311: Chapter 304 A Bounty Is Issued

Morning.

Hogsmeade Town Police Station.

Outside, a group of townsfolk gathered in front of the bulletin board, discussing the two brand-new wanted posters posted on it.

The text below the sketches explained that two brutal criminals had recently appeared in the town.

They had broken into a resident's home last night, murdered the couple's infant who was less than three months old, and the methods used were extremely cruel.

According to the Inspector who examined the scene, the infant died from a penetrating wound to the right chest caused by a dagger.

Besides the fatal wound, the criminals had also cut open the infant's abdomen and removed all the internal organs.

"Catch them! Hang them!"

"That's right! We should hang them up for three days and three nights!"

The townsfolk were filled with righteous indignation and swarmed into the police station lobby together, requesting the sheriff to arrest the criminals immediately.

The sheriff soon came down the stairs from the second floor to soothe the agitated crowd.

Once the scene quieted down, he first solemnly announced that the police had confirmed the murderers had not yet fled, and he and the Inspector had already devised a thorough plan to capture the killers as quickly as possible.

Then he instructed them that, to prevent the killers from striking again, everyone should avoid walking at night for the next few days, keep their doors and windows locked, and actively cooperate with the searching police.

The sheriff usually held great prestige, and seeing how seriously he took the case, the townsfolk dispersed and went back to their homes.

Most of those walking with hurried steps had newborns at home.

A man hurriedly ran out the door and turned left to head home, when his peripheral vision suddenly caught a little girl standing in front of the bulletin board, looking up at the wanted posters.

"Little girl, it's very dangerous outside right now. Don't stay out alone... where are your parents?"

"Thank you." The little girl did not answer; she nodded her thanks and then turned to run away.

"What a strange little girl... come to think of it, she looks a bit unfamiliar. Is she a tourist from out of town?"

The man stood there pondering for a while to no avail, then snapped back to reality, remembering there was no one to look after his child at home and that criminals were lurking in the town. He quickly stopped thinking and ran home.

Meanwhile, the little girl arrived at a two-story building with a courtyard on the edge of the town.

"Uncle Toby, I'm back," she called out as she entered the small courtyard.

Toby soon came out of the first-floor door: "Misha, how is the situation outside?"

"Just as you speculated, the police station has issued a bounty. You are now wanted criminals," she said with a giggle as she ran closer.

"Is that so... it might affect what comes next..."

"It won't." Wino stepped out from the door, his hands dripping with blood like a lead surgeon during an operation, held slightly aloft. "It was dark in the room last night; we could barely see anything even with night-vision goggles. That couple rushed in without time to light a kerosene lamp, and we covered our faces with our hands. It's impossible for them to have seen our faces."

Misha nodded. "Yes, I went to see the portraits. Um... it seems the Profiler sketched them based on the scene's environment; they look nothing like your faces."

"You could even say they're completely different people."

Toby showed a slight smile. "That's good news, but our Hogsmeade Town is in a remote location and few outsiders come here. We still have to be careful."

"As the Captain commands," Wino replied, then asked, "Shall we continue?"

"Yes."

The two returned to the second floor, and Misha followed curiously.

"Misha, maybe you shouldn't come in?" As he was about to enter the room, Toby heard footsteps behind him and turned to suggest this to Misha, who was standing at the top of the stairs.

"What would it affect?"

"Maybe your psychological state?" Wino's head peeked out from the doorway at an angle.

"I want to see."

Toby and Wino looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Then come in."

The displeasure on the little girl's face turned into happiness as she skipped into the room.

The room was very cramped, with no extra furniture except for a long wooden table in the middle, above which hung a rechargeable incandescent lamp.

The two stood on opposite sides of the table, their hands busy with something on the surface.

After walking in, Misha was surprised to find that they were actually using scalpels to dissect organs.

"Whose are these? Or are they an animal's?" She put her hands behind her back and leaned her head forward.

Wino glanced at the blood-covered table and couldn't help but feel amazed.

Because Toby didn't favor her, his contact with this little girl was essentially zero.

Out of professional habit, he had browsed her profile—a Learning Genius.

But... her behavior didn't seem like that of a Learning Genius.

Squinting his eyes, Wino said, "They should be a cat's internal organs."

Actually," he said, picking up a piece of tissue with two fingers, "even for a newborn human infant, the heart wouldn't be this small."

Misha was thoughtful: "You went... what exactly happened after you went in yesterday?"

Holding the scalpel and slicing a piece of meat in two, Toby began to tell the story.

Last night, the dagger Toby thrust did not enter the infant's brain but stopped about a finger's width from the forehead.

