The warning magic in the corridor was triggered, and Vid knew "he" was coming soon.
He immediately walked into the operating room: "Madam Pomfrey, I'm almost here."
Madam Pomfrey understood at once, looked at the girl's wounds, and said regretfully, "Just a little more."
Although she said this, her action of opening the window was quite decisive.
Vid glanced back, the girl's horrific wounds looked much like they did when he entered, but in reality, they were merely superficial now.
"No, this is just right."
The two of them mounted their brooms, one after the other, and flew out through the window. Vid cast a Disillusionment Charm preparing to observe nearby, when suddenly there was a loud crash above, a large piece of metal spun down, almost hitting Vid.
Both of them broke out in cold sweat from the shock. They exchanged glances and turned their brooms upward.
On the rooftop, a helicopter was just taking off. People who couldn't catch the flight were anxiously stomping their feet, some pleading bitterly, others cursing out loud.
"I'm an important researcher! If you don't take me, Zick, I swear you won't have a good end when you return!"
A man shouted loudly; he seemed to have bells hanging on him, jingling constantly, catching Vid's attention for several glances.
The helicopter had already ascended a certain distance, but the cabin door hadn't closed completely, revealing several people sitting inside.
In the thunderous roar of the rotors, the man's shouting probably sounded like a mosquito's buzz, unlikely to be heard clearly.
But the man with a ponytail sitting by the cabin entrance saw the other's resentful and angry face. He pondered, then turned to say something to the person next to him.
Soon after, a black gun barrel extended from the cabin door, aimed directly below.
Vid hurriedly grabbed Madam Pomfrey, and the two of them rapidly descended, hiding by the side of the building.
"Ratatatatatatata…"
A barrage of gunfire erupted, sending chunks of concrete flying. It only stopped after about ten seconds.
Once the sound of the rotors had receded, they cautiously flew up along the building's exterior wall.
With such high frequency and powerful weapons, Vid had no confidence that the Iron Armor Spell could block it, let alone withstand multiple hits.
They reached the rooftop and found that most of the people gathered under the helicopter were already dead, and the few survivors were just barely hanging on.
Even with Madam Pomfrey's compassionate nature, she didn't rush to save anyone this time, merely frowning at the distant helicopter.
Even the most secluded wizard had heard of Muggle transportation like this.
They knew that airplanes could be ten times faster than a Flying Broomstick, and that the massive, heavy machinery rendered most spells ineffective. Moreover, once the distance was too great, the power of spells diminished significantly.
Wizards like Grindelwald, who could make an entire city fall under their magic, were few and far between. At least, Madam Pomfrey couldn't do it.
—Even though helicopters were relatively slower, catching up was nearly impossible.
Madam Pomfrey thought so, and so did the ponytailed Zick and Veronica on the helicopter.
They understood much better than ordinary people the extent of what wizards could do.
Seeing the helicopter take off successfully, Zick finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the soldiers collapsed on the island like ants, he turned to Veronica and said:
"Fortunately, we escaped quickly. The wizard that came this time was like a monster. I don't know what kind of person Apton brought in."
Lying to others often begins with lying to oneself, and by now, he was convinced that the bespectacled Apton was the traitor.
Veronica forced a smile and asked anxiously, "Why didn't you take Dominica? You know his research is highly valued, and leaving him behind will be hard to explain."
"Isn't it obvious?" Zick tugged at his collar and said helplessly, "There's only so much space on the helicopter. If we brought him, we couldn't bring the data, and if we brought the data, we couldn't bring him. We had to sacrifice one."
"Oh..."
—Was there really not enough room on the helicopter?
Veronica was briefly puzzled, looked at the packed helicopter, and couldn't help but nod.
If they didn't sacrifice Dominica, the one left behind might have been herself.
Right next to them, there was an empty seat, but both of them subconsciously ignored that spot.
It was originally reserved for Dominica, but now it was occupied by an invisible person.
Snape sat expressionless beside them, his cloak secretly lifting a corner, trying to poke Veronica's jewel ring, which Snape held down with his hand.
Veronica couldn't see this scene, so she said, "You're right. It's just that the losses this time are so heavy that even if it's Apton's responsibility, you and I will surely be severely punished."
"There's no way around it. Those guys sitting in offices never understand the difficulties we front-line workers face," Zick grumbled while taking out his phone, "I'll make a call first, at worst be exiled to another uninhabited island."
Snape glanced sideways and saw he was calling someone named Ugo.
...
The helicopter flew higher and farther away, Madam Pomfrey patted Vid's shoulder: "Stop watching, they'll never get away. The Ministry of Magic will surely uncover their identities."
"Hmm..."
Vid responded, but still didn't take his gaze away.