Ordinary people clearly wouldn't dare to treat Link the same way they treated other Aurors, stuffing a bunch of things into his arms.
After all, whether it was Link's status in the Auror team, where he was practically the center of attention, or the Flamel family brooch on his chest reflecting light, both showed that his identity was far from ordinary.
But George and Fred were obviously not ordinary people.
Under Percy's gaze, so awkward he looked like he wished he could dig a hole on the spot and bury himself in it, George and Fred each gave Link a big hug first, then grinned as they started pulling things out from inside their coats.
"Link, you've got to try this! This is our new product! Edible Dark Mark! We have no idea what this candy does, not even us! If someone has a grudge against you, just give it to them!"
"And this one, Constipation Candy! You can tell from the name, right? This thing makes people constipated! We even came up with a slogan for it, why worry about the Dark Lord when you should be worrying about Constipation Candy!"
"Of course! And this, a fake wand! It looks exactly like a real wand, but if you actually try to cast a spell with it, then the result… tsk tsk!"
———
Watching George and Fred dressed in suits and leather shoes, yet constantly pulling things out of their clothes, Link suddenly felt a strong sense of deja vu, like seeing a salesman from his past life walking the streets with a suitcase.
The feeling was so strong that Link spaced out for a moment.
And in that brief moment, by the time he came back to himself, his arms were already piled full of all kinds of strange magical prank items.
George even pulled out a miniature magical camera and snapped several photos of him in rapid succession.
That immediately startled Percy.
With George and Fred's personalities, who knew what they would use Link's photos for.
He hurried forward and snatched the camera away, while Link, seeing this, just smiled faintly and said, "Looks like your business is doing quite well."
"Of course!" Fred said proudly. "Our business is booming right now! Look over there, that's our shop!"
As he spoke, Fred excitedly pointed to the side.
Following the direction he pointed, Link saw a two-story shop, its exterior display windows connected together, and outside stood a giant figure that looked about seventy to eighty percent like George and Fred.
The figure had a strange grin on its face, constantly taking its hat off and putting it back on.
The most important point was that this shop was located right at the southwest corner of Gringotts.
And as everyone knew, there were two places in Diagon Alley where business was especially booming.
One was near the Leaky Cauldron, the public entrance.
Generally speaking, many men who disliked trouble preferred to quickly finish their "battle (shopping)," so the shops there all did very well.
The other place was around Gringotts.
Compared to near the Leaky Cauldron, the shops around Gringotts had even better business.
After all, most people coming out of Gringotts had their pockets full of gold coins.
And once people had money, they naturally felt the urge to spend.
But while business was good in both these areas, the rent was also extremely high.
Could George and Fred, just two recent graduates, really rent such a large two-story shop directly in the CBD of the British wizarding world?
Link was deeply doubtful about that.
Then, he smiled and shifted his gaze to Percy.
He had already heard earlier that Percy had returned to the family.
And now he had a good relationship with his family again, especially with George and Fred.
Meeting Link's gaze, Percy immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
He could clearly sense the meaning behind that look.
"I… I swear!" Percy raised his hand and stammered, "This has nothing to do with me! When I first found out, I was shocked too. They're much richer than we imagined."
Hearing Percy say that, Link suddenly remembered.
George and Fred had been running a smuggling business at Hogwarts for years.
Later, they had even cooperated with Link several times. It was only natural that they had money.
The reason Link had felt something was off at first was because his impression of George and Fred was still stuck in their earlier poor state.
But if you said Percy hadn't helped at all in this matter, Link didn't believe that.
Shops in the CBD of the British wizarding world weren't something just anyone could rent.
Still, Link didn't want to pursue it further.
He said calmly, "How did the task I gave you go?"
"Very smoothly!" Percy's expression also turned serious. "We've already pinpointed their location!"
Link nodded, then turned to look at Sander beside him.
Having been left standing off to the side for quite a while, Sander's face had already turned the color of liver.
"Bring your people and follow me."
As soon as Link finished speaking, Sander suddenly raised his head, clenched his teeth, and shouted loudly, "Yes!"
———
[Devon, The Town Of Torquay]
As night fell, a tall figure wearing a hood quietly appeared on the coast.
He looked toward the fishing village in the distance, where scattered lights flickered under the night sky.
Then he hunched his body and, under the cover of darkness, moved quickly along the coastline. Before long, he slipped into a cave.
The cave was large, filled with all kinds of man-made traces. On the deepest wall, there were even many carvings that were hard to make out, looking extremely ancient.
But in other parts of the cave, there were many wooden supports and quite a few modern tools.
At a glance, it was clear this was a bunker converted from a primitive cave.
Normally, such bunkers should have been sealed after World War II, or turned into habitats for wild animals.
