Lin Ze lifted Weil off the rails and let him lead the way.
The tunnel went west for two blocks. Weil stopped in front of a fork in the road that was blocked by a brick wall. He stretched out his hand and pressed a loose brick on the wall.
The wall cracked silently, revealing a low cement passage. The light bulbs above the head were on every other one, and the fishy sweetness in the air became stronger and stronger as it went deeper.
Lin Ze pushed Weil to the front.
At the end of the passage is an iron door, with cold air seeping from the cracks in the door.
Weil's hands were shaking when he took out the key and opened the door. He checked the keyhole three times before inserting it.
Behind the door is an air-raid shelter with a curved dome, which is nearly twice the size of White Raven Chamber of Commerce's underground warehouse in Diagon Alley.
There are two rows of iron cages against the wall, each cage is just big enough for an adult to curl up and lie down.
Lin Ze counted, there were eleven empty cages and eight occupied cages.
The people in the cage can no longer be described as "alive".
His hands and feet were wearing magic shackles, his skin was so gray that his original human color could not be seen, and his ribs were covered with a thin layer of skin.
Some people were sitting, some were lying on their sides, and the innermost one was curled up in a ball, with the chest rising and falling so weakly that it was almost indiscernible.
On the wall opposite the iron cage are dark red liquid bottles and flat tin boxes like White Raven Chamber of Commerce, with numbers and dates written on the labels on the shelves.
There is a console next to it. There is a metal buckle fixed on the table, and there are dried and black blood stains in the grooves on the edge of the table.
Weil stood at the door and did not dare to go in. Lin Ze pushed him, and he staggered and stopped in front of the console.
"Where did you get these people?"
"Some are Muggle-born who have no foundation in Wizarding World, and some are wandering wizards who came from Ireland..."
Weil's voice lowered, "There are still a few people who owe money and are sent to pay off their debts by their creditors..."
Lin Ze walked to the nearest cage.
The person in the cage was a woman in her thirties. The shackles on her wrists had old scars. She raised her head and glanced at Lin Ze. Her eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of dust and there was no reaction.
Lin Ze squatted down and looked at the structure of the shackles. The locks were engraved with magic-forbidden runes, which were the same set as those on the tunnel fence.
He didn't ask Weil for the key, he stretched out his hand and grasped both ends of the shackles, put his dragon scales on his palms, and twisted them.
The lock broke, leaving a red mark on the woman's wrist, but she just retracted her arm and moved her whole body to the corner of the cage.
Lin Ze removed all the shackles of several people inside.
The middle-aged man curled up in a ball at the end was in the worst condition. When Lin Ze checked his breathing, he found that his breathing was too shallow to last for long, and his face was as gray as the iron bars of the cage.
He looked back at Weil.
Weil was leaning on the edge of the operating table, his hands in his vest pockets, and he still had that unconcerned expression on his face.
"What are you going to do with these people?" Weil asked casually.
"Ministry of Magic will have someone to deal with the aftermath." Lin Ze said.
"As for you... just stay somewhere else with me first."
Weir's mouth moved. "Team Leader Lin, I guess you don't know how many galleons the White Crow Chamber of Commerce donates to St. Mungo's every year."
"Of course I know." Lin Ze helped the middle-aged man who was in the worst condition from the cage and put it on his shoulders.
"Just because I know, I came to you today myself. Do you think I should be afraid of those bureaucrats and politicians who eat fat all day long to attack their brains?"
Weil's expression changed, and then returned to the look of a dead pig who is not afraid of boiling water.
Lin Ze When he lifted the middle-aged man onto his shoulders, the weight on his wrist was so light that he could hardly feel it.
This man probably only has bones left.
He led the person out and walked out. He didn't stop when he passed by Weil, and only said "Follow me".
Weil hesitated on the spot for two seconds, and then followed Lin Ze leisurely.
The more than 40 people in the tunnel were still lying on the ground in a mess. A few woke up and saw Lin Ze walking over with people on their backs. They quickly closed their eyes and continued to pretend to be faint.
Lin Ze ignored them, walked to the entrance of the tunnel, put the middle-aged man down, and contacted Crouch with the communication badge.
"Holloway District old post office tunnel, more than forty White Raven Chamber of Commerce thugs, plus an underground warehouse with eight imprisoned wizards inside. The situation is very bad, and St. Mungo's people are needed."
Crouch was silent for a moment, and then said, "I know, I'll be there in twenty minutes."
Lin Ze took the badge and looked back at Weil.
The White Raven Chamber of Commerce boss stood leaning against the brick wall of the tunnel, with his hands in his pockets. The expression on his face could not be said to be nervous or indifferent, but probably somewhere in between.
"How much did you donate to St. Mungo's?" Lin Ze asked.
"There should have been three thousand Galleon last year."
"It's indeed quite a lot." Lin Ze smacked his lips.
"Not much for St. Mungo's, but enough for some people."
Weil raised the corner of his mouth slightly when he said this, with a hint of probing.
Lin Ze didn't take this issue.
He took out a small glass bottle from Undetectable Extension Box, scraped a little of the tissue sample from the middle-aged man's wrist that was shackled, and sealed it with wax. Then he squatted down and used the "Detection Spell" to scan the middle-aged man's body. The light emitted by the tip of the wand changed from white to dark purple, and then to a turbid gray-green.
Long-term magic deprivation, coupled with chronic poisoning by a certain inhibitory drug.
Weil raises these people in cages, draws their blood and magic power, and hangs them with medicine, treating them as crops that can be harvested repeatedly.
Lin Ze didn't look at Weil when he stood up, but Weil probably felt something, and the fingers in his pocket shrank.
Twenty minutes later, Scrimgeour arrived with a team of Auror and three St. Mungo's therapists.
When the therapist saw the condition of the eight people in the cage, the leading witch's face turned pale on the spot, and her hands were shaking when she squatted down to check on the first person.
Scrimgeour walked to Lin Ze and lowered his voice. "Is this all done by that bastard Weil?"
"Yes, you can ask him for details." Lin Ze pushed Weil forward.
"I've left it to you, I have to go Wizengamot."
Scrimgeour took over Weil. Only then did Weil really start to panic. When being dragged forward by Scrimgeour, he turned around and shouted, "Team Leader Lin, I think we can talk!"
Lin Ze had turned around and was explaining the situation to the therapist, but seemed not to have heard.
Wizengamot's hearing is scheduled for three days.
Lin Ze spent these three days going through the entire chain of evidence from beginning to end.
Greengrass Manor's clay pots and cellar, farm record book, White Raven Chamber of Commerce's number comparison table in the underground warehouse, the bald wizard's confession, and Weil's own words about "wizard supplies" in the tunnel.
August Rookwood and Herbert Slater were controlled the same night that Weil was arrested.
One of the two people tried to escape through Floo Network and was intercepted, and the other was caught by Amo while burning files in the office.
Wizengamot I didn't dare to delay it any longer this time.
Among the list of five related persons sent by Fudge, two judges took the initiative to apply for recusal the day before the trial. The remaining three sat in the defendant's box during the hearing, side by side with Weil.
Lin Ze was sitting in the first row of the gallery, watching the judges Wizengamot read out the charges one by one.
Weil kept his head lowered in the dock, but the bald wizard kept wiping sweat with his sleeves from beginning to end.
Weil was sentenced to multiple crimes for illegal imprisonment, intentional injury, illegal trading of wizard body tissues, and bribery of Ministry of Magic officials.
Azkaban was sentenced to life imprisonment and all property was confiscated.
Rookwood and Slater received it for fifteen years each.
Three people related to Wizengamot were deprived of their public offices and fined.