When Bryan and Remus's plane finally landed after hours in the air, London was being battered mercilessly by a rare summer thunderstorm. The gloomy sky, dark as evening despite the afternoon hour, was repeatedly split by dazzling blue lightning that branched across the clouds like veins of electricity.
The rumbling thunder crashed like a giant hammer against people's hearts and eardrums, making them shudder with instinctive fear.
The arrival platform was absolutely packed with frustrated Muggles whose flights had been delayed, some for hours, some indefinitely. The aging airport revealed its true, deteriorating condition under the torrential rain.
Rainwater had accumulated in large pools on the floors, and everywhere were passengers cursing loudly after slipping on the wet surfaces, their luggage scattering.
The two men disembarked in orderly line with the other passengers, struggling to move through the jostling, irritable crowds toward the arrival gate.
Despite the terrible weather outside and the countless tasks undoubtedly awaiting them back home, Remus was in surprisingly good spirits. His face showed none of the exhaustion that should have followed international travel and intense negotiations.
The results of this trip to New York were completely contrary to what he had initially hoped to achieve when they'd departed a month ago. However, the outcome was still unexpectedly positive, perhaps even better than success would have been. He could foresee clearly that their workshop would experience rapid, exponential development in the coming period.
The future looked bright.
"Quite a mess, isn't it?"
Remus gazed at the chaotic scene in front of him, delayed passengers arguing with airline staff, children crying, people shouting into phones and said with a slight smile,
"Sirius wrote to me earlier saying he'd pick us up at the airport, meet us at arrivals. I don't think you need to rush back to Hogwarts immediately, Bryan. We can spend one last comfortable night at Grimmauld Place, rest properly and recover, and then face the more difficult challenges ahead tomorrow with clear heads."
"That's not really your style these days, Remus—"
Bryan extracted his foot from beneath a harried Muggle's shoe where it had been accidentally trampled and shook out his damp trouser leg.
"I thought you'd be itching to rush back to the workshop the very moment we landed, checking on production and reviewing orders. But I wasn't planning to go straight back to Hogwarts anyway. I'm planning to visit Diagon Alley tomorrow for supplies and other business, so tonight I can stay at—oh, I think I've spotted Sirius."
Among a long row of Muggles waiting impatiently at the exit barrier, holding signs and scanning faces, Sirius stood out with a bright, welcoming smile. He was vigorously waving his arms at them with enthusiastic energy that drew annoyed looks from the more reserved British crowd around him.
After all, Sirius had smuggled himself to New York without proper documentation or authorization. Although the Department of Magical Security had been willing to overlook the illegal entry for Bryan's sake, Sirius couldn't afford to be "absent from work" at the British Ministry of Magic for too long.
If he stayed away too many days, Fudge and his vindictive people would surely seize the opportunity to dismiss him outright.
So, after staying in New York for just a few days, he had taken the infant Fawkes carefully and returned to Britain by Muggle plane ahead of them, resuming his duties.
"That must have been quite a bumpy ride in this weather! Horrible Muggle transportation—last time I took one of those metal death traps, I nearly threw up in midair!"
Sirius shouted loudly, his odd remarks and unusual phrasing drawing curious, suspicious looks from many surrounding Muggles who clearly thought him strange.
"It's better than the Knight Bus, at least," Bryan said with an amused smile, embracing Sirius warmly after Remus did. "More dignified, if nothing else."
The corridor leading to the exit was still densely crowded with impatient Muggles dragging luggage and complaining about delays, making Apparition impossible without causing a scene.
The three of them walked together toward the airport exit, discussing the current political situation as they went, keeping their voices low.
"It's not good, I'm afraid. The situation has deteriorated."
Speaking of current events, Sirius's expression grew considerably more somber, his earlier enthusiasm began fading.
"That fool Fudge and his minions at the Ministry still absolutely refuse to believe that Voldemort has returned. They're treating it like a political attack rather than reality. They're controlling the information flow very tightly, censoring everything.
Not only is the Daily Prophet not reporting a single word about Voldemort's return but now the Ministry itself, they're actually actively interfering with Dumbledore's efforts to tell people the truth, to warn them."
"Interfering with Albus directly?"
Remus glanced around alertly with caution, and only after confirming there were no other wizards nearby in the Muggle crowd did he ask in genuine confusion, "How are they doing that?"
"Oh, it's quite simple, really—"
Sirius gave a cold, bitter laugh without any real humor. "They've privately warned many influential people, organizations, and institutions not to invite him to speak at public events or conferences.
Threatened them with Ministry retaliation, loss of licenses, that sort of thing. That way, Dumbledore is effectively stuck, isn't he? He can hardly mobilize a bunch of underage young wizards at Hogwarts to fight Voldemort directly, can he? That would be unacceptable."
Remus immediately looked deeply worried, his tired face was showing new wrinkles. He turned to Bryan, who didn't seem surprised at all by this news as if he'd expected exactly this response.
"So, this is why you've always insisted that to effectively counter Voldemort's plans for domination, to truly prepare for war, we must complete a... purge of the Ministry first, Bryan?"
"In the eyes of the vast majority of the magical community, the Ministry remains an unshakeable authority, it is the legitimate government," Bryan explained patiently.
"Especially when the public themselves lack the courage to face another war, when they desperately want to believe peace will continue. For Dumbledore to bypass the Ministry completely and make people believe that the clouds of war are approaching, that danger is real, is an extremely difficult thing. Perhaps impossible."
