Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

In the tranquil room, only Lane's even breathing could be heard… He was sleeping soundly and deeply. ♦ ♦     ♦ ♦

In his dream, the weary and listless expression that usually filled his face had finally relaxed, and beneath the stubble, one could vaguely make out a young face with handsome features.

The sun had already risen high, casting sunlight through the drawn curtains and into the room, adding a touch of warmth to the originally dim hues.

Quiet and somewhat beautiful, as if the timeline was infinitely stretched at this stage, turning everything before awakening into eternity.

“Bang, bang, bang!!!”

However, a sudden burst of knocking shattered this tranquility, instantly breaking the original scene into countless fragments.

The knocking continued, and even without seeing the person, one could sense the urgency in their rapid strikes.

This book is first published on the entire network by 𝕥 𝕨 𝕜 𝕒 𝕟 . 𝕔 𝕠 𝕞

Lane's brow furrowed slightly, his eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his slightly sleepy eyes.

“Coming…” he mumbled subconsciously, struggling to lift his head.

“Quick! Lane, let me in! Something major has happened!!”

Outside the door, Russell's voice came, seemingly filled with immense anxiety.

Immediately, Lane, whose mind was still somewhat muddled, woke up. His eyes regained clarity, and without saying anything, he flipped over and sat up in bed.

After quickly and neatly putting on his clothes, he strode directly to the door, pulled back the bolt, and yanked it open.

The door swung open, and Lane looked out to see Russell standing there, sweat beading on his forehead, his face contorted with a look of panic.

Beside him stood a panting black man—Lane vaguely remembered him. It was the guy who had left with Charlie not long ago… Andre, I think his name was.

But why was he back?

Just as Lane was momentarily stunned, subconsciously pondering this question, the anxious Russell outside the door refused to waste any time.

He pushed forward without explanation, using his small body to force Lane back into his room.

Immediately afterward, he and Andre quickly followed inside.

With a “bang,” the door was slammed shut, and silence returned to the corridor.

“What's going on? Where's Charlie?”

Inside the room, Lane's brow was deeply furrowed. He was a smart man; otherwise, Charlie wouldn't have entrusted him with the important task of being the distributor for the entire Muggle world.

Based on Russell's reaction and Andre's sudden reappearance, he had vaguely guessed something in the shortest possible time—Charlie had encountered some big trouble in the American magical community.

Sure enough, the next second, Russell confirmed his guess.

“Charlie… Master Charlie has been arrested by the Aurors of the American magical community!”

His voice trembled slightly, clearly losing his composure due to Charlie's situation, no longer as calm and collected as he was when handling factory affairs.

Lane's gaze then shifted from Russell to Andre, who was standing to the side.

Andre had only just caught his breath at this moment. Seeing Lane's gaze, he nodded hastily.

It was evident that Andre had indeed put in a great deal of effort after receiving Mueller's order.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to travel from New York in the United States to the candy factory in Greater Manchester in just a few hours.

Without wasting words, Andre knew that Russell was at a loss and that the person in front of him was the real backbone, so he quickly told him the whole story from beginning to end.

… … …

“… … … Following that, those Aurors came and arrested Mr. Charlie, and even when I left, they hadn't released him.”

After Andre's words fell, the room fell silent.

He and Russell both looked at Lane, hoping to get a solution from him.

Lane didn't speak, but instead fell into deep thought.

He suddenly remembered what Charlie had said to him when he came to his house not long ago.

… … … … … … … … … …

“If something goes wrong while I'm gone… then I'll leave it to you.”

When Charlie said these words, he was sitting on his expensive sofa, facing him. There was a relaxed smile on his face, but his eyes seemed to carry a hint of profound meaning.

Lane didn't think so much at the time, only assuming that Charlie was talking about the factory, and shook his head, about to refuse.

“Don't you have Russell? He's a good kid. Even if you go away for a year, his ability wouldn't allow the factory to have any major problems.”

However, hearing Lane's words, Charlie shook his head and said quietly,

“Russell is very reliable… but there are some things he can't do. For example, when sending those 50,000 Galleons to Fudge, if I'm not there, if it's just him alone, he wouldn't even be able to enter the Ministry of Magic's lobby…”

His words were tinged with a hint of melancholy.

… … … … … …

Back in the present, Lane looked at everything before him, and suddenly seemed to understand the meaning of Charlie's words, as well as that small detail that the other party had seemingly inadvertently told him…

Lane's furrowed brow relaxed, his eyes gleamed with understanding, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled into a faint smile.

Russell was stunned. He looked at the faint smile on Lane's face, and the familiar feeling that had been vaguely present resurfaced. Only this time, he understood where that familiarity came from.

“M… Master?” He seemed to see Charlie… For a moment, a feeling of reliability rose again, calming his originally flustered spirit and inexplicably restoring his peace.

“Let's go! Let's go together.”

Finally, Lane spoke, his words no longer carrying the listlessness of yesterday. As he spoke, he tugged at the wrinkles on his clothes, making himself look more energetic.

“Go, go where?”

“To the Ministry of Magic!”

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Inside the Ministry of Magic's lobby, as the elevator descended and the doors opened, a group of three people, led by Lane, strode straight out and headed directly towards the elevator leading to Fudge's office.

