Chapter 68

St. Mungo's Hospital.

Rufus Scrimgeour and Kingsley Shacklebolt rushed over, only to be stopped outside the ward by a healer.

"How is he?" Kingsley asked with a trembling voice.

"The situation is very bad," the healer shook his head, "Both of his legs were almost blown to pieces, and there are many wounds on his body. Although he used Apparition to get here as fast as he could, perhaps due to the blurred consciousness caused by the pain, he also experienced splinching during Apparition. When we found him, there was almost no intact flesh on his body."

"Can he survive?"

"We will do our best."

The doctor left, and Kingsley stood outside the treatment room like a statue.

The usual gentleness and elegance were replaced by a deep anger; he stood there like a volcano about to erupt.

After a while, he suddenly turned to leave, but was grabbed by Scrimgeour, "Where are you going?"

"To catch someone!"

"You know we have no evidence."

"I will find the evidence!"

"Shacklebolt, calm down, you'll give the enemy an opportunity if you do this..."

"Rufus..."

Kingsley's trembling voice startled Scrimgeour. He looked at his companion and found that the usually steady, burly black man actually had tears in his eyes.

"Shacklebolt, you..."

"Bask just had a daughter two months ago. Now that he's become like this, how am I supposed to explain it to his wife and daughter?"

Scrimgeour was silent, and his hand gripping Kingsley's arm couldn't help but loosen a bit.

"Don't worry, I won't be that reckless. I received a tip-off that Alex Wood is Murphy Darkholm's assistant. Lucius once caught this person, and he confirmed this matter."

"I will catch Alex and get enough evidence from his mouth."

Scrimgeour looked at Kingsley for a long time, and could only say: "Be careful with everything. Remember, the enemy is very cunning."

Kingsley nodded heavily, "I will make him pay the price!"

"Alex Wood, the person who initially bought potion materials for Murphy in Diagon Alley, was him." The bald Paped hid behind a bush and said to Kingsley and three other Aurors.

"When I caught him before, he was still processing materials for Murphy. We can definitely dig out a lot of secrets from his mouth."

Paped said, rubbing his nose, which hadn't been set straight since Murphy kicked it last time.

"Malfoy told you to come, right?" an Auror said with a hint of sarcasm.

"How could that be? Helping Aurors fight crime is the duty of every wizard."

"Hmph."

Although these Aurors were all eager to arrest Murphy, who wantonly trampled on the law, they didn't have the slightest good impression of Malfoy, who also walked on the edge of the law and had done many wicked things.

It was just dogs biting dogs.

However, they were happy to see them expose each other's dirty laundry due to infighting.

"You've seen Alex, can you recognize him?" Kingsley stared at Paped, asking with burning eyes.

The Auror Captain in front of him exuded a terrifying aura, making Paped feel as uncomfortable as a mouse seeing a cat.

"Yes, of course I can. That face is easy to recognize."

"Good, you will assault with me later. After catching the person, everyone must immediately return to the Ministry of Magic via Portkey! Do not linger, do you understand?!"

"Understood!" the Aurors replied in unison.

Just then, after a burst of spatial distortion, another Auror appeared beside Kingsley, "Boss, he's here!"

Everyone lowered their bodies and cast the Disillusionment Charm on themselves one after another.

More than twenty meters away from them was an owlery. According to the Aurors' investigation, Alex Wood would come here every once in a while to use a public rental owl to mail a cloth bag full of gold coins back home.

Sixty Galleons each time, no more, no less.

At this moment, a cloaked figure emerged from the bushes opposite, looking around, and sneaked toward the owlery.

"This guy is really a filial son," an Auror muttered in a low voice.

"Breaking the law and committing crimes is the greatest unfilial act!" another Auror sneered.

Kingsley stared at the figure and asked Paped: "Is it him?"

"He's wearing a hat, I can't see clearly."

"Boss?" The Aurors were waiting for Kingsley's order.

But the latter was still waiting, watching the person put a few silver coins into the small box outside the owlery, open a cage, and somewhat fearfully hug an owl out, without giving the order immediately.

"Boss, he has a Portkey, he might disappear at any time after mailing the letter!" an Auror reminded.

Kingsley watched the man take a cloth bag from his waist and struggle to tie it to the owl's leg, and suddenly a faint sense of unease welled up in his heart.

"Boss!"

However, there was no time to carefully think about the source of that trace of unease now, "Move!"

Suddenly, five Aurors appeared outside the owlery via Apparition, surrounding the cloaked person, and cast spells while appearing, "Stupefy!"

"Bang!" The man didn't even have time to let out a cry of surprise before being hit by five spells in succession, unconscious to the point of being unable to be more unconscious.

Kingsley stepped forward, pulled off the man's hood, and seeing that face, he felt relieved.

But he still cautiously pulled Paped over, "Look clearly, is it him?"

"It's him! He is Alex Wood!"

"Good, take him, let's go!"

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Diagon Alley, Daily Prophet headquarters.

Rita Skeeter met her guest.

"You really are a busy man, Mr. Murphy. It's really not easy to see you."

Ever since Murphy sent Lucius to Azkaban, Rita Skeeter had been wanting to interview Murphy, but it wasn't until today that Murphy suddenly agreed to her interview request.

"You're a busy person too, Reporter Skeeter," Murphy said, throwing a stack of Daily Prophets on the table, "In just a few months, you've scolded me dozens of times."

On the page of the newspaper stack that Murphy had deliberately opened, there were reports about Murphy, and most of them were sensational but not very kind articles, such as: "Black Wizard or Messenger of Justice? The Secrets of Murphy Darkholm", "A Wealthy Man from the Sky? Murphy's Suspicious Inheritance", etc.

"I'm just reporting the facts," Skeeter said without blushing, "Are you planning to reveal some of your secrets by accepting my interview today?"

As she spoke, she took out a notebook, which automatically floated in the air, and a quill immediately began to write furiously on it.

"I don't have any secrets," Murphy said, "But I happen to know one of yours."

"Murphy's gloomy face was full of vigilance. He claimed he had no secrets, but from those evasive eyes, it was not difficult to see that he had many unspeakable stories..."

"You really know how to joke," Skeeter finally looked at Murphy again after writing three or four hundred words of a small essay, "Let's start with your past. Your parents were a pair of black wizards, and you are an orphan. What impact did these have on your personality?"

"..."

"The miserable orphan life made Murphy unwilling to open his heart, and he was tight-lipped about his past..." Rita muttered, and as she spoke, the quill wrote faster on the notebook.

"Heh."

Murphy suddenly chuckled and pulled out his wand.

"Bang!" The quill and notebook suddenly ignited without fire, and in a moment, they shook into a pile of ashes.

(End of chapter)