"So that's how it is." Minister Peter revealed a look of understanding. "In that case, Director Andre, please make the arrangements. As the Minister of Magic, I must personally express my condolences to the victims."
He was so eager to visit the victims not only to clarify the true experiences of the wizards in those parks, but more so to understand the situation of the cooperating wizards, many of whom had previously been members of civilian organizations and had played a significant role in promoting the division bill. Although most of these people were unaware of the connection between the civilian organizations and the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic, those who did know had taken strict confidentiality measures.
However, if those cooperating wizards were to reveal these facts, it would be easy for people to associate them with Minister Peter's faction. Even if it was just testimony without concrete evidence, it would have a significant negative impact on Minister Peter and his allies. But based on the information Minister Peter had gathered from the newspapers, there were no related descriptions, and he didn't know if those wizards were afraid to expose it or if it had been temporarily hidden. So, all he could do now was to minimize the losses to avoid hindering the implementation of the division bill.
But how could Andre not understand the other party's intentions? The reason for unifying and housing those people was to prevent the club from getting to these witnesses.
Therefore, he smiled apologetically and said, "I'm very sorry, Minister Peter, but those wizards are currently in very poor physical and mental condition. Many of them have even been brainwashed into fools by those despicable Silver Spears. They might not even recognize you if you go, so please excuse the visit. Furthermore, I have already contacted the Wizengamot Council, and a hearing regarding this incident will be held tomorrow. Representatives of the victims will be present, and you can speak to them in person at the hearing tomorrow if you have anything to say."
"The consultation is starting tomorrow? That fast?" Minister Peter was startled upon hearing this, and a bad premonition suddenly arose in his heart. He then subtly indicated to Andre that he still hoped to see them in person, at least to offer condolences to the two heroes.
But Andre had already been given intensive training by Alan, and he immediately began playing tai chi with Minister Peter, his core message being 'no way'! Seeing Andre suddenly become so smooth and unyielding, Minister Peter's expression also turned very ugly. With Andre's path completely blocked, Minister Peter had no choice but to find an excuse to leave the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
However, Minister Peter still did not give up. He always preferred to act cautiously, and this situation, where he was completely in the dark, made him very uneasy. He didn't even know who the enemy was or what those rescued wizards knew. With this anxiety, Minister Peter successively visited several Wizengamot Council members, including Edmund of the Schmidt family. But these guys either knew nothing, just like him, or they kept playing tai chi with him, just like Andre. Edmund even refused to see him.
In Minister Peter's eyes, it was as if he had been isolated by all high-ranking Ministry of Magic officials within a single day, and the situation of Michelle and other directors and high-ranking officials who had completely sided with him was very similar; they couldn't gather any intelligence at all. At this moment, Minister Peter felt as if an invisible large hand was slowly tightening around him, until it completely crushed him.
"No… that mastermind is probably coming after me." Minister Peter was not a fool; he also realized the seriousness of the problem at this point.
But how bad was the situation really? One must know that they needed different preparations for different situations, but the problem now was that they couldn't get any intelligence from channels other than newspapers. Had the civilian organization's affairs been exposed, or had their connection with the club been leaked? Or was it the worst-case scenario, where his and Michelle's identities had been revealed?
*Impossible!* Minister Peter thought of this and decisively shook his head, denying it. Among those park wizards, only Clement knew his identity. He had some confidence in Clement's loyalty, and even if the other party wanted to leak secrets, they couldn't. Clement's brain had been bound by an extremely strict magic contract. Excluding the worst-case scenario, then it means the civilian organization's affairs were exposed and linked to them, the division faction?
After much thought, Minister Peter could only come to this conclusion, which also explained why those Wizengamot members were being so distant with him. If that were the case, the situation was not irreversible. After all, those cooperating wizards couldn't provide any actual evidence. As long as they offered substantial benefits to those Wizengamot members later, they could probably cover up this matter. However, Minister Peter completely failed to understand the Schmidt family's stance. In the past, their cooperation had always been excellent, but now they wouldn't even meet him, as if they intended to distance themselves from him.
And while Minister Peter was troubled, Golden Knight at the Silver Spears headquarters also encountered trouble.
