Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

London, Ministry of Magic.

Because of the Christmas holiday, there are not many people left on duty in this huge building complex deep underground in "White Hall".

Except for a few departments.

And among these "very few", there is no doubt that the Department of Mysteries, known as the "most mysterious department" of the British Ministry of Magic, is included.

365 days a year, 24 hours a day, the Department of Mysteries, a nine-storey building located underground in the Ministry of Magic, must have a "Silent Man" on duty.

Although except for those silent people, even the Minister of Magic and the Director of this Department do not know the specific content of their work, this rule has been strictly implemented from 1689 to the present.

In 1689, the British Muggles promulgated the Bill of Rights and established a constitutional monarchy.

At that time, the Ministry of Magic was only involved in some activities of the International Federation of Wizards in the form of its predecessor, the British Council of Wizards.

(It was not until 1707 that the British Ministry of Magic officially appeared, and Ulric Gamp was elected as the first Minister of Magic.)

However, whether it is the Ministry of Magic, the Magic Council, or the older Wizengamot Wizards' Council... these governing bodies of wizarding social order on the British Isles have actually always been headquartered where the Ministry of Magic is now. of this location.

In other words, the history of the underground office building of the Ministry of Magic Headquarters is actually much longer than the history of the Ministry of Magic.

The reason for this is because the ninth floor underground of this office building is the Department of Mysteries, and the place where this organization is located is actually a site suspected to be the ruins of an ancient wizard or a large Druid sect.

(PS. Many wizards in Harry Potter have beliefs, and Umbridge believes in druids.)

The Wizengamot's trial chamber is on the tenth floor underground, and the main hall of the Ministry of Magic (which was the original office of the British Magical Council) is on the eighth floor underground. The two sandwich the ninth floor underground where the Department of Mysteries is located.

The purpose of why generations of British wizarding authorities have deliberately created and retained such an architectural pattern is self-evident.

"Instead of being researchers, we should be called the guardians of taboos..."

In a dark, messy small office, a slovenly old man sat on a chair in his office, speaking to the air across a long ebony table that had been rubbed to some pulp.

This is his daily job: three times a day, morning, noon and evening, remind all the silent people of their true responsibilities.

His name is Broderick Bird, a silent man in charge of the Brain Hall of the Department of Mysteries and the Director of the Department of Mysteries.

And he is also the only person in the Department of Mysteries who has an independent office. However, this office only has one desk, one bookshelf, and surrounding stone walls. It seems that the size can only accommodate up to four or five people. No more than that. I can't even stand anymore.

On the table in front of him was a sink made of a whole piece of New Zealand parrot green jade, which was divided into five equal parts.

Each slot contains some translucent magic potion that emits gleaming white light. Four living brains are soaked in this potion.

Except one slot is empty.

These four brains are the brains of Director Bode's only three subordinates and himself. The moment he fulfills his duties and becomes a silent person, the silent person's brain will be taken from the wizard's head using a special magic. Come out and put it in this sink for temporary storage.

This is not only a supervision measure, but also a protection for the silent people.

The potion in the tank is taken from the huge brain pool in the Brain Hall of the Department of Mysteries. It can ensure that the brains of the Silent people remain active, and can also protect them from being destroyed by most curses, jinxes and even almost all physical means.

When ordinary mutes retire, they can use a reversal spell to remove their brains and reinstall them into their skulls.

The only exception is Director Bode.

According to the secret contract passed down by the Department of Mysteries, he still needs to have his successor perform an amnestic on him to erase some secrets about the Department of Mysteries that cannot be told to anyone before he can retire smoothly.

Originally, the director, who was already in his sixties, had arranged everything when he was in his fifties just like his predecessor.

However, something happened to the successor appointed by Director Bode eleven years ago: he was confessed by his associates to be a Death Eater lurking in the Ministry of Magic, and was sent to Azkaban Prison after trial. .

And this has also resulted in Director Bode, who has already been able to receive his pension, now having to persist in this cramped office for a while longer. Until a suitable candidate for the next director-general is found, he will be able to relieve himself of the responsibilities he has shouldered.

After completing the daily admonishment as usual, Director Bode took out a silk sweat towel and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The heating in the Ministry of Magic seemed to be getting more and more powerful recently. Some people speculate that this may be because the Magical Maintenance Service secretly connected the heating pipes of Whitehall to the Ministry of Magic in order to reduce the consumption of firewood in the fireplace once and for all.

"Haha, the Ministry of Magic is going to take advantage of the Muggles and steal their technological achievements."

As an old-school wizard, Bode is not very interested in this kind of opportunism, and even hates it.

He is even more puzzled as to why current Minister Fudge would tolerate such behavior. If we go back ten years, he would have publicly reported this unethical behavior to the Wizengamot council members during a director-level meeting.

But after all, he is now over sixty, and has long lost the spirit of his youth. What he really cares about now is the big issue of who to choose as his successor.

"August Rookwood," silently chanting the name of the owner of the brain in the vacant jade tank that was taken away ten years ago, "you are really causing me a lot of trouble."

August Rookwood is the name of the Death Eater lurking in the Department of Mysteries. Although he is not from the Holy Twenty-Eight Family, he is also a pure-blood wizard.

After entering the Ministry of Magic, Rookwood took the initiative to sign up to be a pre-selector for the Silent Man, and relied on qualifications to become a genuine Silent Man.

This Rookwood is very talented at being a silent man, at least in Director Bode's opinion, because he is a taciturn wizard.

When he was taken away by the Aurors, Director Border lamented the loss of this "talent" for a long time, and finally reluctantly handed over Rookwood's brain - it was put back into Luke Inside Wood's head - the brain is the material carrier of human emotions. If a criminal who is thrown into Azkaban Prison and is managed by dementors does not have a brain, the punishment will be meaningless.

Perhaps because of his age, or perhaps because of the holidays, Director Bode felt inexplicably sentimental when thinking of this Rookwood.

"I don't know what happened to that guy. He was imprisoned in Azkaban for so long. Is he crazy now or is he simply gone?"

-

Flamel's country estate, Devon.

The great mage Babajid from Africa appeared in the bush maze. As a guest, he could apparate in the manor with an invitation from Nico Flamel.