Chapter 307: “Marshall Has Betrayed”

“Yes, Grindelwald once untied from the Imperius Curse and tried to recruit me.”

The office fell into silence, and Allison just lighted a cigarette.

After exhaling a puff of smoke, he said in an emotionless tone, “Then are you still trustworthy?”

The smoke gradually dissipated, and Marshall did not show panic or anger after being suspected. She moved closer with a blank expression.

“For a better world, my creed has never changed.”

Allison looked at her quietly for a moment and finally stood up. He held out a hand, “For a better world.”

“For a better world.” The two held hands together.

“So, back to our previous topic, did you get any news from Grindelwald?” Allison asked.

Marshall frowned a little, “According to his, the first thing to do is to regain the high ground of public opinion. Obviously, it is no longer a primitive society. People still need to be won over.”

“Hmm.” Alison nodded without expressing his opinion.

Marshall went on to say, “Grindelwald has also formulated a series of operations to regain the right to speak. First, weakens the prestige of our name. Second, he seemed to be contacting his former subordinates.”

“Subordinates?” Allison narrowed his eyes, “The professors in Nurmengard have been under our supervision, and even the new headmaster has shown goodwill towards the Guards. Although we can’t believe it at face value, one thing that can be confirmed is that during the period when Grindelwald was away, they stayed in Nurmengard Castle and did not go out. Our people check their whereabouts daily, showing nothing amiss.”

Marshall nodded, “Keep watching them, but what can’t be ignored is that Grindelwald must have other forces. I saw him called several wizards that I have never seen before.”

“Yeah.” Allison agreed.

“Most importantly, I heard Grindelwald and those few people discuss the plan without hesitation. Their goal is to weaken the Guards and the International Confederation of Wizards.”

“International Confederation of Wizards…” Allison thought for a while, “The current president is a dumbwit. We sent someone to attest him before we took action against Grindelwald, but they didn’t say anything at that time.”

Marshall continued, saying, “It is understandable that the chairman’s term is ending, and it is not a wise choice to turn against them now. He is well aware of our strength and understands Grindelwald’s actions decades ago. I guess they may have already guessed that we will not be able to arrest Grindelwald smoothly.”

“After Grindelwald’s incident, he did nothing except cooperate with us to issue an arrest warrant. To be precise, it was a motion passed by the International Confederation of Wizards. At that time, he abstained.” Allison said, “In this case, maybe getting rid of him would be best. The problem is Grindelwald should also know something about that man. Why did he target the International Confederation of Wizards?”

Marshall reminded, “It won’t be long before the change, and Grindelwald may have to make a fuss about this shortly.”

“No,” Allison shook his head. “We have contacted all the five candidates with the highest voices. They should not abide by Grindelwald’s words if they want to win. After all, one-third of the office are all related to us, and a mere candidate cannot provide Grindelwald with much help.”

He looked at Marshall and asked, “Cyril, you were in control of the general direction of the Guards before, and you have at least contacted Grindelwald. What do you think that Grindelwald’s next action target may be?”

Marshall lowered her eyes, “What Grindelwald revealed to me is probably fake news. Maybe it is to distract us while he is doing other things secretly, and we can’t prepare anything in advance since there will always be something.”

“Do you have any guesses, Cyril?”

She pondered momentarily and said, “I think Grindelwald’s goal is likely to be infiltrating the Guards, the International Confederation of Wizards, and secretly integrating forces. Unfortunately, I didn’t get anything useful during the time I was under control.”

“The news you brought back is still useful,” Allison said sincerely, “Grindelwald didn’t expect that you were still alive. This is his biggest mistake. Cyril, we will hold a speech in a few days. You will be needed to expose Grindelwald’s conspiracy.”

“I will.” Marshall said.

Allison showed some hesitation and seemed not to know how to organize the next words.

Allison sighed, “Although we may need you to take Veritaserum in public at the speech.”

There was some anger in Marshall’s eyes, but she concealed it well. Taking veritaserum in public is the way to deal with criminals.

She took a deep breath and finally nodded calmly, “I am willing to do that for the honor of the Guards.”

Allison showed an apologetic expression, “Cyril…”

“Needless to say, Allison. I share weal and woe with the Guards.”

Under such an atmosphere, after discussing some details of the speech, the conversation was considered to be over. Not long after Marshall walked out of the office, the black-robed wizard emerged from the shadows.

“She didn’t make any changes before and didn’t even touch her wand.” The black-robed wizard said.

Alison had long since recovered his calm and sharp expression. He took out a cigarette and didn’t smoke it but just sniffed it back and forth.

“Do you think our Cyril Marshall is still our comrade?”

The black-robed wizard shook his head, “I’m not sure, but so far, it looks like she is.”

There was a chill in Alison’s eyes, “Marshall has betrayed.”

“Why do you say that?”

The corners of Alison’s mouth raised slightly, “Marshall has never been a fool. How could she fail to distinguish the important point?”

“No matter what methods Grindelwald uses, no matter how the honor of the Guards declines. As long as Newt’s testimony remains unchanged, Grindelwald has no chance.”

