Chapter 343 Theft

"What was stolen?" Anthony asked.

Scrimgeour did not answer him, but stood cautiously at the door, watching the wizard called Alastor throw dozens of spells into the empty classroom.

"The corridor is fine." Another Auror walked in, "How is it here, Mad-Eye?"

Hearing the name "Mad-Eye", Anthony finally knew who was in front of him. At this time, the Auror closed the door casually, and Mad-Eye immediately jumped up as if his legs were clamped, turned around and threw a spell at the door. Scrimgeour and the Auror standing at the door raised their wands at the same time to block the spell.

"Don't close the door, Kingsley!" Mad-Eye said in an angry and gruff voice, "Do you want to know what the Exploding Charm plus the Sealed Room will do? Ha, you'll be like a can of tomatoes thrown into the fireplace, and I tell you, when you are blown to pieces, no one will be willing to pull you off the wall! Not to mention that there is a hiding dark wizard standing next to you..."

While he was talking, he had swept out three pieces of Blowing Bubble Gum, a Dung Bomb, several bottles of sticky, messed up potions, and two Bowtruckles from all corners of the classroom. The two poor, confused guys were thrown out of the window by Mad-Eye along with other things.

"I prefer to save trouble." Kingsley said calmly and lowly, "This is Hogwarts, he is Dumbledore's sponsor, and has a good record."

Scrimgeour took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Mad-Eye's eyebrows were tightly knitted together.

"Albus... he should learn to be alert!" he grumbled, but limped to a chair and sat down - from his posture, he was always on guard for a knife to stick out from the back or cushion of the chair. His magic eye was still fixed on Anthony, and his wand was pointed in his direction.

"Please sit down, Professor Anthony," Scrimgeour said, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

"Sit there," Mad-Eye said to Anthony, pointing to a chair bathed in sunlight. "Right there, facing us, eyes on the podium, hands on the table." The scar on his face twisted viciously. "Don't play tricks. I may die from Albus's gullibility, but I promise you won't be much better either."

Kingsley sat down as well, cleverly blocking the door. He smiled at Anthony reassuringly: "Don't worry, Professor Anthony."

Anthony sat down in the seat Mad-Eye requested and put his hand on the table: "Can I talk now?"

"Look at the podium." Mad-Eye said hoarsely, "Don't look at us."

But Scrimgeour obviously didn't believe that Anthony had the eyes of a basilisk or Medusa. He didn't react to Anthony's gaze, but frowned slightly impatiently and rubbed his forehead.

After a while, he said: "We received a report, and after various investigations, the clues all indicate that you may be related to a recent theft, Professor Anthony... After discussion, we think that since you are still in Hogwarts, we should be able to have a frank and friendly chat... Of course, it is very understandable that anyone might be interested in such things..."

Mad-Eye muttered some sarcastic sounds from his throat. Scrimgeour pretended not to hear.

"We hope that you will cooperate with our investigation as much as possible, Professor Anthony, and don't deliberately conceal it. You disappeared from Hogwarts last Friday afternoon with strange whereabouts-"

"And then went to Hogsmeade village?" Anthony recalled.

"- went to a place we all know," Scrimgeour said, and then he was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his tone seemed to have become cheerful, "Let's be frank, Professor Anthony, I actually admire your ability, you know, you always seem to be able to easily bypass those tight defenses. Of course, you probably don't realize it, just like the previous incident... But what will people think? Someone once assured us that you are very happy to stay in Hogwarts, to be a professor who gets along well with everyone... Once people know this, they may never see you as a wizard they can trust again..." He paused, waiting for Anthony to say something. A small piece of dust swirled in the sunlight. Anthony hesitated for a moment, and finally said honestly: "I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Scrimgeour. What do you think I stole?" Scrimgeour said with a smile: "Of course not stealing, Professor Anthony. It can only be regarded as borrowing to take a look, right? People are curious." He was silent with a meaningful look, tapping his fingers on the table. Anthony felt that he should say something, so he repeated: "Curiosity?"

"Perhaps a little too curious, but it's harmless," Scrimgeour said slowly, "If we can return it as soon as possible - before it's too late - the matter will be settled. Nothing. Of course, you have been accused of nonsense, Professor Anthony. Probably those pure-bloods. They are worried that Professor Bubbage will abandon his teaching position at Hogwarts and concentrate on causing trouble for them."

He paused again, and a pair of lion-like yellow eyes stared at Anthony majestically from behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

Anthony said: "Well..."

Scrimgeour waited for a moment, but received no further answer. He leaned back and leaned on the back of the chair, crossing his fingers with a disappointed look on his face.

"Is it still there?" he asked in a low voice, glancing quickly at Mad-Eye. Mad-Eye turned his head sharply and looked at Scrimgeour with his normal eye.

