Lin Ze stared at the wanted poster for a while, then shut the window.
"Not my fucking problem," he told his reflection in the windowpane, then turned to wash up.
While brushing his teeth, he discovered he had run out of toothpaste. After squeezing the tube for ages, he managed to force out one last little strip, not even enough to cover half the bristles.
"Fuck." Beautiful Chinese, as ever.
Then he made do with that pathetic dab of toothpaste and finished brushing his teeth.
Once he had washed up, he put on his dark gray wool-blend coat and studied the young face in the mirror for a moment.
Hmm... not bad.
At least I look a lot better than that masked guy on the wanted poster.
He opened the door, ready to leave for work.
The moment he stepped over the threshold, he ran straight into Prewett, the old wizard next door.
Prewett wore a dressing gown covered in potion stains of every color, his graying hair as messy as a bird's nest. Clutching a bulging money pouch, he was sneaking toward the stairs.
"Morning, Mr. Prewett," Lin Ze greeted him.
Prewett jumped, nearly dropping the money pouch.
Only when he saw it was Lin Ze did he breathe a sigh of relief. Then he pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for silence.
"Keep it down! There might still be a madwoman waiting downstairs to corner me!" he whispered.
"A madwoman?"
"The one who was knocking on my door earlier! She said she was going to file a complaint against me with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement!"
Prewett looked as though he had swallowed a toad.
"That batch of Elixir to Induce Euphoria I brewed was top quality. Just because she got the dosage wrong and drank two drops too many, she spent three whole hours laughing in a pub and couldn't stop. How is that my fault?"
Lin Ze thought for a moment. "I suppose... it really isn't your fault?"
"Exactly!" As though he had found a kindred spirit, Prewett excitedly clapped Lin Ze on the shoulder.
"You don't think it's my fault either, right? Then could you do me a favor? You're with the Auror Office. Help me explain things to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement..."
"I'm not with the Auror Office anymore. I'm in the Records Management Office."
Prewett's hand froze in midair. His expression shifted from hope to disappointment, then from disappointment to a subtle sort of disdain.
"The Records Management Office? That tomb for the living dead?" He looked Lin Ze up and down. "You're so young, and you've already gone somewhere like that to retire?"
"No need to concern yourself. I have to get to work." Lin Ze firmly ended the conversation, stepped around Prewett, and headed for the stairs.
As he left the apartment building, a gust of cold wind swept fine rain into his face.
Lin Ze turned up his coat collar, hunched his neck, and hurried toward Diagon Alley.
Passing the lamppost with the wanted poster on it, he couldn't help taking another look.
He quickened his pace toward Diagon Alley.
Diagon Alley was even quieter than usual that day.
Most shops had drawn heavy curtains across their windows and hung "Temporarily closed" signs by their doors.
Only Gringotts still had two goblin guards stationed outside, gripping spears, their expressions so wary they looked ready to stab someone at any moment.
Lin Ze crossed Diagon Alley and entered the Leaky Cauldron.
Old Tom was polishing glasses behind the bar, an unshakable part of his morning routine, even though there wasn't a single customer in the pub.
"Morning, Tom."
"Morning, Lin." Old Tom looked up and pointed at a newspaper on the bar with the hand holding his cloth.
"Have you seen today's headline?"
"Haven't had a chance yet."
"Then you'd better take a look." Old Tom's tone wasn't as relaxed as usual.
Lin Ze picked up the newspaper. The front-page headline read in bold:
"Death Eaters attack Hogsmeade again, three Aurors injured"
Beneath it was a black-and-white photograph showing half the Hog's Head's front blown apart.
Lin Ze frowned.
The Hog's Head.
The Hog's Head again.
The Death Eaters had attacked the Hog's Head twice in less than a week.
Was Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother, really such an easy target?
Lin Ze set the newspaper back on the bar, vaguely feeling that something was wrong.
"Are you all right?" Old Tom noticed the change in his expression.
"I'm fine." Lin Ze shook his head.
"Get me a coffee to go."
"Coming right up."
Old Tom turned to make the coffee. Lin Ze leaned against the bar, his mind racing.
Why were the Death Eaters repeatedly attacking the Hog's Head?
But none of that was his concern right now.
He was just a clerk in the Records Management Office. Let the Auror Office deal with the headache of all that fighting and killing.
Coffee in hand, Lin Ze left the Leaky Cauldron and entered the Ministry of Magic through the public telephone box on the street corner.
The underground corridor was dim and warm as ever that day, the smell of old parchment in the air as strong as before.
Lin Ze reached the Records Management Office and pushed open the door.
Pick sat in his usual spot, holding a copy of the Complete Collection of Eighteenth-Century Potions Recipes that was thicker than a brick.
"Morning, Mr. Pick."
"Mm," Pick replied without looking up.
Lin Ze went to his workstation and discovered several new stacks of files on his desk.
"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement sent those over this morning. They need to be processed first," came Pick's voice from behind his book.
Lin Ze picked up the top file and opened it to the first page.
Then he froze.
It was an intelligence summary on Death Eater activity near Claire Street.
It detailed every suspicious incident around Claire Street over the past three days:
Three Muggle-born residents had been followed, a wizarding family's window had been shattered by an unidentified spell, and late last night, a witness had seen a masked figure rummaging for something near the rubbish bins on the street corner.
It looks like those Death Eaters are looking for something. Or rather... keeping something under surveillance...
"Mr. Pick." Lin Ze looked up.
"Hmm?"
"Who delivered this file?"
Pick poked half his head out from behind the book and pushed up the glasses on his nose. "A young fellow from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. His name was... Kingsley... Why, is something wrong?"
"No, just asking." Lin Ze closed the file, his expression unremarkable.
Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Interesting," Lin Ze muttered, then set the file aside.
He spent the rest of the morning looking through various files.
On the surface, he was doing his normal filing work. In reality, he was specifically picking out documents related to Claire Street, Death Eater activity, and the attacks on the Hog's Head.
By noon, he had pieced together a rough picture.
Over the past week, at least seven wizarding residential areas in London had suffered varying degrees of harassment from Death Eaters.
What these incidents had in common was that none had been fatal. They seemed more like some kind of probing or show of force.
But the situation on Claire Street was somewhat different.
Elsewhere, the harassment targeted entire neighborhoods, while the incidents on Claire Street were clearly more concentrated and more targeted.
Lin Ze leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly against the desk.
The Death Eaters seem to be watching me?
Tsk...
Probably retaliation for my arresting those three Death Eaters before.
But from another angle, this might not be a bad thing.
The Death Eaters had set their sights on him, but he knew Voldemort only had a few days left to live.
As long as he got through the next few days, those Death Eaters who were still swaggering around would become rats crossing the street.
When that time came, he would have a thick little book of grudges waiting for them.
At that thought, Lin Ze's mood improved again.
He stood and stretched, calling over to Pick, "I'm going for lunch. Would you like me to bring you anything?"
"No." Pick turned a page.
"The canteen's soup of the day is pumpkin soup. I'd advise you not to drink it. Last week's pumpkin soup sent staff from two departments to St. Mungo's."
"...Then I'll just have a sandwich."
Lin Ze left the Records Management Office. Before he reached the canteen entrance, he spotted a crowd gathered in the corridor up ahead.