"I just have to go in?"
Beside a red public telephone booth on the street, Hoffa held an umbrella and asked Miranda, "Just by making a phone call?"
At this moment, heavy snow was falling and all of London was white. Pedestrians could only see above their knees as soon as they stepped out of the door. This was a rare snowfall in history. Both of them had snow on their shoulders and no one could be seen on the road.
"It's not that simple." Miranda stood beside the telephone booth. "Visitors have to report."
After that, she picked up the phone and dialed a few numbers. After a few seconds, a man's cold voice sounded from the other side of the telephone booth. "Ministry of Magic, please tell me your name and what you're here for."
"Miranda Ghoshak. Adbey Ghoshak left something in the office. I'm helping him get it. "
"Understood," the man said in a cold voice. "Show me your ID and I'll start the elevator for you."
Ding! The dial in front of her for dialing numbers turned into a coin slot machine. Miranda hung up the phone and took out a brass coin.
"Let me see." Hoffa reached out his hand and looked at the brass coin.
"What? What's there to see? "Miranda was confused and was about to put the coin into the phone.
"Don't rush down."
Hoffa covered the coin slot. "We have to discuss something to prevent any uncontrollable situations down there."
Miranda asked, "What's the matter?"
Hoffa withdrew his hand and shrugged. "For example, the Ministry of Magic is so big. How can I find the position of the Minister of the Ministry of Magic?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I know the location. Just follow me. It's on the first floor. However, you have to go very deep to find it. " Miranda said as she put her brass coin into the metal slot of the telephone. However, Hoffa stopped her again. He looked hesitant. "Will there be a lot of people down there? Will we have to face a lot of checks?"
Miranda frowned and looked at Hoffa. "There will definitely be checks. Normally, when visitors come, the wizards will ask you the reason, not to mention entering the office of the Minister of the Ministry of Magic. But don't you know the magical Phantom Spell? We won't be discovered."
"Yeah," Hoffa muttered. Suddenly, he looked behind Miranda and exclaimed, "Professor Adbey!?"
Miranda quickly turned her head, but all she saw was snow.
"Sorry."
Her companion's voice came from behind her.
She quickly turned her head and immediately blocked the palm that was going to hit the back of her head. At the same time, she did not hesitate to put her hand that was holding the brass coin behind her back. She gritted her teeth and said, "I knew you were up to no good. We agreed to find Fatir together. Now that we're here, all you've been doing is talking nonsense with me!"
"Give me the coin," Hoffa said helplessly. "Good girl."
"Don't you dare …"
Miranda gradually felt that the wrist she was holding was very heavy. It was as if she was holding the arm of a crane instead of a human hand. "Don't you dare leave me alone again!"
"I can't take the risk anymore." Hoffa raised his arm and kissed Miranda on the forehead. "When the war is over, you can go anywhere with me."
Miranda was stunned by Hoffa's sudden kiss. Her face instantly turned red. At the moment when she was distracted, the snow on the ground spiraled up and firmly locked her legs.
Hoffa held Miranda's shoulder and forced her to turn around. He snatched the coin from Miranda's hand and closed his palm.
Outside the phone booth, the snow formed a secret room in the blink of an eye. He pushed Miranda out of the phone booth and into the secret room.
Miranda reacted and rushed out of the secret room of ice and snow.
Crack crack crack!
The snow turned into countless ice shackles, like the vault of a central bank, firmly sealing the small secret room.
Dong dong dong!!
There was an exasperated knocking sound coming from the phone booth.
There was also the sound of magic spells bombarding the iron shackles.
"Bastard!"
"Bach, you bastard!!"
"The biggest mistake I've made in my life was knowing you …"
"I'm very happy to know you." Hoffa stuck to the outside of the secret room and gently said to the chained Miranda, "Rest here for the night. When the sun rises, the magic will naturally be lifted."
"Go to hell! I don't know you anymore! "
"You don't know anything, you don't understand anything!"
"Unless you open this door, don't appear in front of me for the rest of your life!"
"Hey, hey, do you hear me?"
.....
.....
The dull sound came from the secret room. Hoffa didn't speak. He retreated into the phone booth and closed the door. He could no longer hear Miranda's voice.
He stuffed Miranda's brass coin into the phone. The floor of the phone booth immediately trembled. The snow outside the glass window of the phone booth rose higher and higher on the sidewalk. He slowly sank into the ground. Finally, there was darkness above his head. He couldn't see anything. He could only hear the monotonous, harsh grinding sound of the phone booth sinking into the ground.
Hoffa's face was calm and indifferent. His hands were behind his back.
After about a minute, the elevator vibrated slightly and landed on the ground. A pale white light shone on his feet, then gradually widened and expanded to his body. That was the light after the elevator door opened.
"Merry Christmas, Ghoshak."
A voice came from above. It was ethereal and cold.
Following the voice, Hoffa could see the wizard sitting behind the counter. He looked like a bird that was building its nest. He was wearing a pointy hat and sitting upright, staring at the elevator that was about to open.
From his perspective, the elevator did open, but there was no one inside.
