Lita finally realized that something, that is, the young man sitting opposite her, if placed in the Magic Ministry, might still be working in a remote department, or perhaps, Ammsta Breen was not the kind of simple-minded 'dumbass' she was used to seeing around.
He was very smart and alert, most importantly, Ammsta Breen had a remarkable network of connections in private.
To know, even the Minister of Magic would find it no easy task to have her article removed from The Daily Prophet, but according to the information she gathered, Ammsta Breen actually had the clout to order the publication to withdraw her article from the issue that was already in the process of being mass-printed for the next edition.
"I don't understand what you mean, Ammsta --"
Rita raised her well-drawn eyebrows, the thick layer of powder on her face making her expression somewhat stiff and her smile disappeared, and her eyes turned cold.
"Our readers have the right to know the truth, Ammsta, and it is my duty to uncover it."
As silence fell, Rita's fountain pen began spreading rumors again:
When the author asked about the terrifying attack incident that happened at Hogwarts, (The specific process would be attached to the report), Ammsta Breen, who made a big name for himself by eliminating the Grimbly, denied it and reacted strongly, which made us doubt the true nature of this hero who was covered in a halo of heroism.
Ammsta shook his head in disappointment.
He let the female journalist in to talk to her properly, to build a certain level of friendship, but he did not actually expect Lita Skeete to be so determined to spread rumors about him.
"I think, initiating this conversation is a wrong decision, Mrs. Lita Skeete --"
Bang!
Under the bright sunlight, the glass coffee table, reflecting the sunlight's beams, suddenly caught fire. Lita Skeete jumped up, trying to save the crocodile skin bracelet she had placed on the table and her fountain pen from the flames. However, the fire was so intense that in an instant, all her belongings were reduced to ashes.
A few moments later, the flames dissipated, the glass coffee table and a potted plant on the desk were intact, and with the residual ash spiraling out of the glass railing as a breeze swept by, it disappeared as clean as a whistle.
"You dare to do this, Ammsta!"
Lita Skeete, who had interviewed countless famous wizards in her career, had never encountered someone as brazen as Ammsta. With a face full of malice, she stared at him maliciously.
"Ammsta Breen, you will pay for your actions, I swear, you will be discredited!"
"Leave, Lita Skeete, I have things to do, and won't see you out myself."
Shaking his hand, the door of the living room automatically opened, and Ammsta spoke indifferently.
If Lita Skeete understood the operating rules behind the illusion of peace and harmony in the magical world, whether above or below ground, she would not do anything foolish out of impulse. If she were truly not clear-headed, she would at best lose her career, and at worst face a fate as bad or worse than that of the other bestselling author.
Lita Skeete stormed out, slamming the door shut with a loud clanging sound.
Ammsta simply shook his head lightly, got up and walked towards the desk, continuing to deal with the interrupted reply.
Standing in front of the room door, Lita Skeete's face was ashen, and she was breathing heavily.
"Damn Ammsta Breen. No one has ever dared to do this before. Hmph. Intercepting my report, destroying my things!"
Rita's eyes darkened as she stared at the door, plotting something in her mind.
"There must be something shady going on, isn't that right? Oh, of course. These big shots are all like that. It's not easy to find out. Ammsta is very mysterious. No one knows what he did in the two or three years after leaving Hogwarts."
Before today, Lita Skeete had investigated the sudden emergence of Ammsta Breen in the public eye, but the results were not satisfactory.
She could find no information on Ammsta after he graduated from Hogwarts, and during the period from then until he was hired by the Hogwarts Board of Governors to search for the location of the Slitherin Chamber, it seemed as if he had vanished completely from the magical world, and no information could be found on him.
Ammsta Breen neither chose to work at the Ministry of Magic nor worked for any of the well-known magical companies, and had completely cut off contact with his former classmates.
Only one possibility could explain it: Ammsta Breen had returned to the Muggle world and was no longer intersecting with the magical world.
Could that really be possible?
A powerful wizard choosing to stay away from the magical world and mingle with Muggles is as incredible as a centaur leaving the forest to live in Diagon Alley.
And how could he have built up connections with those elite individuals?
The only possibility is that he has hidden his identity and has been secretly working for those corrupt pure-blood wizard families and those who hold power without doing anything meaningful.
Lita's eyes flashed with satisfaction as she believed she had discovered the truth.
However, she was now lacking in critical evidence.
Lita isn't some brainless tabloid journalist; she knows what kind of report can attract people's attention, just spreading rumors isn't enough! There must be some truth in lies for people to be able to tell the difference!
Lita's eyes flashed with ill-intent, she recalled the stack of letters on the desk in the room.
"You'll pay for this soon."
After making up her mind, Lita's expression became cheerful. She sneered at the door and turned, strutting arrogantly and disappeared down the corridor.
If just a few words of harsh criticism make him shiver and live in fear, then Ammsta must not have been able to sleep well for these years. Lita Skeete's visit to him was just a small interlude, quickly forgotten by him.
Perhaps because the letters had been cleared away, the desk in the room looked much tidier. Glancing at the clock on the wall where the hour and minute hands were resting, Ammsta yawned and stretched, closing the magical book in front of him.
Towards the end of February, at night, the evening breeze that wandered among skyscrapers had already mingled with the thick scent of spring.
Standing on the balcony and looking out, the city, now quiet, was still bathed in light from countless lamps, and the clear moonlight shed upon the earth by the bright moon had melted into this murky glow.
Perhaps it was because he had been worried about so many things recently. In recent times, he had experienced periodic swelling in his head, but after the anomaly disappeared, he felt an overwhelming exhaustion.
A powerful wizard having an unparalleled energy is not normal, this may indicate that his body is suffering from some kind of illness, and the problem has already begun to show signs of seriousness.
"Old age."
Ammsta chuckled at himself and turned to walk into the room, closing the glass door and lying down on the bed to rest. However, from the slight twitching of his brow, it was clear that he was probably enduring something.
The last room in the hotel building finally turned off its lights, and at the top of a pine tree in the hotel's garden, an oversized beetle that was uncommon during this season flapped its wings and took off into the sky, speeding towards the room where the lights had just gone out with laser precision.
The beetle landed on the top of the glass railing, and when it saw through the gap in the curtains that the occupant of the room was lying down, its wing tremors and buzzing sound conveyed acontented mood.
It exhibited great patience, not attempting to enter the room immediately, but pretending to be a normal beetle, climbing up and down on the glass plate as if interested in the dead mosquitoes stuck on the glass railing.
There was no unusual sound in the room, and after twenty minutes, the beetle finally could not stand it anymore. It landed on the floor of the balcony, eyeing the gap between the sliding door and the floor, and charging towards it in an attempt to squeeze into the room!
Boom!
In an instant, a moment of blazing fire like Christmas fireworks appeared. The explosive sound caused some of the nearby rooms to tremble and rattle, turning off the lights in the dark room one by one. Panic-stricken people rushed around, screaming, and more than a few floors of people were shouting that there had been a gas explosion!
Looking at the completely shattered glass door and reinforced glass railing, as well as the half of her body hanging over hundreds of feet in the air, her golden hair and cheeks turning into a burnt black color, coughing out black smoke and fainting, Lita Skeete, Ammsta raised his eyebrows and gave a strange smile.
(End of Chapter)
