"Thanks, you clumsy oaf."
Rufus stopped, looked down at the drink spilled on him, then looked up at the retreating figure that had bumped into him. He was quite annoyed, not expecting such bad luck so early in the morning.
Rufus took out his wand, cleaned the stains from his clothes, and looked at Hopkirk nearby, frowning as he asked, "What exactly happened? Why is Hertok Dagworth here, and why is he in such a foul mood so early?"
"They just had an argument," Hopkirk said, pointing to the Head of Department's office door. "Don't ask too many questions."
"An argument?" Rufus really didn't understand Hopkirk's words. It was already strange enough to see Dagworth at the Ministry of Magic.
"The trace is having problems again." Hopkirk hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "This matter seems to be related to Dagworth, which is why he came to the Ministry of Magic so early this morning. However, it seems the discussion fell apart, so they parted ways unhappily."
"This isn't a big deal," Rufus was even more puzzled. When the trace was mentioned, it usually involved underage Wizards. However, for Dagworth, the Potions Master, to personally make a trip, the matter was already strange enough.
And for the discussion to have fallen apart, it felt a little unbelievable.
Hertok Dagworth holds a very high position in Potion-making, and he is also a member of the Wizengamot. On such a small matter, the Ministry of Magic would surely give him some Face. Yet, the discussion still fell apart?
No matter how he thought about it, Rufus found the whole thing incredible... Hertok Dagworth was in a terrible mood. In fact, he had known long ago that the two sides would not reach an agreement, which was why he preferred to spend some money to solve the problem rather than negotiate with the Ministry of Magic.
Although Hertok rarely paid attention to Ministry of Magic affairs, he had heard some things about the current Head of Department. It was said that whenever she drank too much perry, she would start expressing shockingly cruel and ruthless opinions to those around her.
It was impossible to reach an agreement with someone like that.
The other party directly refused to write a letter of apology.
Even though Hertok had explained the matter clearly and offered to pay the other party a sum of money privately as thanks once he got his gold card back.
However, he was still refused.
In her words, there was no problem with the Ministry of Magic's trace, and she had not received any explanation letter from the other party.
So, the discussion simply fell apart.
Hertok stood at his doorstep, took a deep breath, and prepared to go see Bard again to hear if he could offer some damn advice.
Ever since his gold card was lost, Hertok had been in a bad mood, and his temper had become increasingly volatile.
When Hertok went to the lakeside cabin again, he found that he couldn't find its exact location.
"Things really aren't going my way," Hertok muttered, looking at the lake. He found that he couldn't find Bard, and even an Owl couldn't deliver a letter.
"What exactly is going on? What in the world is Bard up to?"
Hertok looked angrily at the lake. There was no island in the lake, nor was there a manor, as if all traces had been wiped away into thin air.
The other party had used profound magic to completely hide the lakeside cabin.
Hertok considered himself a skilled Potions Master, but he was not particularly adept at magic.
He tried to find the dilapidated dock and small boat, but after walking around the lake, he found nothing, as if the memories in his mind were all false.
Just as the Potions Master turned to leave, he suddenly found a House-elf appearing silently behind him.
"Please follow me," the House-elf stepped forward, bowed slightly to Hertok, and then extended his hand. The latter already understood his meaning. The moment Hertok reached out, he was taken by the House-elf via Apparition.
When Hertok came to his senses, he found himself standing in front of a house, and the person he was looking for was sitting at a table in the courtyard, smiling and waving towards him.
"What in the world are you doing!" Hertok was in a foul mood. He quickly walked over and sat in the armchair opposite Bard, poured himself a cup of black tea, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Failed?" Although Bard Broad was asking, his tone clearly indicated that he was certain the other party had failed.
"That guy wouldn't agree, damn it, I explained everything clearly to him." Hertok poured himself another cup, drank it all in one gulp, trying to suppress his anger. He knew his tone was very bad right now.
"I'm not talking about that. I'm asking if you went to see Albert?"
"Yes, that little fellow has some cleverness." When Hertok mentioned Albert, he couldn't help but frown, looking at Bard with a blaming gaze, "He seemed to know I would come looking for him for the gold card and had already hidden it."
"Cleverness?" Bard ignored Hertok's gaze and didn't quite agree with his assessment.
"Isn't he?" Hertok pouted.
"I warned you not to use those petty, undignified tricks," Bard looked at Hertok and reminded him again, "Don't expect him to be pleasant to you next time you see him."
"Otherwise, what? Tell me, what else can I do?" Hertokdrank another cup, placing the teacup heavily on the table. "I just spoke with that old woman, and she directly refused, or rather, directly denied the whole thing."
"Stuck in the middle, do you think it's easy for me?" Hertok couldn't help but complain, "I just want my membership card back."
"What did he say he would do with the gold card?"
"Who, the boy?" Hertok frowned deeply, thought for a moment, and then said, "He seemed to say he would melt the gold card and sell it in the Muggle World."
"That's pretty much what I expected." Bard nodded and reminded him, "Don't try to make him submit; you won't succeed, and you'll only end up with bad luck."
"I'm very curious, why do you value that boy so much? Is it his talent, ability, or some other reason?" Hertoklooked at Bard with confusion, asking in an uncomprehending tone.
"This has nothing to do with you." Bard didn't want to talk about it further.
"I'm very curious," Hertok pressed.
"Perhaps my judgment is better than yours," Bard said with a cold laugh, "So, I have high hopes for him."
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Hertok fell silent; he naturally didn't believe such nonsense.
"If you want to get your gold card back, I'm afraid you'll only be able to do it through the Ministry of Magic," Bard reminded him, "Please don't ignore my warning, otherwise you will definitely end up with bad luck."
Ever since Bard discovered that Albert dared to sneak into the Forbidden Forest at night and was able to defeat a large group of Acromantulas while surrounded by them, and even rescue Fred and George, he knew that Albert was not as simple as he seemed.
It is said that a wand matches its owner's personality. Albert's wand is made of redwood, which means Albertmight already possess the ability to turn danger into safety.
In other words, Albert didn't just blunder into the Forbidden Forest out of recklessness, like a Gryffindorstudent. Rather, he had already prepared means to escape unscathed, and even if Bard hadn't appeared, he would have had his own methods.
And Albert is only twelve years old!
Since that incident, Bard's evaluation of Albert had been very high.
If Hertok truly charged in headfirst, he would likely hit a brick wall and end up with a bloody head.
However, Hertok was in a very bad mood right now and had no desire to listen to these things. After he calmed down, he decided to write a letter to Dumbledore, asking the Hogwarts Principal for help, at least to ensure that their second meeting didn't turn out even worse.