"Dudley, Harry, how did you two end up here?" The leading black man spotted Dudley and Harry and immediately approached them with obvious surprise.
"Hello, Mr. Shacklebolt," Dudley greeted him politely.
The man before them was Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror from the Ministry of Magic. Previously on the Hogwarts Express, he had occupied the compartment adjacent to Dudley's. After Dudley had confronted Malfoy, it was Kingsley and his colleague who had escorted the young Slytherin away.
Dudley still remembered how Kingsley and his partner had been furious at Malfoy's arrogant remarks. During their journey back, they had deliberately guided him into several pillars, causing Malfoy to cry out in pain until Professor McGonagall reminded them to exercise restraint.
"My word, how did you two end up in this place? Please don't tell me this incident involves you somehow," Kingsley said with obvious concern.
"Yesterday was my birthday. We visited an amusement park, and it ran so late that we didn't return home. We stayed at this hotel, but we never expected something like this to happen," Dudley explained briefly.
"Happy birthday, Dudley. I'm sorry I can't properly celebrate with you under these circumstances," Kingsley said with genuine warmth.
"Thank you," Dudley replied, then glanced toward the other end of the corridor where Kingsley's colleagues were transferring materials to the police. Those Muggle officers were already preparing to depart.
"It's unfortunate that you became caught up in this situation, but fortunately, you're both unharmed," Kingsley observed with relief.
"What happened, Mr. Shacklebolt? I heard someone was murdered?" Harry asked with obvious curiosity.
"Yes, there was a killing. A particularly vicious murder, in fact. It might be connected to Dark Magic," Kingsley said with a grave expression.
"Well, these matters aren't appropriate for you to know about. I need to..." Kingsley wasn't planning to continue discussing this with Dudley and Harry. He had crime scenes to examine.
"Mr. Shacklebolt, perhaps I could assist you," Dudley immediately volunteered.
He couldn't shake the feeling that this incident was far from simple, and certain aspects seemed disturbingly familiar.
"You?" Kingsley frowned with uncertainty.
"Mr. Shacklebolt, Dudley possesses a special ability to detect evil. At Hogwarts, he provided tremendous assistance to Professor Dumbledore. He's also our school's security officer... no, wait, he's an Interrogator now, personally appointed by Professor Dumbledore," Harry immediately explained.
Kingsley displayed a thoughtful expression. He had indeed heard Dumbledore mention Dudley's capabilities. This young man did possess talent in this area. With proper guidance, he could probably become an excellent Auror eventually.
However, was it truly appropriate to involve a child who had just turned eleven in such a serious murder investigation? Moreover, Dudley was Harry's cousin. They were already highly scrutinized in the magical world. If they became involved in such matters, perhaps...
Considering these concerns, Kingsley wanted to decline Dudley's offer.
"Just briefly sensing the scene would serve as valuable training for me. If necessary, I can write to Professor Dumbledore. I believe he would approve our participation," Dudley said at precisely the right moment.
"Well... very well," Kingsley hesitated briefly, then agreed. "You follow me to the vicinity of those two rooms to sense around and see if you can discover anything useful."
After speaking, Kingsley walked toward the corridor's opposite end.
"Two rooms?" Dudley asked with surprise. How had it become two rooms? Wasn't it just the room at the corridor's end?
Kingsley lowered his voice and explained to Dudley, "There's more than one murder case. Besides this floor, there was also a killing on the fifth floor."
Dudley's expression shifted slightly as he asked, "Is it similar to this floor's incident?"
Kingsley shook his head grimly. "No, the woman on the fifth floor strangled herself with her own hands in the washroom."
Dudley fell silent, processing this disturbing information.
Hearing this, Harry also drew in a sharp breath of shock.
"Kingsley, why did you bring two children here? Are they connected to this incident?" Another Auror noticed Harry and Dudley and asked with obvious puzzlement.
"This is Harry Potter and his cousin Dudley. They possess special abilities to sense evil and Dark Magic. I want them to attempt discovering any useful clues," Kingsley explained.
"Harry Potter? Good heavens, he might genuinely be able to find something significant. We've been completely overwhelmed by these recent cases. If we can't uncover additional evidence, Minister Fudge will probably arrive personally to demand answers."
Several Aurors spoke while looking at Harry and Dudley with hopeful expectations.
After all, this was the famous Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. He might truly possess something extraordinary about him. After all, he had successfully survived a direct encounter with the Dark Lord.
Harry felt somewhat uncomfortable under everyone's scrutiny. He knew perfectly well that he didn't possess any special abilities. His cousin Dudley was the one with genuine supernatural talents.
However, compared to Dudley's fame at Hogwarts, in the outside world, the name Harry Potter obviously carried more persuasive weight.
Kingsley soon brought Dudley and Harry to the first room's entrance but didn't allow them inside. He simply had them sense around the doorway to see if they could detect anything unusual.
Dudley turned his back to Kingsley and quietly activated his spiritual vision, carefully observing the room's interior.
"It really does resemble Nightmare abilities. But why would such powers appear here? Could there be others who also traveled back to this world?"
Dudley's expression grew increasingly grave. If that were truly the case, then this magical world would probably witness numerous bizarre incidents.
Combined with what Kingsley had just revealed, could this really be the work of a Darkness pathway Beyonder?
"By the way, Dudley, Harry, did you notice a dirty mirror somewhere in this hotel?" Kingsley suddenly asked.
"A mirror?" Harry frowned with confusion.
"In several similar previous cases, witnesses mentioned seeing a dirty mirror that didn't belong at the crime scene, but when we investigated later, we found no such mirror had ever appeared," Kingsley continued.
"Wait, we did see such a mirror!" Harry's expression changed as he looked at Dudley.
Dudley met Harry's gaze simultaneously. They had indeed witnessed a dirty mirror in the corridor earlier, with two children playing with it as if it were a funhouse mirror.
In an instant, both of them looked toward that location, but the space was now completely empty.
"Sealed Artifact!" Dudley nearly exclaimed aloud before catching himself.