Due to the urgency of the situation, they didn't waste a single moment, only seeking to resolve this trouble for Charlie as quickly as possible.

After all, no one knew whether those foreign Aurors would inflict any suffering on Charlie after leaving Britain…

Although Ryan was very clear about Charlie's strength, ultimately, even a mighty dragon can't suppress a local snake. If something really went wrong because they were too slow, Ryan would probably feel guilty for the rest of his life...

However, just as they were racing against time, Charlie, far away in a foreign land, was still sleeping soundly on that interrogation chair.

It must be said that, from a resting perspective, this interrogation room was an excellent place.

The light was dim, the surroundings were quiet, the chair space was quite large, and they even gave you a place to lean on, which, in a sense, was quite humane.

Just as Charlie was resting, suddenly, the door of the interrogation room was opened again.

As the door creaked open, Charlie was awakened from his sleep.

He straightened up, stretched his arms lazily, and yawned a long yawn.

"What, is it time for interrogation again?"

He said casually, and after finishing his yawn, he slowly looked towards the door.

As a result, to his surprise, the person who came in was not the arrogant Auror from before, but Silas Stewart, whom he had met not long ago.

She walked in, holding a plastic bag with a golden uppercase letter "M" printed on it.

"No."

Hearing Charlie's question, she shook her head with a calm expression, glanced at him, and replied,

"Stuff went to the Director to request help. Your interrogation will probably have to wait until the afternoon. I'm here to bring you lunch."

As she spoke, she raised the plastic bag containing food in her hand and shook it, indicating.

"How is it? Are you British people used to eating American fast food?"

She seemed to be in a good mood, perhaps because it wasn't her working time, so the expression on her face was no longer as serious and stubborn as when Charlie saw her, but rather carried some of the vitality and radiance exclusive to a girl her age, and her words with Charlie even carried a bit of banter.

"I'm fine with anything..."

Charlie spread his hands. "Usually in England, I only eat biscuits, bread slices, and things like that. It doesn't matter..."

Serah raised her eyebrows, looking somewhat surprised. She slowly walked over to Charlie, handed him the plastic bag, and then said,

"Really? I thought someone like you, a wealthy tycoon, would spend my entire week's salary on just one meal."

"I don't really have much desire when it comes to food."

Charlie lowered his head, looking through the food in the plastic bag as he replied.

"If I go out, I'm naturally willing to eat something good, but in my own factory, I'm still used to being plain."

"Why?" Curiosity flashed in Serah's eyes, and she continued to ask.

"Because it will distract me."

He took out a cup of cola, carefully placed it aside, and then took out a hamburger, peeling off the wrapper.

After finishing speaking, he took a big bite.

It could be seen that Charlie was really a little hungry at the moment... After enduring such a long period of high-intensity interrogation, and an entire morning of detention.

Although Charlie looked as elegant as ever on the surface, in reality, his energy consumption was arguably more than that of the black Auror interrogator.

Perhaps it was because of his habits since childhood, coupled with the fact that he never showed a disheveled side in front of others, Charlie ate very quickly, but it was impossible to see any signs of sloppiness.

Serah didn't say much. She casually found a place, leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and quietly watched him finish the hamburger and cola in his hand.

After Charlie finished eating and took out a tissue to wipe his mouth, Serah finally sighed and couldn't help but ask the question she had always wanted to ask.

"Seriously... I don't understand," Serah said.

"You are clearly so successful... In fact, according to the information we found, there are probably not many wizards in the American magical world who are richer than you."

"Why did you specifically travel thousands of miles to come here to kill a black wizard who might not even be as good as an ant in your eyes?"

Serah paused, she lowered her voice, and carefully continued,

"Even if you hire a bunch of wizards with no background... With your money, even buying all their lives should be a small matter, right? So why did you come here in person?"

Charlie quietly listened to her question, wiping the few crumbs and grease from his mouth.

After she had finally finished expressing all the doubts in her heart, Charlie put down the tissue, glanced at her, and said mysteriously in a low voice,

"Do you really want to know why?"

Serah's eyes lit up, and she quickly nodded, leaning closer with a serious expression.

"Because I didn't do it at all - I don't know anything."

In Serah's ear, Charlie whispered like the murmur of a demon.

...........................

Serah went out, not even helping to take away the packaging bags and other things after he finished eating, and ran out in a huff.

"Bang!"

The door of the interrogation room was closed again. When it was opened again, it would probably be when that black Auror named Stuff returned with his helper to confront him...

Charlie naturally didn't care about Stuff and the helper he was about to bring... Even if the other party was really a Legilimens master, it wouldn't be a big problem for him.

After all, he had also practiced Occlumency, although he hadn't put too much emphasis on this skill, becoming an Occlumency master like Snape.

However, using it to deal with American wizards whose average level was almost one degree lower than that of the British magical world would probably not be difficult.

Moreover, using Legilimency on a suspect was not a common interrogation method...

You need to know that, for wizards, exposing the contents of their brains to others can undoubtedly be said to be a taboo.

Considering his identity, Charlie believed that the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would likely not allow this plan to pass...

"Forget it... I'll take another nap, I seem to be a little sleepy."

Charlie said to himself, his eyes narrowing again.

He glanced at the door leading to the outside world, and, as before, leaned back on the chair, continuing to sleep while waiting for the actions of Ryan and the others in England.