Poland.
Inge Griffiths was giving a speech onstage. The cheers and fanaticism of the crowd made them seem like a group of brainwashed zealots.
They shouted about freedom and punishment. Every one of them seemed to have been injected with blood called the future, setting them ablaze.
The Acolytes' attack had only strengthened their belief in their own justice.
Lippi blended into the crowd, shocked by the fanaticism of Inge Griffiths's supporters.
She had been present when the attack happened.
At the time, she had keenly sensed that something was wrong with the attacker.
Arriving at the small building where the attacker had been, Lippi looked at the shocking bloodstains.
"He turned people into beasts."
Lippi sucked in a cold breath.
In the magical world, everyone carried a wand capable of casting magic.
But this group of people had used the most primitive and brutal method imaginable to beat a living person to death.
What frightened her most was that no one in the crowd thought there was anything wrong with it.
On the contrary, they were delighted, believing they had upheld justice.
They cheered. They celebrated.
At that moment, justice had overridden everything else.
"If I were launching an attack, I wouldn't choose this place."
Lippi stood where the pool of blood had once been.
As an assassin, she knew this location was wrong.
There was no escape route, not enough cover, and the attacker would have been exposed to everyone's eyes almost immediately.
"If Grindelwald's follower had come prepared to die, then he should have gotten closer."
Lippi murmured to herself. She had accepted Barty Crouch Sr.'s orders and remained in Poland.
Thanks to that, she was able to investigate among these fanatical people.
Poland was currently like an iron barrel, sealing off the entire magical society.
Lippi, trapped inside that iron barrel, might be the only key to solving the case.
A terrifying thought appeared in her mind.
"He was seeking death."
Staring at the spot where the blood had coagulated, Lippi grasped the tail end of the truth.
She recalled the attacker's laughter at the moment of his death.
That had not been fear.
It had been a form of sacrifice.
This attack had forged Inge's supporters in Poland into an iron wall and united the entire magical society against the outside world as never before.
Meanwhile, the international magical community's attention toward Poland, along with its growing understanding of the situation there, would infinitely magnify the prestige of the Polish Minister for Magic.
Thinking of this terrifying possibility, every hair on Lippi's body stood on end.
What kind of person could make someone willingly die in such a painful way?
To be beaten to death by an enraged crowd while still alive.
This was a sacrifice, one that would raise the Polish Minister for Magic onto an altar.
"Inge Griffiths. The first half of his life was mediocre, yet after Grindelwald appeared, he shocked the entire world."
Lippi had already caught a trace of the truth. By following this trail, she might gradually uncover what had really happened.
"Grindelwald. Griffiths. I need to investigate this thoroughly."
She pulled up her hood and looked at the procession taking part in the parade before slipping into the crowd.
She had to be extremely careful. Here, she was alone and without support.
She could leave now, but she knew that the little information she had uncovered could not be considered evidence at all.
The only option was to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic.
There was still a corpse there.
The dead could not speak, but a corpse could reveal everything it had experienced.
...
Under the starry night sky.
The Polish Ministry of Magic.
Lippi casually stole a coat and, after changing her appearance, slipped into the Ministry of Magic.
The last time she had come here with Barty Crouch Sr., she had already more or less figured out the structure of the place.
"The body will be kept on the lowest level."
She stepped into the lift and pressed the button, silently calculating in her mind.
The famous corpse of Grindelwald certainly would not have been handled casually.
That body was a symbol of Inge's heroism.
The lift rumbled downward as Lippi continued thinking.
"That scar doesn't look like it formed naturally."
For wizards, ordinary scars could be removed with magic or healed with potions.
There was only one exception.
Dark magic.
For someone at Grindelwald's level, it was almost impossible for him to injure himself with dark magic.
And with Grindelwald's strength, there should have been almost no one capable of leaving a scar on him.
Then, as Barty Crouch Sr. had suspected, that corpse might not actually be Grindelwald.
But why did the body look exactly like him?
In the magical world, even Animagi could be forcibly returned to their original forms.
Lippi had at least earned an Outstanding in Transfiguration. She did not believe a dead man could deceive her.
Then it had to be some other method.
Not Polyjuice Potion.
Not Transfiguration.
The lift stopped.
Lippi glanced ahead and hurriedly lowered her head.
The lift's grille opened, and a familiar face entered her view.
It was the Auror who had driven Lippi away from the hall last time.
The tall Auror stepped inside with three other Aurors.
