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0719 Visiting
🕑 Added 2025-05-18 12:48:55 +0000 UTC"Where in the world are, we?" Louise gasped, her voice was trembling with a mixture of confusion and barely contained panic.
One fleeting second ago, they had been standing in a holiday cottage on the outskirts of Berlin, but now, after experiencing a thoroughly unpleasant and overwhelming feeling of suffocation that had pressed upon every inch of her body, accompanied by the most peculiar and disturbing sensation of her entire body being compressed through a narrow tube, Louise found herself face down on the earth.
Waves of dizziness came over her, causing her stomach to lurch. As she blinked rapidly to clear her spinning vision, she discovered with bewilderment that they had somehow appeared in the middle of a vast field planted with rapeseed flowers and winter wheat.
After drawing several deep, desperate breaths, the world before her eyes finally stopped displaying confusing double images that had been spinning wildly.
Looking with resentment toward Bryan and Kingsley, who had both landed with infuriating steadiness and composure beside her, Louise muttered something about "twisted, inconsiderate wizards and their barbaric modes of transportation,"
Then gratefully grabbed Bryan's outstretched hand and stood up unsteadily.
A fresh breeze swept across the fields, caressing Louise's flushed cheeks and gently ruffling her disheveled hair. It carried with it a pleasant, crisp scent of earth, blooming rapeseed flowers, and the wholesome aroma of ripening wheat.
Louise turned slowly in a circle, carefully examining her surroundings.
The gloomy, fog-shrouded sky of Berlin was gone, as if it had never existed. Now, the sky above them was a breathtaking, jewel-like azure blue. Not far from where they stood, a clear river roamed through the open field, cutting a snaking path across the landscape.
Its surface perfectly reflected the magnificent color of the sky above, creating a mesmerizing mirror effect. The river's gentle current produced crisp, melodious sounds of flowing water that reminded Louise of delicate wind chimes dancing in a summer breeze, so enchantingly beautiful that it seemed to have flowed straight out of the pages of a childhood fairy tale.
Standing on the slightly elevated ridge of the field, Louise instinctively rose on her tiptoes to gain a better vantage point, her eyes were widening with wonder as she gazed in fascination at the river that resembled a flowing stream of countless dazzling jewels.
She found herself momentarily entranced by the beauty of the scene, temporarily forgetting the unpleasant method of their arrival. Then, upon shifting her gaze to take in the splendid golden fields extending from beside her all the way to the distant horizon, her mood instantly brightened as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"We're currently on the outskirts of Bonn—" Bryan said gently.
Truly pleasing natural scenery always possesses the power to lift one's spirits, even the smile at the corner of Bryan's mouth became lighter. Like Louise, he glanced around at the landscape, and soon, his eyes detected something of interest behind the gently swaying golden wheat stalks, vague, rotating black shadows in the distance, which he immediately identified as the blades of a windmill.
"Let's go in that direction—"
Having definitively determined their course, Bryan took the lead without hesitation and started walking toward the distant windmill.
"Before coming to find you," He called back over his shoulder, "I did some research... Some old, well-connected friends helped me locate this isolated place. It's remarkably secluded—a perfect spot for someone seeking quiet retirement away from prying eyes—"
Bryan's statement struck Louise as strange and rather cryptic, though she couldn't immediately pinpoint why.
Walking several paces behind, Kingsley looked thoughtfully over Louise's head at Bryan's silhouette, marveling yet again at Bryan's truly remarkable abilities and seemingly boundless network of connections.
However, one aspect of their current situation struck Kingsley as strange and somewhat contradictory—Mr. Watson had said earlier that he didn't know the precise whereabouts of Jasna Vogel, the person they were seeking, yet somehow, he had managed to locate her family home with apparent ease?
But Kingsley quickly dismissed this momentary doubt as fruitless under the circumstances. He returned his focus to the task at hand, carefully walking along the narrow field ridge, which had become slippery with overgrown weeds.
