The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 18: The Rozier Family

Vida Rozier

Her name resounded throughout the wizarding world in the first half of the 20th century. As Grindelwald's right-hand woman, she possessed both talent and elegance.

She was a devoted follower of Grindelwald and would do anything for him. Some say she regarded Grindelwald as an idol, while others say she regarded him as a lover.

But Loila Hamilton can tell you… she definitely considers Miss Hamilton the most hated person.

"Miss Hamilton! Have you been working on the report Lord Grindelwald assigned you?"

"Miss Hamilton! You haven't left Nurmengard for a month. Although Lord Grindelwald hasn't assigned you any tasks, you can't just keep being lazy like this!"

"Miss Hamilton! Lord Grindelwald says you need to go to the conference room now... Yes, right now! Wait! Comb your hair!"

"Loila! You need to pay attention to your personal hygiene! Haven't you showered in a week? I can smell the Veela stench on you!"

"Enough, you lazy bum! You need to tidy up your room today! Isn't it enough that you just eat and don't do anything? You even have to give us work to do! I really want to use a Transfiguration Charm to turn you into a lazy bum!"

"Rice weevil! Miss Rice Weevil! Hamilton! Damn Veela..."

"Ugh!" Loila jerked as she snapped out of that terrible memory.

Ms. Vida Rozier is terrifying!

This is absolutely the most terrifying person Royla has ever met!

Now... I'm actually going to her house...

And...and she must know the task Lord Grindelwald assigned her...and now, fifty years later...I...I've actually come with the Ministry of Magic.

Would she kill herself?

He'll definitely kill himself!

Wait... calm down... calm down!

Loila took a deep breath to calm herself down. She subconsciously reached out and patted her face, but unexpectedly could only touch the mask.

"Is the mask crooked, Professor Hammill?" Gerst's voice came through. "By the way, why do you always wear a mask... Is that some kind of magical artifact? Could it be a dark magic item?"

"Oh, of course I was just kidding!"

Thinking about it carefully... as Lord Grindelwald's loyal follower, Lady Rosier might also be imprisoned, right...?

And if I remember correctly, Ms. Vida Rozier should be French, so how come she's in England?

No problem... I won't run into Ms. Rozier... I definitely won't.

Even with a mask on, Loila couldn't guarantee she wouldn't be recognized... She estimated she'd probably faint on the spot when she saw Ms. Rozier.

Just as Loila was comforting herself like this, the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic had already arrived at the edge of a manor.

It is a small manor, but it looks quite rustic.

"Ah... good morning, is this Director Scrimgeour?" An elderly wizard standing at the manor gate approached as the Ministry of Magic personnel arrived.

He looked a little confused, as if he didn't know why the Ministry of Magic was here.

"Good morning, Mr. Edward Rozier." Scrimgeour nodded slightly in greeting, then straightened his expression and said, "According to Minister Fudge's orders and the results of the discussions at the Wizengamo Wizarding Council..."

"The Auror Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the British Ministry of Magic is currently inspecting Dark Magic artifacts." He coughed as he spoke. "We hope the Rozier family will cooperate with our work."

"A check for dark magic items?" Edward Rozier paused, scratching his wrinkled face, and said somewhat awkwardly, "I'm sorry... Director Scrimgeour, we have a guest at our home today..."

"We won't interfere with your conversation with your guests," Scrimgeour said in a somewhat firm tone. "It's just a small check-up."

"You don't need to worry if there aren't any dark magic items involved."

"Ah...of course we don't have any dark magic items...it's just that guest..." Edward hesitated, wanting to say something, but as a pure-blood family that wasn't particularly powerful in Britain, he didn't want to have any conflict with the Ministry of Magic.

"We won't disturb that guest," Scrimgeour repeated solemnly. As the head of the Auror's office, he certainly couldn't give up in front of so many of his subordinates...

Moreover, he had already noticed something strange about the wizard in front of him... There seemed to be something wrong with that guest.

"Well..." Edward remained silent for a while, seemingly at a loss for what to do. He nodded slightly and said, "May I go in and inform the guests?"

"Of course," Scrimgeour said, raising his left hand to glance at his watch. "I think a simple notification shouldn't take more than ten minutes, right?"

