[France]
[Inside A Farm Outside Toulouse]
A girl around thirteen or fourteen was gripping a wand, constantly firing Disarming Charms at glass bottles set up as targets on wooden racks in the distance.
The continuous spell casting was clearly putting a heavy burden on the girl.
Combined with the rising afternoon temperature.
Under the sunlight, a fine layer of sweat had already formed on her forehead.
Not far from her, No.1 and Norton were quietly watching the girl's practice.
"What's the point of doing this?"
Seeing No.1 nodding repeatedly in satisfaction, Norton said in confusion, "Even though this child gained talent with the help of the 'blood,' it's still too late. She can't form combat strength in a short amount of time."
Without even turning his head, No.1 said, "So what? Sometimes we can't do things entirely from a utilitarian perspective."
"After all, we are humans, not machines. It's true, just as you said, this child's talent really isn't enough to provide much help to our cause."
"But at least, her smile is very cute, isn't it?"
No.1's voice was gentle and warm, giving people the feeling of a spring breeze.
But hearing that, a trace of seriousness appeared on Norton's face.
He quickly stepped forward and blocked No.1's path, saying word by word, "I hope you understand. She is not our mother!"
No.1's gaze was forced onto Norton.
The two quietly looked at each other. After a long while, No.1 sighed and said, "I think you misunderstood. But it doesn't matter."
"Since you've already said that, let's talk about business instead. The mediation conference being held by the International Confederation of Wizards should already have preliminary results, right?"
The moment No.1 finished speaking, a wizard completely covered in black robes appeared beside them out of thin air.
With extreme respect, he held out a parchment scroll with both hands.
No.1 accepted the parchment. After only a few glances, he casually tossed it to Norton and said, "They lost. Lost badly. Looks like you'll have to die."
Norton didn't even bother looking at the parchment and directly replied, "That was already within my expectations."
"How could those idiots from the French Ministry of Magic possibly be opponents for Link Flamel and Dumbledore?"
"Losing is normal. I just didn't expect it to happen this fast. Judging by the time, this should only be the first day of the conference, and it probably didn't even last two hours."
"Those old fossils in the International Confederation of Wizards are idiots too. In their eyes, the power controlled by the French Ministry of Magic and the British Ministry of Magic probably aren't even on the same level."
"It's only natural they'd side with the British Ministry and try to curry favor with Link Flamel. Weak countries have no diplomacy. It just looks a little ugly, that's all."
"True. Understandable. But what interests me more is what you plan to do next."
"I already said it just now. You should die."
"No problem. I should have died long ago. But I don't want the teachers and students of Beauxbatons to suffer any more casualties. For our cause, enough of their blood has already been spilled."
"I can promise you I won't force or trick them into dying. As for whether they'll get too emotional and jump into the fire themselves, that's your problem to deal with."
"Thank you. That promise is enough."
Norton let out a long sigh. The muscles that had been tense slowly relaxed. The heart he had kept hanging all this time could finally settle.
At the same time, the black-robed wizard who had delivered the letter to No.1 took out a potion without hesitation and drank it.
His body gradually twisted.
And in the end, he turned into Norton.
"Do I look alike?"
A hoarse voice came from black-robed "Norton."
The real Norton rubbed his chin and examined him for a while before nodding.
"Your appearance looks fine. But your voice and mannerisms are strange. Don't talk during the operation later, and don't waste time. Just do it directly."
Black-robed "Norton" nodded, activated the Portkey in his hand, and vanished instantly.
"Alright, I should go too."
Seeing this, the real Norton said to No.1, "If I don't go back soon, those students will go wild again."
"You're still planning to go back using Norton's identity?"
"Of course not. This time I'll become Norton's son, Little Norton, and take over the position the original Norton held at Beauxbatons."
"My authority and prestige will drop a bit, but considering old Norton's reputation, there shouldn't be much trouble."
"As long as you know what you're doing. I was just asking casually."
"No one dares lie to you. At least I don't. So I think it's better to explain things clearly. Using Little Norton's identity is purely because I'm used to the name Norton and don't want to change it."
"You know this already, changing identities causes greater mental damage to me. After all, my soul is incomplete to begin with. It's easy for me to get a certain illness. What was it called again? Oh right, schizophrenia..."
No.1 did not respond to Norton's rambling.
In his opinion, this was simply Norton getting overly excited after hearing that he would no longer target Beauxbatons.
Of course, the more important reason was that.
The girl in the distance had already finished training and was running toward them.
Sunlight shone on her long black hair, giving off a soft glow, making the smiling girl jogging over look like an angel.
Seeing this, a faint smile appeared at the corner of No.1's mouth.
"Using the 'blood' on her was really a waste. She has no talent for combat. At least when it comes to shooting accuracy, she truly has zero talent."