"Regarding the matter we were investigating earlier, Mr. Watson," Kingsley began, "specifically concerning those dark wizards with the ability to create curse-seed separations—I should inform you that just last night, our department received some new intelligence—"
Bryan turned his head slightly indicating that he was listening attentively to Kingsley's report.
"Based on the information you provided earlier," Kingsley continued, "we first managed to locate that fellow who was temporarily residing in England. However, after conducting a thorough investigation into his activities and whereabouts during the relevant timeframe, we were able to conclusively rule him out as a suspect—"
Kingsley paused to organize his thoughts, then continued his report smoothly.
"Unfortunately, apart from this, our investigations in other countries haven't proceeded nearly as well as anticipated. In Japan, our people did successfully locate the person of interest mentioned on your list, but he refused to communicate with us. Instead, he attacked the personnel we dispatched to question him, and then escaped.
The resulting magical disturbance caught the attention of the local Ministry of Magic, and to avoid an international diplomatic incident, our people were forced to retreat. The one living in France apparently relocated permanently to America approximately two years ago; logically judging from this timeline, he had neither the opportunity nor any discernible motive to commit the crimes, so we made the decision not to pursue further —"
Bryan pressed his lips together into a thin, disapproving line, his previously relaxed expression darkening. That cunning fellow Verrence had still managed to cheat him.
"What about the rest on our list, Kingsley?" Bryan inquired.
"According to our department's most recent intelligence gathering," Kingsley responded promptly, "the two persons of interest in Albania should both be considered untraceable at this juncture. Perhaps you've already heard about this incident—last August, there was an incident involving big in-fighting among dark wizards in Albania.
One of the people on your list is confirmed to have perished in that bloody conflict, and the other... Well, in the aftermath of this event, many wizards who had been operating in that region hastily fled Albania to avoid being caught in the continued violence or subsequent investigation, and their current whereabouts are unknown—"
"Cough, cough—" Bryan cleared his throat, reaching up to scratch his cheek in a gesture that appeared designed to conceal some fleeting expression. He said nothing in response to this particular piece of intelligence, which Kingsley found mildly curious.
"—Regarding the two based in Germany," Kingsley continued his report without pausing to dwell on Bryan's odd reaction, "from what our intelligence has managed to determine, Friedrich Cullen and his apprentice left for Greece approximately one month ago, apparently to explore an ancient magical ruin.
And August Roman is a traveler with no fixed residence. Our field agents visited his registered address, and his Muggle neighbors informed us that he frequently travels to other countries and rarely remains in Germany for a long period of time. We searched his house but found no clues about his whereabouts—"
Bryan nodded thoughtfully, showing no particular reaction to this latest information that might reveal his inner thoughts on the matter.
Following the zigzagging path, they gradually approached the windmill standing by the riverside. As they drew nearer, Louise could now discern that the mill was within a farm enclosed by a wooden fence, the enclosure encircling more than a dozen acres of land.
Approximately half of the farm was dedicated to growing various vegetables arranged in orderly rows, while within the wooden enclosure, pigs wallowed contentedly in mud puddles and chickens scratched actively at the ground, all appearing well-cared for and healthy.
Adjacent to the windmill stood a two-story wooden house. Judging from the dim, gray color of the wooden planks that formed its exterior walls, and the slight sagging of its roof along the central beam, this house had probably been built here for quite some time.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" Louise exclaimed with embarrassment, nearly colliding with Bryan's back.
Her curious gaze had lingered appreciatively on the house for only a few fleeting moments before her attention was drawn to a large stone mill positioned in front of the house that was rotating steadily by itself without any visible animals, machinery, or human intervention to power it.
She had become so completely absorbed in observing this magical curiosity that she completely failed to notice that Bryan had suddenly stopped in his tracks in front of her.
"What's wrong?" Kingsley asked sharply, his hand instinctively moving toward his concealed wand.
Still maintaining some distance from the farm's boundary fence, Kingsley immediately became alert when he observed Bryan suddenly stop and calmly look ahead of them.
