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Chapter 1167: Collaborating for Mutual Benefit
Chapter 1167: Collaborating for Mutual Benefit
One hour earlier, in a remote and deserted village in Devonshire, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were on a surveillance mission. Soon, their bait, a man named Kenneth, would arrive at the village to make contact with the prophecy master, Mr. Anderson.
Of course, both of these individuals were imposters, and there wasn't even a man in the house who resembled Albert Anderson.
But that didn't matter, as long as the Death Eaters and the Ministry of Magic personnel believed that Albert Anderson was hiding here.
After all, those Death Eaters, who wished nothing but Albert's demise, had not been able to find any clues related to him until now.
Kenneth, who was responsible for delivering packages to Voldemort, must know something. Even if they didn't capture Albert himself, they would surely capture someone closely associated with him. Controlling them would make finding Albert a simple matter.
Since the Ministry of Magic could use Veritaserum, the Death Eaters naturally had their own ways, and they could employ more brutal interrogation methods.
Therefore, Sirius wasn't worried at all about the Death Eaters refusing to talk. Moreover, according to the information provided by Snape, after Lucius Malfoy spent a large sum of galleons to send himself to Azkaban, the Death Eater who took on the task of murdering Albert Anderson was that crazed woman, Bellatrix Lestrange.
On many occasions, Sirius had to question his cousin Bellatrix's terrible taste. After all, Voldemort's appearance was truly... unique, to say the least. Just the fact that he had no nose was... Sirius was actually more curious as to why Bellatrix, who had once admired Voldemort so much, never considered marrying him directly.
Although this was a joke, Sirius truly couldn't understand the fanatical devotion that crazed woman had for Voldemort. Was it similar to the fanaticism that people had for singers like Celestina Warbeck?
It was truly incomprehensible.
Shaking off the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Sirius turned his attention back to the chessboard in front of him, then glanced up at Lupin, whose face was already creased with wrinkles like the surface of the moon.
"I should have let Tonks take over this surveillance mission," Sirius joked, a slight smile playing on his lips. He had indeed considered doing so, but as an Auror, Tonks had her own work to attend to, and it was a pity that she missed this opportunity to spend time alone with Lupin.
"Don't joke about that, it's not funny at all," Lupin said, clearly not amused by the jest. The mention of Tonks always left him feeling conflicted.
"How are things between the two of you?" Sirius probed further.
"Same as always," Lupin replied, clearly uncomfortable with the topic.
"Haven't you made time to go out on a date with her?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. He wanted his old friend to find his own happiness.
"I think you should consider your own situation first," Lupin said, changing the subject.
"My situation?"
"You're a year older than me," Lupin said as he moved a chess piece, his eyes flicking from the scrying mirror to the enchanted mirror hanging on the wall, which remained inactive. He got up and walked to the window, using the half-drawn curtains to discreetly observe the situation outside.
"Any movement?" Sirius asked.
"None," Lupin shook his head.
"Then sit down and finish this game. It's your move," Sirius said, about to use his knight to force Lupin's king into a checkmate position.
"I thought earlier..."
"I'm not considering marriage," Sirius interrupted coldly. "It's better if the Black family line ends with me. Anyway, I've never considered inheriting this detestable house."
Hearing Sirius' words, Lupin fell silent.
"You really intend to..."
"Yes," Sirius glanced at the live map in his hand and said impatiently, "I think instead of worrying about me, you should be braver about facing your own feelings. Tonks is a good girl, don't let her down."
"There's no future for us," Lupin said stiffly. "I don't want to hold her back, and besides, I'm more concerned about..."
"You're already holding her back," Sirius said, glancing at the king on the chessboard that was about to be checkmated. "Also, I think your worries are completely unnecessary. Those people will probably only follow Kenneth here after he arrives, and I suspect the ones tailing him are likely a bunch of clueless decoys."
"Indeed, everyone gets smarter after being fooled once."
"Makes sense."
Lupin used a telescope to observe the area around Albert's house, looking for suspicious individuals. Soon, his gaze shifted back to the safe house provided by the Ministry of Magic. The example of Bournes served as a reminder that mutual cooperation could reduce the risk of being ambushed.
"Running away is never a good option." Sirius tapped his fingers lightly on the chessboard and said, "Don't think you can get away with it this time..."
"You've won," Lupin said directly.
"I was going to win anyway. And moping around like this isn't going to help." Sirius' tone paused as he sensed something. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a communication quill, and unfolded it to find a message from Kingsley.
"Any new information?" Lupin asked.
"Kenneth just left the safe house arranged by the Ministry. Kingsley suspects there's a Death Eater informant within the Ministry, but they still haven't found the culprit. In my opinion, they should just give Veritaserum to everyone and weed out the spy." Sirius relayed Kingsley's message. "By the way, Arthur will be here later. They think the Death Eaters will take action tonight and will probably arrive early to scope out the place."
"Tonight? And the information provided by that person is..." Lupin put down the telescope and turned to ask.
"This whole thing is just odd from beginning to end."
"Odd? No, I think it's quite normal. That's just how Anderson operates—most people can't make heads or tails of his moves." Sirius didn't see any issues. "That guy is truly unpredictable when it comes to making his moves. Sometimes I feel lucky that Albert is on our side, so it's the Death Eaters who are suffering now instead of us."
"He's a fine and responsible man. I think he's doing all this mainly because the Mystery Man and the Death Eaters are pushing him too hard." Lupin was inclined to side with Albert. "If I were in his shoes, I might go crazy and kill them all too."
Just then, emerald green flames erupted in the fireplace in the living room, and a figure stepped out from the flames. He greeted the two men who were chatting idly.
"How's it going?"
"Very quiet. How about over there?" Lupin asked.
"Kenneth should be on his way here, but we still haven't found anyone tailing him." Arthur walked to the window and peered discreetly through the slit in the curtains. "Auror Alastor isn't optimistic about this operation. He thinks we might be wasting our time."
"After all, Mr. Tolle has already served as bait once. Anyone who isn't too stupid won't fall for it again so easily." Lupin finished Arthur's sentence.
"I think they're saying that because no one took the bait. I reckon they've gotten too comfortable after all these smooth months, and it's made them stupid." Sirius said scornfully.
"Sigh, people are forgetful." Arthur sighed helplessly. "Smooth sailing has indeed made some people temporarily forget the threat posed by the Mystery Man."
"Don't worry. Since Albert wants to use the Ministry to strike back at Bellatrix, this plan will most likely succeed, as predicted." Sirius wasn't worried at all, as he understood Albert better than the Ministry.
"We're willing to believe in Albert because almost all of his predictions have come true." Sirius noticed the looks they were giving him and explained, "A smart person like Albert wouldn't use a plan that's destined to fail to dispel the absolute confidence the Ministry and we have in him. Otherwise, it would be much harder for him to use the Ministry and us to take revenge on the Death Eaters in the future."
"Ahem, I think it should be called a mutually beneficial collaboration, a win-win cooperation." Lupin corrected him. He was no longer worried, as Sirius' words made perfect sense.
"Lupin's right. It is indeed a collaboration and a win-win situation." Arthur agreed with Lupin, and indeed, that was the case.
(End of Chapter)
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