The two of them passed through the gate and entered a smaller hall on the other side.
There were at least twenty elevators there, protected by refined golden grilles.
There were quite a few Ministry of Magic employees waiting for the elevator around them. To Rita Skeeter's surprise, Tonks seemed to be on good terms with these wizards, which added another layer to her understanding of "Miss Clumsy Auror," perhaps this was the reason why they were both classified as C-level.
In her impression, most Ministry of Magic Aurors were difficult to communicate with, and many magic employees had a bad impression of the Aurors in private.
However, Nymphadora Tonks was clearly an exception, she was simply too exuberant and enthusiastic.
"Late again today, Tonks?" a witch said, winking at Tonks with a smile.
"Oh no, I'm on a mission, escorting an informant," Tonks said matter-of-factly, without the slightest caution expected of a secret operative.
"An Auror's informant?" The witch glanced at Rita. "That's a rare occurrence. I didn't expect you to start adopting outside informant information in addition to catching people now? This should also be part of your Auror Office's expansion plan, which is really enviable."
Since the Ministry of Magic launched the werewolf program some time ago, the Auror Office has undoubtedly been the most significant beneficiary.
In the eyes of many, judging from the Auror Office's expansion speed, they would have to use magic to expand their floor sooner or later.
With a clanging and rattling sound, an elevator descended in front of them.
The golden grille slid open gently, and Rita and Tonks, along with other Ministry of Magic employees, entered the elevator. Rita was sure that if she shouted for help at this moment, these wizards would most likely ignore her and instead draw their wands to assist Tonks.
In fact, until now, Rita hadn't decided whether to turn against them in front of the Minister of Magic and the Head of the Auror Office.
In the long history of the magical world, the Ministry of Magic seemed to have never had a precedent of protecting important witnesses.
And on the other hand, the degree of penetration of a certain "mysterious organization" around the world remained a mystery.
Just as Rita was carrying out her final psychological struggle, the grille slammed shut.
The elevator slowly ascended, the chain rattled, and the cold female voice she had heard in the telephone booth rang out again.
"Seventh floor, Department of Magical Games and Sports, including British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and Ludicrous Patents Office."
The elevator doors opened, and Rita glimpsed a disorganized corridor, with various Quidditch team posters plastered haphazardly on the walls. A wizard holding a flying broomstick struggled out of the elevator and disappeared into the corridor.
The doors closed, the elevator closed, and the elevator continued to ascend with a slight jolt. The woman's voice announced:
"Sixth floor, Department of Magical Transportation, including the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, and Apparition Test Center."
The elevator doors opened again, and four or five wizards walked out.
At the same time, several paper airplanes whizzed into the elevator. Rita looked up, watching them fly slowly around the top of her head. They were a light purple color, and Rita also saw the "Ministry of Magic" stamp on the edge of the wings.
"Those are notes for messages between departments, yes, you should have seen some upgraded versions of it."
Tonks whispered, her eyes lingering on the paper airplanes. Tianming Group's paper sprites were much more refined than this.
"They used to use owls, but the mess was unbelievable... dung was everywhere on the desks..."
The elevator continued to rise with a rattle, and the notes danced around the lamp hanging from the elevator ceiling.
"Fifth floor, Department of International Magical Cooperation, including the International Magical Trading Standards Body, the International Magical Office of Law, and the British branch of the International Confederation of Wizards."
The doors opened, and two notes whizzed out with a few wizards, but several more notes whizzed in, flying around the lamp above their heads, causing the light to flicker.
"Fourth floor, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, including the Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, the Goblin Liaison Office, and the Pest Advisory Bureau."
"Excuse me, please let me through," said the witch who had spoken to Tonks earlier.
She stepped out of the elevator, and a small flock of notes followed her out. The elevator doors slammed shut again.
"Third floor, Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, including the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviator Headquarters, and the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee."
By this floor, almost everyone had left, and this time only Tonks and Rita remained in the elevator.
The elevator shook slightly again as it moved upward, the remaining notes continued to circle the light, and then the doors opened, and the voice announced:
"Second floor, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."
