"Uh... this..."
Fudge hesitated, forcing a very ugly smile on his round face.
Sweat started to form on my newly dry forehead again.
"I was just... just passing by... yes, passing by!"
"Passing by? Do you need to squat in front of someone's store to pick the lock with a wand?" Lin Ze tilted her head and looked at him, not in a hurry.
"This... this store... it... it owes me a sum of money... I haven't paid it back for a long time..."
Fudge said while twisting the edge of his robe with his fingers.
"I just wanted to make sure they were still here..."
Lin Ze looked at Fudge, this guy was obviously lying.
The dignified deputy director Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes didn't go home late at night and came to Diagon Alley to break open the door. No matter how you look at this, something is wrong.
"Mr. Fudge, do you think I'm particularly easy to deceive?"
Fudge's smile can no longer be held.
He looked around to make sure there were no other pedestrians around, and then approached Lin Ze.
"Deputy Team Leader Lin, can you... can you just pretend you didn't see what happened today?"
"What do you think?" Lin Ze raised his eyebrows.
"I know this isn't appropriate..." Fudge took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"But it's really not what you think. I promise it's not anything illegal... it's just... just a small personal matter..."
Lin Ze looked at Fudge's expression that was about to cry, and suddenly felt a little funny.
The future Minister for Magic, at the moment, looks like a fat mouse stuck in a corner by a cat.
"Okay, I'll just pretend I didn't see what happened today."
Fudge's eyes lit up instantly, and he breathed a sigh of relief visibly, and his shoulders slumped down, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
"But..."
Fudge's shoulders are stretched again.
"You have to answer me a question."
"What... what's the problem?" Fudge's voice was broken.
"Is your coming here related to Malfoy?"
The reason why Lin Ze made such a guess was entirely based on the other party's personality and close relationship with Lucius.
Fudge Although somewhat timid, concerned about face, vain, greedy for power, and unable to control the overall situation...
But in essence, he is a person who has not gone too far.
For him to put down his dignity and come here to pick the lock with his butt stuck out, it must be something that made him doubt from the bottom of his heart, plus the kindness he showed to him during the day...
Lin Ze feels that the other party must have accidentally known some secret of Lucius...
Fudge's expression changed.
"You... how do you know?"
Lin Ze leaned against the wall, folded his arms, said nothing, and just looked at him with a "you go on" look.
Fudge took a deep breath, looked around, and after confirming that there was indeed no one else around, he lowered his voice and spoke.
"About three days ago..."
When he said this, his voice unconsciously lowered a bit, and Lin Ze had to get closer to hear it clearly.
"I worked late that day and wanted to go to the tea room and have a cup of coffee to refresh myself, but I heard Lucius talking to someone inside."
"Who is that person?"
"I don't know, I don't remember hearing this person's voice in Ministry of Magic." Fudge shook his head.
Lin Ze frowned slightly, but he did not interrupt Fudge, but waited for him to continue.
"That person said he wanted Lucius to take something back. He said... Dark Lord valued that thing very much and said that Malfoy, as the custodian of that thing, had to take that thing back..."
"What?" Lin Ze asked.
"I don't know." Fudge shook his head.
"Lucius said... These are extraordinary times and he doesn't want to get himself into trouble. He said that he hid the thing in a very safe place and no one can find it. There is no need to take the risk of taking it out now."
"The man seemed a little anxious. He asked Lucius to hand over the thing quickly. Dark Lord would not forget his contribution... His tone was just like Dark Lord told him..."
"Haha... But you also know... Dark Lord has fallen..." Fudge forced a laugh.
"So you're here?"
"Lucius was finally pressed a bit by the man, so he told him where he put the things and asked him to get them by himself..."
"It just happened that I heard it... so I..."
Well... it seems that Fudge must have gone through a lot of psychological struggle in the past two days before convincing himself to come here to find out.
But just as he was about to start taking action, he ran into himself.
"You knew something about three days ago, but now you're here, aren't you afraid that people will take it away already?" Lin Ze asked.
"Uh..." Fudge blinked, seeming to make some sense.
"Then... then don't go..."
The courage that this guy finally mustered up was instantly knocked back by Lin Ze's words.
Hearing Lin Ze's words, Fudge felt as if he had been granted amnesty and turned around to slip out of the alley.
Lin Ze, with quick eyes and quick hands, grabbed him by the back of his collar.
"You're already here, it would be a pity not to go in and take a look."
He dragged Fudge toward the door, and Fudge's leather shoes scratched two drag marks on his face.
"Deputy Team Leader Lin! Mr. Lin! Let's go back..."
"Shh, keep your voice down. Do you want to attract everyone from outside the alley?"
Lin Ze loosened his collar, Fudge staggered two steps, and held on to the door frame before standing still.
He looked back at the empty street Diagon Alley, then at Lin Ze, and finally sighed resignedly.
Lin Ze took out the wand and clicked on the lock that Fudge had been tinkering with for a long time.
A faint blue light penetrated the keyhole from the tip of the stick, and there was only a soft "click" sound, and the door lock popped open.
Fudge was staring at him, he was also trying to open the lock. He just squatted on the ground and pried it for a long time, but Lin Ze did it in two seconds.
Lin Ze pushed the door open and stepped sideways in.
Fudge hesitated for a second, and finally gritted his teeth and followed.
The shop was very dark, and Lin Ze's wand lit up a ball of fluorescence, illuminating the surrounding environment.
This should be a general store selling used books and second-hand magic items.
The shelves are filled with all kinds of messy things, including History of Magic classics with missing covers, rusty Astronomy telescopes, and a bunch of alchemy equipment.
There was a dirty mirror hanging behind the counter. There was a crack on the mirror from the upper left corner to the lower right corner.
"Where is that thing you mentioned?" Lin Ze turned around and asked.
Fudge is tiptoeing around a crumbling pile of old books on the ground, looking like a penguin walking on the ice.
"It should be in the basement. Lucius mentioned the word 'downstairs' when he was talking that day."
Lin Ze's wand passed through the air, and a "Detection Spell" spread out like ripples and swept across the entire store. After a moment, the tip of the wand trembled slightly and pointed at an inconspicuous small door behind the counter.
The two walked around the counter and pushed open the door. Behind the door was a narrow staircase.
I used "Early Warning Spell" to detect it several times. After confirming that there was no danger, Lin Ze stepped down.
Fudge followed, but when he went down the stairs, the wooden boards on the steps made a worrying sound under his feet.