Chapter 780: Intimidation
Chapter 780: Intimidation
To a certain extent, Death Eaters were tight-lipped when captured. Due to their fear of Voldemort, it was usually difficult for the Ministry of Magic to extract any useful information from them unless they used Legilimency or Veritaserum.
The captured Death Eaters this time were no exception. Even though they were bound, they all put on a defiant act, stubbornly refusing to say a word as if certain that Mr. Weasley wouldn't dare to torture them.
Of course, their assumptions were correct. Mr. Weasley wouldn't typically resort to such methods, but there were always exceptions.
"So, you were just ordered to cause chaos in Diagon Alley and know nothing else, right?"
As Kyle returned, he stumbled upon a rather gruesome scene.
Mr. Weasley was squatting, conversing with a disembodied head, while the headless body was guarded by a shop owner just a few feet away.
"Yes, I've said it three times already; we truly only know that much!" The head's voice quivered, tinged with desperation. "Please, put me back together now; it really hurts."
"There's no rush." Mr. Weasley said leisurely: "As far as I know, the separation caused by Disapparition can last for about thirty minutes, and we still have..." He glanced at his watch. "...seven minutes left to talk."
"No, don't... You said that was just an estimate... It really hurts now..."
"We really don't know anything else... Oh, right, it was Yaxley who sent us here... " The man's voice grew softer, "and the Lestrange family... They seemed to be in a hurry... Before they left, they said..."
"Shut up, you traitor!" A Death Eater shouted angrily, "The Dark Lord will surely kill you for your betrayal!"
His voice was agitated, but not out of anger; it was fear—fear that Voldemort would take out his wrath on him.
However, the "head" ignored the angry shouts and continued in a weak voice, "They said... they need to get back to the Master quickly... the Dark Lord... Only the most trusted Death Eaters... can serve him..."
"Servants... This is unbelievable." Mr. Weasley's face turned grave, unsure why these Death Eaters would hold such beliefs.
"Please... I beg you... I truly don't know more than this..." The man's voice grew fainter, and his face turned deathly pale.
Upon seeing this, Mr. Weasley immediately picked up the head and reattached it to the neck. He then turned to the apothecary owner beside him.
Reluctantly, the owner took out a bottle of Essence of Dittany and roughly applied it to the man's neck.
Kyle approached them at this moment.
"You're just in time," said Mr. Weasley. "I've just learned something interesting."
"I heard it too," said Kyle. "I believe the mysterious man must be injured."
"That's not surprising," Mr. Weasley said. "After all, he was facing Dumbledore. It's a pity we don't know where the mysterious man is hiding, or we could take this opportunity to launch a decisive battle against the Death Eaters."
"Maybe others know," Kyle scanned the surrounding bound Death Eaters, "We have plenty of time to question all these people here."
Upon noticing his gaze, the Death Eaters let out mocking laughter.
"You expect us to betray the Dark Lord? Dream on, kid."
"Go home and drink your milk..."
"Kneel and bow to me twice, and maybe I'll feel generous enough to tell you."
"Hahaha, yes, that's right..."
The last Death Eater's laughter abruptly stopped as he saw the man he was talking to suddenly foaming at the mouth. His body quickly turned purple, and he lay motionless on the ground.
The scene was so bizarre that, for a moment, an eerie silence fell upon the crowd, and a sense of fear began to spread.
The reason these Death Eaters were so arrogant was that they believed the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix wouldn't dare to harm them severely. Based on past experiences, they expected nothing more than an interrogation followed by a sentence to Azkaban.
Back then, the threat of the Dementors was considerable, but now that Voldemort had recruited them, Azkaban had practically become their backyard. How could these prisoners possibly be afraid?
However, they suddenly realized that something was amiss.
"Teava! Teava!"
Someone shouted their companion's name frantically, to no avail. He was clearly dead.
An eerie silence enveloped the crowd.
It was only then that they realized this wasn't a game like before; it was a real war. It wasn't just them who could take pleasure in torturing others; their opponents could kill them as well.
"Damn it... What did you do!" someone asked, their voice shaking.
But Kyle didn't even glance at him, acting as if he hadn't heard.
"You're finished..." someone else shouted, trying to sound fierce to bolster their courage. "Using the Killing Curse... Even an Auror like you will be judged..."
