Imperio.
One of the three Unforgivable Curses.
Once the spell takes effect, it completely controls the victim's behaviour and actions, making everything they say and do appear normal, such that even professional Aurors trained to detect it might not notice anything wrong.
Furthermore, because the victim is completely obedient to the caster, it can also be used as a spell for obtaining information when Legilimency cannot be proficiently used or Veritaserum is unavailable.
After Rabastan's spell took effect, Algy appeared completely stupefied, until Rodolphus spoke up and asked.
"What did you overhear Bella and me discussing this March?"
Algy's will seemed to struggle fiercely, but he could not break free from the control of the Imperio. His body, like a machine receiving orders, automatically spoke the answer.
"I heard Bella tell you that the Dark Lord gave her an important task. It was a cup, a very significant cup that the Dark Lord valued highly. She asked you to give her the key to the family vault so she could place this cup in Gringotts."
Rodolphus and Rabastan's faces instantly became incredibly grim.
"It really was you! How dare you, Taft!"
"So, what did you plan to do after knowing this?"
Algy's own will had completely given up resisting. He knew he was finished today and absolutely would not survive!
"Although the Dark Lord is terrifying and powerful, he might not truly succeed in conquering the Wizarding World. Dumbledore has not yet made his move, and the final outcome is uncertain. The Dark Lord values that item highly. If... if the Dark Lord ultimately fails, perhaps I could use this information to save my own life."
The expressions on the faces of the Lestrange brothers became even more ferocious.
"You're truly clever! Taft, you planned everything out long ago, ensuring you'd have a place regardless of who succeeded, didn't you? Have you told anyone else about this matter?"
"No, I haven't told anyone. Only I know."
Rabastan, unable to restrain himself, raised his wand.
"It's a good thing we proactively requested this task from the Dark Lord. Otherwise, if this information had gotten out because of you, our entire family would have suffered punishment from the Dark Lord!"
They prepared to strike Algy dead.
At that moment, Eddie, hiding under the invisibility cloak, instinctively wanted to rush out and stop them, but Sherlock suddenly grabbed his arm.
Sherlock met Eddie's gaze, shaking his head silently, and mouthed to him.
"Not yet."
In the brief moment they delayed, Rabastan had already chanted the spell.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A dreadful green light flashed momentarily across the detention room. Algy's eyes remained wide open, but he was lifeless.
Eddie blinked sharply. Having been too focused on listening, he only now recalled his true objective: to kill Algy.
Now, he didn't even need to act; Algy had been killed by his own people.
Sherlock removed the fake face of Karkaroff from his own face while signalling Eddie to follow suit.
Then he pointed at Rodolphus and Rabastan, then at himself, then at the two Aurors lying on the ground, and finally at Eddie.
The task distribution was clear: Sherlock would attack, and Eddie would use the Reviving Charm to wake up the two stunned Aurors.
Eddie nodded slightly, acknowledging Sherlock's plan.
After completing the task assigned by Lord Voldemort and killing Algy, the Lestrange brothers had no intention of lingering in the Ministry of Magic. They turned to leave.
And this was the moment Sherlock had been waiting for.
Over a dozen wands flew out from his side, emerging from beneath the invisibility cloak, hovering in mid-air and pointing at the two Death Eater brothers.
Eddie also pointed his wand at the Aurors lying on the ground.
The next moment, Sherlock abruptly ripped off the invisibility cloak, and the two of them chanted their spells almost simultaneously.
"Petrificus Totalus! (Rennervate!)"
Eddie's spell immediately took effect on the Auror lying closest to him!
The stunned Auror first opened his eyes in confusion, and the next second, a shattering sound, like glass exploding, rang out!
The Lestrange brothers were highly vigilant; they were constantly protected by Shield Charms while inside the Ministry of Magic!
When Sherlock cast spells using Control Magic, their effectiveness was significantly reduced, which was especially evident against the Shield Charms.
Several Petrificus Totalus spells hit their targets in succession, and only then were the Shield Charms protecting the brothers shattered!
Although the Petrificus Totalus spells did not take effect, the sheer force carried by the spells caused both men to stagger, nearly falling to the ground.
Sherlock's surprise attack completely caught both of them off guard!
Who could have imagined that someone else had been hiding in this detention room all along?
Upon realising this, Rodolphus began to tremble with fear.
Their recent conversation had been overheard. Not only was the matter unresolved, but it had now reached the ears of an Auror!
