After the reorganization, the Joint Operations Office planned out the roles of its various personnel in the Death Eater hunting plan with even greater care.
Generally speaking, when it came to gathering intelligence, wizards were responsible for compiling information from the wizarding world and estimating the areas where the Death Eaters might appear.
Then reconnaissance units spread across the country, together with community police, would carry out detailed checks of the specific areas.
This method was chosen because, even though the Ministry of Magic had increased its support for the Office's operations, rebuilding Azkaban required manpower, and order within the wizarding world itself also needed to be maintained. There was simply no way to let wizards waste their valuable time gathering intelligence.
By contrast, the Aurors' intelligence network within the wizarding world could infer the general movements of Death Eaters and dark wizards in Britain, after which police departments scattered across the country would confirm them.
This reduced the reliance on wizard manpower while also making full use of the numerical and communication advantages of the police and military.
Of course, aside from most temporary hideouts, not all Death Eaters were stupid enough to leave their residences without a Muggle-Repelling Charm.
So at times like these, Marvolio still had to lead the Aurors in paying them a personal visit.
Unfortunately, Voldemort had taken the core Death Eaters under him and gone into hiding again, just like last year. Even though Marvolio had been driven out on more than a dozen missions, most of those captured, like the Vampire and Werewolf this time, were nothing but small fry.
At the thought, Marvolio tightened the hands gripping their necks in irritation, causing the two, who had already fainted from the pain, to let out piercing screams once more.
The staff coming and going through the office had long since grown used to it.
When Mr. Marvolio lost his temper, he was fiercer than all the criminals he had arrested put together.
If he had not always worked so diligently on the Office's missions and saved nearly every staff member who had encountered danger, they would have taken him for an enemy spy hiding inside the Office.
"They're not exactly small fry," Crystal said soothingly. Then she lowered her head to search through the files, occasionally looking up to compare them with the two prisoners' appearances. "We can more or less confirm that these two are the killers behind three muggle murder cases."
"Tch."
Marvolio curled his lip and, with a flick of his hand, tossed the two of them to Viktor, who had been waiting nearby.
Maintaining an overseas island that could both guard against another attack from Voldemort and keep prisoners secure was far too difficult, especially when the reconstruction of Azkaban was proving harder than expected.
So the Ministry of Magic, or rather Tver, simply divided wizard prisoners into two groups.
One group consisted of ordinary criminals from the normal operation of the wizarding world, and they were naturally handed over to the Ministry of Magic.
As for the Death Eaters arrested under the hunting plan, they would be locked in a basement opened up by magic beneath the Joint Operations Office, which had been turned into a tightly secured prison.
As for the best candidate to guard them, that was naturally Marvolio, who had "volunteered" to stay here.
This was also why Marvolio was so dissatisfied.
If they never caught an important figure capable of shifting the tide of the war, he would be stuck doing these time-consuming, laborious, and meaningless little jobs.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Marvolio immediately strode toward the office of the culprit in a fury.
Without even knocking, he shoved the door open and barged inside.
"Better than I expected, but… what's wrong with you this time?" Tver looked up helplessly.
Marvolio came to complain almost every time he returned from a mission. It had practically become the sign that he had completed one.
Joanne, sitting opposite him, was more than happy to see it.
Ever since work at the Office, especially Marvolio's work, had become busy, all the harassment her daughter had suffered had disappeared.
She herself had also come into contact with more wizards, which made her writing much more convenient.
The only thing she was unhappy about was that Tver had rejected her manuscript again and again.
And yet, like an extremely picky client, he would only point here and there and give a long list of demands, such as "too bloody," "needs to strengthen the depiction of the magical side of the wizarding world," "the protagonist's image can't be too noble and righteous," "you need to consider teenage readers," and so on.
They had originally agreed only to adapt Voyages with Vampires, but after the revisions, it was supposed to become The Young Wizard and the Vampire's Adventures?!
So Joanne was eager to see Marvolio cause trouble for Tver, just so Tver could experience what it felt like to be made things difficult for.
"I want a raise!" Marvolio declared loudly, full of confidence.
Joanne: "…"
This man really was unreliable.
"Fine, fine. I'll teach you Protego Diabolica when I have time, all right?" Tver waved his hand helplessly.
Having received a satisfactory answer, Marvolio did not leave. Instead, he took the opportunity to sit down beside Joanne.
"By the way, I heard you're looking for a school for Catherine?"
"Catherine isn't old enough for primary school yet. I'm planning to send her to preschool first, but…"
Joanne sighed in distress, no longer caring about discussing her daughter with Marvolio.
Preschool in Britain was essentially the same as kindergarten, except that it was usually attached to well-known primary schools and was very helpful for direct admission into those schools later.
Tuition was not something she needed to worry about. Between her salary from the Office and the advance payment a wealthy man had given her for her new book, she could fully afford the fees of a prestigious private school.
But that was exactly where the difficulty lay.
A school like that was not somewhere one could enter just by having money. As an unknown single mother, even with the title of a government office employee, she still could not obtain a spot that countless people were fighting over.
Seeing this, Marvolio raised his eyebrows smugly at Tver, immediately making Tver realize why he had deliberately brought up the topic.
Catherine was the only reason Joanne worked so hard.
"I'm on good terms with the Prime Minister. Perhaps I can ask him to write a recommendation letter for Catherine."
Tver spoke with a smile that allowed no refusal. Of course, Joanne could not bear to refuse either.
She immediately took a deep breath, looking somewhat resigned, but even more as if she had gathered the last of her strength, and picked up the manuscript on the desk.
"I understand. Before July, I'll produce a finished version that satisfies you!"
She wanted to loudly condemn Tver's inhumanity, but he was simply giving her too much.
Marvolio watched with a grin as Joanne walked out of the office with a face full of grief and anger. Only after she left did he turn to Tver, who looked just as satisfied.
"Didn't you say you'd put out one book first to test the waters? Your standards don't look like they're for a trial run."
"Plans can't keep up with changes."
Tver picked up his cup and took a sip of Pumpkin juice. Sure enough, bitter tea and the like really did not suit him at all.
"Besides, I may not have that much time in the future to sit down and slowly discuss things with Joanne. I need her to understand my requirements as soon as possible…"