Hoffa didn't disturb the wizard on duty. He had already used Ghost Walk to escape into the Shadow World. Five years ago, Ghost Walk would exhaust his stamina when he used it. But five years later, he could use it almost indefinitely at night.
He walked past the confused adepts on duty and arrived at an empty hall. There were fireplaces all the way in front of the hall, left and right. They were embedded in the wooden planks. They were empty, like tombstones.
The floor was a dark wooden floor that was polished to a shine. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with dull golden runes, motionless. If it was the past, or the future, the fireplace would be filled with people, and the flames would dance.
But on this Christmas night, there was no one in the hall of the Ministry of Magic. Only the pale light from the peacock blue ceiling shone on the empty fireplaces and the floor, forming elongated shadows.
It was lifeless.
It was on the first floor. But, he had to go very deep to find it.
Thinking of Miranda's words, he walked straight in. After passing through the fireplace hall, Hoffa came to a deep corridor.
This corridor was completely different from the ones above. It had no doors or windows. Below it was a black corridor that people could walk through.
At the top, there were countless carvings of gargoyles made of marble. Those gargoyles perched on high places with their wings spread and arms raised. They had different postures, as if they were holding something invisible.
At night, although Hoffa could use Ghost Walk indefinitely, it only lasted for ten seconds. If he used it and then entered again, there would be a gap of about one second.
In that second, he would pass through the Shadow World and return to the real world. In the past, there was no difference between the gray shadow world and the real world, only the color was different.
But this time, there was an accident.
For the first time in the Shadow World, he saw another creature other than himself.
It was lying on top of countless gargoyles resting. It had a long tail, a snout similar to a crocodile, and a body about ten meters long. It was transparent, with sharp claws resting on the heads of the gargoyles. It was resting.
Seeing that creature, Hoffa subconsciously left the Shadow World, planning to make the first move. But when he left the Shadow World, the creature disappeared.
There was nothing in the air above the hands of the countless gargoyles.
When he entered the Shadow World again, the sleeping creature had already woken up. It straightened its body and lay on a high place, staring straight at Hoffa with its gray, colorless eyes. There was some fear in its eyes.
Hoffa moved.
Like a lizard that had sensed danger, the creature slipped down from the countless gargoyles and disappeared into the depths of the corridor at an extremely fast speed.
Just as the transparent, strange dragon-like creature slipped away, the eyes of the gargoyles high up in the air shone with a blue light. They opened their wings with a click, and dust rustled. They all came to life, and twisted their hard heads, staring at Hoffa in the shadows.
"Something's wrong," Hoffa thought. To be able to sense him in the shadows, as expected of the Ministry of Magic.
All the gargoyles in the corridor came to life. They creaked and crawled over with great momentum. Hoffa didn't want to destroy this place and attract too much attention, so he planned to leave immediately.
At this moment, a figure appeared from the corner.
"Who's there?" she asked.
All the gargoyles stopped moving and turned back into statues, but they were all facing Hoffa's position.
The newcomer was a bald woman. Her hands were crossed at her waist, looking very solemn. She was still wearing the white lace dress unique to the 19th century. The dress was tall and long, very Gothic.
"Is that you, Bach?"
The bald woman asked. "If it's you, please come out. I won't do anything to you."
Hoffa slowly revealed himself from Ghost Walk. In the dark corridor, the young man and the bald woman looked at each other face to face.
"How did you know it was me?" Hoffa asked Delfina.
"I guessed it was you," Delfina said. "Just now, the night watcher told me that an intern had applied to enter the Ministry of Magic, but I didn't see anyone come in, so I suspected that this place had been invaded.
I think you're the only one who can invade the most heavily guarded magic base in England without anyone knowing, "Delfina said with a smile.
The slightly flattering words did not make Hoffa feel good. He looked at the pale and tall woman in front of him nervously and said directly, "I want to see Fatir. Take me to him."
The woman raised an eyebrow and smiled. "The minister of the Ministry of Magic is very busy. Generally speaking, if you want to see him, you have to first register with the access wizard, and then the access wizard will send the application to me. After I see it and feel that it's okay, then I will —"
"Take me to Fatir." Hoffa repeated and interrupted her.
The woman sighed and spread her hands. "I really can't do anything to you, Hoffa. You're too stubborn. You won't listen to anything others say. "
Then, she turned around. "If you want to see Fatir, then follow me."
She walked deep into the corridor, and Hoffa caught up with her in a few steps. They walked side by side. After walking quietly for three minutes, Hoffa asked, "Have I seen you before, before Paris?"
"Why do you say that?"
"I think you're a little familiar. I seem to have heard your name somewhere."
"Maybe I haven't paid you back the money I owe you?"
Delfina smiled elegantly and stopped in front of a black door. She knocked on the door.
"Come in."
A tired voice came from behind the door.
The door opened, and Hoffa could see the familiar figure sitting alone in the office, going through documents. The room was dark, but it did not affect his vision. He could see piles and piles of books and papers beside Fatil. The walls were dotted with branch-shaped candles. The flames were blue, and the flickering cold light cast on the polished marble floor, making it seem as if there were dark water beneath his feet.