The first thing Rodolphus and Rabastan thought of was striking back immediately to silence the witnesses!
"Avada Kedavra!" x2
Two dreadful green lights flashed in the room once again, but since Sherlock dared to reveal himself, it meant he was prepared.
Without wand movements, using Control Magic directly, the long table filled with various foods in the middle of the room floated up, blocking himself and Eddie before the spells could shoot out from their wands!
Although the Killing Curse is the most direct and lethal magic in the entire Wizarding World, having no counter-spells or defensive spells, that does not mean it is invincible.
While magic cannot stop it, normal physical objects can block the green light, preventing the Killing Curse from taking effect.
Countless broken wood splinters flew out from the long table. The wooden table was not penetrated, giving Sherlock the opportunity to retaliate.
"Reducto!"
"What the f**k!"
As soon as he chanted the spell, the Lestrange brothers hadn't reacted, but Eddie, who had just revived the other Auror and was preparing to cast a spell to help, let out a curse in terror.
He knew Sherlock's method of casting spells using multiple wands. If that dense level of Explosion Charms took effect here, whether the enemies died or not, they certainly wouldn't be able to escape themselves!
But Sherlock was certainly not that foolish.
He knew that using multiple wands to cast the Explosion Charm over a wide area would be equivalent to inflicting three hundred points of damage on the enemy while losing a thousand himself.
In reality, only five wands were truly performing the Explosion Charm wand movement. Although the resulting effect was still immense, it wasn't overly exaggerated.
"Boom!"
An explosion loud enough to echo throughout the Ministry of Magic rang out!
The ground shook. The wall of Detention Room Number Three near the door was completely blown apart and began to collapse. Sand and dirt fell everywhere, and Rodolphus's furious curses sounded through the lingering smoke.
They definitely couldn't afford to tangle with Sherlock here for too long now. Such a commotion was enough to attract all the Aurors currently on duty in the Ministry of Magic!
If they delayed any further, none of them would be able to escape!
The Lestrange brothers ran down the corridor in the direction they had entered. They did not have permission for internal Ministry of Magic Apparition, so they had to use designated exits to leave.
Sherlock did not pursue them. After the first wave of Petrificus Totalus failed to take effect, he had no intention of getting further entangled with the two Death Eaters.
He and Eddie hadn't come here to fight Death Eaters, and besides, the actions of these two brothers were strange in every respect.
The Aurors, who had been awakened by the Reviving Charm and witnessed the brief confrontation between Sherlock and Eddie and the Lestrange brothers, were still utterly shocked.
"Butler, you... that wasn't you just now!"
Eddie originally wanted to chase after Rodolphus, but Sherlock grabbed his arm, indicating that explaining the current situation was more important.
He had already been framed once. Getting framed again would be the most troublesome thing for him, which was why Sherlock wanted him to wake up these two Aurors.
Eddie explained.
"It was Rodolphus and Rabastan. They sneaked into the Ministry of Magic, used my appearance to knock you out, killed Algy, and tried to pin the crime on me!"
Just as they were talking, a flurry of footsteps approached from a distance.
Following the incident at the Department of Mysteries, the Auror Office increased the number of staff stationed at the Ministry of Magic at night. Currently, three Auror Teams patrol the Ministry every evening, yet no one had discovered how the Lestrange brothers managed to sneak in.
Seven Aurors were the first to arrive at the scene. Two of them stayed behind to assess the situation, while the rest continued the pursuit in the direction Rodolphus and Rabastan had fled.
The Ministry of Magic being infiltrated by Death Eaters once again was a major incident. None of the staff remaining at the Ministry could handle such a matter, so they had to report it, waking up the high-ranking officials who could deal with it in the middle of the night.
Soon, all the Auror Team Captains, Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office, Barty Crouch Sr., Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Minchum, the Minister for Magic, all rushed back to the Ministry of Magic.
Minchum's face was terrible.
"Less than half a month! Twice! Those people broke into the Ministry of Magic twice! What kind of incompetents are you to let this happen! Tomorrow's headline in The Daily Prophet is certainly set! Once the news gets out, the entire Ministry of Magic will lose all authority!"
Scrimgeour's expression was also grim. As the person directly responsible, this incident could very well cost him his position.
He stared at the four people directly involved in the incident—Sherlock, Eddie, and the two Aurors who had been guarding Algy and ended up stunned.
"In front of the Minister, explain the entire sequence of events!"