Harry Potter: The Golden Viper-Chapter 723 - 0721 Their Talks

"Hmm, Dumbledore?"

Seemingly drawn by Bryan's words into long-buried emotions and perhaps painful memories, Anton Vogel—a man who appeared to be merely a breath away from crossing the veil between life and death—began coughing violently. The tremors shaking his body made one worry they might snap the brittle ribs of his old frame.

The house-elf Hayne quickly moved to Vogel's side with the practiced efficiency of one who had performed this service countless times before.

With gentle hands, he began carefully patting his master's back in slow, circular motions while simultaneously offering him the steaming herbal tea that had been placed on a three-legged stool nearby.

"I apologize for this unseemly display—" Vogel managed to rasp out between fading coughs, his voice coming like parchment being slowly torn.

Having finally managed to calm his ragged breathing after several tense moments during which the garden fell completely silent except for his struggle for air, Vogel looked up through watery eyes to see Bryan and his two subordinates still standing in the yard.

"It's been a long time since I've entertained guests here. I fear I've neglected proper etiquette, Hayne, could you please bring some chairs from inside the house and prepare fresh tea for our visitors?"

"Ah, please don't trouble yourself—" Bryan said with polite elegance.

He drew his wand out and gave it a gentle flick. Where there had been nothing but carefully tended grass a moment before, three soft armchairs furnished in polished, beautifully patterned cotton appeared out of thin air in front of Vogel.

Bryan gestured welcomingly to the somewhat stiff Kingsley and the wide-eyed Louise, taking a seat first himself. His fingers joined together thoughtfully as he settled into the chair, maintaining a courteous expression.

Meanwhile, despite Bryan's generous gesture making his errand unnecessary, Hayne still disapparated with a sharp crack to prepare fresh tea for these 'unwelcome guests,'.

"Since we happened to mention Dumbledore just now—" Vogel said after a moment, his voice still slightly hoarse from his coughing but steadier now. "How is he faring these days? It has been... quite some time since our paths last crossed."

The fact that this half-buried old man had deliberately addressed him as "Chairman Watson" indicated he wasn't entirely ignorant of events in the outside magical world, despite his apparent isolation. Indeed, Dumbledore's every word and action were a focal point of intense public attention and speculation—information that required little effort to obtain even for one living in self-imposed exile from the wizarding community.

Bryan maintained his polite smile without pointing out this obvious contradiction. He looked directly into those faded eyes where the fire of life grew visibly weaker by the second, yet which remained as unruffled and impenetrable as those of a master of Occlumency.

"Dumbledore," Bryan began thoughtfully, "Well, he continues to dedicate himself to the noble cause for which he has already devoted his entire lifetime—"

Vogel chuckled at this diplomatic response, a dry, rattling sound from which it was exceedingly difficult to discern what emotions or opinions he truly meant to convey. The ambiguity seemed totally intentional.

"Devoted his lifetime," He echoed with a hint of something that might have been irony or perhaps regret. "You're not wrong in your assessment. A wizard of his exceptional caliber, hmm, has indeed spent the vast majority of his life at Hogwarts—"

The implication of cowardice or avoidance was in the air, unspoken but unmistakable.

"Oh, that's not precisely what I meant by my statement, Mr. Vogel—"

Unexpectedly, Bryan shook his head slightly.

"I meant specifically that he continues to exhaust himself working tirelessly for the peace and tranquility of the European magical world as a whole—sacrificing his personal comfort and potentially greater ambitions for the common good."

'Peace and tranquility of the European magical world?'

"He could have accomplished so much more—" Vogel's eyebrows twitched noticeably, the only outward sign of what might have been genuine emotion.

Some powerful feeling seemed about to break through the frozen layer of indifference covering his rheumy eyes like winter ice on a pond, but in the end, he just shook his head slightly in resignation and said softly, with unmistakable bitterness coming through his words:

"The considerable power and international influence of the International Confederation of Wizards came to an end with Dumbledore's tacit consent, did it not? He stood aside and allowed it to happen—"

"Undeniably, that is indeed the case from a certain perspective—" Bryan nodded slightly, acknowledging the historical fact without approving the implied criticism.

