After leaving the deserted alley, Damian walked casually back toward the bustling main road.
He hadn't gone far before he encountered Umbridge and her squad of Aurors.
Umbridge's toad-like face was flushed a mottled purple, and she looked exceptionally furious. She shrieked in her high-pitched, girlish voice, "How could he have escaped? You must find him!"
A young witch with vibrant violet hair muttered, "How are we supposed to find him? He probably used Apparition to leave."
Umbridge despised being questioned. She whipped around to glare at the young witch. "Trainee! I have serious doubts about your competence. I will certainly be reporting this insubordination back to the Auror Office!"
Umbridge was widely disliked within the Ministry of Magic. Her grand sting operation had only managed to secure one fully qualified Auror and a handful of trainees.
The young witch pursed her lips unhappily but kept quiet. She was just an Auror in training, and Umbridge might actually have enough political pull to influence her final evaluation.
Her internship experience had been terrible so far. Ever since she was assigned to Umbridge's detail, she had been relentlessly targeted. Fortunately, she wasn't the only one; Umbridge's attitude toward all her subordinates was foul, but she was especially venomous toward witches who were younger and prettier than her.
Suddenly, the young witch's eyes lit up. "Damian! What are you doing here? Oh, right—it's a Hogsmeade weekend."
Damian responded with a polite smile. "Tonks. Didn't you say you were busy with Auror training?"
The violet-haired witch was Nymphadora Tonks. She was Damian's older cousin; her mother, Andromeda, was a Black by birth and Damian's aunt.
Damian had a rather good relationship with Aunt Andromeda. When he had lived with his other relatives as a child, she would visit every year to check up on him.
Tonks looked genuinely relieved to see a friendly face. "The Auror Office is severely short-staffed right now, so they sent a few of us trainees out for field experience."
She had very few cousins—only Damian and Draco Malfoy. Her family's relationship with the Malfoys was openly hostile, meaning she and Draco couldn't stand each other. Therefore, Damian was the only cousin she actively stayed in contact with.
Damian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The Auror Office was being incredibly reckless. Tonks had only graduated from Hogwarts a few months ago, meaning her advanced training had barely begun. Sending a rookie out on a live raid was highly irregular.
Seeing that Tonks had ignored her scolding to chat with a student, Umbridge felt completely slighted. She was a woman with an extreme, pathological need for control, and being ignored was the ultimate insult.
"Trainee!" she shrieked. "What is this attitude? Is this how your instructors taught you to behave on active duty?"
Umbridge puffed out her chest. "Are you planning to be a salary thief right in front of the Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office? I will absolutely be giving a dismal report to your lead evaluator!"
She made sure to emphasize her title; it was her proudest achievement.
Tonks looked properly aggrieved. "I was just saying hello to my cousin..."
"Your cousin..." Umbridge's bulging eyes darted over, scrutinizing Damian from head to toe. "Damian Black?"
There was a deeper reason Umbridge always targeted Tonks. Beyond basic jealousy of the girl's youth and beauty, Tonks was a descendant of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Belittling her gave Umbridge the thrilling sensation of trampling a prestigious pure-blood family under her sensible, low-heeled shoes.
She only dared to do this because Tonks had a Muggle-born father, and her mother had been formally disowned by the Black family years ago.
To avoid stepping on the wrong toes, Umbridge had thoroughly memorized the current lineages of the sacred twenty-eight families. She knew Tonks had two cousins, and the boy standing before her was clearly not the blonde Malfoy heir.
Seeing Damian nod, a predatory gleam sparked in Umbridge's eyes. Look what she had found—another Black she could publicly humiliate!
Knowing the Black family's tragic recent history, she was well aware that Damian was an orphan. In her eyes, a student without powerful parents backing him was a prime target for manipulation.
Umbridge raised her voice, ensuring the passing crowd could hear her oily tone. "I saw a dangerous Dark Wizard fleeing in this exact direction! You are highly suspicious, boy. Hand over your wand! I intend to cast Prior Incantato to verify your innocence!"
She was spouting complete nonsense, of course. Her demand to inspect his wand wasn't actually about the escaped smuggler.
The widely despised Umbridge had climbed the Ministry ranks by being exceptionally skilled at pandering to her superiors' worst impulses.
Her current primary benefactor was the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. She knew perfectly well that Fudge was growing paranoid and desperately wanted an excuse to interfere in Hogwarts' internal affairs. Finding a way to undermine Albus Dumbledore was his top priority.
Damian was the heir to the House of Black. It was an open secret that members of such dark, ancient families frequently dabbled in the Dark Arts.
Prior Incantato would force his wand to reveal its most recently cast spells. If she found even a hint of dark magic on a Hogwarts student's wand, she could use it to incite Fudge into ordering a full Ministry audit of the school's curriculum. A stunt like that would practically guarantee her a promotion.
And even if she found nothing, stripping a pure-blood heir of his wand in the middle of the street perfectly satisfied her need for dominance.
Tonks's expression immediately shifted. She knew Damian studied magic from the sentient portraits of his ancestors. If someone claimed he hadn't learned a few borderline curses, she wouldn't believe it for a second. Even her own mother had taught her a few nasty hexes for self-defense.
This was the hypocrisy of wizarding politics. Pure-bloods practicing minor dark magic in private was largely ignored, but if caught in public by a Ministry official, it could be grounds for expulsion or worse.
Tonks stepped protectively in front of Damian. "Madam Umbridge, Damian is just a student! You have no grounds to do this."
Seeing the genuine anxiety on Tonks's face only made Umbridge more triumphant. "Whether there's a problem or not will be determined by the wand, Trainee Tonks. Step aside!"
Damian patted Tonks on the shoulder, giving her a reassuring look to tell her not to worry.
Umbridge wouldn't find a single incriminating spell. He was exceptionally careful. The wand currently sitting in his robes was his everyday school wand; he hadn't used it to practice the Dark Arts in years, and he certainly hadn't used it to cast the blinding flash in the alley earlier.
His expression perfectly calm, he drew his wand and offered it handle-first. "As you wish, Madam Umbridge."
Umbridge snatched it eagerly. "Prior Incantato!"
A ghostly projection erupted from the wand's tip. "Let's see here..." Umbridge muttered, her eyes hungry for a scandal. "A Coldproof Charm... A Transfiguration spell... Another Transfiguration spell... Another Transfiguration spell..."
The next dozen or so spells that echoed out were all standard, textbook Transfiguration charms.
Umbridge's face fell, quickly replaced by indignation. "Is this a joke? Can you not cast anything besides Transfiguration?!"
Damian replied unhurriedly, his voice perfectly polite. "I assume the esteemed Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office attended school. Transfiguration is a highly profound magical discipline that requires diligent, repetitive practice to truly master."
Umbridge sustained the Prior Incantato charm for several minutes, scrolling back through nearly a month's worth of spell records. She found absolutely no trace of the Dark Arts. Every single spell cast by the wand was perfectly aligned with the standard Hogwarts syllabus.
Realizing she had come up completely empty-handed, she shoved the wand back into his chest with a sneer.
"Very well, Damian Black," she said pointedly, her voice dripping with venom. "A wizard who only knows parlor tricks. It seems the vaunted glory of the House of Black will truly die out with your generation."
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