"You... what exactly are you?" Cole's face was etched with pure terror.
His gaze swept frantically around the space, searching for any chance to escape, but he found himself in a completely sealed environment with walls that didn't have even the slightest gap or opening.
Obviously, this was a magical pocket dimension, and an advanced one that could even contain living people.
All of this combined made Dudley, who was smiling at him from nearby, seem even more mysterious and terrifying than before.
He had never imagined that one day, when facing an eleven-year-old child, he would be so frightened he might lose control of his bladder.
"Now I'm the one interrogating you, Mr. Cole!" Dudley's gaze sharpened as he restrained the smile on his face.
At this moment, it was as if the temperature of the entire space had dropped several degrees.
"Why are you collecting sealed artifacts?" Dudley suddenly raised his voice, asking with overwhelming authority.
"No... it's not me, I'm just..." Cole's face turned ashen, and under Dudley's overwhelming presence, he almost blurted out everything directly.
But he managed to hold back at the last moment. He couldn't speak. If he did, he might die.
Facing the threat of death, he had no choice but to resist.
"I don't know what you're talking about. What sealed artifacts..." Cole forced himself to calm down and said with his head lowered.
"The Sun Ring, the Soul Requiem Mirror. They're all sealed artifacts, and they're also things you've been collecting and using. Tell me, who exactly is masterminding all of this?" Dudley asked with icy coldness.
Cole's entire body trembled from the interrogation.
"I... I don't know if those are sealed artifacts. I'm just helping others with their work. Dudley, please let me go."
"I'm an Auror. I've been missing for so long. The Ministry of Magic definitely won't just ignore this. It's still not too late if you release me now. I can pretend nothing happened," Cole said desperately.
He was now certain that this Dudley before him was definitely not an ordinary person. There were probably very powerful wizards behind him orchestrating everything.
Otherwise, how could an eleven-year-old child possess such formidable strength?
He had once heard that there were ancient wizards sleeping in this world who were powerful, dangerous, and masters of many ancient and terrible magics. In front of such wizards, the vast majority of practitioners had no ability to resist.
He guessed that Dudley was now very likely being controlled by some powerful ancient wizard. This was the only explanation he could conceive.
"Whip of Pain!" Dudley directly employed his beyonder ability without saying another word.
"Ahhhhh!" A supernatural current swept through Cole's soul, and a barbed whip viciously lashed his very essence.
This wasn't physical pain but torment from the soul and spiritual level. This torture method wasn't the Cruciatus Curse, but was far more effective.
Screams rose and fell continuously. Dudley's expression didn't change at all as he watched Cole roll on the ground wailing with complete indifference and calm.
Since it was already confirmed he was an enemy, there was no need for mercy.
He believed Cole couldn't endure much longer under the Interrogator's beyonder ability.
More than ten minutes later, Cole finally reached his breaking point.
"Ahh... no more, I'll talk... I'll tell you everything..." Cole finally couldn't endure the agony anymore.
This kind of pain from the soul level was much harder to bear than physical suffering. He truly couldn't persist any longer.
"Wouldn't it have been better to cooperate from the beginning?" Dudley stopped his beyonder ability.
"I don't know why those people collect... collect sealed artifacts. I don't know what those things truly are. I thought they were just some powerful Dark Magic items."
"I received this assignment from a dark wizard. I didn't have much contact with those people. They asked me to help conceal those previous cases and help them find things they needed."
"These people were generous with money and paid extremely well. I... I... really don't know about the deeper aspects of these matters."
Cole regretted everything immensely. If he had known it would turn out like this, he would never have accepted such a dangerous task.
It was just that in the previous instances, he had successfully gotten paid, and this money was much more than his salary as an Auror at the Ministry of Magic. With such lucrative income, he couldn't bring himself to stop.
Dudley frowned with displeasure. Another hired scapegoat? Just like that dark wizard from before?
Thinking of that dark wizard, Dudley couldn't help but glance at the corpse thrown to one side of the space.
"Don't... don't kill me!" Cole's face was extremely pale, his eyes filled with absolute terror.
He had previously held onto hope, thinking Dudley might not be so ruthless, but now he would never think that way again.
This child was simply more demonic than an actual demon.
"If you were just following orders, why didn't you say so before?" Dudley narrowed his eyes and asked with dangerous quiet.
"They would eliminate people who leaked their information, including my family. Once you accept their tasks, you can never escape their control," Cole said with deep regret.
Dudley studied Cole carefully. Based on his Interrogator's keen intuition, he felt Cole was probably telling the truth.
"The person you contacted—who is he? Where can he be found?"
"I don't know his real name. I only know others called him Mr. White Sheep. In our previous meetings, he always wore a white sheep mask," Cole revealed.
"Mr. White Sheep..." Dudley murmured softly, mentally noting this title.
Next, Dudley questioned him about more details, but Cole didn't know much additional information.
Their previous meeting place had been in Knockturn Alley, but now that this incident had occurred and Cole's disappearance had become widely known, how could that Mr. White Sheep possibly still appear there?
"I hope you're not lying," Dudley said with finality.
"Stupefy." Dudley cast the Stunning Spell again, making Cole fall unconscious.
Then Dudley left the space within the Mirror of Erised.
"How troublesome," Dudley frowned and put away the Mirror of Erised.
Now it seemed this matter was far more complex than he had initially imagined.
Someone was secretly collecting sealed artifacts. What did they want to use these dangerous objects for?
Moreover, after this incident, they might have been alerted to the danger. They might guess this matter was related to Dudley. So would they continue to take action next?
Just as Dudley was contemplating these concerns, there was suddenly a knock on his door.
Sensing it was Harry outside, Dudley walked over to open it.
As soon as the door opened, Harry immediately rushed in, holding the snow-white Hedwig carefully in his arms.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Dudley asked with surprise.
"Hedwig is injured, and she returned at the wrong time. Do you understand what this means?" Harry said urgently.
"What does it mean?" Dudley looked at Harry and asked with growing concern.
"It means our letters might have been intercepted! The reason Hermione and Ron haven't been writing is also because of this," Harry said, his breathing rapid with anxiety.