"But that's not necessarily a negative development for our world, is it?" He continued smoothly. "Excessive concentration of magical and political power easily breeds dictatorship and autocracy, making it significantly more likely to plunge the entire European wizarding world into the most dire of straits—as we have seen repeatedly throughout our troubled history."

Vogel's eyelids moved slightly, his expression momentarily becoming more active, seemingly not entirely agreeing with Bryan's subtly presented viewpoint. However, instead of directly refuting it and engaging in what might become an inappropriate argument, he just laughed hoarsely.

"No wonder people throughout the magical community increasingly call you Dumbledore's spiritual successor, Chairman Watson—" Vogel said softly, his tone hovering somewhere between admiration and accusation as he gazed assessingly at Bryan Watson in front of him—young and vigorous yet already holding high position in the wizarding hierarchy, but somehow not appearing slick or opportunistic in his rapid rise to power.

In the current overall poor educational environment of the Wizarding world, which Vogel had witnessed deteriorate over decades, to possess such deep magical attainment at such a relatively young age and, apparently harbor no burning ambition to radically change the status quo that so many found unsatisfactory...it was either remarkably principled or remarkably clever.

Possibly both.

Vogel's eyes, now seemingly covered with a layer of ashen disappointment accumulated through decades of political struggle and eventual defeat, focused behind Bryan, examining his companions.

Kingsley, standing tall and dignified but clearly respectful towards Bryan, didn't merit much of Vogel's attention, apparently dismissed as just a subordinate of no particular interest. But his gaze lingered significantly on Louise for several seconds, a flicker of something—perhaps surprise, perhaps disapproval—crossing his facial features.

Though his eyesight was undeniably failing after more than a century of use, Vogel could tell at a glance with the intuition born of decades of magical experience that the young woman Bryan had brought to this meeting was a Muggle.

The current vice-chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards and the retired former chairman casually discussing highly sensitive matters related to the magical world in front of a Muggle, blatantly violating the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy—when one thought about it carefully, it was indeed quite an intriguing and potentially scandalous situation.

With perfect timing, Hayne materialized soundlessly from thin air, carrying a silver tray with an antique porcelain teapot emitting curls of fragrant white steam and three delicate teacups. He had also thoughtfully prepared some traditional wizarding snacks.

"Oh, thank you so very much—" Louise said with genuine warmth, her voice showing her nervousness in this strange situation.

She accepted the teacup Hayne bowed to offer her, stood up somewhat flustered and clearly honored by what she perceived as special treatment bowed deeply to Hayne in return, mimicking his gesture with awkward sincerity. When she straightened up from her bow, she found everyone in the yard, including Hayne who had just served her tea, staring at her.

"What's wrong?" Louise's face suddenly flushed red that spread rapidly from her neck to her hairline. She looked helplessly toward Bryan, embarrassment evident in every line of her body.

"Did—did I do something wrong just now? Oh goodness, I'm so sorry, I don't really understand your customs!" Louise apologized to Hayne again.

Hayne didn't respond verbally to this unprecedented situation, but looked questioningly to his master for guidance. After receiving some subtle, almost unnoticeable signal that only decades of service allowed him to detect, he placed the teapot carefully on the stool and disapparated from the backyard with a soft pop, without acknowledging Louise's apology.

"You haven't shown any discourtesy whatsoever by any wizarding standards. Please sit down and make yourself comfortable, Louise—" Bryan said gently, his voice carrying reassurance and a hint of amusement.

A moment of silence followed, with no one speaking first. Bryan gazed thoughtfully for a while at the endless, soul-refreshing rapeseed fields stretching beyond the garden boundaries, then looked back meaningfully at the old wooden cabin from which not even the faintest sound emerged before saying in a casual, conversational tone:

"Have you been living here alone since your retirement, Mr. Vogel?"

"Chairman Watson—" Vogel said with surprising directness, calmly observing Bryan with eyes that suddenly seemed sharper, more focused, as if a veil had temporarily lifted. "I believe you didn't take the considerable effort to come all this way, bringing such an unusual entourage, just to politely inquire about the living conditions of a dying old man with one foot already in the grave, did you? Let us dispense with these diplomatic pleasantries."