Yet, Kyle didn't spare him a glance either.
"No, I mean you shouldn't have killed him in front of so many people." Mr. Weasley sighed. "I presume Amelia Bones will be the next Minister, and while she's fair, she can be inflexible at times. If this many people accuse you, you might be in some trouble, and even with the current situation, you'll likely lose your position as Senior Undersecretary."
"Ah, that's alright." Kyle smiled. "If that's the case, it'll be doing me a favor, as I don't really want to work at the Ministry anyway."
"But you probably don't want to deal with frequent investigations either." Mr. Weasley continued, "Even for an Auror, using an Unforgivable Curse would require at least three investigations, let alone the fact that you're not an Auror yet. There would be more inquiries, interrogations, and a trial at the Wizengamot."
"That's quite troublesome." Kyle furrowed his brows and waved his wand casually. "Then I might as well kill them all and save them from snitching later."
A flash of green light suddenly enveloped the Death Eaters in front of Kyle.
"Wait..." Mr. Weasley reached out to stop him.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
"Don't kill us!"
Apparently, they hadn't expected Kyle to actually dare to do it, and a chorus of wails erupted from the crowd, with a few of the weaker ones fainting on the spot.
But soon, they realized nothing had happened to them.
"Just kidding." Kyle lifted his wand with a smile. "You can't even tell the difference between the Killing Curse and a simple lighting spell. Your skills are lacking."
The faces of those at the front turned crimson, not from the spell, but from shame and fury at being toyed with. They felt insulted, as if they were magical creatures on display for entertainment, an insult far worse than death.
How dare he!
But just as they were about to retort...
"Avada Kedavra!"
A brighter flash of green light grazed their heads and hit the wall behind them, creating a horrifying crater.
"Now that's the Killing Curse." Kyle glanced at them indifferently. "By the way, what were you about to say?"
"Good job killing him!" The first Death Eater blurted out. "I've never liked Teava. He's arrogant and deserves to die."
"Yeah!" someone chimed in. "Even if you didn't do it, I would have."
"We'll keep our mouths shut, we promise."
"No, no, no. You shouldn't spread false information." Kyle shook his head. "I didn't use an Unforgivable Curse, and I certainly haven't killed anyone. Take a closer look. Was he really hit by the Killing Curse?"
Prompted by Kyle, everyone, including Mr. Weasley and the shop owners, turned their attention to the body.
"Wait, this doesn't seem like the Killing Curse." Someone spoke up.
"Yeah..."
"It doesn't look like it..."
"I've never heard of the Killing Curse turning someone's body purplish-blue."
"It looks like some kind of venom... Could it be an Acromantula?"
...
The crowd murmured amongst themselves.
"I told you, this has nothing to do with me." Kyle smiled, pointing to a bud-like creature that had somehow appeared beside him. "The culprit is right here."
Everyone turned to look, and someone recognized it immediately.
"Bowtruckle?"
The person blinked, feeling absurd.
Was he joking? Even if he wanted to lie, he should come up with a more plausible reason. How could a Bowtruckle, a XX-level magical creature, silently kill a grown wizard? That was ridiculous!
But the next second, Mr. Weasley spotted a tiny cut on the man's neck, perfectly matching the Bowtruckle's long, sharp fingers.
At this point, everyone fell silent.
A Bowtruckle killing a grown wizard... This was perhaps the most unbelievable thing they had heard in years.
Yet, given the current situation, they had no choice but to believe it, as there were no other marks on the body except for that small cut.
Everyone's head spun with this new information. Could Bowtruckles be venomous? Could they instantly kill a grown wizard?
They had never heard of such a thing! Had there been a new edition of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' released without their knowledge?
Of course, Bowtruckles weren't venomous, and Newt had been diligent in his research. However, Kyle's collection of dangerous magical creatures was indeed impressive.
A moment ago, the little Bowtruckle had simply pricked the man with a snake fang that Kyle had meticulously sharpened to a needle-like point.
This was one of Kyle's methods to deal with elite Death Eaters, and it proved to be remarkably effective.
But he wouldn't reveal that, of course.
Since not many people knew about his Runespoor, they wouldn't suspect that he could obtain such a fang, let alone sharpen it to such a degree. As long as he kept quiet, no one would know what truly happened.
