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When did you, a little witch who usually believes in facts and logic, start playing Luna's game?

"Stop it, Hermione. Didn't you see that Lani didn't come with me?" Zicomo said helplessly.

"Hmph! I don't care, I'm going!" Hermione said haughtily.

She would never tell Zicomo that it was precisely because Lani wasn't there that she wanted to act with Zicomo even more.

She couldn't possibly miss such a good opportunity to be alone.

Zicomo didn't want to bring Hermione along, not because what he was about to do was dangerous, but because it was somewhat shady and he was afraid of corrupting the little witch.

But thinking about it carefully, this little witch in front of her wasn't exactly a peaceful character. Since Hermione insisted on going, it wouldn't hurt to bring her along.

“Alright, I’ll take you with me. But you have to behave and not run around,” Zicomo said.

"Uh-huh!"

Hermione nodded, then leaped up and threw herself into Zicomo's arms.

She rarely gets a chance to be alone with her cousin, so she won't wander off! Wouldn't it be more comfortable to be in her cousin's arms anywhere else?

Thinking of this, Hermione nestled comfortably in Zicomo's arms and closed her eyes.

Seeing her enjoying herself, Zicomo casually scratched her chin and shook his head with a smile.

This girl, perhaps influenced by the Animagus, seems to be exhibiting more and more feline traits. Compared to before, she's become a bit more haughty and occasionally likes to act cute with Zicomo. But Zicomo doesn't seem to mind.

Zicomo led Hermione to an old street. There were several dilapidated buildings, a noisy bar, and a wall covered in graffiti.

This kind of place is clearly a lawless zone that criminals love to frequent. Those thugs love to wait here for unlucky guys who accidentally wander in.

In their eyes, Zicomo, holding a ragdoll cat, is that kind of person.

Five thugs, three in front and two behind, surrounded Zicomo in the alley.

The leader said, "Little friend, how about lending us some pocket money?"

Zicomo disliked trouble and was too lazy to waste words with them. He simply unleashed his divine aura, stunning them into unconsciousness.

At this point, Hermione finally couldn't contain her curiosity and asked, "Cousin, what are we doing in a place like this?"

The environment here wasn't pleasant; the air reeked of a sour, foul odor that her cat's nose couldn't stand.

“Let’s come and see where you’ll be working. Aren’t you going to be the Minister of Magic? Let’s take a tour of the Ministry of Magic,” Zicomo replied.

"The Ministry of Magic is located in this godforsaken place?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

“To be precise, it’s underground here. See that red phone booth?” Zicomo pointed to the red phone booth ahead. “Just dial 62442 on the dial pad, and an operator will ask you why you’re here. After you explain your purpose, the phone booth will take you down to the Ministry of Magic’s main hall like an elevator.”

Hermione nodded knowingly. If that was the case, then it was alright. As long as she wasn't forced to work in that kind of environment, she could accept it.

However, Zicomo's next words dealt her a heavy blow: "Of course, that's just the VIP entrance. Apparently, employees on their way to work flush themselves down the toilets in the public restrooms over there."

Hermione:? ? ?

Which bizarre wizard came up with this idiotic idea? Couldn't they have just installed a proper elevator door?

She knew that the visit her cousin was referring to was definitely not a legitimate one, so they couldn't use the VIP entrance. In other words, they would likely have to use the staff entrance.

“I absolutely refuse to go in from that place!” Hermione said firmly.

“Don’t worry, we don’t need to go there,” Zicomo reassured him.

"Then how do we get in?"

Zicomo looked at the person who had suddenly appeared in front of him and said with a smile, "Isn't it the person who was supposed to pick us up?"

Zicomo had just unleashed his divine aura to lure out the people from the Ministry of Magic. Otherwise, he could have easily taken care of those thugs by simply collapsing unconscious.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before some people from the Ministry of Magic Apparated to the ground to investigate.

Zicomo sized up the man who had suddenly appeared before him. He had greasy hair, a pockmarked face, was tall and thin, and had a weary expression. He didn't look like a good person at all.

After the man appeared, he glanced around at the surroundings. A boy who looked to be in his teens was holding a cat in his arms, and five thugs were lying around him.

However, none of these were what he was looking for; his target was the person who had just exuded that 4.5 aura. Little did he know, the person he was looking for was right in front of him.

“Hey, kid. Do you know what just happened here?” the man asked.

“You mean these thugs on the ground? They tried to steal my money, so I knocked them out,” Zicomo replied.

"Stop joking. With your skinny frame and a cat, you think you can beat them? Don't lie to me! Tell me, did anyone just pass by here?"

The man's tone was full of impatience, much like someone who was about to leave work only to be told by their boss that they had to work the night shift.

“Sir, there really was only me and these few people on the ground here just now,” Zicomo said helplessly.

However, the man didn't believe Zicomo's words; he simply thought Zicomo was a liar. Having obtained no useful information, the man decided to investigate the surrounding area.

Zicomo sighed; it seemed normal communication was impossible. He simply raised his hand and cast a Soul-Stealing Curse on the man before him.

Although the man saw Zicomo raise his hand, Zicomo neither chanted a spell nor used his wand, so he was caught off guard and fell victim to the attack.