But at this moment, several figures in robes sat around a fire inside, silent.
A sudden gust of wind blew in, causing the flames to flicker wildly.
Only then did the people around the fire turn their heads, all looking at the tall hooded man who had brought the wind into the cave.
"The plan failed," the hooded man pulled back his hood, revealing messy brown hair and a somewhat weathered face.
"The group that attacked the Hogwarts Express failed to hold back Link Flamel. He made it to Diagon Alley in time and wiped out the remaining Death Eaters."
Hearing this, an old man by the fire suddenly stood up and said anxiously, "The bomb! Did the bomb Lord Norton gave us detonate?"
The hooded man quickly shook his head.
Seeing that, the old man slumped back down, gritting his teeth and saying, "Useless trash!"
The hooded man and the others around the fire all lowered their heads with ugly expressions.
They didn't know whether the old man had been cursing the Death Eaters or them.
After a while, the old man struggled to stand again and shouted, "Get up, all of you! We're going back to France, hurry!"
The hooded man said somewhat unwillingly, "It's not that serious, is it? We haven't failed yet…"
Slap!
The hooded man's words were cut off by a fierce slap. The old man glared at him with bloodshot eyes and said, "Why do you think we're retreating? Why did you come back? You shouldn't have come back!"
The hooded man covered his face, and the back he had just managed to straighten bent down again.
He trembled as he knelt before the old man, but beneath his messy brown hair, his eyes flashed with hatred and malice.
The old man ignored him and turned to the others, who were already putting out the fire and packing up.
"Don't use Portkeys or Apparition. The British Ministry's Magical Transportation Department will detect us and trace it back to France. Get your brooms ready, we'll fly straight back to France. It's not that far anyway!"
A wizard who had been holding up a mug as if ready for action responded, quickly tossing the mug aside and starting to search for a broom again.
The old man, meanwhile, staggered out of the cave and looked toward the distant forest.
Under the night wind, the leaves and branches surged and rolled, like a massive black wave, as if about to swallow them whole.
It made the old man feel suffocated.
He clutched his chest in pain and turned to roar at the people in the cave to hurry up.
What he didn't know was that beneath that sea of trees, a large area of space was violently twisting.
Finally, with a series of faint cracking sounds, more than sixty Aurors leapt out of the distorted space under the lead of Link and Sander.
The moment they landed, the Aurors quickly split into squads of five and spread out into the forest.
Meanwhile, Link and Sander stood quietly in place.
Before long, Krell, dressed in black leather armor, appeared out of nowhere and said softly to Link, "Young master, they're in the cave ahead, getting ready to run."
As he spoke, he cast a disdainful glance at Sander.
He had already learned about what happened in Diagon Alley.
In his view, even with a plan already laid out in advance, ending up with such a result was simply unbelievable.
"Go, Sander," Link said calmly. "Don't disappoint me this time."
Hearing that, Sander clenched his teeth. He didn't dare look at Link's face, only nodded quickly before turning into a blur and rushing toward the cave with the Aurors.
Link let out a breath and stared sharply at the cave.
This was the last chance he was giving Sander, and he had no intention of stepping in himself.
Because Krell and the hunter squad had already investigated thoroughly.
The ones hiding in the cave were just a few ordinary wizards.
If Sander couldn't even handle something like this, then he might as well stop being an Auror.
He should just go to the Hit Wizard unit and spend his days doing grunt work until retirement.
Under Link's watch, the Aurors quickly poured into the cave.
Not long after, with a flash of crimson light from the cave entrance, seven black-robed figures were dragged out by Sander and the others.
The whole process was quiet and fast, taking less than five seconds.
Seeing this, Link nodded.
This was the Auror force he knew.
But just as that thought crossed his mind, something unexpected happened.
One of the seven, a young girl, suddenly let out a wail.
Strangely, her face carried a relieved smile.
That kind of smile was the same as the one on the spherical alchemical bombs the Death Eaters had taken out earlier.
Then, a terrifying surge of magical energy erupted from her body.
The magic tore apart her flesh, blowing her entire upper body into pieces.
After that, the energy compressed on its own, collapsing into a pitch-black sphere, still bearing that relieved smile.
"Defend!"
Sander's face changed drastically as he roared.
As soon as he spoke, the surface of the black sphere cracked open.
Blinding, scorching white light burst out from the cracks, and with a loud explosion, a terrifying wave of magical energy swept through the entire area, turning everything, including the cave, into dust.
"Pfft!", Krell couldn't help but laugh.
When is prey the most dangerous?
The answer is... when it's injured and on the verge of death.
So the more badly injured the prey, the more cautious a skilled hunter must be.
They have to guard against that final strike meant to take both sides down together.
Every hunter understands this.
But Sander was different.
In the end, it all came down to lack of ability.