Some didn't even dare to lift their heads, afraid that they too would be pricked.
Being killed by a Bowtruckle was simply too bizarre, and even a little laughable.
Perhaps afraid that Kyle would do something else unexpected, Mr. Weasley stopped pressing the issue of the Bowtruckle and turned to ask, "Now, are any of you willing to talk?"
At this, the crowd became much more enthusiastic. Under Kyle's watchful gaze, everyone actively cooperated with Mr. Weasley, volunteering whatever information they had.
Sometimes the information overlapped, and they would even argue over who mentioned it first, but overall, the atmosphere was lively.
However, this behavior put Fred and George, who had just arrived, in a difficult position.
They had been thinking that if the Death Eaters refused to cooperate, they could use the interrogation as an excuse to teach them a lesson.
But now, seeing the incredible level of cooperation, which was even a bit excessive, they found themselves struggling to find a reason to do anything.
Two hours later, the group left Diagon Alley and returned to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.
By then, the sky outside had begun to brighten.
As soon as they pushed open the door, Mrs. Weasley rushed over.
"Arthur, thank goodness!" she exclaimed. "Where on earth did you take the children? Why didn't you tell us? You have no idea how worried we were when we realized you were gone!"
"I'm sorry, Molly, I really am," Mr. Weasley said hastily, explaining what they had discovered at St. Mungo's.
"You recognized the person from Flourish and Blotts?" Mrs. Weasley asked with a frown.
"Yes, so we decided to go to Diagon Alley to check it out," Mr. Weasley said. "And we arrived just in time to deal with a few dozen Death Eaters."
"Even so, you should have told us," Mrs. Weasley said, still a little displeased. "We could have gone together."
"I saw that you were all quite tired, so I didn't mention it. And as members of the Order of the Phoenix, doesn't it amount to the same thing who goes?"
"But you shouldn't have taken the children with you."
"Fred and George graduated a long time ago."
"Don't play dumb, Arthur. I'm talking about Kyle."
Kyle?
Mr. Weasley's eyes twitched involuntarily as he subconsciously thought back to what had happened in Diagon Alley.
It had to be said that the most bewildering thing about Kyle was his age... His youthful appearance upon graduation would undoubtedly cause many people to underestimate him.
And that underestimation could often be fatal.
Previously, Mr. Weasley would have found it hard to imagine that Kyle could kill a Death Eater so casually, and with so many people present, not a single person knew what he had done.
He still remembered the look of relief on the Death Eaters' faces when they had decided to leave Diagon Alley.
However, for certain reasons, he didn't mention this to Mrs. Weasley, and he had also instructed Fred and George not to say anything before they entered the house.
"You must be hungry," Mrs. Weasley said to Kyle, giving him a quick hug.
Hearing this, Kyle realized that he was indeed quite hungry.
They hadn't eaten much at dinner, and with all the events that had transpired, they had been busy until the early hours of the morning. It was only natural that he would feel hungry.
"Let's have a late-night snack before bed," Mrs. Weasley said, leading everyone to the kitchen.
Half an hour later, a table full of steaming hot snacks was ready.
Worried about Percy, Mrs. Weasley was obviously not in the mood, so most of the snacks were prepared by the house-elf, Kreacher, who did so reluctantly, insisting that they were for Kyle alone.
But no one minded.
During the meal, Mr. Weasley also briefly recounted what had happened in Diagon Alley, deliberately skirting around the parts involving Kyle. He only mentioned what he could, and fortunately, it didn't seem to affect the overall story.
"You mean to say that the mysterious man is injured?" Mrs. Weasley asked in surprise. "Is the information reliable? After all, he's the mysterious man. Could it be a false message intended to lure us into a trap?"
"I don't know, but based on their description, it seems to be the case," Mr. Weasley said. "Can we contact Dumbledore now?"
"No," Mrs. Weasley shook her head, a worried look on her face. "We've already tried, but Dumbledore's Fidelius Charm hasn't responded..."
"Or we could contact Sirius," Kyle suggested. "Professor Dumbledore is probably still discussing matters with Amelia Bones. If Sirius and Tonks are still at the Ministry, we should be able to find him."
"That makes sense," Mrs. Weasley nodded. "I'll go do that now."
...
(End of Chapter)
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