Unable to find Wayne, Professor McGonagall could only place her hopes in Newt.
However, even Newt, who had always enjoyed an excellent rapport with magical creatures, found himself thwarted.
Outside the Centaur tribe, over ten Centaurs held bows and arrows, not aiming at Newt but pointing them at the ground.
Newt stood at a safe distance, clad in armour made from Manticore hide.
These Centaur arrows were no ordinary projectiles; they were coated with anti-magic potions, rendering the Shield Charm useless for defence.
A middle-aged Centaur called out sternly, "Mr Scamander, halt. I know your purpose, but I cannot hand that person over to you."
Newt frowned. "Why? Wasn't the conflict between Firenze and her resolved yesterday? Professor Umbridge has already apologised."
The same Centaur spoke again, "The one who accepted her apology was Firenze as an individual, not the Centaur tribe."
"This female not only insulted Firenze but our entire Centaur race. Firenze, who presumptuously accepted her apology, has already been imprisoned and will face due punishment."
"Mr Scamander, you have greatly assisted our tribe before, but this concerns our entire race. Even you cannot take her away."
Newt sighed softly, well aware of how stubborn Centaurs could be.
Had it been Professor McGonagall coming instead, they would likely have driven her away by now.
"Is this Wayne's request?" Newt suddenly asked.
Several Centaurs shifted their hooves uneasily, expressions flustered, but the leading middle-aged Centaur remained impassive. "I don't understand what you mean."
Newt sighed again. "Magorian, don't go too far. Don't harm her life, or you'll bring disaster upon your entire tribe."
The Centaur remained silent, offering no reply. He simply waved his hand and led his people deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
Newt then relayed the news to Professor McGonagall.
"This is troublesome," Professor McGonagall said, sensing the difficulty of the situation after hearing about the Centaurs' firm stance.
"Is Umbridge still safe?"
"Centaurs are highly intelligent; they won't act recklessly," Newt replied after a moment's thought. "But I'm unsure what specific punishment Umbridge will face. Only Wayne can ask about that."
"He's not at school now," Professor McGonagall said worriedly, which only confirmed Newt's suspicions.
So, where was young Lawrence now?
He had returned to London to be with Penelope.
While Miss Grace was travelling all over the place, at least there was Miss Penelope with her golden waves to comfort him properly.
After some preaching and imparting fluids, Wayne entered sage mode, and the two finally got down to serious matters.
Umbridge was currently enjoying her fortune in the Centaur tribe and would soon be meeting Merlin. Once she was gone, the juicy position in the Education Department would naturally become vacant.
It wasn't money he was after, but the Education Department's power to interfere with examinations.
If any student proved disobedient in future, he simply wouldn't issue their diploma. Let them try complaining to the Education Department and see who dares challenge the official.
Penelope was too exhausted from being tossed about, yet still had to listen to Wayne's endless chatter. Finally unable to bear it, she mounted him.
Rather than listen to Wayne's nagging, she'd rather have another go.
"Enough talk, plough the field!"
...
The next day, 12 Grimmauld Place.
At nine in the morning, Wayne arrived at Sirius's home to invite Molly to continue serving as the temporary professor.
He had a backup plan—if Molly refused, there were still alternatives, like Sirius and Lupin in the house.
As long as they were combat members of the Order of the Phoenix, taking up the teaching post shouldn't be a problem.
But things went surprisingly smoothly. Molly readily agreed, though she would only continue until Christmas – just over a month away.
She was still somewhat worried about the curse's influence and didn't want her tenure to exceed Umbridge's.
Wayne didn't press further, as he planned to find a long-term professor later and already had a suitable candidate in mind.
After agreeing that Molly would come to Hogwarts on Monday, Wayne was about to leave when Sirius stopped him, pulling him into a small room filled with key members of the Order of the Phoenix.
"Wayne, what exactly has happened to Dumbledore?"
As soon as he entered, Mr Weasley asked impatiently. Wayne looked at him in surprise, along with the other Order members staring at him.
"Didn't Dumbledore come to see you after he left?"
"He came that night, but only told us to be careful about everything and not act rashly before leaving," Lupin said.
After a moment's thought, the young man shook his head. "Then follow his advice. Truthfully, I don't know where he's gone either, but it's either related to Voldemort or he's gone to find Tom."
These were core members of the Order of the Phoenix and understood the difference between Tom and Voldemort.
But the reality was that, upon learning the wizarding world now had both an old and a young Voldemort, many felt a 'we're tired, let it end' sentiment.
One Voldemort alone had turned Britain upside down – two were truly unbearable.
Fortunately, young Tom had just come of age, giving them time to deal with the older one first before worrying about the younger.
"By the way, what are the Order's usual tasks?" Wayne felt the Order seemed to have little to do at the moment.
Voldemort was still lying low, and most Death Eaters were imprisoned, leaving these people with no real purpose.
Kingsley's response confirmed Wayne's suspicion – they truly had no significant missions.
He and Mr Weasley were responsible for monitoring pure-bloods sympathetic to Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic. There was originally a duty to protect Harry, but with Harry at Hogwarts – guarded by Dumbledore or Lawrence – it remained the safest place in the world.
"Continue with your respective duties and avoid making too many moves." Wayne had no intention of interfering with the Order's operations. After telling them to carry on as usual, he left Grimmauld Place and returned to Hogwarts.
In the corridors, a young wizard spotted him and immediately notified Professor McGonagall.
Ten minutes later, Professor McGonagall brought Newt to the office.
"Wayne, both Umbridge and Professor Firenze have been taken by the centaurs. Newt went to retrieve them yesterday but was refused."