The thick smoke from the explosion gradually dissipated, revealing a semicircular blue magical shield in front of Link and Krell.
The shield firmly protected Sander and the remaining six prisoners. Although its surface was now full of cracks, it couldn't be denied that Sander and the prisoners hadn't suffered too much damage.
As for the other Aurors, their situation was much worse.
Working in squads, how could they possibly withstand a bomb enhanced with that kind of special energy?
With just that one blast, nearly half of the Aurors Sander brought were lost.
Seeing the miserable state of his comrades, Sander's eyes almost split from rage.
But he still forced himself to endure it, escorting the remaining prisoners to Link.
Then he knelt on one knee first, lowered his head, and said, "Lord Flamel, I have disappointed you!"
He didn't even dare to lift his head.
His performance had been far too poor.
This was utterly humiliating.
Link didn't waste words with him and said directly, "Go to the Hit Wizard unit and take the position of chief commander. At the same time, clean up the Auror force and take those who are unsuitable with you."
Link paused, then added meaningfully, "Your treatment will remain the same for now. If your training is sufficient in the future, you can still return to the Auror force. But you should know who to take with you, right?"
Hearing this, Sander nodded quickly, lowering his head even further.
He had always known that his role was only to help Link fully take control of the Auror force as a transition.
He had already been prepared to sacrifice himself for this.
After all, once a commander died, replacing them with a new trusted person was the simplest method.
But he hadn't expected Link to use another method.
A gentler one.
And even leave them a path to return to the Auror force.
That was already enough.
He looked at Link with gratitude, but Link waved his hand.
Understanding, Sander quickly left the scene with the Aurors.
They still needed to take their injured companions to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for treatment.
As soon as the Aurors left, more than ten hunters in camouflage combat uniforms with tactical paint on their faces stepped out from the shadows.
When it came to dealing with prisoners, they weren't as polite as the Aurors.
Facing the six remaining prisoners already bound by the Aurors, they grinned and walked forward. Without waiting for Link's instructions, they grabbed a terrified young man and forced a large bottle of Veritaserum down his throat.
The sight made the remaining prisoners' eyes nearly pop out.
Such a large dose of Veritaserum could turn someone into an idiot.
Among all the prisoners, only the old man kept sneering.
Seeing Link look over, he mocked,
"Just give up, you demon! All of us have restrictions placed in our minds. You won't get any information out of us!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Veritaserum took effect, and the young man's expression gradually became dull.
But when Krell tried to question him, what came out of the young man's mouth was incomprehensible nonsense.
"Looks like he's right," Krell said helplessly. "There really is a restriction in their minds, the same kind as that female spy before."
"Oh, so Scarlett was captured by you. I thought she had defected. But so what? You still can't do anything!"
The old man said viciously, "Just wait, all of you! This is only the beginning. The real show is yet to come! Link Flamel, and Dumbledore, you'll regret what you've done! One day…"
The old man's voice suddenly stopped.
Because beside him, the hooded man with messy brown hair suddenly slammed his head into the old man's face.
The old man cried out and fell to the ground, while the hooded man continued relentlessly, kneeling and repeatedly smashing his head against the old man.
Link's eyebrow twitched slightly, and a hunter immediately grabbed the hooded man by the neck and lifted him up.
At the same time, they removed the gag stuffed in his mouth.
"There's no restriction in my mind, I can talk, I can tell you everything! I dodged it when they put the restriction on! I'll tell you everything! Don't kill me, don't kill me! Really, go kill them, don't kill me!"
The hooded man spoke incoherently, his eyes bloodshot, his expression crazed.
Hearing this, the old man who had fallen to the ground suddenly lunged forward and bit down on the hooded man's ear.
"Ah!"
Amid a piercing scream, one of the hooded man's ears was instantly bitten off.
"Separate them.", Link spoke without expression.
Only then did the surrounding hunters snap out of watching and step forward to pull the old man and the other furious prisoners apart.
"Ptui!"
During the struggle, the old man spat out the ear and roared with a mouth full of blood, "Karen! You traitor!"
"You can't say anything, do you hear me? Coward! You can't say anything! Think about your wife! Think about your... hmph…"
As one of the hunters punched the old man hard in the face, his voice was cut off.
In its place came pained whimpers.
The hooded man named Karen looked at the old man, now lying on the ground with his teeth knocked out and trembling. There was fear on his face, but also a strange sense of satisfaction.
But soon, a shadow fell over him.
It was as if that shadow covered his very mind, dragging his soul into hell.
A chilling cold spread through him.
He stiffly turned his neck, looked up, and saw Link standing above him, looking down, with a terrifying smile on his lips that was hard to describe.
[🎉 Shoutout to Salty, Steffen, what_iz, julien and archer for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]