This was a test, a test to see if the thing before him was an infant or a monster.

The result was ambiguous; the little fellow showed no movement or reaction of resistance, which made Toby hesitate.

Seeing this, Wino stepped forward and kneaded the little fellow's body for a while, then said with certainty, "I can't say for sure it's a cat, but it's definitely not human."

Hearing this, Toby raised his dagger again and decisively cut open its abdomen.

Amidst screams, he quickly pried open the wound; the internal organs writhing inside were visibly too small to support the functioning of a human body.

So the two took out the internal organs, put them in a cloth bag, greeted the couple who had rushed in, and quickly left the scene.

After listening, Misha tilted her head: "So, the strange cries Aunt Rowling found were indeed from an infant?"

"If I'm not mistaken," Toby put down the scalpel, "the thirty-odd cats Wino and I found at the old man's place should all be infants."

"Is there such a magic?" Wino, unconcerned about his blood-stained hands, picked up a water cup from the table and brought it to his lips.

Toby shook his head: "I don't know, you'll have to ask her."

"Who?"

"Her," he said, gesturing toward Misha with his chin.

Wino, holding the water cup, was stunned for a moment and then laughed: "A Learning Genius is indeed impressive."

Yes, in terms of learning and understanding magic, Misha was the most outstanding of the five.

Wino didn't know this before today, but now he was clear about it.

"Let me think," Misha said, unconsciously poking the pieces of meat on the table. "Oh, there is, and more than one kind."

"Tell us the details."

"For example, the Cat Transformation Spell, the kind Professor Maggie uses, which completely changes the body structure. Or the Confusion Spell, which simply creates illusions."

"Anything else?" Wino asked.

"That's all."

"None of them seem quite right..." Wino wiped the blood off his right hand on the hem of his clothes and scratched the tip of his nose. "The one last night looked exactly like a human infant on the outside, but only the internal organs were a cat's."

"Half... could it be that the Evil Sorcerer isn't very good at magic, so he could only transform half?"

Wino laughed in spite of himself: "If he wasn't good at magic, it should have been a failed cast, right?"

"Isn't that what you said?" Toby glanced at him sideways. "When you eliminate all the impossibilities, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Do you have any other ideas?"

"I really don't."

"None indeed."

Toby picked up the cloth bag dropped on the floor and started putting the organ fragments scattered on the table inside. "The evidence is in hand; next is the arrest."

"Shouldn't we notify the police station first?

If we show these to the sheriff, he'll revoke your wanted posters, making it easier to act.

Besides, our mission is to uncover the truth. Do we need to arrest someone?" Misha asked.

Toby's hand, which was packing the organ fragments, paused. He looked hesitant for a moment before saying, "It was my oversight; I should have discussed it with you all."

"What?"

"The rating." He set the cloth bag aside. "Ms. Rowling said that our mission has a rating mechanism. Without a doubt, the final score must be related to the rewards.

I think... the Headmaster was so solemn beforehand, which, besides indicating the danger of the mission, also means the rewards are very generous."

Wino leaned back, his gaze subtle: "A decision like this should have been made by me."

Toby sighed: "Sorry, I was blinded by greed..."

"Wait," Misha interrupted him, excited. "Do you know what the reward is?"

"I have a general idea. Um... I suspect it's related to Magical Pets."

"Really?!"

Wino shuddered, his fists clenching involuntarily.

You should know, he had not yet used the reward from the Library Administrator because he was torn over whether a magical creature was worth it.

If this mission really rewarded everyone with a Magical Pet, he could save the Administrator's reward for now and use it when he encountered something he needed more in the future.

Seeing how excited he was, Toby dampened his spirits: "It's just a guess. Besides, even if I'm right, reaching a high enough score won't be easy."

"So that's why you thought of capturing the Evil Sorcerer, because completing extra objectives will give a higher score."

"Killing him works too. The Evil Sorcerer kidnapped so many infants; it's impossible he's doing anything good."

Wino moved around the long table to his side: "Hey, think more broadly. If we rescue all the infants..."

"Do you know how to undo the Cat Transformation Spell?"

"Uh, that's a course only taught in the second year."

At this moment, Misha, who had been quiet for a while, pulled out her staff: "I do."

"You do?!" The two were shocked.

"When did you learn it?"

"After class."

He wanted to ask more, but Wino stopped him: "Now is not the time to worry about that. We'll have plenty of time once we're back at the academy. We need to save the infants first."

The infants are in the Evil Sorcerer's hands and could meet with misfortune at any second. The best plan is to rescue them immediately.