After speaking, McGonagall subtly observed Wayne's expression and found him completely unsurprised.
"Yes, I'm already aware of the situation. Later, I'll go with Senior Newt to approach the centaurs again. Professor McGonagall, you needn't worry about this matter. Please focus on organising the reforms discussed in yesterday's meeting and announce them to all students on Monday."
Professor McGonagall understood perfectly well that Wayne didn't want her to learn more about the situation.
But before leaving, she couldn't resist hinting that he shouldn't go too far.
It wasn't out of concern for Umbridge, but rather that if someone actually died, Wayne might not face consequences, but the Centaurs would undoubtedly be the Ministry of Magic's first target for their wrath.
Regardless of Umbridge's position, her identity as a human witch remained unchanged.
The Centaurs had taken her away in front of so many witnesses, easily escalating the issue into a racial conflict.
After Professor McGonagall left, Wayne first went with Newt to have a meal at the Hog's Head.
Then he went upstairs to chat with Ariana for a while before the two of them headed deep into the Forbidden Forest.
Now, without outsiders, Newt became much more open and asked directly: "How did you persuade the Centaurs to get involved in human conflicts?
Newt understood Centaurs - these creatures possessed high intelligence, so high that they even looked down upon human wizards.
Apart from standing with human wizards during ancient wars, they had since kept to themselves, living their own lives and ignoring wizarding conflicts.
This current action was quite significant, and he didn't believe so many wise beings in the Centaur tribe couldn't see the dangers involved.
"I'm a businessman."
Wayne, half a step ahead of Newt, turned back with a slight smile: "Making deals is what I do best. Since the Centaurs are willing to help me, it must be because I offered them an irresistible price."
"What price?" Newt grew more curious, "From what I know, they've never been interested in external things, let alone human treasures."
"You'll find out soon."
Wayne kept him in suspense, not telling Newt directly.
The two walked for about half an hour before reaching the vicinity of the Centaur camp.
It was the same Magorian who had driven Newt away yesterday, leading about ten Centaurs to meet them.
"Headmaster Lawrence." Magorian gave a slight bow, making Newt glance sideways.
After all, Centaurs usually called young human wizards 'foals' - for these stubborn beings to change their address, something significant must have happened.
"Chieftain Magorian." Wayne nodded slightly: "How's the goods?"
"She made a racket all night and has now fainted from hunger."
"What about our items?"
"Brought them." Wayne took out a crystal-clear, small bottle filled with beautiful azure liquid.
"Only this much?" Magorian said discontentedly.
"This is just the deposit." Wayne tossed the bottle over, and a Centaur received it as if it were a precious treasure, carefully cradling it in his hands.
"Our transaction isn't complete yet. This is just for you to test the effects. The final payment will be delivered upon completion."
"I see..." Looking at the small bottle, Magorian nodded gently: "Understood."
"See you in a few days then." Wayne waved with a smile, leading the still bewildered Newt away from the Centaur camp.
"Aren't we taking Umbridge away?"
"Oh, the negotiations failed. The Centaurs haven't harmed her life." Wayne shrugged, "Umbridge violated the 'Centaurs and Wizards Peaceful Coexistence Treaty' - as a mere Hogwarts Headmaster, I can't handle this."
"After returning, I'll write to the Centaur Liaison Office and let them deal with it."
Newt still didn't understand: "What exactly is that potion? Why do the Centaurs value it so much?"
He had noticed the Centaurs' expressions of excitement and caution earlier.
"Ah, you mean this..." Wayne flipped his hand and produced another small bottle, handing it to Newt.
"Senior, what do you think is most important for a species?"
Newt answered without hesitation: "Reproduction, inheritance."
"Exactly. This potion can help the Centaurs. Didn't you notice that those Centaurs were quite old, with no young foals present at all?"
Newt thought about it and realised that it was indeed the case.
He had visited Centaur tribes before, and there were truly few newborns among them.
Then the old man's expression grew increasingly peculiar. "So... this contains an aphrodisiac potion?"
"No." Wayne shook his head. "If it were that kind of low-grade aphrodisiac, the Centaurs wouldn't value it so highly."
"This potion has similar effects, but more importantly... it increases the pregnancy rate. It should achieve about a fifty percent success rate."
Newt finally understood.
No wonder these Centaurs were willing to take such great risks to help Wayne with dirty and difficult tasks.
When it involved descendants and the continuation of their race, forget about just kidnapping Umbridge - even if they were asked to shoot someone directly in the castle, they would probably send two scapegoats to complete the mission without hesitation.
Still, Newt felt somewhat speechless. "Why do you spend your free time researching all these strange potions?"
What decent person would think of making such a potion!
Though he said this, Newt quite honestly put the potion away.
If the Centaurs could use it, other magical creatures probably could too.
He had quite a few endangered species living in his suitcase—perfect for helping them reproduce.
"Senior, this potion is just a byproduct of my research process." Wayne noticed Newt's subtle movement and twitched his mouth, but still explained to him.
"What I truly want to create is... regulation."
His voice gradually faded as the figures of the old and young man disappeared into the Forbidden Forest.
...
Meanwhile, in Nurmengard.
In the familiar cell, Grindelwald had finished reading Dumbledore's wanted poster once again, a playful smile hanging on his lips.
He waved his wand and cut out all the parts of the newspaper that praised Lawrence.
The news about Dumbledore's wanted status, however, went into his pocket.
Then Grindelwald turned his gaze to this cage that had imprisoned him for nearly half a century.
Since Dumbledore had become a wanted fugitive, it seemed... he shouldn't remain here either.