The moment the room full of clocks opened, Sherlock, who had been on high alert, reacted instantly!
His wand, which had been hovering beside him, ready to strike, moved in unison.
Like a conductor's baton in the hands of an orchestra leader, the wand moved according to a precise pattern and rhythm, and as it swung, countless red points of light flashed from its tip!
"Ah...!"
Just as the Death Eater standing behind the door, guarding the entrance, reacted and raised his wand to aim at Sherlock, before he could even utter a single syllable of a spell, dozens of red beams of light tore through the air, striking him with perfect accuracy!
The next second, his entire body froze completely; apart from his eyes blinking frantically, he couldn't move a single finger.
The Death Eater's body, lacking support, began to fall backwards helplessly.
But just as he was about to hit the ground, Sherlock promptly supported him with Control Magic before gently lowering him.
After the door opened, Sherlock immediately sensed the situation inside the room.
Within eight metres of his perception, there was no one else besides this masked Death Eater.
Only then did Sophie, beside him, react. She shuddered and tried to cast a spell, only to realise that the enemy had already been subdued by Sherlock's swift Silencing Stupefy.
She stared in shock at the wands floating around him, completely unable to imagine what kind of Wizard could use magic in such an unprecedented way.
Sherlock paid no attention to her reaction. He quietly stepped into the Time Room and took in the room in its entirety.
There were no lights inside. Instead, the entire room was filled with a shimmering, flickering glow like scattered diamonds, emanating from a tall, bell-shaped crystal dome at the far end of the room.
The crystal dome stood nearly six feet (1.8 metres) tall on a table and appeared to be filled with a churning, sparkling current of air.
Inside the dome, a small, brilliant object resembling a jewel floated endlessly up and down. It was a tiny hummingbird, though it was not always a bird.
At the bottom of its circular path, it existed as an egg. As it rose through the dome, the shell cracked open, a hummingbird emerged, and it flew all the way to the top. But as it descended, its feathers became soaked and bedraggled once more until it reached the bottom, where it was enclosed within the egg again.
This cycle of time repeated endlessly inside the dome, like a bizarre hourglass shaped by life itself.
Sherlock wasn't captivated by this ingenious device for long, because from a walled-off compartment diagonally opposite the entrance to the Time Room, a sharp voice drifted faintly towards him.
"Don't think I really won't cast a spell on you! I've wasted so much time arguing with you simply to save face for the Selwyn family! Although the Dark Lord is benevolent towards all pure-blood Wizards, his patience is also limited!"
...
Scrimgeour stared grimly at the unconscious Auror lying in the sixth-floor corridor, who couldn't be awakened even with a Reviving Charm.
"Whose team is responsible for the four floors below?"
A young Wizard with a pale face and cold, icy eyes stepped forward from behind him.
"It's my subordinate's squad, Director."
The two Auror squads stationed within the Ministry of Magic had both been formed in the past two years. Their captains were the most outstanding graduates from Hogwarts in recent years, and both came from long-established pure-blood families.
They were Kingsley Shacklebolt of the Shacklebolt family, and Barty Crouch Jr. of the Crouch family.
Furthermore, Barty Crouch Jr.'s father was the head of the Auror Office's superior department, the most important institution in the Ministry of Magic: the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement—Barty Crouch Sr.
Amid the increasingly tense situation in the Wizarding World, Barty Crouch Sr., despite coming from a pure-blood family, had publicly taken a firm stand against Lord Voldemort and earned enormous prestige throughout Britain's Wizarding World.
Almost no one doubted that once the current Minister for Magic stepped down, no one would be more qualified to succeed him.
Because of this, Barty Jr., whose own abilities were equally exceptional, naturally became an Auror Captain.
As for Kingsley, there was little to say. Everyone recognised his extraordinary ability, and the Shacklebolt family itself was one of the oldest and most respected families in the Wizarding World.
The young Wizard who had stepped forward was Barty Crouch Jr.
"Why weren't you maintaining constant communication with your subordinates?"
Scrimgeour showed no regard for Barty Jr.'s special status, questioning him with a grim expression.
Barty Jr. replied expressionlessly.
