Chapter 117: Main Dishes and Seasonings

Chapter 117: Main Dishes and Seasonings

Chapter 117: Main Dishes and Seasonings

It was 7 PM in London.

On a dirty street lined with dilapidated buildings, a bar, and a wall covered in graffiti, Sherlock and Harry arrived.

"Can't we just Apparate directly into the Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked.

"Ministry of Magic employees can Apparate directly into the building, but visitors cannot. The entire Ministry is warded against Apparition, similar to Hogwarts, and only authorized employees can enter directly."

Sherlock led Harry to a decrepit red telephone booth and pushed the door open, stepping inside.

The telephone booth looked incredibly rundown, and the door seemed to be malfunctioning. As it closed, it suddenly jerked and hit Harry on the back of his head.

Harry clutched his head and crouched down, drawing in a sharp breath.

Sherlock reminded him, "Be a bit more careful."

"It's fine, just a minor bump."

In the past, Harry might have thought Sherlock was still wishing him a happy birthday, but now he just felt it was his own clumsiness.

Sherlock held the telephone receiver. Although it was his first time entering the Ministry of Magic, the original owner's diary had clearly outlined how to enter as a visitor.

The original owner had used this method on his first day of applying for a job at the Ministry.

He dialed "62442" on the phone, and soon a cold, robotic female voice came from above the booth.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and the purpose of your visit."

"Sherlock Forrest and Harry Potter, invited by Kingsley Shacklebolt of the Auror Office to assist with a recent investigation."

Kingsley had clearly informed the receptionist beforehand, and the response was quick.

"Thank you", the woman's cold voice said. "Visitors, please take your badges and pin them to your clothing."

Two square silver badges slid out of the coin return slot. Sherlock picked them up and handed the one with Harry's name to him.

Harry read the badge: Harry Potter, Assisting with Investigation.

"Visitors to the Ministry of Magic, you need to pass through a security checkpoint and register your wand. The checkpoint is at the end of the main hall."

The receptionist's voice faded, and Harry suddenly felt the telephone booth begin to descend! The pavement outside rose higher and higher until they were plunged into darkness.

The descent lasted about a minute before they reached the underground level.

The booth jolted to a stop, causing Harry to lose his balance and lurch forward, bumping his forehead against the glass door.

"Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant visit today", the receptionist said, and the door opened.

Sherlock led Harry, who was now holding his forehead in pain, out of the booth.

"I told you to be careful. Now look, you've hit your head both front and back", Sherlock said with a shrug.

Harry looked dazed. One bump could be an accident, but two made him feel something was off.

Despite his misgivings, he followed Sherlock to the entrance hall to register his wand.

As the government institution of the British Wizarding World, the Ministry of Magic was designed to be grand and opulent. The golden hall contained a fountain with a circular pool, in which a set of pure gold statues stood, larger than life.

The most prominent statue was a dignified male wizard, raising his wand to point at the sky. Around him stood a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf.

The centaur, goblin, and house-elf looked up at the wizards with infinite admiration.

As Sherlock went through the wand inspection, he pondered the purpose of these statues. Apart from boosting the wizards' self-satisfaction, they seemed to serve no other benefit.

The house-elves, being a completely domesticated race, were not the issue. However, the statues would undoubtedly provoke resentment among centaurs and goblins.

If he were a goblin or a centaur, he would never set foot in the Ministry of Magic because of these statues.

No wonder the Centaur Liaison Office had never managed to contact a single centaur, and the goblins only submitted after a rebellion.

After Sherlock and Harry completed their wand inspection, they managed to avoid the inspector, who had noticed Harry's identity and kept staring at his forehead, and walked directly into the elevator.

The elevator wasn't just crowded with people; paper airplanes were also flying in and out, one of which nearly poked Harry’s forehead, which had just been injured.

"These are Ministry of Magic messages", Sherlock explained to Harry.

This was actually the first time Sherlock had seen them in person; he had only read about them in the original owner’s diary.

They continued on the elevator and arrived at the second floor, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Almost no one got off on this floor, only Sherlock and Harry.

"Professor, what case are we here to help with?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"A series of murders", Sherlock said solemnly.

Hearing this, Harry's breathing became heavy, and he didn't ask any more questions.

They turned a corner and came to a door labeled "Case Investigation Room."

Just as Sherlock was about to knock, the door opened from the inside.

Kingsley emerged, wearing a cloak that looked like it had been soaked in water, emitting a constant aura of death and despair. A creature emerged from the room, its entire body decaying and emitting a similar aura.

Sherlock frowned and recognized it as a Dementor, a guard from Azkaban Prison.

"Ah, Sherlock, you're here", Kingsley said with a look of surprise.

Although the Dementor's presence made him uncomfortable, Sherlock nodded.

"What is this?"

"The leader of the Dementors that escaped from Azkaban, here to assist us with some investigations."

The moment Harry saw the lifeless creature, he felt as if he had been plunged into icy water, unable to breathe.

He saw the monster's hand, covered in scars, as if it were rotting. The cold aura enveloped him, turning everything gray, and Harry began to breathe heavily, his breaths growing louder until the world seemed to spin.

"Thump!"

A heavy sound echoed as Harry's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

This startled Sherlock, and Kingsley, who had just noticed Harry, rushed over.

"Why did you bring him here?" Kingsley asked, frowning.

