In the blink of an eye, the courtyard, which was bustling with people just moments ago, was now left with only the officials of the Magic Congress and the Aurors, their bodies covered in golden powder, with shadows cast over their faces.
Almost everyone had a pocket that was burning and becoming increasingly hot.
There was no need to take out the Friendship Book, as each person's mind was as clear as a mirror—
It was messages from colleagues who were alarmed by the highest-level emergency alert, rushing to the meeting room only to find it empty, hence asking for inquiries.
"Ms. Picquery," Hosone said, "You stay here and clean up the mess."
"Understood." Ella replied solemnly.
She knew exactly what she needed to do—
Not to arrange for the courtyard's cleaning but to gather all the clown fragments and golden powder, check for any magical residues and physical components;
Secondly, investigate who brought in such a large pumpkin carriage and how it was placed in the courtyard, and whether someone was under a proficient Confundus Charm.
Additionally, recheck all the guests' information, confirm if they attended personally, if they've returned home safely, and if there were any unusual actions tonight.
Hosone had every confidence in Ella Picquery's abilities. He then turned to Selena, and said:
"Miss Goldstein, you take half of the Aurors and deploy defenses and guards at key locations in New York and Washington."
"Although the scene we saw in the video just now was a disguise, we can't rule out that a 'prank' could be genuinely staged once we let our guard down again!"
Selena originally thought she would assist Ella, but upon hearing this, she realized the gravity of the responsibility and nodded firmly, "Understood!"
She quickly began to assemble personnel.
Hosone continued, "Mr. Grim, you don't need to seek Mr. Scamander, but you must contact the FMC's head."
His gaze was as sharp as a knife, "I need to know whether that lifelike 'surprise' we just saw was only visible to us or if it was broadcast to... some others!"
"Yes!"
Rex Grim replied steadily.
Finally, Hosone's gaze swept over the remaining individuals, "The rest, come back with me to the meeting!"
...
After sending emergency reports to the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, Kingsley Shacklebolt turned around, his face looking particularly grim under the flickering lamplight.
Alastor Moody sat beside him, eyes closed, with the Magic Eye fixed on an unknown spot.
But Kingsley knew that, at this moment, his colleague could never be sleeping restfully.
"Alastor."
Kingsley closed his weary eyes, rubbed his temples, and said in a low, gravelly voice:
"This matter is likely very unfavorable."
"...Just a prank, the Magic Congress can handle it. Their embarrassment has nothing to do with us?!" Moody said unpleasantly.
"Handle?" Kingsley chuckled bitterly, "Hosone and the others will likely be up all night meeting, and my report going back may even cause the Ministry of Magic to work overtime as well."
Moody paused for a moment, and awkwardly asked, "…It's that serious?"
"Yes!"
Kingsley felt as if an invisible weight bore down on his shoulders, and he sighed:
"The most terrifying thing is... the content in the video is fake, but it can become real at any time!"
He furrowed his brows, his voice heavy:
"We all know there are real wizards among the Scourers. They don't need to interrogate and control innocent hostages to demonstrate magic publicly!"
"If they really did that... the Confidentiality Law would be thoroughly broken! The barrier wizards have maintained for hundreds of years would completely disappear!"
Kingsley slowly exhaled, feeling particularly suffocated in his chest, his neck itching as if a sword hung overhead, ready to strike at any moment.
"This script... is crazy enough, but it's not hard to achieve!"
He almost ground out the words: "And we... none of us can completely stop it!"
Kingsley looked around, cast another Imperturbable Charm, and then continued to speak to Moody in a deep voice:
"And in tonight's 'farce', the Magic Congress's response strategy, reaction speed, the Aurors' mode of action and task distribution... all these things only known to ourselves were seen clearly by that guy hiding behind the scenes!"
Kingsley thought he had said enough, that with Moody's personality, his reaction would be more intense than anyone else.
No, to be precise, he wouldn't need to explain, Moody would surely connect it to the worst possible outcome!
However, the reality was completely different from his assumption—Moody opened his eyes, the Magic Eye turned to the back of his head, and his normal eye blinked twice in rapid succession but subconsciously avoided Kingsley's gaze!
He harshly denied: "You are overthinking it, Kingsley."
After pausing, Moody seemed to realize his words were unconvincing, quickly adding more weight to them:
"Flow Mirrors... no, Muggle television has been around for a long time. All these years, if the Scourers really wanted to expose magic, they've had countless opportunities!"
"Today's prank is just a 'prank'... perhaps the mastermind is someone extremely dissatisfied with the Magic Congress, deliberately making Hosone look bad!"
Kingsley: "...?!"
His pupils contracted sharply, and he drew his Magic Wand in an instant, leaping up, stabilizing himself with the Magic Wand pointed directly at Moody, and asked in a low, murderous voice:
"You are not Alastor... who are you?"
Moody's brow twitched, his face darkening, anger flaring up, but he rationally understood the reason behind Kingsley's suspicion.
"Alastor Moody."
He said sullenly, "Don't believe me? Then remember, when you just became an Auror, we went to deal with a rampaging werewolf, and when you saw the scene, you vomited all over me!"
"And during the chase after that goblin smuggler, you fell into a trap first, later on you jumped into a swamp by yourself after being provoked, didn't I fish you out?"
"And then in '75, there was a ghoul hiding in the forest attacking passing Muggles, and you..."
"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Kingsley stopped him with a headache from saying further: "No need to say more, I believe you are Alastor."
He lowered his Magic Wand, but the sharpness in his eyes did not dissipate: "Since you're you, I insist on knowing—why are you..."
The words were not finished when a flash of insight struck Kingsley's mind, and he realized:
"Alastor, you... do you know something?"
Moody's lips pressed into a stone-hard line, his gaze inadvertently wandering.
All along, he played the role of the interrogator; he didn't expect to have a day of being 'questioned.'"
This brief silence had already given Kingsley the answer.
He gasped incredulously, asking: "... Was it Vid who did it?"