"There is a problem with the situation in Sheffield. The commander in York, Triss, contacted me earlier and told me to be ready to request that you dispatch the department's last two teams there. I've been waiting in the communications room for further updates."
His explanation was reasonable. Scrimgeour had also been monitoring the situation in Sheffield and understood how critical it had become.
"How many of your team members can you still contact?" he asked, his brow deeply furrowed.
"Not a single one."
Kingsley also spoke at that moment.
"Rome, who was patrolling the fifth floor, has also lost contact."
There were only six Aurors present now.
Head of the Auror Office Scrimgeour, Captain Barty, Kingsley, and Kingsley's three subordinates.
Everyone present understood the gravity of the situation.
Almost all personnel in the department had been deployed to Sheffield. Even if they wanted to recall them, it was impossible.
Because even if the Ministry of Magic were destroyed tonight, it still wouldn't be as catastrophic as the Death Eaters destroying an entire Muggle city and exposing the Wizarding World to the public.
The Ministry of Magic could be rebuilt.
But if the Statute of Secrecy were broken, the consequences would be unacceptable to the entire global Wizarding World.
So Scrimgeour had no choice but to rely on the few remaining subordinates at his disposal to defend the Ministry.
...
Sherlock signalled for Sophie to remain silent. Together with the wands floating beside him, he once again aimed at the Death Eater who had been immobilised by the Petrificus Totalus.
A flash of red light erupted, and dozens of Stupefy spells struck him, ensuring he was completely unconscious.
The two of them suppressed their footsteps as much as possible and approached the door to the office inside the Time Room.
It was an ordinary office without any spatial expansion or magical partitioning, so Sherlock's Control Magic could "see" the situation inside with perfect clarity.
Although it appeared small from the outside, the office was actually about the size of a Potions classroom at Hogwarts.
There were eight people inside.
Two Wizards wearing the Ministry of Magic's standard black robes lay unconscious on the floor. They were clearly Department of Mysteries staff.
There were also four Death Eaters wearing their distinctive iron masks, as well as a young Wizard dressed in standard Ministry robes.
This young Wizard was clearly the traitor Sherlock had mentioned who had been hiding within the Ministry of Magic.
In front of them sat a middle-aged Witch bound to a chair by a Binding Curse.
She appeared to be in her thirties or forties, with long, wavy hair. She was strikingly attractive, but her expression was utterly cold.
"I'll say this one last time, Algy Flint. There is no so-called Door Number Seven! And there is absolutely no power capable of reversing everything!"
The young Wizard named Algy viciously grabbed the Witch's ash-blonde curls, pulled her close, and spoke through gritted teeth.
"That old fool Stredri told us everything! Door Number Seven in the Department of Mysteries! The greatest discovery since the Ministry of Magic was founded! The Dark Lord is extremely interested in it! Do you know what he wants? Whatever he desires has never failed to become reality!"
Algy stared into the Witch's emerald-green eyes.
"For the sake of how well you treated me when I was young, and because you're my great-aunt, I'll give you one final chance, Madam. Tell me where Door Number Seven is. Then become the Dark Lord's most loyal follower, and in the new Ministry of Magic you'll continue serving as Head of the Department of Mysteries. That would be better for all of us."
The Witch sneered, showing no trace of fear.
"Better for all of us? What a joke. Algy, just like your father, you've always been good at hiding your true intentions. But you're still too young and far too impatient. Has he finally decided to reveal his true colours and stop pretending within the Ministry of Magic? That hardly sounds like your father's habit of hedging his bets and siding with whoever has the upper hand. Or is this something you've decided on your own, while he still knows nothing about it?"
Algy's face darkened, as though the Witch had struck a nerve.
He gestured to one of the masked Death Eaters, who immediately handed him a vial of potion.
"You forced me into this, Madam. We could have settled this peacefully. You forced my hand..."
He muttered viciously as he gripped the Witch's chin.
"I've given you enough opportunities, but you're determined to oppose the Dark Lord. I have no choice. For the greater cause, I must sacrifice you!"
Just as Algy raised the potion bottle, preparing to pour it into the Witch's mouth, the office door was suddenly kicked open from the outside!
The next instant, countless crimson beams of light flooded through the doorway like a meteor shower streaking across the night sky!