Bryan paused, considering his words.
"And for most Ministry employees, what they seek is also just a stable life, a steady paycheck, a safe routine. So even if they believe Dumbledore's words deep down, even if they know he's right, from their current perspective of self-preservation, Fudge's choice to deny everything better serves their own interests. Ignorance is comfortable."
"Foolish shortsightedness—"
Sirius snorted disdainfully, his voice carrying contempt.
"The Ministry is painting a picture of false peace, living in delusion, and that's giving Voldemort precious breathing room he doesn't deserve. He's using every opportunity to strengthen his forces while they pretend nothing is happening.
You may not realize this, Bryan, Remus as you've been away but during this past month, the crime rate in the magical world has been rising rapidly and conspicuously.
Many foreign dark wizards, whether they've heard rumors about Voldemort's return or received direct invitations from Death Eaters, are pouring into Britain like mad, sensing opportunity. If you ask me, if you and Dumbledore weren't here, providing some deterrent, things would be catastrophically worse!"
"Does Albus have any countermeasures in place?"
Remus asked, his brow furrowed with even greater concern and worry.
"The Order of the Phoenix is expanding as well, recruiting," Sirius said, his expression also growing heavier with the weight of responsibility.
"Frank and Alice have already joined the Order's operations. They're determined to help however they can. From what I understand, Arthur's eldest son Bill has answered Dumbledore's call and decided to return home from Egypt to support the Order's work full-time.
But as Bryan said, there aren't many with the actual courage to stand up and oppose Voldemort, to risk Death Eater retaliation. While there are plenty of dark wizards who want to take advantage of the chaos to run wild and settle old scores."
A moment of heavy silence fell over the three men. They strode quickly toward the airport exit. As they passed a brightly lit Muggle vending machine humming, Remus looked toward Bryan expectantly, wanting to hear if he had any new thoughts or strategies to share. But when his gaze fell on Bryan's face, he suddenly froze mid-step.
Bryan's expression was grave and serious, his brow showing a trace of helplessness and frustration. Yet his eyes flickered with a gentle light.
"What is it, Bryan?"
Remus blurted out, concerned by the contradictory expression.
Pressing his lips together thoughtfully, Bryan sighed with resignation.
"We're being followed."
Instantly, Sirius and Remus's expressions turned sharp and dangerous, all casual conversation was forgotten. Their bodies shifted subtly into defensive postures.
They both trusted Bryan's judgment, he'd never been wrong about such things. These two experienced men didn't make the amateur mistake of turning around to search for who was following them, which would alert their tail.
But their entire bodies had tensed up immediately. Their wands slid smoothly from their sleeves into loosely gripped palms, ready for quick action.
"Do you know who it is, Bryan—"
Sirius's eyes were grim and cold, his lips barely moving as he spoke softly. "Death Eaters already... or Fudge's people spying on you?"
Bryan didn't answer the question directly. Maintaining his usual relaxed expression perfectly, showing no sign of alarm, he said softly, "Follow me," and suddenly turned into a side passage branching off the main corridor. Sirius and Remus immediately followed without question or hesitation.
Half a minute later, a thin figure wearing a gray trench coat and round hat suddenly emerged from the jostling crowd of Muggles. The person in gray moved cautiously, clearly trying to remain inconspicuous. It approached the edge of the side passage the three men had entered, poked its head out for a quick, sneaky look down the corridor, and seeing no sign of the targets, showed panic on what little of its face was visible.
No longer bothering to hide or maintain cover, it rushed inside urgently, abandoning all pretense of casual movement.
Tap, tap, tap—
The rooms on both sides of the narrow corridor were mostly storage areas and cramped offices for airport staff. The rainstorm had severely disrupted the airport's normal operations, and stressed Muggles were coming and going from these rooms constantly, busy dealing with various crisis management problems and passenger complaints.
The gray-clad figure hurried forward with increasing desperation, its gaze was sweeping anxiously over the hurried faces of passing Muggles and peering through the small observation windows embedded in the wooden doors, searching intensely for whether Bryan and his companions had entered any of the rooms to hide.
But even after venturing deep into an increasingly unpopulated area where there were no more wet footprints on the floor, where the sounds of the busy airport faded, the gray-clad figure found no trace at all of the three men. They seemed to have simply vanished.
Standing still in the empty corridor, the figure lowered its head in defeat. Its expression inevitably showed disappointment and dejection.
Just then, the door directly behind the figure suddenly opened with a soft click.
It instinctively spun around to look, startled, only to see two extremely agile figures burst out from inside the dark room. With fierce, determined expressions, they seized both of the follower's arms without a word of warning and slammed the person heavily against the opposite wall.
Bang!
"Who do you work for? Why are you following—WHAT?!"
Sirius's eyes were cold and threatening, his grip iron-tight. But before he could finish his harsh interrogation, before he could demand answers, the startled and physically impacted figure let out a cry of pain that made Sirius's aggressive expression change.
Plop—
The round hat fell off, and lustrous chestnut hair cascaded down like a waterfall over slender feminine shoulders.
Looking at the young woman now pinned against the wall, Sirius and Remus were completely dumbfounded, frozen in place.
"Well?"
From the dark room behind them, Bryan stepped out slowly into the corridor's light. He looked at Amelia with a complex mixture of helplessness, and irritation.
"Surprised to see me? Unexpected?"
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