He could even feel that something was sliding around in the room, avoiding his sight. Even if he did not enter the Shadow World, he knew that it was the strange creature he just saw outside.
"Hoffa Bach is here," Delfina said in a dignified manner. "He said he has something to ask you."
The man stopped writing and looked up from behind a desk that was half the height of a person. He looked straight ahead. Under his long silver hair, his blue eyes shone with an unfathomable light.
Seeing him like this, Hoffa's heart was melancholy again.
He hated Fatir and did not want to see him, not only because his choice caused Aglaia's death, but also because his appearance was at least 50% similar to his daughter, especially the eyes, which were almost identical. He began to understand why the British always liked to say, "Your eyes look like your parents." It was because the eyes could really make people recall a lot of things.
"I know."
Fatir said briefly and lowered her head to read the documents again. She was not surprised at all, and did not even care how Hoffa entered the Ministry of Magic. "You can go out, Delfina. Just leave him here."
"You also need to rest."
Delfina nodded and bowed politely. Behind her back, her hand mischievously slapped Hoffa's butt.
Hoffa did not expect her to suddenly do this. He jumped to the side and looked at her in confusion, but Delfina had already walked out of the door. It was as if the frivolous action just now was not done by her at all.
"Have you had dinner?"
Fatir's question came from behind. When he looked back, he had already returned to his desk to read the documents.
"Yes, I have."
"Adebe took care of you?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry, I've been busy and did not have time to see you," he said as he read the documents.
Hoffa was a little curious. He walked forward. He stopped in front of Fatir's desk and picked up a document on the table and flipped through it. "Conference to promote the integration of the wizards in the alliance". There were circles and drawings on the document, and many places were marked in detail. He put down the document and picked up another one, "United States Wizard Congress War Assistance Plan" and flipped through it.
Fatir did not stop him from doing anything. After glancing at him at the beginning, he did not lift his head and only minded his own business.
"You know what, the thing I heard the most outside is your inaction." Hoffa flipped through the documents and chatted casually. "They say you shut yourself in and don't care about politics. But now, it seems that you are quite diligent. You even work on Christmas Eve."
"Hmph …"
Fatir, who was working on the table, gave a short and sarcastic laugh and said calmly, "If you were in my position, they would say the same thing about you. There are only two outcomes for a leader during a war, either deified or vilified. Unfortunately, I'm the latter, because I'm like you, I don't care to explain to mediocre people. "
Hoffa put down the documents and looked at his silver hair. He remembered that he was Aglaia's father after all, and his heart softened.
He pushed away the pile of documents on the table, leaned over the table and whispered, "Do you know that you are in danger, Fatir?"
Fatir's hand was scribbling, and his voice did not fluctuate at all. "Did Adebay tell you his plan?"
"No, I overheard it."
"At least he knows what's good for him. He did not drag people outside the political circle into this."
Hoffa saw that he was like a dead man, and did not have any emotional fluctuations from the beginning to the end. He could not help but feel a little anxious. He pressed Fatir's hand that was reading the documents and stopped him from scribbling. "Tell me, what are you busy with? Why do you want me to help you send Chloe Lemour to England?"
"It has nothing to do with you. Just take care of yourself." Fatir said calmly.
"Do you want to go back to a year and a half ago?" Hoffa lowered his voice to the limit.
Fatir finally stopped reading the documents. He slowly raised his head and looked at Hoffa with his blue eyes. For the first time, there was a different kind of luster in his eyes.
"Do you want me to go back to a year and a half ago?"
He put down his pen and leaned against the chair.
Hoffa did not speak. He did not know what to say. The tearing and tormenting in his heart was magnified to the limit at this moment. It was as if there were two souls tearing and wailing in his body at the same time, causing his muscles to tighten. After a while, he nodded and said with great difficulty, "Yes, I do."
Fatir, who was leaning against the chair, smiled. As he smiled, he actually stood up and walked around the table to Hoffa. He held his hand. "I did not misjudge you. Indeed …" He held Hoffa's hand excitedly, just like how Boya held Zhong Ziqi or Guan Zhong held Bao Shuya. "You love Aglaia. It means that you are still on the same side as me."
Hoffa looked at him blankly.
"There is no one around me that I can trust. Only you are still trustworthy." He held Hoffa's hand tightly. "Tell me, will you help me?"
"I have already helped you, Fatir." Hoffa pulled his hand away. "But I have to say …"
"I am very sorry, Hoffa. I do not plan to resurrect her before a year and a half ago."
"I … What?"
Hoffa had prepared a speech, but Fatir's sudden words caught him off guard.
Fatir turned around and stood with his hands behind his back. "What's the point of resurrecting a person? Even if she is my daughter and I love her very much, it is still a temporary solution."
Hoffa could not believe it.
Fatir clenched his fist. "If Grindelwald is still alive, he will think of countless ways to torture the world. He is the real source of all evil."
Hoffa was speechless. "Then you …"
Fatir turned around abruptly. His black cloak was projected on the wall like a dragon spreading its wings. The anger and hatred in his eyes burned like flames. "I want to go back in time fifty years ago, before Grindelwald matured, to kill him and cut off the source of all disasters."
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