Wimzy nodded quickly. "Yes, master. When I arrived, I saw clear signs of battle, spell damage everywhere. The entire area was blocked by anti-Apparition wards and other interference spells. Azalea and the other Ministry wizards had to arrive on foot." She tilted her head slightly, looking rather pleased with herself. "And… all the Aurors were using our equipment. Looks like they really like the gear, huh?"
Alex smirked slightly at her pride. It was good to know his Magical designs were holding up in real fieldwork. He nodded. "The anti-Apparition barrier makes sense. But house-elves like you can still move through them freely, which is an advantage we need to remember."
"Understood, master," Wimzy acknowledged. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she perked up. "Oh! Apart from the dragons, the only other people there were the wizards who had been arrested."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Anything unusual about them?"
"Yes," Wimzy said, frowning as she tried to recall details. "Their clothes were very different from what British wizards wear. Their shirts and coats were much looser, and their colors were brighter, not like our plain-colored robes."
Alex's eyes sharpened. "So they're from other country." That made sense. Vipertooths were native to South America, if someone was smuggling them, the smugglers were likely from that region. "And after the battle?" Alex prompted.
"Most of the Aurors took the prisoners back to the Ministry," Wimzy reported. "A small group stayed behind with Azalea. They used large wooden platforms to restrain the dragons and loaded them onto winged black horses before flying off."
"Thestrals?" Alex guessed.
Wimzy shook her head. "No, master. Not Thestrals. They looked different, more muscular, with glowing red eyes. I didn't recognize them."
Alex filed that detail away for later.
"I followed from a distance until they returned to the Ministry of Magic. This morning, I confirmed that Azalea had gone home as usual. That's when I decided this was too important to delay, so I came to you immediately."
Alex leaned back slightly, deep in thought. "So you spent the entire night tracking this?" he asked, looking her over. She was visibly exhausted.
Wimzy straightened her posture. "It was no trouble, master! But the shop is still closed, and if I don't get back soon, "
"Stop right there," Alex cut in, his tone firm. "The shop will be fine. You, however, need to rest. That's an order."
Wimzy hesitated but then lowered her head slightly in defeat. "Yes… master."
"Go to Hagrid's hut and get some sleep," Alex instructed. "I'll bring you food later. Forget about Diagon Alley for today, you've done more than enough." She nodded, though her reluctance was clear.
Only after making sure she had left for Hagrid's did Alex finally allow himself to fully process everything. There was no doubt now, this had been a massive smuggling operation. Whoever was behind it wasn't just moving contraband, they were smuggling high-risk magical creatures, ones that required specialized handling.
The Ministry of Magic had clearly caught wind of this in advance. That would explain why they had been so eager to purchase his Magical equipment recently. They must have known a major operation was coming and had been preparing for it. But the bigger question was, How did they find out?
Smuggling rings typically operated in secret. For the Ministry to intercept a large shipment like this, they must have had intelligence long before the actual arrest took place. Something must have tipped them off. And then there was Azalea.
Alex's suspicions about her weren't new. He had been wary of her for a while now, but after confirming that her wand had been switched, specifically, that she was now using an aspen wand, which was once standard for the Silver Wand Dueling Club, his suspicions had tripled.
Alex had long suspected that Silver Wand had connections to the smuggling business in the Forbidden Forest two years ago. And now, with another smuggling incident unfolding just last night, it was impossible not to see the link.
But something wasn't adding up. If Azalea was part of Silver Wand, and Silver Wand was behind the smuggling operation, why hadn't she warned them?
If Azalea had truly been loyal to them, she would have warned them in advance, ensuring the shipment never fell into the Ministry's hands. But she hadn't. That left only two possibilities, either Silver Wand wasn't involved in the smuggling, which seemed highly unlikely, or Azalea wasn't working for them at all. Instead, she had her own agenda.
It was starting to seem more and more likely that she was a spy planted inside the Ministry of Magic. But that only led to more questions. Silver Wand had never been active in Britain before. They had influence across Europe, but they had always stayed out of British affairs.
So why now? What had changed?
Alex jotted down his suspicions in his notebook. There were too many unknowns at this point, and he wasn't about to make any reckless moves without more information. Besides, Silver Wand hadn't directly crossed him yet. As long as they weren't interfering with his business, he had no intention of provoking them. But while Alex was content to wait and observe, 'Someone else had other plans.'
In the dead of night, Alex's eyes snapped open. The small magical siren he had embedded in his shirt had gone off, alerting him to an intrusion at his shop in Diagon Alley. His expression darkened instantly. 'Someone is breaking into my house.'
Without hesitation, he threw off his covers, sat up, and retrieved a miniature monitor from his storage ring. Long before now, Alex had taken extra precautions to protect No. 277 Diagon Alley. He had installed magical surveillance inside and outside the property, with an alarm system that would immediately alert him in case of any intrusion. Not only could he see everything happening on-site in real time, but he could also remotely control the house's protective measures. And now, someone had triggered the alarm. Alex's jaw tightened. 'Hmph. I originally set all of this up just in case. I didn't expect someone would be stupid enough to actually test me.'
With Wimzy absent, there was no one guarding the house tonight. If the intruder got too far and discovered something they weren't supposed to… Alex's gaze turned ice-cold. He switched on the monitor, and the magical display flickered to life. The image wasn't perfectly clear due to the distance and the protective enchantments around Hogwarts, but after focusing his magic, the picture stabilized.
At first, he saw nothing. Frowning, he manually flipped through each camera feed, scanning every room in the house. No signs of forced entry. No movement inside. 'So they haven't broken in yet…'
Switching to the external cameras, Alex finally spotted the intruder. Across the street, partially hidden in the shadows of an alleyway, stood a cloaked figure. They weren't moving. Just watching. Alex narrowed his eyes. They were being cautious. Then, the intruder finally acted.
Raising a hand, they magically levitated a small brick into the air and hurled it straight at the third-floor window. The impact was solid, but The glass didn't break. Instead, the brick shattered and bounced off, as if it had hit reinforced steel. Another alarm triggered. Alex's lips curled into a smirk. 'Oh? Testing my defenses, are you?'