"I was planning to celebrate his birthday, but then I received your letter. Harry didn't want to go back to his aunt's house, and I couldn't leave him alone, so I brought him along."

"I'm sorry, this is my fault", Kingsley said apologetically, then turned to the Dementor.

"You can go now, but remember to keep your kind in check. If any Dementor attacks occur, the Ministry of Magic will not tolerate it."

The Dementor gave no response, merely glanced at the unconscious Harry and then floated away down the corridor.

Sherlock and Kingsley lifted Harry and carried him to the Auror Headquarters, where they asked Tonks, who had recently started and was still handling miscellaneous tasks, to look after him. They then returned to the Case Investigation Room.

"Over the past two days, you must have seen the news in the Daily Prophet about Black escaping from that prison", Kingsley explained as they walked.

"After Black's escape, the Dementors were unusually angry. This is the first time anyone has ever succeeded in escaping. So, they began to leave the prison in large numbers to hunt Black, and the Ministry of Magic agreed to this."

"But after the Dementors left the prison, six deaths have occurred over the past few days."

"The first five were Muggles, all attacked in the same way—bodies still alive, but souls sucked out."

"During that time, the department was preoccupied with the Black incident, and since the victims were Muggles, it didn't receive much attention."

"But yesterday, a Wizard died in the same manner as the five Muggles. Scrimgeour, the Head of the Auror Office, took it seriously and specifically requested the Dementor leader to come to the Ministry of Magic to assist with the investigation."

"The manner of death matches exactly what happens after a Dementor Kiss. We have always suspected the Dementors. You know, those creatures have never been trustworthy, and now they've escaped from the prison."

"However, the Dementor leader claims that none of the six attacks were committed by them. The Dementor says they sensed something terrifying landing on the British Isles, and that this entity has consumed the souls of all the victims."

"You've always been an expert in Dark Magic defense. Back in the department, you were the one who delved deeply into Dementors, so I thought you could come and take a look to see if you can discover anything."

Sherlock learned the entire process from Kingsley and then followed him into the case investigation room.

The room was empty except for six beds, each with a body lying on it.

No, they couldn't be called bodies, because these people were still breathing and had heartbeats. However, they lay motionless like the dead, with terrified and contorted expressions, their eyes filled with nothing but lifeless gray.

Over the past year, Sherlock had focused most of his research on the areas that the original owner had dedicated himself to—Dark Magic defense.

He had read and studied the two books the original owner had written and published, Guide to Dark Creatures and Defensive Spells, until he knew them inside and out.

Guide to Dark Creatures included a professional study of Dementors.

Dementors, by their very nature, are the darkest creatures in the world.

If it were possible to eradicate them or if there were better solutions, the Ministry of Magic wouldn't have compromised.

Yes, allowing them to serve as guards in Azkaban was a compromise.

Sherlock approached one of the living dead and gently tapped various parts of the body with his wand. Kingsley stood beside him, providing information about the person.

"John Nelson, from Norwich, was found dead in an alley on his way home five days ago. Williamson and I arrived at the scene immediately. Later, the Ministry of Magic retrieved his body from the Muggle authorities."

After a series of tests, Sherlock's expression grew increasingly serious.

"His soul was indeed consumed, but not by a Dementor's kiss."

"The Dementor's kiss targets a person's emotions, specifically their positive emotions such as happiness, hope, and the will to live. When these emotions are completely drained, the soul is essentially destroyed, leaving only endless despair and lifelessness."

"But these people are different."

Sherlock pointed to Nelson, whose face was contorted with fear.

"Before he died, he experienced immense terror. He could think of nothing but fear, and at the peak of his terror, something enjoyed consuming his soul."

"The soul was the main course, and fear was the seasoning. It was enjoying a feast, but the method was entirely different from how a Dementor feeds."

Kingsley listened to Sherlock's explanation and then looked at the six living dead, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"What kind of creature could do such a thing?"

Sherlock shook his head.

"I don't know. Among the known Dark Magic creatures, none fit this description."

"Creatures that feed on souls are already extremely rare, and one that adds a little seasoning while consuming the soul is something I've never heard of before."

Kingsley's brow furrowed deeply, and he crossed his arms, feeling uneasy.

"The escape of Black has already caused enough chaos for the Ministry of Magic. Now, with this, the Aurors are stretched thin."

Sherlock sighed and shook his head.

"Such matters don't need to concern you. Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror Office, should be the one worrying about this."

Kingsley nodded heavily, and just as he was about to thank Sherlock, he suddenly realized that today's Sherlock seemed different from the one he knew. He looked at Sherlock with surprise, examining him from head to toe.

"A year of teaching at Hogwarts, and I feel like you've changed a lot."

Sherlock shrugged.

"Would you still call someone a person if they never changed? If you knew what I experienced at the end of this semester, you wouldn't be surprised by my changes."

"It's related to the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk, isn't it?" Kingsley clearly followed the events at Hogwarts.

"Yes, that's exactly it", Sherlock said wistfully. "The time I faced death."

Kingsley looked at the current Sherlock and couldn't help but smile.

"I think the changes are not bad."

Sherlock raised an eyebrow.

"Do we need to reintroduce ourselves, then?"

Kingsley smiled and extended his hand.

"Hello, I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt."

Sherlock smiled and shook his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Sherlock Forrest."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end