After breakfast, Vid set off immediately.
As the Peregrine Falcon soared across the sky, he looked down and saw Ferdinand and Fiona at the window, bidding him farewell. The couple leaned against each other, and Fiona waved enthusiastically.
Every time she saw Vid transform into a Peregrine Falcon, she became extremely excited.
In the house next door, Moody was also standing on his balcony.
When Vid looked over, Moody was drinking with his head lowered, yet that blue Magic Eye seemed to still be tracking him. Vid could sense the feeling of being watched.
...
Diagon Alley was still very quiet in the early morning, with only a few shops starting to open. However, inside Aslan Magic Workshop, there were already more than a dozen customers.
"Give me a hundred Flow Mirrors! A hundred, I need them now!"
"I want a hundred and fifty! I'm buying more, sell to me first!"
"I represent the Brazilian Ministry of Magic, sir, please follow etiquette!"
"So what? I represent the Russian Ministry of Magic!"
The two began to argue in front of the counter, while the workshop staff skillfully separated them.
"Please don't worry, gentlemen, we have ample stock. Both of your requests can be met…"
Business was booming early in the morning. After moving dozens of boxes, Will couldn't help but yawn, almost dropping the Flow Mirror he was about to place on the counter.
"Take a break!"
A colleague patted his shoulder kindly and said:
"The real busy time hasn't started yet! Why not take a nap while you can? Didn't you rest well last night?"
"Yeah." Will rubbed his eyes: "Thanks, mate. I'll switch with you later."
Although he knew some basic magic, he hadn't mastered the advanced skills like Apparition and didn't have enough funds to buy a car.
So last night, Will ran for a long time on his legs to hail a taxi and return to the temporary place he rented. Early in the morning, he came back to work here.
He was exhausted and sleepy, his feet feeling light as he walked, and he went into the lounge next to the warehouse, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep instantly.
This time, he slept for a long while.
When Will finally woke up, he felt as if he had been in a different world, wondering why his colleagues hadn't awakened him.
He then realized he wasn't lying on the small bed in the workshop's lounge but sitting in a chair with his hands and feet chained.
A layer of black cloth covered his eyes, making it impossible to see where he was, although he could faintly smell the scent of flowers and grass.
Will summoned all his strength and struggled twice, the chains rattling, but he couldn't break free.
Soft footsteps approached, and someone came beside him.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Will questioned twice but received no answer.
Soon after, he felt his body stiffen like it was being petrified, and cold water dripped into his mouth.
——What is this? What did they give me?
Knowing full well the horrors of Magic Potions, Will was terrified and tried hard not to swallow, but it was in vain.
Before long, his consciousness began to blur, and he gradually couldn't even remember who he was.
...
Vid put away the Crystal Bottle and looked at the man, who relaxed his whole body under the effect of Veritaserum, his head hanging limply like a lamb to be slaughtered.
"Tell me your name." Vid said.
A moment later, the man replied, "Will Flint."
Vid nodded slightly, confirming the effect of the Veritaserum.
——The name Will used at the Magic Workshop was Will Flon, but Vid could see his true surname was Flint.
It was said that one of the twenty-eight families that maintained Pure-Blood status, just like the Black Family, erased all members who "tainted the family bloodline."
In this regard, the Weasley Family wasn't much different—they also had Muggle relatives but never talked about them, let alone maintained contact.
Vid withdrew his thoughts and asked in a gentle voice:
"Will Flint, last night, you and your friends attempted to abduct a group of Alchemists—who instructed you to do this? Where would the abducted be sent?"
Will's eyelids trembled a few times before he said, "The kidnapping… was a task given to us by Darr, I don't know where they would be sent, I… I don't have the authority to know."
Vid knew that Kurt Darr was the man with the thick eyebrows from last night.
He seemed to have weak control over his men, which made Vid almost pity him.
"What about Jenny Padilla who's supposed to be watching you? Why isn't she here?" Vid asked.
"After the ship set sail, we separated." Will replied honestly: "She has work, and she's supposed to work today."
"Where does she work?"
"In London… at a Muggle company… specifically where, I don't know…"
"You don't know this, don't know that, your life is really muddled."
Vid sighed: "Without knowing any secrets, why do you dare mix with them? Hmm? Tell me about how you joined these people."
"Claire fell sick, I couldn't find a job, had no money, so I went stealing… He saved me when I was beaten half to death."
Will narrated: "He said we are people not accepted by the world… Werewolves, Vampires, criminals, frauds, lunatics…"
"We all have the right to live, but this world doesn't allow us to survive… But we can't give up on ourselves…"
"We must build our own community, protect each other's safety like brothers and sisters; we must have our own land, live freely in our original forms; and we must let our children attend school without being discriminated against by anyone…"
"I believe him, so I joined… Whatever he asked us to do, we did…"
Vid remained silent for a while, then asked a few more questions, discovering that Will didn't know much.
He was just an insignificant pawn, with very little understanding of important information, muddling along with others, hoping to build the imagined Utopia.
Will's involvement in this operation was because he had applied for a job at Aslan Magic Workshop, thus raising his "importance."
He only did hard labor, but felt quite content. Even under the effect of Veritaserum, he occasionally mixed in the brainwashing phrases fed to him by others.
It sounded like they were idealistic warriors, but Vid couldn't shake off a single sentence.
"You said earlier—you truly think of Remus Lupin as a hypocritical and disgusting benefactor, do you really mean it?"
"Of course."
Will said with resentment:
"Why can he go to school? Why wasn't he abandoned by his parents? Why can he dress decently and drink coffee while I have to move goods in a stinky warehouse?"
"He's a Werewolf traitor! Someday… someday… I will tear his throat apart and watch him painfully struggle to death…"