"We're here, Rita," Tonks said cheerfully.
The two stepped out of the elevator and into a corridor with doors on both sides.
Turning a corner and passing through two heavy oak doors, they entered a cluttered and noisy open area divided into many small cubicles, filled with laughter and excitement. Notes carrying messages flew in and out of the cubicles like miniature rockets.
A sign hung crookedly on the nearest cubicle: Auror Headquarters.
This was the Ministry of Magic's violent arm, second only to the Department of Mysteries in the eyes of news people.
Since Rita joined the Daily Prophet, she had never dug up any news from the Aurors. This was almost the biggest obsession in her journalistic career. As of this year, the Ministry of Magic had informed her 451 times that they would not comment on the Aurors' top-secret work.
Even the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet had repeatedly reminded her not to provoke the enforcers of the magical world.
However, after she was arrested during an undercover visit to the Quibbler headquarters a few months ago, everything changed.
If nothing unexpected happened, the "organization's" first strike would fall on the original Auror Headquarters.
"Oh, Tonks, you're right on time today—"
Leaning against the doorway of the Auror Headquarters was a tall, bald, black-skinned wizard.
Kingsley Shacklebolt waved with a smile, his gaze turning to Rita Skeeter behind Tonks.
"You're Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet, right? From here, I'll take over. Mr. Scrimgeour and Mr. Fudge will be here shortly. I'll take you to a small office to rest first... Tonks, if you could be on time every day... never mind..."
Kingsley glanced at Tonks, who was yawning, and sighed helplessly.
Before he could finish his sentence, this youngest Auror star had already slipped back to her workstation.
Most Aurors were unrestrained and unconventional, but most newcomers would be cautious at first, trying to make a good impression.
Except... Miss Nymphadora Tonks. In less than half a year of work, she had completed the psychological transformation of an elite Auror.
Her "veteranization" speed in the Auror Headquarters directly broke the record of previous Aurors. Of course, corresponding to this was her outstanding performance in various field operations - as a newly graduated Hogwarts student, when she teamed up with other Aurors, her tactical literacy and magical coordination ability didn't seem like those of a recent graduate, but more like those of an Auror veteran who had worked for a year or two.
"Alright, Miss Skeeter, this way—"
Kingsley shook his head helplessly, ignoring the guy who was starting to conjure a pillow.
"For the sake of our pleasant conversation, please do not take pictures or secretly transcribe documents in the headquarters..."
While following Kingsley through the corridor to the small office, Rita quietly looked around.
Rita Skeeter had never seen the inside of Auror Headquarters.
In fact, most people in the magical society, even many Ministry of Magic employees, rarely had the opportunity to come to this floor.
In many people's imagination, this place should be the kind of murderous, tense, or unsmiling serious atmosphere - of course, this impression largely came from Rufus Scrimgeour's sporadic news reports in the magical society.
Of course, there were also some actions of elite Aurors.
Especially the crackdown on dark wizard factions and the surprise tax audit some time ago, which further deepened this stereotype.
However, from the looks of it now, it seems that people like Tonks are the mainstream of the Ministry of Magic's Auror Headquarters?
The area was divided into many small cubicles, each Auror had a place to work.
The Aurors had plastered their cubicle walls with all sorts of things, from portraits of wanted wizards to photos of their families, to posters of their favorite Quidditch teams, and articles clipped from the Daily Prophet. It was a variety of things, all-encompassing.
A man in a purple robe, whose ponytail behind his head looked extremely eye-catching, had his boots propped up on the desk and was dictating a report to his quill.
Further on, a witch with an eye patch was relentlessly harassing Tonks, who was trying to sleep, across the cubicle.
In the deeper area, the scope of joy and casualness seemed to have dimmed a lot with the light.
Rita Skeeter noticed that although the Aurors there were also very relaxed, they seemed to be surrounded by a familiar, uncomfortable atmosphere.
Another difference from the Aurors in the "front half" was that, in addition to wizard wanted posters, most of these Aurors in the "back half" also posted some magical creatures that looked very fierce, or hideous traces, and...
Struggling and howling... werewolf photos.
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Yay!