Toby stopped wasting time and ran to wake up Lyon across the hall and Klaisi next door. Then, the five of them waited until nightfall and immediately set off for the old man's villa.

However, just as they stepped out, they encountered Ms. Rowling, who had been missing for several days.

"Finding you all was truly not easy." Ms. Rowling raised her left arm, carrying a small leather lady's bag.

"Ms. Rowling, how did you... let's talk about whatever it is when we get back. We have to..."

"The Evil Sorcerer is very strong. You'd better have a plan before you go."

The five of them were stunned, seemingly not expecting Ms. Rowling to know they were going to find the Evil Sorcerer.

Toby asked: "You know who the Evil Sorcerer is? Since when?"

"This morning, after seeing the wanted posters." Ms. Rowling elegantly brushed back her long hair. "At noon, I went to see the Evil Sorcerer and learned the whole story from him."

Ms. Rowling saw the Evil Sorcerer? And learned the whole story from him?

The five of them were so full of complaints they didn't know where to start. Finally, Lyon scratched his head and asked, "Please forgive my dullness, but could you explain in detail? Why would the Evil Sorcerer tell you what's going on?"

Why would the Evil Sorcerer tell you what's going on?

Ms. Rowling said with a charming smile, "I can't help it. Who told me to have such a powerful grandfather? I showed my bracelet, and that old fellow wanted to turn tail and run. I told him that if he ran, I'd have my grandfather hunt him down when I got back."

I told him that if he ran, I'd have my grandfather hunt him down when I got back.

"And he didn't dare to run?"

"Yes, he is staying obediently in the villa."

At this moment, the five were so envious they almost burst into tears. They couldn't help but want to go home and ask their great-grandmothers if their ancestors had any mysterious legends—perhaps they could be related to the Headmaster.

Wino, who had long ago experienced unfairness, was the first to pull himself together: "Then why were you looking for us?"

"You're filming the mission process, right?"

Toby glanced at the pinhole camera pinned to Wino's chest: "Yes."

"Give me a copy of the recording."

"No problem."

Having received the answer she wanted, Ms. Rowling waved her hand and turned to walk toward the street entrance. "Go about your business. Please remember, the Evil Sorcerer is very powerful for you. I'm leaving now."

As her figure vanished into the darkness, the dazed five finally snapped out of it.

"She came just for the recording?"

"Didn't she make it clear enough?"

"She also said the Evil Sorcerer is very strong. What should we do?"

"Let's try. If we delay, the infants will be in danger."

Toby made his decision, and the other four agreed, so they set off once more.

About ten minutes later, the five successfully reached the outside of the villa.

After thinking for a moment, Toby ordered himself and Wino to launch a surprise attack, while Lyon and the other two lay in ambush by the left and right walls to wait for an opportunity to strike.

They followed orders and left. The two climbed over the wall into the small courtyard and were surprised to see that the old Evil Sorcerer was not resting; instead, he was standing in the middle of the courtyard as if expecting them.

One side was the Hogwarts freshmen, and the other was the Evil Sorcerer who saw Hogwarts as a mortal enemy. There was no need for conversation; the battle began.

After fighting for a few minutes, Toby discovered that Ms. Rowling was telling the truth; the old man was indeed exceptionally powerful.

With the same Lightning Spell, he cast it much faster. Often, just as Toby raised his staff, a bolt of lightning was already striking him.

Fortunately, Wino supported him from the side, so they didn't suffer a defeat and injury in just two rounds.

The two cooperated and struggled to hold their ground. Seeing this, the three on the wall couldn't wait for the old man to show a weakness; they jumped into the courtyard, waved their staffs, and joined the fray.

The old man showed no signs of weakness fighting five against one. His staff whistled through the air, successfully suppressing the five. As the battle continued, he even seemed poised to defeat them all.

Just as Toby thought they were going to lose their lives, Misha suddenly struck. She silently chanted an incantation, and a stone spike appeared soundlessly behind the old man, then shot forward, piercing through his chest.

Stone Spike Spell, a second-year magic course.

While the four were in shock, Ms. Rowling pushed open the courtyard gate and came in, shouting "Splendid."

After parting ways earlier, she hadn't gone far. She followed the five to the villa and watched the battle through a crack in the gate from outside, intending to intervene if they were about to be killed.

Who would have thought Misha was actually hiding such talent?

Toby roughly understood Ms. Rowling's purpose and didn't care much. He pulled out the infants hidden in the underground hole, and Misha waved her staff to undo the Cat Transformation Spell.

Afterward, they took the infants to the police station, explained the situation, and told the sheriff to notify the families to come and collect them. They didn't bother with how to handle the cats that had been turned into infants and set off back to the school.