
"Where's that drunk guy?"
"I'm asleep on the table behind the door. I'm still drunk."
Lin Ze patted the bar counter and stood up, taking three steps at a time and walking to the back of the door.
Sure enough, a thin man smelling of alcohol was lying on the table, with his saliva soaking a small piece of the tabletop.
Lin Ze Pat him awake.
"Hey, wake up and tell me again about the black mist you saw."
The man raised his head in a daze, with his eyes half-opened. When he looked at Lin Ze's face, he suddenly cried "Wow".
"Don't catch me... I didn't see anything... Really... I drank too much last night... I didn't see anything..."
Lin Ze was speechless.
He emphasized his tone. "I am Auror from Ministry of Magic. I am asking you a question. Please tell me honestly."
The drunkard trembled all over and finally sobered up a bit from the drunkenness.
"I... I came out of Leaky Cauldron after about ten o'clock last night and took a shortcut home."
"When I was passing by an alley, I saw a black mist floating in front of me. At first I thought it was smoke, and I also thought about someone burning something in the middle of the night..."
His voice became softer and softer, and the expression on his face became more and more frightened.
"Later, the fog suddenly stopped and stopped in mid-air, and then... then a face appeared inside. The face was very white, with no eyes, nose, or mouth, but I could feel... she was looking at me."
"Just when I wanted to shout, the fog... seeped... into the wall..."
"Seeping into the wall?"
Lin Ze stood up suddenly and grabbed the drunkard by the collar.
"Which wall? Which alley specifically?"
"Just... just the dead alley behind Delis Secondhand Shop... the innermost wall..."
Lin Ze loosened his collar and ran towards the door.
He took out his communication badge while running. "Carl, now take Mona to the dead alley behind Gilderoy's junk shop. Don't go in alone, wait for me at the entrance of the alley."
"Okay." Carl's voice came from the badge, mixed with Mona's humming from the side.
There was a crisp "crack" sound, and Lin Ze appeared at the intersection of the alley.
The alley is very narrow, the walls on both sides are covered with black mold, and the air is filled with an unpleasant sewer smell.
Carl and Mona arrived earlier than him.
The two of them stood at the entrance of the alley, one playing with his broken glasses, the other crossing his arms with an impatient look on his face.
"The smell is quite strong." Carl pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and pursed his lips into the alley.
Mona didn't speak, but her frown showed her attitude.
Lin Ze walked at the front, the soles of his boots making a sticky sound as they stepped on the slippery stone road.
The alley is not long and becomes narrower as you go in. When you reach the end, the walls on both sides are almost touching your shoulders.
The innermost part is a dead wall covered with dark green vines. There are several bags of moldy garbage piled at the base of the wall, emitting a sour smell.
"Go over and take a look, pay attention to what's going on around you." Lin Ze said, taking out his wand and walking towards the wall.
He first applied Detection Spell to the wall, and the blue light scanned the wall, but there was no obvious Dark Magic reaction.
"Weird." He squatted down and used his wand to push away the garbage bags under the wall.
Several shriveled rat carcasses rolled out of the bag. The rat's fur was close to the bones, and its eyes were two black holes, as if they had been sucked dry by something.
"The vines on the wall..." Carl came up to me at some point, twisted a dry vine with two fingers, put it under his nose and smelled it.
"This is no ordinary vine, this is 'Corpse Vine'."
"Corpse Vine?" Lin Ze looked back at him.
"A magical plant that grows by sucking in corruptible substances. It is not dangerous in itself, but they are particularly sensitive to death and dark magic. As long as there are powerful dark creatures active nearby, Corpse Vine will grow wildly."
Carl threw the rattan to the ground and clapped his hands. "This thing is not rare in Knockturn Alley, but the fact that it grows so densely indicates that something has been frequently around here recently."
"Can you tell what it is?" Lin Ze asked.
"It's hard to say." Carl shook his head, squatted down and picked up a mouse corpse to examine it.