"What's still there?" Anthony asked angrily.

His curiosity was definitely piqued now. What is known: Something was stolen from the security guard last Friday, and the Ministry of Magic is looking for it. Anthony was accused of being involved in the theft. Combining Anthony's resume, Scrimgeour believed that Anthony was indeed highly suspicious.

Conclusion: The Dementors are missing?

Scrimgeour looked at Mad-Eye again. Mad-Eye's normal eyes narrowed and he stared at Scrimgeour unblinkingly until the other person looked away first.

Scrimgeour sighed slightly: "Professor Anthony, I want to know...Dumbledore has...did he...did he know?"

"Know what?"

"This whole thing." Scrimgeour tilted his head forward slightly, choosing words carefully, "I know he has always disapproved of it - but the situation is complicated, very complicated, Professor Anthony... things are always changing. This time, that time. Of course, destroying it is the easiest way, which can save a lot of trouble, but it will also bring us losses... very big losses..."

"Things are always very complicated," Anthony said.

"That's right, Professor, that's right!" Scrimgeour seemed to be relieved, "So, it's still there?"

"No, I mean your mastery of language is making everything more and more complicated," Anthony said. "Let's get this straight. First of all, what I want to say most is that unless you're looking for It's chocolate frogs and peppermint gummies, otherwise I shouldn't have anything to do with your goals. What's missing?"

"So, Dumbledore..."

Mad-Eye interjected impatiently: "Stop your skepticism, Scrimgeour. If Dumbledore wanted to do something at the Ministry of Magic, he could do it better himself than by entrusting a creature of the Dark Arts to him. ”

"You-Know-Who's wand," Kingsley said suddenly. "It's missing."

Anthony didn't expect this answer at all. Scrimgeour and Mad-Eye didn't seem to expect that Kingsley would actually tell Anthony, and they both stared at him.

"Just last Friday afternoon." Kingsley continued, ignoring his two colleagues. "The thief must be very good at bypassing our defenses and hiding it in a place where various tracking spells will be ineffective. ”

Anthony frowned and asked, "Hogwarts?"

"No, no," said Scrimgeour, looking closely at Anthony, "it's dark magic."

"After we found the wand, we put a lot of tracking spells on it," Kingsley said. "It would be almost impossible to undo them one by one. There are only two things in the world that can disable these spells at the same time: Ancient Lingge, or a whole lot of black magic.”

Anthony said, "Or break it?"

"Or break it," Scrimgeour agreed reluctantly.

Kingsley nodded towards Anthony: "Through some channels, we finally thought that the thief should have hidden it among many dark magic items. We checked some shops, such as Borgin and Burke, and found nothing..."

"Except for a few things of shady origin," Mad-Eye muttered, "those dark worms..."

Kingsley said: "Then we received word that you happened to be missing that afternoon, Professor Anthony. We also happened to know that you were in possession of many Dark Arts items."

Mad-Eye said sarcastically: "He himself is one of them."

"But it sounds like you had nothing to do with it. He's not lying, is he, Mad-Eye?" Kingsley asked.

Mad-Eye looked at Anthony suspiciously: "People like this are always very good at covering up their lies."

Scrimgeour frowned slightly, was silent for a long time, and finally stood up: "It seems that we can't ask anything. No matter from what point of view, I hope you can keep this conversation secret, Professor Anthony, this matter It's still top secret. Leaking it would do neither you nor me any good."

"I understand." Anthony also stood up and shook Scrimgeour's outstretched hand, "But you can't pretend it didn't happen forever."

Scrimgeour sneered a little tiredly: "I would rather the person who took away You-Know-Who's wand was you, Professor Anthony. At least you are still willing to talk to us."

"I didn't," said Anthony.

"I believe it." Kingsley said calmly and shook Anthony's hand. "We will find a way to find that person. Thank you for your cooperation, Professor Anthony."

Mad-Eye stood at the door, still watching Anthony warily.

"Let's go, Mad-Eye," Scrimgeour said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "What else do you have in mind? Could it be some Death Eater on the loose?"

"Those guys with their tails between their legs aren't brave enough to break into the Ministry of Magic," Mad-Eye said contemptuously.

"At least Hogwarts is safe," Kingsley said. "You should feel more at ease now, Mad-Eye."

"I never feel safe," Mad-Eye said gruffly. "Those scum will take any opportunity... The last time I dealt with a Dark creature without a wand... Oh, I remember, it was that mad vampire. Never let your guard down! Even in Hogwarts, you never know where the enemy will jump out from -"

He opened the door and then jumped away nimbly, pointing his wand at the figure that rushed into the room like a whirlwind.

Filch asked angrily and breathlessly, "Who threw the dung bomb?"