Chapter 18: The Rosier Family
"Vinda Rosier."
It was a name that had also resounded through the wizarding world in the first half of the 20th century. As Grindelwald's right hand, she was a woman of both talent and elegance.
She was Grindelwald's most loyal follower, willing to do anything for him. Some said she idolized him; others said she loved him.
But Lyra Hamilton could tell you one thing: she most definitely viewed Miss Hamilton as the most annoying person alive.
"Miss Hamilton! Are you writing that report Lord Grindelwald assigned you?"
"Miss Hamilton! You haven't left Nurmengard in a month. While Lord Grindelwald hasn't given you a mission, you can't just laze about like this!"
"Miss Hamilton! Lord Grindelwald says to come to the conference room... Yes, right now! Wait! Comb your hair!"
"Lyra! You need to pay attention to your personal hygiene! Has it been a week since you last bathed? I can smell that Veela stench on you!"
"That's enough, Miss Freeloader! You are to tidy your room today! Is it not enough that you do nothing but eat? You have to make more work for us, too? I have half a mind to transfigure you into an actual freeloader!"
"Freeloader! Miss Freeloader! Hamilton! You damned Veela..."
"Eek!" Lyra's body trembled, wrenching itself free from the terrifying memories.
Lady Vinda Rosier was terrifying!
She was, without a doubt, the most terrifying person Lyra had ever met!
And now... she was actually going to her house...
And... and Vinda definitely knew about the mission Lord Grindelwald had given her... Now, fifty years later... she... she was arriving with the Ministry of Magic.
Is she going to kill me?
She's definitely going to kill me!
Wait... calm down... calm down!
Lyra took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She instinctively raised a hand to pat her face, only to find she was just tapping the mask.
"Is your mask crooked, Professor Hamil?" Gester's voice piped up. "Speaking of, why are you always wearing a mask? Is it some kind of magical item? Don't tell me it's a Dark artifact?"
"Ah, just kidding, of course!"
Think about it... As Lord Grindelwald's loyal follower, Lady Rosier was probably imprisoned, right?
And if I remember correctly, Lady Vinda Rosier is French. Why would she be in Britain? Right?
It's fine... I won't run into Lady Rosier... I definitely won't.
Even with the mask, Lyra wasn't confident she wouldn't be recognized... She figured the moment she saw Lady Rosier, she would probably faint on the spot.
While Lyra was trying to console herself, the group of Ministry Aurors arrived at the edge of an estate.
It wasn't a large manor, but it looked quite old and quaint.
"Ah... good morning. Is... Director Scrimgeour?" Seeing the Ministry officials, an elderly wizard standing at the manor gate walked over.
He looked a bit bewildered, as if he had no idea why the Ministry would be here.
"Mr. Edward Rosier, good morning." Scrimgeour nodded curtly in greeting, then his expression turned serious. "By order of Minister Fudge and by the decree of the Wizengamot."
"The Auror Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is currently conducting an inspection for Dark artifacts." He cleared his throat. "We hope the Rosier family will cooperate with our work."
"A Dark artifact inspection?" Edward Rosier was stunned. He scratched his wrinkled face, looking rather awkward. "My apologies... Director Scrimgeour, we have a guest today..."
"We will not interfere with your guest," Scrimgeour said, his tone unyielding. "It is just a small inspection. If you have no Dark artifacts, you have nothing to worry about."
"Ah... we certainly don't have any Dark artifacts... It's just that, our guest..." Edward struggled, wanting to say something, but as a pure-blood family with little influence in Britain, he didn't want to start a conflict with the Ministry.
"We will not disturb the guest," Scrimgeour repeated sternly. As the Head of the Auror Office, he couldn't possibly back down in front of so many of his own men.
Besides, he had already sensed something strange about the wizard before him... There seemed to be a problem with that "guest."
"In that case..." Edward was silent for a long moment, but seeing no way out, he nodded lightly. "May I have a moment to go in and notify my guest?"
"Of course." Scrimgeour raised his left hand and looked at his wristwatch. "I imagine a simple notification won't take more than ten minutes, correct?"
