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After hearing Auston Greengrass's story, the old wizard looked a little surprised and asked:
"So, you're from the Greengrass family. What about your father?"
Auston Greengrass's expression grew somber.
"My father's health started deteriorating right after he refused the Death Eaters' offer. I've always suspected they did something to him in secret. After some treatment, his condition stopped getting worse, but he never really recovered either. A few years ago… he passed away."
The old wizard nodded slowly and said:
"That's a real shame. Your father actually studied dark magic under me when he was young. But don't worry—now that the Pureblood Party has a new leader, if the Death Eaters really did kill your father, we won't forget that grudge."
"Your loyalty means something. One day, the Greengrass family will shine brighter than ever—because of you."
Hearing that, Auston Greengrass gave a firm nod.
Just then, Abernathy, seated at the head of the long table, cleared his throat. The room instantly fell silent. He spoke slowly:
"You've all read the plan, right? If there are no objections, it's time to move. It's about time the wizarding world remembered our name!"
Everyone present nodded, eyes burning with excitement. One by one, they Disapparated, following the details in the mission plan.
England, Knockturn AlleyNot far from Borgin and Burkes stood a striped garbage bin.
A bald wizard walked past it, took a few steps forward, then suddenly turned around. After making sure no one was following him, he retraced his steps back to the bin.
He pulled out his wand and tapped a few of the bin's stripes. Instantly, a crack opened in the ground next to it, revealing a straight staircase leading underground.
Glancing around one last time, the bald wizard walked down the stairs.
As he descended, the noise from below got louder. Soon, a spacious underground bar came into view.
Scanning the place to make sure there were no suspicious people around, the bald wizard made his way to a private booth on the side.
He pushed the door open—the booth was empty. That surprised him. But before he could react, a wand was suddenly pressed to his temple.
A cloaked figure appeared beside him, wand still raised.
The bald wizard froze. A few seconds passed before the cloaked figure slowly lowered their wand and walked over to sit at the far end of the booth.
Relieved, the bald wizard let out a long breath and followed him inside to sit down.
"How's the situation outside?" the cloaked figure asked in a raspy voice.
The bald wizard shook his head and said:
"The Aurors from the British Ministry are going nuts lately. A bunch of Portkey dealers have gone into hiding. And the few who didn't? I saw some shady characters hanging around them. Probably Aurors, so I didn't dare make contact."
The cloaked wizard nodded slowly.
"Didn't expect this whole thing to blow up like it did… Looks like we can't stay in Britain anymore."
The bald wizard asked curiously:
"So how are we leaving? Just Apparate back to the States? I don't have the magic reserves for that!"
After a moment of silence, the cloaked figure rasped:
"Get ready. We'll head to another country in Europe first, then use a Portkey from there to get back to America."
The bald wizard nodded reluctantly, then muttered in frustration:
"Damn it, not only did we make almost nothing on this job, we're probably gonna lose money! What a crap deal!"
But the cloaked wizard didn't seem bothered.
"We're wizard hunters. As long as we're alive, there'll always be Galleons to earn."
While the two of them talked in the underground booth, several wizards suddenly appeared in Knockturn Alley above—including Auston Greengrass and the old wizard.
As soon as they showed up, Auston was surprised to see how the others acted—they instinctively spread out and took up guard positions, leaving one wizard to stand by the striped bin.
The wizard by the bin tapped the stripes with his wand, and the ground cracked open again to reveal the same staircase.
At the same time, another wizard who had been standing guard raised his wand and pointed it down the staircase, staying alert. Once he confirmed it was safe, the wizard by the bin descended the stairs cautiously, wand in hand.
While he went down, the rest of the group began casting spells rapidly around the area. Auston stared, dumbfounded. In just a few moments, they had set up an Anti-Apparition field.
"What are you staring at? Let's go!"
The old wizard gave Auston a pat on the shoulder, snapping him out of it. He quickly followed the others down the stairs.
Halfway down, Auston looked back and saw that the last wizard hadn't followed them. Instead, he cast an invisibility spell on himself and slipped into a corner to hide.
That whole sequence took less than a minute, but it left Auston completely stunned. As a descendant of one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight families, he liked to think he'd seen a lot—but he had never seen something like this before.
Now he finally understood how the Pureblood Party had once swept across Europe and America, leaving entire Auror squads helpless. Compared to these guys, the Aurors he'd met in the past looked downright clumsy and uncoordinated.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds coming from below.
As the group continued down, a wide underground bar came into view.
As soon as Auston Greengrass and his group appeared in the bar, they drew a lot of attention.
A sultry-looking barmaid, dressed in something barely decent, sashayed over. She first leaned toward the old wizard with a playful smile and said coyly:
"Old man, what's someone your age doing hanging around a place like this? Shouldn't you be at home resting?"
Then, with a graceful twist of her hips, she turned to Auston Greengrass, practically draping herself over him, and purred:
"But you, handsome, you look just right for this place."
Before her voice had even faded, the old wizard reached out, gently took her hand, and pulled her back toward him with a grin.
"Don't you think he's a bit too green? Men are like wine—the older, the better!"
"....."