"What do you want, Heine?"
Amosita looked at Vogel's little fairy with a calm tone.
"Heine knows that Master Adam and Miss Jasn are probably breaking the laws of the wizards..."
"Heine is facing Amosita, bowing deeply, his breath slightly disordered, and his voice is trembling with request."
"This is a serious offense, but—considering the old master—could you allow them to return to see the old master before sending them to prison?"
"You are very smart, Heine, and very loyal."
Amosita raised her eyebrows in surprise.
He had thought that the little fairy would ask for his forgiveness for Adam Vogel and Jasn Vogel, but that was impossible. Being sent to prison was the best outcome they could face, and if they dared to resist, he might kill them right then and there.
Even without mentioning Hermione's situation, the other offenses they had committed against this outcome would be justifiable.
But Heine did not make such a request. It heard what Amosita said about Jasna to Vogel and knew that they were beyond redemption. Therefore, it made such a request in hopes of at least saving the lives of those two people.
Amosita was silent for longer than imagined.
The gentle breeze sweeps across the wilderness, with the golden waves of wheat rippling up and down.
The dignity of Anton Vogel was not something he valued much in this life, and what he pondered was something much deeper.
He had thought that Jasna Rozier was a pseudonym, and that Vogel was the true surname of the woman with a touch of cold elegance whom he saw in the elfin memories.
Who would have thought that this guess was wrong, and the actual outcome was just the opposite.
Heine had just told him that Jasna was the true descendant of Anton Vogel—Adam Vogel, brought back from outside. Adam also told them that Jasna's ancestors died in the wars for the glory of wizards.
This is quite interesting indeed.
Rozier--one of the twenty-eight sacred races, a famous figure from their family who also intervened in the war that swept across Europe half a century ago. When Amosita was attending Hogwarts, to gain a deeper understanding of Dumbledore, she paid special attention to that historical period. The only person she could think of was--
Vida Rozier.
She was one of the leaders among the fanatical Wizards' purity party and held an extremely high position among them. According to history, she died in battle against the international wizarding union's coalition of wizard armies led by Vinsonciva Santos before the start of the decisive century-long war.
While pondering over the life of Vida Rozier, Amosita's lips subconsciously tightened.
"I will give them a chance, Heine."
After a long time, Amosita spoke in a low voice,
"But whether they can hold on to it depends on them."
The silence by the riverside lasted for a long time. Kingsley and Louise were both shocked by Amosita's words, not understanding what he was thinking.
If Amosita did not wish to let the two go, he could have simply refused Heine, after all, the plea of a lowly house-elf carries too little weight and would have been completely ignored by Amosita.
As for Anton Vogel, to be honest, as an elderly leader who had retired over half a century ago, he would not have too much influence in front of Amosita Brean. Moreover, this request did not come from Anton Vogel.
Amosita finally spoke in a low voice after a long time.
"If they acknowledge their mistake, and confess their crimes, then before sending them to Azkaban, I will allow them to meet with Mr. Vogel."
"Azkaban!"
Heine was about to express gratitude, but upon hearing of this infamous prison throughout the European magical world, he was startled.
"Bur—Mr. Brean--" Heine stammered, "shouldn't it be Exstas instead?"
"Hoh!"
Amosita smiled, a deep light flashed in his eyes, and the words he spoke left Heine, Kingsley, and Louise bewildered.
"Of course, it's Azkaban. I believe they will reflect more deeply on their mistakes there, and play a greater role."
Greater role? How could a criminal who will serve life in Azkaban possibly accomplish anything greater?
To have been able to achieve this result, Master Adam and Miss Jasna will not be directly executed by Mr. Amosita Brean, which is the limit he can reach. Heine knows that he can't do any more than this.
He bowed to Amosita, then slowly straightened up, his long and thin fingers reaching into the clean apron he wore, as if searching for something. After a moment, under the gaze of the others, Heine pulled out a pocket watch from beneath his apron.
This gold watch had a retro style, but was incredibly delicate. With a long and delicate gold chain, the watch's thick golden case was set with a circle of pure diamonds on the cover, and different colored gemstones were used to decorate the family crest of the Vogel family on the cover.
Heine popped the cover open, and the watch face was made of rare secret silver, with no hands but several small gold stars running around the watch face. Amosita knew that this style of watch had been popular in the magical world for a period of time.
There is no doubt that the gold pocket watch is valuable, but even Louise knew that Heine did not take it out to bribe Amosita.
The key is the photograph embedded in the watch cover, which is a photo of Anton Vogel and Jasna Rozier.
"Wow."
Ignoring her annoyance with the elf, Louise leaned in, making a sound of surprise.
The two faces in the photograph are close to each other, smiling happily. This is not the point. The point is that, although Heine previously said that Adam and Jasna had not been home for twenty years, the Vogel in the photograph is their image just seen in the backyard, and Jasna is not a little girl anymore, but a woman in her twenties with slightly sharp eyebrows.
"This pocket watch is the work of sprites. It was given to the old master when he was still the Minister of Magic. The sprites presented it to him as a gift."
Heine stroked the edge of the gold pocket watch with his finger while explaining.
"The old master once loved this watch very much. He always wore it. This watch has magic powers, it can display the current appearance of the wizards in the photograph."
"So amazing!"
Louise gasped and then noticed that the people in the photograph were not frozen; they actually moved. Without a doubt, this was also a form of magic. Louisa looked at the photograph with envy, for such magic was very enticing to journalists.
"--After Adam Vogel brought Miss Jasna back, they left this photograph. The old master gave the watch to Miss Jasna, but when she left, she left the watch in the room. Heine worried that the old master might be hurt and secretly hid it."
Heine, holding the watch, slowly raised it in front of Amosita, with a hopeful gaze.
"Mr. Brean, if you meet Miss Jasna, could you please return this watch to her for me?"
"You have truly put in a lot of effort to save their lives, Heine."
Amosita took the watch, stroked its edge with his fingertips, glanced at it for a moment, and then put it away in his pocket.
"As a house-elf in the Vogel family, you should be able to find them both at any time, right?"
Heine nodded slowly.
"Yes, Mr. Brean, Heine knows where they are, but the old master had previously warned Heine against seeing them, so Heine can only tell you their location."
Heine provided two addresses. Jasna is in Berlin where they were previously located, while Adam Vogel is currently in a small Muggle town in Austria.
"Should we go see who first?"
Louise asked.
"I think it seems like Adam is the one who planned all this. We should go see him first."
"No --"
Amosita shook his head.
"First, let's meet with this Miss Rozier. Let's go. This should bring everything to an end."
(Chapter completed)
