"Boom——"
The pyramid collapsed with a thunderous crash, replaced by a massive sinkhole, and... Bill raised his hand to push his jaw, which almost couldn't close, upward. He turned to look at the figure beside him, in addition to his three brothers, and said with a puzzled tone, "Uncle Lupin..."
As a child born to the Weasley Family in the early days of Voldemort's activities in the United Kingdom, Bill Weasley had naturally met the members of the Order of Phoenix at that time, and even had a decent relationship with most of them. Now, looking at Lupin appearing before him, he frowned in some confusion.
Lupin's appearance here was strange, coupled with his black robe... appearing together with the other three Weasleys.
So mysterious.
"Bill——"
Looking at the "rebellious" youth with fiery red long hair and ear piercings in front of him, Lupin squinted his eyes, hesitant to recognize him fully because it had been nearly ten years since he had proper contact with Molly and Arthur. He vaguely remembered that Bill used to be nothing like this.
The main issue was, wouldn't Molly secretly try to cut off that rebellious long hair in the middle of the night upon seeing it?
"Bill, your goblin boss——"
But there was no time to catch up. Ron and the Weasley Twins started babbling to Bill about what had just happened. For example, the Goblin Groo secretly made a deal with the Black Wizard, and the cage containing a group of ferocious reddish-brown creatures...
"And... the Black Wizards, they attacked us."
At this point, Ron instinctively glanced at Lupin beside him. Honestly, when this person suddenly turned into a werewolf in the corridor and leapt in front of the three of them, they thought they were going to be killed by a werewolf. But the fact that he actually spoke human words shocked everyone.
"That one... is my companion."
For some reason, Lupin instinctively did not mention William's name or identity, but he left nothing else out, "We are investigating a trace of dark magic and an organization specializing in poaching magical creatures. The clues led us to Cairo, where we defeated a group of Black Wizards and assumed their identities——"
"So, your companion?"
Fred furrowed his brows, and looking at Bill's reaction, they were almost certain now of Lupin's true identity. So, the sense of alertness in their hearts finally subsided a lot as he continued to ask, "He didn't die inside?"
As he spoke, the boy turned his head back, only to see that the Khafre Pyramid, which was slightly inferior to the Pyramid of Khufu in the Giza Pyramid Complex, had turned into a huge pit. This event would definitely be major news tomorrow — both in the Magic Realm and the Muggle World.
"Of course not——"
Being asked this question, Lupin instinctively touched his slightly bulging chest——
"Squeak squeak."
A barely audible tiny response sounded, and Lupin, assured by its confirmation, exhaled a breath of relief. After repeating this statement, he flipped himself onto the recently calmed camel along with the others. Witnessing such a close collapse of the pyramids, the fact that these camels didn't bolt away was already a testament to their solid nerves.
He did not intend to search for William. Besides the fact that dealing with such a big person ensures not losing him, the most crucial thing was that Kabuda was with him now. In case of any new emergencies, all it would take was for this Niffler to shoot an arrow into the sky, and William would arrive on the scene in no time.
...
"..."
"Splash——"
Ice-cold water poured over the goblin's head, and the drowsy Goblin Groo shivered as he subconsciously opened his eyes, only to find that everything he had just tried to forget was slowly returning.
The goblin instinctively looked around—this was a pure gray cement room, and he was firmly restrained in a small chair that fit his body perfectly. That damned human wizard sat opposite him, looking at him expressionlessly.
"You wake quickly——"
Noticing the goblin's movement upon awakening, William, who had been mentally simulating experiments with "VR Magic," stopped his progress and focused his attention on this goblin.
"Who are you really?"
At this point, even Groo, as foolish as he might be, realized William's true identity probably wasn't among those poachers. After taking off the hood, William's aura bore a striking difference from that group of Black Wizards, "From now on, you answer when I ask——"
William ignored Groo's question, pulling a stool over not far from Groo, speaking as he tossed a small dark brown bottle in his hand.
He certainly could use a charm to wake the other person—but wouldn't that just be coercive extraction?
Is that... Veritaserum?
Upon recognizing the label shaking on the dark brown bottle, Groo finally managed to make out the lettering. He swallowed hard instinctively.
"What, want to try it?"
William shook the bottle in front of the goblin, and the other immediately shook his head like a rattle drum—notoriously, Veritaserum was unpleasant to experience. Or rather, neither magic potion nor charm with similar effects felt good, with the most infamous being the Imperio, one of the three Unforgivable Curses.
"Very well, then tell me the origins of this Magic Circle, and this stone——"
As he spoke, William reached into his pocket and took out the Seik Crystal, touched in Austria, while injecting a sliver of magic into it, illuminating the crimson array once more.
"...I can't say."
"Aren't you a bit unclear on the urgency here?"
William's tone turned somewhat harsh, motioning as if to unscrew the half-empty Veritaserum bottle—yes, once term started, he would have to find a time to have Kabuda search Snape for certain. Snape typically liked keeping some finished potions on him.
"No, I really can't say——"
The Goblin Groo's tone became more urgent, seemingly trying to correct some misunderstanding in William's interpretation—"We've been cast with a really high-level charm; as soon as we speak about these things, we will... well, I'm not exactly sure what will happen, but it won't be good."
"...Offer a solution."
William nodded, pausing his actions, speaking slowly.
"Uh, I can't say it out loud, but I can take you there directly—"
After a brief thought, Goblin Groo hurriedly shouted, "There's plenty... of this kind of stone, and arrays there!"
The few words Groo said were extremely oblique, but the intention was evident—he was volunteering to be the goblin guide——