"Did you notice? For those ten targets just now, she used nearly thirty Disarming Charms before hitting them all."
"At that level, even at Beauxbatons, it would be hard for her to get Outstanding in the practical OWL Charms exam."
Norton's teasing voice sounded again.
The smile at the corner of No.1's mouth instantly disappeared after hearing that. He suddenly turned his head toward where Norton had been standing.
But Norton had already vanished under Apparition the moment he finished speaking.
This made No.1 tightly purse his lips.
The girl in the distance had obviously heard Norton's words as well. Her steps suddenly stopped.
"S-Sorry, Master. I embarrassed you. I'm useless."
The girl lowered her head, eyes red as she choked out the words.
"No, this isn't your fault." A warm smile appeared on No.1's face again. "Your level is already pretty good. Norton was just slandering you."
"But Professor Norton is the acting headmaster of Beauxbatons. He should be the best professor in the world, right?"
"The best professor? Him? Ha! My good child, you can even tell jokes to cheer me up now. I'm truly comforted."
"But you really don't need to take his words to heart. Because Norton... is nothing more than a third-rate professor. He has absolutely no teaching ability at all."
"Really?"
"Of course. You know, when Norton was young, he once applied to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. Guess how the Hogwarts headmaster responded back then?"
"Then he must have warmly welcomed him! After all, Professor Norton is so kind, and he's also very strong."
"Quite the opposite. That headmaster rejected him. And although his wording was polite, his attitude was extremely firm!"
"Why? Professor Norton is obviously so outstanding!"
"That's naturally because that headmaster... was afraid! More accurately, all of them were terrified! Terrified of Norton! Hahahahaha!", As No.1 spoke, he suddenly burst into laughter.
Under the girl's confused gaze, he laughed so crazily that tears continuously streamed down his face.
———
[Inside The Lobby Of The French Ministry Of Magic]
Streams of people constantly poured from the passageways of various district entrances into the central hall, then passed through the automatic inspection station at the end of the hall and dispersed toward different departments.
This was a personnel flow system far more efficient than the British Ministry of Magic.
And because of this structure, even in the afternoon, the crowd inside the hall far exceeded the peak rush-hour density of the British Ministry of Magic.
This was simply normal for the French Ministry of Magic.
Thanks to the complete and prosperous commercial system of Lionheart Street, the French Ministry of Magic never lacked merchants applying to conduct business activities, nor tourists from various countries handling visas to travel through the French magical world.
Black-robed Norton suddenly appeared inside a small teleportation passage.
This was a special passage reserved specifically for Portkeys.
Therefore, the traffic here was somewhat lighter compared to other passages, but it was still overcrowded.
Swept along by the flow of people, black-robed Norton was carried toward the central hall of the French Ministry of Magic.
Here, his fully covered appearance did not attract too much attention.
As a culturally open country, France had countless people dressed even more strangely than him.
Even in a formal and serious place like the French Ministry of Magic.
Instead, it was when he suddenly stopped walking that he drew everyone's attention.
The traffic in the central hall was simply too heavy.
This place was like a crowded highway. Every "vehicle" had to strictly follow traffic rules to ensure smoothness and efficiency.
And black-robed Norton's sudden stop was clearly a violation.
This would cause congestion.
Sure enough, after only a short while, many people around him who had been forced to slow down because of him began shooting angry looks his way.
Some of the more hot-tempered ones had even started cursing already.
If the hall weren't so crowded, they probably would have rushed over already to teach black-robed Norton the importance of obeying traffic rules.
Yet faced with so much hostility and dissatisfaction, black-robed Norton did not care at all.
Like a lighthouse, he stood firmly within the waves formed by the crowd. He slightly raised his head, looking at the constellation patterns painted on the dome ceiling, as well as the French Ministry of Magic emblem hanging a bit farther away.
Unlike the emblems of other Ministries of Magic.
The French Ministry's emblem possessed a different kind of beauty.
Using the famous French tricolor as its base, combined with symbols such as the cockade and the Phrygian cap, it formed a beautiful image.
Viewed from afar, it looked like a beautiful girl gazing at the flag formed by the French tricolor.
The meaning represented by this emblem was freedom, equality, fraternity.
These were also the ideals upheld when the French Ministry of Magic was first founded.
Staring at the emblem, black-robed Norton let out a deep sigh, then removed the hood hiding his face.
The next moment, the curses, complaints, and dissatisfaction surrounding him instantly vanished.
Everyone stared blankly at the exposed face.
"Professor Norton? Is that really you?"
"It has to be you, Professor Norton! It's wonderful seeing you here!"
"Oh! Merlin! Please forgive me, I actually insulted a hero just now. I'm truly horrible!"
"Professor Norton, my child studies at Beauxbatons! How is he doing?"