Allison smiled, “Professor Scamander is not the kid who just came out of Hogwarts decades ago. He has a reputation now, and his voice is vocal. There is no way to regain public opinion if Grindelwald didn’t deal with him. It is impossible for Marshall to miss this, but she did not tell me.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The black-robed wizard was silent for a moment.

After thinking hard, he finally said, “But Dumbledore is one of us, and Newt Scamander also stays at Hogwarts without worrying about being controlled.”

Allison didn’t look back and said, “First of all, Dumbledore is not one of us. He has his own ideas, but we have used some methods to temporarily make him stand on the same side as us, to be hostile toward Grindelwald. Secondly, there is no need to worry about Professor Scamander’s personal safety, but other things easily influence him.”

The black-robed wizard suddenly realized, “So, you mean Grindelwald will do something to Professor Scamander’s family? Should we leave now to protect Mrs. Scamander?”

Allison sighed, “Mrs. Scamander has long been protected. Have you forgotten the history of decades ago?”

The black-robed wizard frowned, “That Muggle? He’s just a Muggle…”

He took a deep breath: “Our people are already on their way to find that Muggle. I need your help to ensure that Grindelwald will not control the dying Muggle to blackmail Professor Scamander.”

Although the black-robed wizard looked down on Muggles, he was very forthright about cooperating and helping them. He nodded and then asked, “Because Marshall didn’t remind you this, you thought she had betrayed?”

Allison took a deep breath and finally said in a deep voice, “Of course.”

—-

The things outside the school did not affect the daily life of Hogwarts students; in other words, those things were too far away from them.

In their spare time, the students will discuss the recent decline in the Guards’ reputation and quarrel over whether Grindelwald is innocent, but other than that, their lives are still going on smoothly.

After Sean was chased and beaten by Mrs. Pince’s feather duster yesterday, he borrowed the Invisibility Cloak from Harry and slipped into the library again at night.

It’s a pity that after spending most of the night, except for the content he had read in that book, he never found any information related to the Blood Pact.

Sean didn’t get enough sleep and was called up by his roommate early the next morning. Today was Sunday, and it was also the first day that third-year students could visit Hogsmeade.

The students handed the signed forms to Professor McGonagall and headed towards the junction, where Filch would watch over them and catch every student who didn’t have the form.

“You missed breakfast, but I left one for you.” Daisy took out a packaged sandwich from her arms and handed it to Sean.

“Thank you so much. I thought I’d get Hogsmeade to fill my stomach with snacks.” Sean thanked her and took the sandwich.

Daisy was only in her second year, so she couldn’t go to Hogsmeade and had to go back to Hogwarts at the junction. After agreeing to help her bring a large bag of Honeyduke candies, Daisy bids farewell to the two of them.

Hermione was reading a booklet, which was the Hogsmeade Travel Guide. As the largest and only pure wizarding village in the UK, most of the residents of Hogsmeade are locals, and many of the buildings are left by the Hogwarts staff.

Of course, what attracts students is not the houses that can be seen everywhere, such as the magic equipment store Dervish and Banges, the Honeydukes candy, the Three Broomsticks Inn where you can have a glass of butterbeer, and the so-called ‘The Scariest Haunted Places in Britain’ The Shrieking Shack is a favorite place for students.

Of course, couples also like to occasionally go to Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop for a date. She heard that the decor there is old and tacky, so no one likes to go there. But it’s a good place for young couples who like privacy.

As for mischievous boys like the Weasley twins, Harry, and his group, their first choice is Zonko’s magic joke shop.

However, Sean’s first choice is the Hog’s Head Inn. He was very interested in Dumbledore’s younger brother, Aberforth Dumbledore.

Sean suggested that Hermione and a few friends go to other places first. After all, the Hog’s Head Inn is not a good place worth visiting.

However, Hermione was interested in the Hog’s Head Inn.

“It is mentioned in “Magical Places of Interest and Historic Sites”, that bar is the headquarters of the Goblin Rebellion in 1612!” Her eyes were shining.

Sean could only shrug his shoulders, and the two walked towards the corner of the sparsely populated Hogsmeade village.

Coming out of the post office on Central Avenue and turn into a small road next to it. There is a small bar at the intersection. A battered wooden signboard hangs from rusty brackets over the door. It depicts a severed pig’s head, blood seeping through the white cloth that wraps it.

“Oh, this doesn’t look nice.” She frowned and looked at the pig’s head before taking half a step back.

This place is really not a good place to go, but Sean was not afraid and quickly pushed open the wooden door of the bar.

It was a very small and dark room, with a strong smell of sheep inside and only a pitiful trace of sunlight outside through the window. The light that emanates shows that the ground that looks like mud is actually a stone surface that has accumulated dirt for centuries.

The Hog’s Head Inn is very quiet. There is a large group of customers covering their faces tightly. They sip their wine and rarely talk to those around them.

After Sean walked in, the guests glanced at him for a moment, quickly lowered their heads, and continued drinking.