"What exactly is going on with Phoenix? These past few days were clearly her safe period, so why isn't she even replying to messages?" Golden Knight paced back and forth in the headquarters' reception room, muttering to himself in frustration. He had arrived at the headquarters early in the morning and initiated an emergency contact with all leaders through his mask. Many of the leaders had responded one after another. But Phoenix, whom he was sure he could contact, was nowhere to be found, which made Golden Knight frown in worry.
"Has Phoenix already returned to France? If the distance is too far, there will be a long delay in transmitting messages with the mask, and it's almost impossible to contact them if they're too far away." The younger version of Peter next to him also looked at Golden Knight with a hint of doubt.
"Impossible. I just communicated with her two days ago. She will be in Germany these days to assist with the situation in East Germany." Golden Knight shook his head decisively. "By the way, have you heard anything from the transport team? Didn't you contact them with an owl two days ago? And theoretically, they should be close to Germany by now, so they should be able to be contacted with a mask!"
This was the limitation of the club's convenient technology. Because the transport team's location was too remote, apart from using a Portkey to transmit messages to the headquarters' corner, only more traditional communication methods could be used.
"Still no news." The younger version of Peter shook his head helplessly. "Neither owls nor masks can reach them. It's as if the transport team vanished into thin air. I was just about to report to you. Should we send someone to search along the way?"
"Let Chameleon go!" Golden Knight sighed helplessly. "If there's a problem with the goods from Northern Europe as well, then the trouble will be huge. What's going on lately? Why are the club's troubles coming one after another?"
The younger version of Peter also looked troubled, but at this moment, his body suddenly paused. "Someone has appeared at the headquarters' entrance. It's Thunderbird!"
"Oh? I didn't expect him to be the first to respond. That's rare. Quickly bring him in!" Golden Knight raised an eyebrow in surprise. Was this unruly guy actually more reliable?
Soon after, the boisterous Thunderbird kicked open the reception room door and rushed in. "What exactly do you mean by your emergency contact? Have the people and magical animals taken from the park been found? Or has the mastermind been found?"
"What do you mean? Do you not read the newspaper every day?" Golden Knight replied irritably at this moment, then threw the morning paper at the other party.
"Those Aurors rescued people from the Silver Spears?" Thunderbird was visibly stunned after reading the headline. "What do you mean? You arranged for those parks to be moved?"
"Am I that idle?!" Golden Knight saw that even Thunderbird thought he was responsible for this, and immediately swore in anger. "The situation here is clearly not simple. Don't you see that?!"
"Not simple? Are you saying someone impersonated us to attack those parks?" Thunderbird looked enlightened. "Then the culprit must be the beneficiary of this matter. Is it Andre of the Ministry of Magic, or that so-called Schmidt family?"
"But that's not realistic." Thunderbird paused, then felt something was off. "You know, just housing these people is troublesome enough, and there are also thousands of magical animals. Can they hide so many things? Didn't you investigate them a while ago? Didn't you find anything unusual?"
"That's what's strange!" Golden Knight also explained with great confusion. "I conducted in-depth investigations into both Andre and the local wizard families in Germany, especially regarding personnel transfers, but they all behaved very normally, which means that those guarding the park wizards are not their people."
"If they're not their people, then whose people are they? Could it be our people?" Thunderbird muttered with some confusion, then suddenly realized, "Could it be?"
"That's right!" Golden Knight understood that Thunderbird had also realized the key point. "I'm afraid this matter was indeed secretly done by someone within the club; otherwise it would be impossible to successfully transfer so many people and do it with a Silencing Charm!"
"Then to accomplish all of this, it must be someone who knows these parks well enough, has sufficient manpower at their disposal, and preferably is not a local…." Thunderbird muttered along this line of thought for a few sentences, then suddenly looked up at Golden Knight. "What about Phoenix? When can she arrive? These two days should be her safe period; she shouldn't fail to respond to you, right?"
"Sigh…" Golden Knight sighed in annoyance. "Up until now, I haven't been able to contact Phoenix. Logically, she should be in Germany right now."
"Is it her? Is that possible?" Thunderbird excitedly crumpled the newspaper in his hand. "What reason would Phoenix have to do this? Has her so-called research already been able to reverse-engineer the formula for the Elixir of Life?"