Nationwide Manhunt

William made breakfast again.

After finishing their meal, William and Hermione lingered for a long time, finally leaving the safe house in the morning.

Having seemingly escaped the Auror, William did not find any trace of them near the house.

"It seems we need to buy a house in Paris as well," William said, gazing at the gray sky.

"This will make it much more convenient next time I come; I won't have to stay in a hotel, and it will be safer to travel."

Hermione took a black umbrella from the Safety Watch and smiled, "It'll be perfect if it's by the Seine. You can see the Eiffel Tower from the window; I really like that place."

William nodded; he was prepared to follow Nicolas's example and go on a real estate buying spree around the world.

Wizardry is a dead-end profession; real estate development is a much more lucrative career.

Hermione opened her umbrella, and the two walked side by side, slowly making their way forward in the pouring rain.

"Let's go to the Minotaur Bar first. It's Paris's underground black market; we can find out the location of the Mysterious Circus there," William said.

Bars in the Wizarding World always seem to have some rather bizarre names:

The Leaky Cauldron in London, the Hog's Head Hogsmeade, the Blind Pig in New York, and the Minotaur Bar in Paris.

The Minotaur Bar is still one of the most beloved bars among Paris (and wizards).

The France are romantic, and this isn't just a casual remark; even the names of their bars are full of meaning.

"How do we get there?" Hermione moved the umbrella towards William. "Apparition?"

"No, I've never been there before, I only know which block it's in." William raised his hand and pushed the umbrella towards Hermione again.

The basic requirement for Apparition is that the wizard must know what the destination looks like.

In other words, one must have been there before and be able to recall what the destination looked like in order to Apparition there.

"Let's go by carriage, a Paris carriage," William said.

Hermione nodded, but after taking a few steps, she quietly moved the umbrella back, leaving half of her shoulder exposed to the rain.

After going back and forth like this, the two of them were soaking wet before they even left the street corner, their clothes clinging tightly to their bodies.

No one intended to use magic to enlarge the umbrella, making it large enough to completely cover the two of them... If they were going to enlarge it, they might as well use two umbrellas or simply wear raincoats.

That's the fun of it all, something that people outside of the two of them can't understand!

However, being wet wasn't a solution, and they might even catch a cold. William tapped his wand lightly, and puffs of steam rose from their bodies, evaporating the rainwater.

Hermione held the umbrella, and William put his arm around the girl's slender shoulder, then Apparition her to several blocks away.

Getting on the bus near this safe house could easily expose the location of one's residence, a lesson William learned from the Knight Bus.

That's how it happened, which allowed Rita to take advantage of the situation.

Standing at the deserted street corner, William raised his wand and waited for a while before an old-fashioned horse-drawn carriage came galloping towards him.

The carriage was antique in style, with a dim yellow oil lamp hanging at each of its four corners.

The carriage was not pulled by an ordinary horse, nor by Thestral commonly seen at Hogwarts, but by a winged Abraxan.

The horse was about the size of an elephant. When William and Hermione suddenly stopped, the horse stomped its hooves on the ground and snorted.

"Oh, it's Abraxan!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

The four breeds of Pegasus— the Abraxan, the Aethonan, the Granian, and the Thestral —are perfectly suited for pulling carriages.

That's what makes Paris so special; they don't convert Muggle buses and they maintain old traditions.

The carriage door opened, a ladder fell down from the carriage, and then a young ticket seller appeared.

He was dressed in hippie style clothes, with a worn-out radio hanging around his neck, playing a new song by the famous France sorceress singer Roberts.

The Wizarding World has Wizarding Wireless Network; they don't use electricity, but they have developed another way of long-distance communication using magic.

This type of radio serves only one purpose.

"Welcome, welcome aboard the Paris City Carriage. I'm Apache, the ticket seller," Apache said in French.

"Yes, hello."

William nodded in acknowledgment and pulled Hermione into the carriage.

The carriage was spacious, clearly enlarged using Undetectable Extension Charm. It didn't resemble a bus layout but rather a subway, with two long benches on either side.

The few passengers were either sleeping or had their heads tucked into newspapers.

William and Hermione found a seat, and the ticket seller Apache, asked enthusiastically, "Where are you going?"

"We're going to Lyon Avenue," William said in French. "Once we get there, they'll tell you where to get off."

Instead of directly saying they wanted to go to the Minotaur Bar, they found a place that was closer.

"Okay," Apache said to the driver, then continued listening to his radio.

He turned the volume up to the maximum and started swaying to the rhythm.

Wow! So playing TikTok videos aloud in public places existed in the Wizarding World decades ago.

If you encounter a dark wizard with a bad temper, you'll probably just give him an Avada Kedavra.

However, the tape recorder seemed to have a bad connection; after playing it on the Apache for a while, the music started crackling and sputtering.

He tapped the wand, busying himself for five or six minutes, before the sound returned.

However, that song had already finished playing, and it was replaced by the Paris News Broadcast.

"The Auror are pursuing these two fugitives. They are extremely vicious and dangerous. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Ministry of Magic immediately. A reward will be given for information leading to their arrest..."

The radio volume suddenly went down. Apache gave William and Hermione a strange look and walked toward the driver Russell.

He gently closed the cockpit door.

Russell had dark circles under his eyes, looking like he was driving while fatigued. Half asleep, he urged the Abraxan to speed up.

The horse galloped wildly and nearly crashed into a bus, but it dodged it with a graceful drift.

Russell woke up with a start, but didn't slow down; after all, Muggle couldn't see them. Running a red light wasn't illegal.

"What's wrong, Apache?" Russell asked as he saw the ticket seller come in.

The Auror of the Ministry of Magic are pursuing two fugitives.

"So what? I saw it in the newspaper last night."

"The fugitives have boarded our carriage; it's that couple from before."

In the cockpit, Apache found the morning Le Parisien and carefully compared the photos of the man and woman.

Finally, my gaze lingered on the last paragraph of the article, which described it as "extremely brutal, dangerous, and terrifying."

"What did they do? Did they attack the Minister for Magic?" Apache clicked his tongue. "They're wanted nationwide!"

"Never mind that, contact headquarters right away!" Russell excitedly instructed. "I remember there's a reward for providing information."

Apache walked toward a small fireplace inside the carriage and contacted the Paris City Carriage Sharing Headquarters.

This fireplace is connected to the Floo Network, but it cannot be moved over long distances because its size is only about the size of a head.

With such limited space in a carriage, how could it possibly accommodate a family-style fireplace that would allow a wizard to move freely through it?

However, it allows for rapid communication.

Because after sprinkling Floo Powder, you can use Floo Network to communicate directly with people in another location simply by sticking your head into the flames.

Apache could almost see a huge bounty beckoning to him!

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