Chapter 165 An Encounter with Voldemort's Henchmen, the Mysterious Bureau of Mysterious Things

After subduing the man, Zicomo placed his hand on the man's head and activated Legilimency.

In reality, the magic Zicomo used could no longer be called Legilimency; he had already completely altered the spell.

The original method of mind control required the caster to get close to the target and make eye contact with the target in order to perform it.

Furthermore, the spellcaster needs to use language to induce the target, disturb the target's emotions, and awaken the target's corresponding feelings and memories so that the spellcaster can see the relevant memories.

When the target is not alert, relaxed, or vulnerable, mind control is relatively easy.

However, after Zikomo's improvements, all of the above prerequisites were omitted. With just mental power, he could freely access the other party's memories without any resistance.

Note that this is for browsing. In other words, you can read whichever section you want.

Therefore, it's more accurate to describe Zicomo's magic as a soul-searching technique rather than a mind-stealing technique.

Zicomo quickly flipped through the man's memories and learned his identity.

His name was Augustus.

(This person was originally supposed to escape from Azkaban three years later, but the author sets him up so that he was never caught and remained infiltrated into the Ministry of Magic.)

30 Zicomo had felt a little guilty just now, but now that he knew he was Voldemort's informant, that slight guilt in Zicomo's heart vanished instantly.

From Lukewood's memories, Zicomo learned that it was his turn to work the night shift, and after noticing the commotion above the Ministry of Magic, he came up to check.

The Ministry of Magic staff had already gone home, leaving only Lukewood and one of his colleagues on night duty. This conveniently facilitated Zicomo's operation.

Having learned this information, Zicomo retrieved a rough map of the Ministry of Magic from his mind. He then used a Forgetfulness Charm to erase Lukewood's memory of the night and cast a Sleeping Charm on him, exempting him from his duty and allowing him to enjoy a sweet dream.

Of course, when he wakes up tomorrow, he may be greeted with the nightmare of being fired.

After Zicomo finished doing all this, he carried Hermione and Apparated into the Ministry of Magic.

Apparition requires having been to that place or having a specific impression of it.

Zicomo had already seen the relevant impressions of the Ministry of Magic from Lukewood's memories, so he could Apparate directly into the Ministry of Magic instead of going through the toilet in the public restroom.

The Ministry of Magic was originally the Wizarding Council. After being reorganized into the Ministry of Magic, it is headed by the Minister and has seven departments. Its main purpose is to maintain the balance between the wizarding world and the Muggle world, and to protect all wizards and magical creatures from being discovered by Muggles.

In Zicomo's view, the so-called maintenance of the balance between the wizarding world and the Muggle world is actually just wizards constantly concealing their presence.

They possess incredible power, yet their small numbers force them to remain hidden. Zikomo had no objection to this, as concealing one's abilities isn't necessarily a bad thing.

However, hiding themselves for so long seems to have brought nothing more than a certain increase in the wizarding world's population.

Without external enemies, progress in the wizarding world seems to have slowed down. While geniuses continue to emerge, they mostly bring innovations in spells. In many ways, wizards are stagnating.

For example, Hogwarts' Potions textbook, *A Thousand Magical Herbs and Mushrooms*, was written by Philida Ryder.

This famous herbalist lived before the 15th century, meaning this textbook has been in use for at least five or six hundred years.

Such a long period of time is even enough for the herbs to undergo certain changes under the influence of the environment. Zicomo could see this from the potions-related notes Snape gave him.

The medicinal properties of many of the herbs recorded there have changed.

This shows that the wizarding world has been stagnant for a long time.

In modern times, the only two people who wanted to change the wizarding world were both given the title of Dark Lord by the wizarding community.

The first Dark Lord, Grindelwald, was alright; he was just a bit radical in his thinking. His ideas were good, but he was working in the wrong direction.

Voldemort, the second Dark Lord, was actually a paranoid madman. His mental state began to deteriorate when he cut his own soul into Horcruxes.

Voldemort dreamt of immortality, of becoming the most powerful wizard in the world, and of ruling the wizarding world and even the entire world. What a grand ambition!

Unfortunately, humanity has struggled for thousands of years and still hasn't achieved the goal of world unification. For Voldemort, with his power, to want to rule the world is undoubtedly a pipe dream.

Zicomo shook his head, dispelling the thoughts in his mind, and walked toward his destination.

The Ministry of Magic has seven departments: the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters, the Department of Magical Creatures Management and Control, the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the Department of Magical Transportation, the Department of Magical Sports, and the Department of Mysteries.

Zicomo was heading to the Department of Mysteries, the most secret agency in the Ministry of Magic, located on the ninth floor below the Ministry's basement level.

The staff of the Department of Mysteries are also known as the Silent Ones. Their work is top secret, and no one ever knows what they do. Even the Minister of Magic only knows the general outline.

It is said that the Department of Mysterious Things has several rooms that contain various mysterious powers, the forms of which are difficult to understand and even completely uncontrollable.

The Silent Ones are exploring and experimenting with these mysterious forces, essentially operating as a secret research department.

However, it seems they aren't well-liked by Fookie, otherwise they wouldn't have been relegated to having the Mysterious Affairs Division keep watch at night. They probably haven't come up with anything after all these years of research, and Fookie sees them as a department that only knows how to embezzle money.