"There are some warning spells ahead, I guess they're designed to alert the property owner that unannounced guests have arrived to pay a visit."
Bryan explained calmly.
"For the sake of ensuring a pleasant and productive conversation later, I think we'd better knock first—"
Saying this, Bryan raised his wand, and a bright ball of fire left its tip, entering the warded area ahead before exploding like fireworks. The abrupt explosion sound traveled far across the open field.
BANG—
The response to their magical announcement came with startling swiftness. The gentle breeze that had been caressing the landscape suddenly became violently disturbed, swirling in unnatural patterns as if responding to some unseen force.
After a crisp, sharp bang that seemed to split the air around them, a small, unusual figure suddenly squeezed into existence out of seemingly empty space, landing directly in front of Bryan.
"Oh, my goodness gracious!" Louise exclaimed, unable to suppress her shock.
This unexpected appearance startled Louise so severely that she nearly lost her footing on the narrow path and almost slipped into the cultivated fields on their side. When she finally managed to focus her gaze clearly on the strange creature that had suddenly appeared, her eyes involuntarily widened to their fullest extent.
"Is this... some kind of dwarf?" She whispered hesitantly.
"Actually, this particular magical species is called as—house-elves— by wizards." Bryan explained with a patient smile.
He lowered his head slightly to establish eye contact with the house-elf standing in front of them—judging from its loose, wrinkled skin and the abundant white, wispy fuzz covering much of its body surface, this house-elf, like Sirius's Kreacher was very old.
Bryan merely looked down at this house-elf, maintaining a friendly smile. The elderly house-elf, after landing, first looked at him with wary and unfriendly eyes, but when it truly saw who the wizard was that had made the noise and disturbed its master's rest, the wariness in its tennis ball-sized eyes disappeared, replaced by a kind of fear and confusion.
"Bryan Watson?" The house-elf exclaimed in disbelief.
The house-elf called out Bryan's name in a surprisingly sharp, high-pitched voice. It fearfully stepped backward several cautious paces having its enormous eyes fixed unblinkingly on Bryan's face, completely ignoring the presence of Louise and Kingsley standing behind him.
"Hello—" Bryan said with a nod of his head. "Might I inquire as to what I should call you?"
"Hayne—" The house-elf responded after a moment of hesitation. Despite its apparent uneasiness, it still executed a respectful bow.
"I am called Hayne, most respected Mr. Watson—" it continued, its voice quavering slightly with anxiety.
"Well then, Hayne," Bryan responded with courtesy, "I'm truly very sorry to disturb the peaceful life of you and your master in this peaceful setting. I believe I haven't inadvertently come to the wrong location; this property should be the private residence of Chairman Anton Vogel, is that correct?"
'Chairman Anton Vogel?' The name echoed in Kingsley's mind, triggering memories.
Kingsley was stunned for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he widened his eyes just like Louise when she discovered magic, with an expression of utter disbelief, he was shocked to the extreme.
"Absolutely incredible," Kingsley exclaimed, his composure briefly shattered. "Anton Vogel—I remember now. Is it possible that he's still alive after all these years?!"
The shock of this revelation made Kingsley shortly forget that he shouldn't ask such questions and remain silent; the usually composed and dignified man actually exclaimed aloud in surprise.
This house-elf called Hayne looked at Kingsley with displeasure, though it didn't dare to verbally rebuke a wizard, especially one in the company of Bryan Watson, it simply acknowledged the question with an almost unnoticeable nod of its head.
"It seems we're very fortunate not to have journeyed here in vain—" Bryan smiled, but that smiling expression didn't reach his eyes. He looked toward the wooden house that seemed forgotten by time. Unconsciously, his tone was mixed with a touch of solemnity and authority.
"Could you please pass a message to your master, Hayne? Tell Chairman Vogel that Bryan Watson has arrived to pay a visit and hopes to have a face-to-face conversation with him—"
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