Birmingham.
The whole street was filled with the wail of police sirens, and people kept fleeing past the cordon.
Police officers in uniform and Aurors in robes guarded the perimeter, their faces grim.
Harry and the other two hurried over.
An Auror reached out to stop them, only for his superior to immediately smack his hand away.
Wizards no longer needed to hide their movements as they once had.
On the other hand, that also meant criminals could act brazenly anywhere they pleased.
As a result, the Auror force responsible for dealing with criminals had expanded severalfold.
Some reckless newcomers were simply prone to making the mistake of failing to recognize important people.
"Minister, Madam Granger, and... this gentleman."
Ron's face instantly turned bright red.
"What's the situation inside, Skeet?" Harry asked in a low voice.
Skeet looked a little embarrassed and glanced back at the street.
"The killer is very cunning. He robbed a cart of Magic Fluid in broad daylight, but instead of leaving right away, he hid somewhere along this street and started searching for any Magic Fluid he could find."
"What about the anti-Apparition device?"
"It's already been activated. We're waiting for the protective gear to arrive before we begin the operation."
Skeet pointed toward a machine as tall as two people standing at the edge of the cordon. Inside it, a mesh-like metal membrane had unfurled and was aimed at the street.
Even standing behind it, Harry felt a wave of nausea and found it difficult to concentrate.
Under the influence of such a device, forcing Apparition carried an extremely high chance of Splinching.
At best, you would lose an arm or a leg. At worst, your life.
Harry nodded in satisfaction.
"Since he's trapped, start searching..."
"What kind of street is this?" Hermione suddenly asked.
She stood before the cordon, carefully scanning the shops along the street.
"Madam, this is an industrial street. All these shops sell magical devices," Skeet answered respectfully.
At first, Harry had not understood Hermione's question, but now realization struck him.
Magic Fluid was essential for ordinary people to power magical devices.
If this place sold magical devices, it was bound to have a certain amount of Magic Fluid in stock.
A little in each shop, added together across the whole street, would amount to at least ten tons of Magic Fluid.
The three exchanged glances and saw the same worry in one another's eyes.
"I'm afraid this person isn't trying to escape. He may be planning to detonate the Magic Fluid right here," Hermione said gravely.
Ten tons.
Even if gathered in one place, it would be enough to reduce half of Birmingham to rubble.
The three of them felt their hearts sink.
Skeet looked baffled.
"He is cunning, yes, but how could Magic Fluid be detonated?"
"We can't waste any more time. Move in and search for the criminal immediately. Skeet, take your people and form a perimeter from the outside, then advance inward!"
With that, Harry lifted the cordon and rushed straight in.
Hermione and Ron followed close behind.
"I still feel like something's off!"
Ron shouted as he ran, and before long, he was already panting.
No matter how much he missed his youth, he was now a man in his forties, not the boy who could run and jump all over the place.
Harry, however, was still quick and sharp.
Years as an Auror had kept him alert and in excellent physical condition.
Ron knew he could not compare with him.
But when he looked to the side, Hermione was just as calm, and if she had not deliberately slowed down, she would have overtaken them.
Ron felt a little desperate.
"No, seriously, how can you still run this fast too?"
"A healthy body and a clear mind are key to making sound decisions," Hermione said calmly.
"..."
Ron rubbed his small belly and suddenly remembered what he had been trying to say.
"Wait. Wasn't it odd how that Skeet fellow referred to him just now?"
"What did he call him?" Hermione asked curiously.
She had been focused on observing the situation and had not paid attention to the conversation.
"He called the criminal a killer. Isn't that a bit too serious?"
The moment Ron finished speaking, Hermione's expression changed, and she shoved him hard.
The next second, a flash of green light shattered the paving stones on the ground, sending fragments flying everywhere.
Ron was still sprawled on the ground, nearly scared out of his wits.
The Killing Curse!
"Stay alert! Expelliarmus!"
Harry shouted. At the same time, a red beam shot toward the source of the Killing Curse.
"What year is it, and you're still using Expelliarmus?" Ron could not help cursing.
He used the chance to scramble up from the ground and pointed his wand forward.
Standing before them was a tall, thin man in a dark red wizard's robe. His face was hidden beneath his hood, and a duffel bag hung from his shoulder.
The man calmly stuffed a canister of Magic Fluid into the bag, zipped it up, then raised his wand as if the three of them were not worth noticing.
Behind him lay several corpses in Auror robes.
The three of them instantly went tense.
The anti-Apparition device not only blocked Apparition, but also interfered with spellcasting to a certain extent.
Yet this man had cast the Killing Curse with ease, and had even counterattacked and killed Aurors while surrounded by them.
He was unquestionably powerful.
The air seemed to freeze for an instant.
The three of them raised their wands almost at the same time. Three spells simultaneously sealed off the man's head, chest, and feet, cutting off every route of escape.
And yet.
The man casually lifted his wand.
A wall of earth suddenly rose from the ground and blocked all their spells.
Then he swung his wand sharply.
The wall exploded, and countless shards of stone shot toward them like a storm of bullets.
"Protego!"
Harry stood at the front and cast a Shield Charm.
But the stones, which should have shattered easily, carried terrifying force. The moment they struck, his Shield Charm was already on the verge of breaking.
"Protego!"
"Protego!"
Hermione and Ron moved to either side of him and raised new barriers, finally stopping the barrage of stone.
Before the three of them could breathe, the man raised his wand again.
A faint churning sensation came from beneath the ground.
Harry's sense of danger spiked to its limit.
"Run!"
He pushed the other two away and leapt backward.
The ground suddenly split open into a huge mouth full of sharp teeth, snapping shut before sinking back underground.
The three of them narrowly escaped.
But as the Shield Charms faded, they had only just fallen to the ground and barely managed to raise their arms in front of their faces.
The last wave of stone fragments flew toward them, cutting their bodies like small knives.
Then, amid their ragged breathing, the man slowly raised his wand like Death pronouncing judgment.
"Expulso!"
Skeet hurried over with a large group of Aurors, and a sharp red light flew toward the man.
The concrete beneath the man's feet suddenly softened and swallowed him whole. In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace.
Skeet ran over and stamped hard on the ground twice.
But the ground was perfectly solid. There was no sign that the man had ever been there.
Seeing this, Harry and the other two slowly lowered their hands and stared at one another, still badly shaken.
They were drenched in sweat and had no time to wipe it away. Their minds were filled only with the relief of surviving disaster and the crushing pressure that man had left behind.
"What kind of monster... was that?" Ron said, his voice trembling.
Even if he and Hermione were rusty, Harry had fought his way up through the Auror Office by sheer ability. There were only a handful of people in all of Britain who could confidently beat him.
And yet, even with just that brief exchange, Harry had nearly been defeated.
Harry looked just as lost. He shook his head, his mouth dry, unable to speak.
"Don't you think that person... looked a lot like that man?"
At her words, the other two froze and turned stiffly toward Hermione.
Hermione's brows were knitted tightly, her gaze deep, as if she were recalling the scene she had just witnessed.
"Power so overwhelming it was almost impossible to resist. More importantly, the wand in his hand was an aspen wand, exactly like the one that man used... Aside from him, I can't think of a second person who fits both conditions."
Ron held his breath until he could hardly breathe.
"You mean... Tver Fawley?"