"Is there something inherently improper about showing concern for a distinguished predecessor?" Bryan smiled slightly, showing absolutely no embarrassment at having his pretense so directly confronted.

"I've always firmly believed we should maintain greater concern and respect for the post-retirement lives of those wizards who have made outstanding contributions to the Wizarding world, regardless of any controversies surrounding their tenure," He continued smoothly. "We should organize regular visits of sympathy and support or perhaps invite them to give informative lectures to the new generation of young wizards, helping them understand that today's relative peace and prosperity didn't come easily or without significant sacrifices—"

Bryan said meaningfully, his words carrying layers of potential interpretation.

One couldn't say Vogel's expression was pleasant after hearing this. After all, during his years in office, the European magical world had constantly been in a precarious state teetering on the brink of open warfare, and he had taken no decisive action to prevent the gathering storm.

In fact, due to his well-known and historically controversial decision that had ultimately forced his resignation, he had even inadvertently fueled the spread of the devastating conflict that followed.

"Very well—" Vogel's eyelids drooped wearily, and he remained silent for several moments, as if he had suddenly fallen into an exhausted sleep in the middle of their conversation.

But from his tightly pressed lips of an uncomfortably dim, bluish color, one could clearly see that the long-retired chairman was not nearly as calm as his feigned drowsiness might suggest.

Seeing that the psychological moment was exactly right to press his advantage, Bryan also deliberately put away his diplomatic smile, allowing a more serious expression to settle on his face.

"Jasna Vogel," He said directly, the name falling into the garden like a stone into still water. "Mr. Vogel, does she belong to the Vogel family? Your family?"

Vogel, maintaining his performance of being truly asleep, kept his eyes firmly closed, showing absolutely no visible reaction whatsoever upon hearing this name. This intentional non-response didn't displease Bryan in the slightest, who just slightly shifted his position in the conjured armchair to better expose Louise to Vogel, whether his eyes were open or not.

"This is Miss Louise Williams, as you can see, Mr. Vogel—" Bryan said with deliberate emphasis, gesturing toward the still-flustered Louise.

"She is, as you've already discerned, a Muggle without any magical abilities. Currently, Miss Williams has experienced some unfortunate and traumatic events—her brother, also a non-magical person, was brutally killed by a group of evil wizards—"

Bryan paused in his speech and said with chilling calmness, dropping the single word into the silence like an executioner's axe:

"Inferi."

'Inferi?'

The grief-stricken Louise blinked in confusion, the unfamiliar term meaning nothing to her. 'What did that mysterious word mean—was it the specific magical spell that had killed Fraser?'

Anton Vogel's eyelids trembled slightly at the word, but he still didn't open them to meet Bryan's penetrating gaze, maintaining his pretense of disinterest or unconsciousness.

"According to some clues provided by Miss Williams," Bryan continued relentlessly, "we have discovered through investigation that her brother's brutal murder was not a random or a single incident. The killers are a well-organized group of dangerous fanatics obsessively trying to understand how magic fundamentally originates.

Of course, many respected wizard scholars throughout the magical world are also researching this important topic through legitimate means, but there is irrefutable evidence clearly showing that these particular fanatics experiment on innocent Muggles—babies, vulnerable pregnant women carrying unborn children.

They also induce intellectually gifted Muggles through various deceptions to serve their purposes, and when these unfortunate Muggles lose their perceived value to the organization, they simply kill them without hesitation. Miss William's brother was precisely such a tragic case, and according to our investigation—"

Bryan said with deadly calmness, each word falling like a precisely placed stone building in an inescapable wall:

"Jasna Vogel is one of the core members of this organization—"

The previously warm atmosphere in the yard was instantly carried away by a sudden chill breeze that seemed to arise from nowhere, and the temperature visibly dropped several degrees.

Vogel suddenly opened his eyes wide, abandoning all pretense of sleep or disinterest. On his elderly, time-ravaged face, a surprisingly sharp, penetrating gaze broke through the shadows hanging above his eyes and fell directly upon Bryan Watson's face with unexpected intensity.

"You're seeking justice for these Muggles?" He asked, his voice stronger now, carrying a complex mixture of emotions—curiosity, perhaps, or something darker.

"No—" Bryan said with a hard tone.

"I'm simply vindicating justice itself—"

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