"What nonsense are you all talking about?! Professor Norton, come over here, take my place in line! There are fewer people ahead of me!"
———
The crowd surged.
Everyone desperately tried to get closer to Norton.
It was as if holy light surrounded him, and the closer someone got to Norton, the more they could bathe in that holy light and enjoy immense honor.
And in truth, it really was like that.
Although Norton's revenge plan against Gringotts and Hogwarts had failed, this did not stop French wizards from respecting him.
From the perspective of French wizards, Norton was a true hero.
Faced with such enthusiasm, black-robed Norton could only keep smiling and nodding.
In the end, the wildly passionate crowd quickly pushed him to the very front of the line.
The people originally at the front scrambled to give up their positions, wanting Norton to go first.
Throughout the entire process, no one objected, no one complained, and no one asked why Norton had come here.
Everyone simply looked at Norton with eager eyes. Even the receptionists sitting near the inspection station and the Hit Wizards on patrol straightened their backs and respectfully looked at black-robed Norton.
Normally, in this kind of atmosphere, Norton as the hero should begin speaking.
That was also what everyone hoped for.
They longed to hear the voice of Hero Norton, even if it was just meaningless chatter.
It could reignite their sorrowful and depressed emotions.
Norton clearly heard the thoughts of the people around him.
His mouth opened slightly, as if wanting to speak.
But in the end, as though remembering something, he closed his mouth again.
Black-robed Norton smiled apologetically at the crowd, then pulled out his wand.
Using the wand as a pen and magic power as ink, he began writing in the air.
———
[I am guilty]
[I will receive the punishment I deserve]
[I will repay this land that raised me with my blood and bones]
[But the French magical world is innocent]
[Beauxbatons is innocent]
[Please do not punish them]
[All the sins belong to me]
———
The glowing words gradually rose into the air under black-robed Norton's control, enlarging until they finally hung beneath the French Ministry of Magic emblem, reflected into everyone's eyes.
And just as everyone was examining the words in confusion.
Black-robed Norton smiled and pressed the tip of his wand against his chin.
BOOM!
Red light burst forth.
Black-robed Norton's head exploded instantly.
Red and white liquid splattered all over the surrounding people.
It also splashed onto the French Ministry of Magic emblem.
The liquid flowed down the face of the girl on the emblem, like tears of blood.
And as black-robed Norton's headless corpse collapsed, the crowd exploded into chaos once again.
Screams and cries echoed through the entire hall.
Those splattered with blood desperately tried to flee outward, while the people outside madly tried to push toward black-robed Norton's corpse.
Caught between the two sides, many people were directly swallowed by the surging crowd.
A trampling disaster was about to begin.
"Everyone stop!"
A terrifying shout like a dragon's roar suddenly rang out.
The chaotic crowd seemed to be frightened and miraculously quieted down, looking helplessly toward the source of the voice.
It was three Aurors in uniform.
They looked very young, like students who had just graduated from Beauxbatons.
"Professor Norton died for us!"
The boy in the middle roared with bloodshot eyes, "We already lost the mediation conference organized by the International Confederation of Wizards!"
"Those despicable beasts from the British Ministry of Magic want us to hand over Professor Norton! They want us to surrender our dignity!"
"Wake up, everyone!"
"Our Minister, our officials, they can't be relied on at all!"
"What they protect are only their own interests!"
"They've already colluded with the British Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards, selling away our lives, dignity, wealth, and Professor Norton together!"
"To them, we're nothing but livestock to be slaughtered at will!"
"What a miserable fate!"
"What a filthy world!"
"I'm never coming back again!"
The crowd in the hall quietly looked at the three young Aurors.
Many people were filled with doubt.
Because honestly speaking, people did have feelings toward the French Ministry of Magic.
For so many years, the wizards living on this land had always been protected by the French Ministry.
Overall, although the Minister and those officials weren't very moral personally, they had still been doing their jobs.
Not to mention that under their leadership, the French Ministry of Magic had become increasingly prosperous.
So when many people heard these words, their first reaction was to question them.
Unfortunately, they would never get the chance to voice those doubts to the three young Aurors.
Because in the very next moment, the three young Aurors simultaneously raised their wands to their chins.
"No, children, don't..."
An old woman cried out as she squeezed toward the inspection station, desperately waving her arms as if trying to stop everything.
But what answered her were the bright smiles on the young Aurors' faces.
And three explosions that merged together.
Three more headless corpses collapsed.
But this was only the beginning.
The receptionists at the inspection station, the Hit Wizards on patrol...
Nearly every employee present in the French Ministry of Magic raised their wands.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The smell of blood in the hall gradually grew stronger.
Warm dark-red blood spread outward beneath more than ten corpses.
Staining the smooth floor of the French Ministry hall red.
And staining the eyes of everyone in the hall red as well.