Finding Grimmauld Place took Amos a bit of time, because when Tonks mentioned the place, she only casually mentioned it as 'a rundown neighborhood in the northwestern part of London'. However, the scope of the northwestern part of London was too broad, and Amos couldn't possibly walk down every Muggle street and ask each person if they had heard of Grimmauld Place.
However, as Amos had been working outside for several years and was experienced, he wasn't encountering this kind of problem for the first time.
That evening, back in London, after resting at a guesthouse for the night, the next morning he found the largest Muggle police station in that area, and then walked in boldly under the cloak of an invisibility spell. He hypnotized a police officer, found the archives room, and spent half an hour successfully locating the specific location of Grimmauld Place.
Before setting out, he also stopped at a fast-food restaurant for breakfast. By the time he arrived at a three-mile radius around Grimmauld Place using Muggle methods, the sun had risen to the middle of the sky canopy.
"It indeed is a rundown place--"
From a 24-hour convenience store three miles away, with its clean glass window behind which Amos was munching on a hot dog, he gazed at the nearly out-of-the-city neighborhood and muttered.
It was daylight, but there were few passing cars and Muggles on the main street of the neighborhood, and the road's two sides were lined with tall streetlights whose painted surfaces were severely damaged. With a gentle breeze blowing past, a discarded old newspaper spun in the air and floated upwards, landing on a clothesline outside a building's balcony.
There were traces of magic in the air--this did not surprise Amos, as he had already anticipated such a situation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been moving so slowly towards this place using Muggle methods.
Surveillance magic was the work of Aurors, monitoring a large area around Grimmauld Place. As soon as they found someone using magic in this area, Aurors would appear behind you the next second, threatening to put you under detention or something...
However, there was no ban on apparition within the area. In fact, the Aurors would rather have Sirius Black apparate.
So... how do I get close to that house, Amos thought to himself, with his face puffing out.
In addition to the surveillance magic, there were quite a few Aurors in this area. They formed a line and then a network, centered around Grimmauld Place and evenly distributed within the three-mile range. This arrangement neither left any loopholes unattended nor isolated any one unit in case of an attack.
Amos wasn't new to dealing with Aurors, and he did acknowledge their 'business acumen'. However, their problem was that they couldn't handle 'high-tech and sophisticated' wizards.
It wouldn't be a problem for Amos to storm in under the guise of the Viper, but he didn't want to. 'The Viper' had been his identity for years, and it had gained some recognition and prestige. Amos didn't want to make this identity at odds with the Ministry of Magic.
For the sake of stability in the magical world, the Ministry of Magic could tolerate wizards from the underground world breaking some laws, but this tolerance certainly wouldn't extend to Sirius Black's case.
Change identities?
This isn't necessarily a bad idea... but then again, consider Tonks, who had just been released from St. Mungo's not too long ago. Amos hesitated and ultimately abandoned this option.
Knock, knock, knock---
Amos stared expressionlessly at the desolate neighborhood, gently knocking on the table, creating a rhythmic sound. After a while, the knocking suddenly stopped, and his raised fingers hovered in mid-air. A strange smile mysteriously appeared on Amos's lips.
"Then, lure them away..."
.......................
The night was deepening, and the pale moonlight was gradually obscured by moving dark clouds. Shadows surged like a tide from the end of the street, slowly but surely dragging the world into an eerie atmosphere.
Quack--quack--
A few startled crows took flight from the barren grass in the center of Grimmauld Place, quickly flying over the rooftops and disappearing into the darkness. Their rough, rasping calls added to the already deepening sense of mystery that night.
Hmmph...
In a dark alley to the south of Grimmauld Place, Tonks, cloaked in a deep-colored cloak, leaned against a utility pole in the shadow, yawned with a puff of breath. Her gaze was fixed on the direction of buildings 11 and 13 in the square, but there was an air of exhaustion in her eyes.
At that moment, a faint sound behind her caused Tonks to jump, but when she saw who it was - a shadow that was darker than the darkness itself - she breathed a sigh of relief. She suddenly stood up straight, rubbed her shoulders, and slowly put down her wand.
"I'm here to relieve you, Tonks. You can go find a place to rest for a bit..."
The steady, deep voice spoke words that slightly stirred the weary-looking Tonks, but she did not comply with the instruction to leave immediately.
"I think we're just wasting our time, Kingsley."
Glancing at the square where there was no sign of activity, Tonks whispered in a low voice and complained,
"Ever since Black escaped from Azkaban, we've been guarding here, but so far, we've accomplished nothing. In my opinion, we should send all the Aurors to the vicinity of Hogwarts, to search Hogsmeade... and the Forbidden Forest! Instead of wasting valuable time and energy here, Kingsley!"
"You have a point, Tonks."
Unexpectedly, Kingsley did not dismiss Tonks' opinion. Clearly, he also had a similar judgment in his mind.
Kingsley stood shoulder to shoulder with Tonks, both silent in the face of the dilapidated square. After a long while, Kingsley took a deep breath and said again,
"But Black is a Death Eater, Tonks. You haven't experienced those times, and you don't know how cruel and cunning they are... as long as there is a chance, we cannot ignore it."
"Alright, you're right, Kingsley. But perhaps you can arrange for me to go to Hogsmeade. At least during my off time, I can find some old friends for a drink..."
Tonks fussed with her slightly faded pink hair, which looked more like withered grass, and muttered discontentedly.
"Staying up late really does damage to one's health. Recently, I've noticed that my hair is falling out at an alarming rate..."
Boom!
A deep, rumbling boom like a muffled thunder rolled in from another direction two miles away. Accompanied by a piercing scream, the spectacular fireworks bursting suddenly in mid-air completely ignited the quiet, gloomy night!
"Halt, Black!"
As the explosion of the fireworks died down, a roar of anger startled Tonks and Kingsley.
"It's Dumbledores voice!" Tonks gasped, her eyes filled with disbelief. "Black... he actually came back here!"
Kingsley's expression was stern, without a response.
His wand pointed at the empty space in front of him. With a whisper, a graceful, gleaming lynx emerged from a cloud of silver-white mist.
Kingsley stepped forward quickly, using his wand to implant a message into the lynx's mind. The lynx then leaped nimbly in mid-air a few times before suddenly disappearing before their eyes.
"Kingsley?" Tonks looked confused, asking, "What are you doing? We should... "
"Prevent the same mistakes from happening again, Tonks," Kingsley said calmly. "Let's go, Tonks. Let's send that despicable creature back to Azkaban!"
"Reading Gallery"