"Of course... Director Scrimgeour." Edward nodded and strode into the manor.

Watching him leave, Gerst, who had been silent for a few seconds, began to mutter again, "Professor, do you know?"

"The main branch of the Rozier family is in France; this is just a branch."

"No wonder Director Scrimgeour chose this place on the day he personally led the team... The Rozier family has always been very cooperative with the Ministry of Magic."

"Unlike the Malfoy family..." he muttered, shaking his head. "Ah... sorry, actually, our Parkinson's family doesn't seem to be very cooperative either."

"Oh, right!" he said in a low voice, as if he had just remembered something. "Do you know Vida Rozier?"

"Eek!" Loila shuddered.

"That's the dark wizard who was with Grindelwald!"

"They say she's still alive," he muttered. "She's been in prison for over a decade, after all."

"I guess it's because European prisons are too comfortable?" He suddenly smiled. "If I were locked up in Azkaban..."

"Director Scrinker, you may come in."

Edward had returned sometime earlier. He forced a smile and nodded to the group.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Scrimgeour forced a smile and nodded, signaling the Aurors behind him to begin their work.

As Loila walked past him stiffly, he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Miss Hamel... come with me." His tone left no room for refusal.

"..." Loila nodded, her face pale, and then followed Scrimgeour into the manor like a reed drifting with the current.

The other Aurors scattered throughout the manor to begin their inspection, while Scrimgeour led Loira and Edward directly into the manor's main hall.

"Please have a seat here, both of you..." Edward said slowly. "Father will be here soon... Let me pour you some coffee first." As he spoke, he glanced at Loira, seemingly not quite understanding who she was.

As Loila settled into the sofa, she felt a sense of relief... It was so good that Ms. Vida wasn't here... With a sigh of relief, she began to take a closer look at the decor.

The hall didn't seem to be overly decorated, just a few simple stone carvings... but... Loila looked thoughtfully at the stone carvings in front of her.

She sensed something was wrong with these stone sculptures… Their arrangement seemed familiar, and on the surface, it appeared random… but in reality, it seemed…

She must be overthinking it... This kind of thing seems unlikely... She shook her head and looked at the fireplace in front of her.

The pattern on this fireplace seems... to be some kind of magic circle?

Loila never expected that she would discover something extraordinary so soon after sitting down...

"Miss Hamel..." Scrimgeour seemed to realize something as well, and he lowered his voice, saying, "Did you find anything in the hall?"

"That fireplace," Loila whispered, "has traces of a magic circle..."

"I need to investigate this."

It seemed to be a combination magic circle, though somewhat old, but it was definitely... Loila got up excitedly, grabbed her wand, and walked to the fireplace.

Seeing this, Scrimgeour paused for a moment, then quickly followed, "Miss Hamel..."

Before he could finish speaking, Loila gently drew a sword-shaped pattern on the fireplace with her wand.

"The Arahomora opens..." Royla silently chanted the incantation in her mind.

"Clatter".

The fireplace made a soft sound and then slowly opened.

"Miss Hamel...this..." Scrimgeour looked at Loila in surprise.

"This is a combination magic array," Loila said slowly. "It consists of an energy storage magic array and..." She examined it for a few seconds before continuing, "and a locking magic array. It can only be unlocked with specific magic patterns."

"Fortunately, the magic patterns are rather old... they're sword shapes that were quite common in the past. All you need to do is use your wand to trace a sword shape along the magic circle..."

"The material should be the blood of an invisible beast, which would make everyone subconsciously overlook this place... but it's been too long, and the effect has almost completely disappeared."

"And they only used two ancient runes... and the most basic ones at that..."

Seeing Loila's incessant chatter, Scrimgeour coughed and said, "Miss Hamel!"

"Eek!" Loila snapped out of her daze and quickly covered her mouth.

He started talking about topics that nobody was interested in again!

My deadpan mouth!

"So this is a locked room, right?" Scrimgeour didn't say much and went straight to the point.

"No...that's right." Loila poked her wand and whispered, "It can be used to...store..."

"There are absolutely no dark magic items here." Before Loila could finish speaking, a somewhat impatient voice came from behind her.

The voice belonged to an old man, who was accompanied by an old woman and an embarrassed Edward.