"Of course... Director Scrimgeour." Edward nodded and hurried into the manor.
Watching him leave, Gester, who had been quiet for a few seconds, started muttering again. "Did you know, Professor?"
"The main branch of the Rosier family is in France. This is just an offshoot."
"No wonder Director Scrimgeour chose this place for the first day... The Rosiers have always been very cooperative with the Ministry."
"Not like the Malfoys..." he muttered, shaking his head. "Ah... sorry, actually, I don't think my Parkinson family is very cooperative either."
"Oh, right!" He lowered his voice as if remembering something. "Do you know about Vinda Rosier?"
"Eek!" Lyra's body jolted.
"The one who was with Grindelwald! The Dark witch!"
"They say she's still not dead," he whispered. "Even after being locked in prison for decades."
"It's probably because the prisons in Europe are too comfortable," he said with a sudden grin. "If she were locked up in Azkaban..."
"Director Scrimgeour, you may come in."
Edward had returned at some point. He forced a strained smile and nodded at the group.
"Thank you for your cooperation," Scrimgeour replied with an equally forced smile, then nodded to the Aurors behind him to begin.
As Lyra's stiff legs carried her past him, he reached out and took her by the arm.
"Miss Hamil... you're with me." His tone allowed no refusal.
"..." Lyra nodded, her face pale, and followed Scrimgeour into the manor like a reed adrift on the water.
The other Aurors fanned out across the grounds to begin their search, while Scrimgeour, with Lyra in tow, followed Edward directly into the manor's main hall.
"Please, have a seat..." Edward said slowly. "My father will be here shortly... I'll get you both some coffee." He glanced at Lyra, clearly not understanding who she was.
As she sank into the sofa, Lyra felt a small measure of relief. It's such a relief that Lady Vinda isn't here... Breathing easier, she finally had the presence of mind to look at the decor.
The hall wasn't overly decorated, just a few simple stone statues... but... Lyra studied the statues thoughtfully.
She felt there was something... off about them. Their arrangement seemed familiar. On the surface, it looked random... but in reality, it seemed...
No, I must be overthinking it... That seems unlikely... She shook her head and looked at the fireplace in front of her.
The pattern on this fireplace... is that a Magic Formation?
Lyra hadn't expected to find something so incredible just moments after sitting down.
"Miss Hamil..." Scrimgeour seemed to have noticed something. He leaned in and whispered, "Have you found anything in this hall?"
"That fireplace," Lyra whispered back. "It has traces of a Magic Formation..."
"I need to investigate it."
It looked like a combination formation. It was old, but it was definitely... Lyra stood up excitedly and walked to the fireplace, wand in hand.
Scrimgeour, stunned, hurried after her. "Miss Hamil..."
Before he could finish, Lyra had already used her wand to lightly trace a sword-shaped pattern on the fireplace.
Alohomora... Lyra silently incanted.
Click.
The fireplace made a soft noise and slowly swung open.
"Miss Hamil... this..." Scrimgeour stared at Lyra in shock.
"It's a combination formation," Lyra said slowly. "Composed of an Energy Storage formation and..." she studied it for a few seconds, "...and a Locking formation. It can only be opened with a specific magical pattern."
"But fortunately, the magical pattern is an older one... It's a common sword shape from the past. You just have to trace a sword along the formation with a wand..."
"The material used was probably Invisibility Beast blood, which would make people subconsciously overlook this spot... but it's been too long, and the effect has almost completely faded."
"And it only uses two Ancient Runes... the most basic ones..."
Watching Lyra babble on, Scrimgeour cleared his throat. "Miss Hamil!"
"Eek!" Lyra snapped back to reality and clapped a hand over her mouth.
I started talking on my own about that boring topic again! This stupid mouth!
"So, this is a secret compartment, correct?" Scrimgeour ignored her lapse and got straight to the point.
"Y... Yes." Lyra poked her wand, whispering, "It can be used... to store..."
"There are absolutely no Dark artifacts in there!" A rather agitated voice interrupted her.
The speaker was an old man. Beside him stood an old woman, and a very embarrassed-looking Edward.