Lippi lowered her presence and shrank into the corner, grateful that she had casually put on a hat as well.
"You're going to the Black Zone?"
A voice sounded beside her.
It belonged to the tall Auror.
Realising she was being questioned, Lippi lowered her voice and altered it before replying, "Director Grimm asked me to go down and look for some files."
The Black Zone was near the archive room.
Hearing this, the tall Auror raised an eyebrow.
"Looks like these recent 'Observers' have kept Director Grimm busy as well."
Observers?
Lippi silently memorised the codename.
The lift arrived at the Auror Office, and the Aurors stepped out.
Before leaving, the tall Auror paused and said, "The Inspection Division isn't that frightening. No need to keep your head tucked down like that."
The Inspection Division was an Auror team directly under the Minister for Magic.
Over the past few days, Lippi had seen members of the Inspection Division break into the homes of so-called "corrupt officials" many times, dragging them back to the Ministry of Magic, after which they were never seen again.
It was clearly an armed organisation used to consolidate political power, yet it was beloved by the Polish people.
What they loved most was seeing the Inspection Division break into the homes of those filthy rich people, drag corrupt officials out like dead pigs, and throw them into prison.
The lift doors closed.
Lippi, who had kept her head lowered the entire time, wiped the cold sweat from her brow.
She had thought she had been exposed.
If she were caught inside the Ministry of Magic, there was no telling how she would be dealt with.
She would probably be executed as a criminal who had attempted to assassinate the Minister for Magic.
As for the British Ministry of Magic?
Who would care?
A British Ministry official secretly infiltrating another country's Ministry of Magic would only make matters worse.
The numbers indicating the lift's floors continued to change.
When the number reached ten, she arrived at the Black Zone.
This place usually housed the Ministry's most confidential items.
To the left was the archive room, while to the right was a restricted area leading deeper into the Black Zone.
The restricted area was shrouded in darkness. Only those holding a Hand of Glory could see what lay inside.
Lippi stepped out and stood still, listening carefully for any voices.
After confirming that no one was around, she took a Hand of Glory from the inner pocket of her coat.
"I really am lucky. The random person I ran into actually turned out to be an employee of the Black Zone."
Lippi lit the Hand of Glory with her wand. Its faint glow was the only source of security she could rely on.
Walking into the Black Zone, Lippi saw many relics left behind from the last war.
She saw a missile.
It had been placed on a shelf, and if it detonated, it could swallow the entire Ministry of Magic.
Of course, Lippi did not know that.
She even reached out and touched it, wondering why such a Muggle object had been stored here.
The rust covering it showed just how much time had passed.
She continued deeper inside.
After walking for some distance, she finally saw Grindelwald.
The corpse had been placed inside a crystal coffin.
Through the transparent crystal, Lippi carefully examined the man's appearance.
"Impossible. No Polyjuice Potion could last this long."
She looked at the coffin lid.
At this point, she could only open it and inspect the body carefully.
She pushed hard, but the coffin lid moved only slightly.
Her face flushed from the effort, but she finally managed to force it open.
A heavy thud echoed as the coffin lid was pushed aside.
She immediately began examining the body.
Lippi brought the Hand of Glory close to Grindelwald's corpse and inspected it carefully.
"What is this?"
Her hand moved beneath Grindelwald's knee joint.
She took out a knife and cut open the trouser leg.
Her eyes widened.
A scar appeared on his leg.
Thinking of something, Lippi quickly cut open the other trouser leg.
The same scar appeared there as well.
She reached out and pressed against it.
The scar had clearly been there for quite some time.
She touched the corpse's shoulder and felt something hard beneath the skin.
Using the same method, she cut open the clothing.
Something fell from the shoulder, and the originally tall Grindelwald instantly looked strangely disproportionate.
"This isn't Grindelwald."
Lippi immediately reached a conclusion.
This was someone who had been disguised as Grindelwald.
Not through magic, but through a much simpler method.
"They broke his bones and made them grow back differently."
Lippi instantly realised something.
They had all been thinking about magic, but they had forgotten that Muggles existed as well.
And Muggles possessed techniques capable of doing things like this.
Lippi immediately got to work, running her hands over Grindelwald's face several times.
"There are foreign objects in the nose. The jaw as well."
The more she examined him, the more alarmed she became.
What was this?
Something had been implanted into the man's face, reshaping him into another person.
No wonder Revealing Charms had failed.
It was not magic at all.
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