bioinnovel Chapter 306 A Powerful Strike
Chapter 306 A Powerful Strike
Chapter 306 A Powerful Strike
As expected, things progressed rapidly in the direction Belvina had anticipated.
That morning, the headquarters of the Daily Prophet, located on the south side of Diagon Alley, received an unexpected visitor.
Sirius Black, dressed in a magnificent, flowing robe embroidered with gold thread, strode through Diagon Alley and stopped in front of the headquarters.
The wizard guarding the entrance to the main office looked at the newcomer with suspicion, certain that the Daily Prophet did not have such a person.
The man before me was dressed in fine clothes, clearly of considerable value, and dressed even more extravagantly than Mr. Barnabas Goughfe.
Moreover, the male wizard guarding the gate felt that he had seen the man in front of him somewhere before; he looked very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
With his air of nobility, impeccable attire, and somewhat familiar appearance, the guard at the Daily Prophet dared not make a move. He forced a warm smile and looked ingratiatingly at Sirius standing at the door.
Sirius, standing on the cobblestone street, took two steps forward and came to the smiling wizard.
He asked, "Is Rita Skeeter inside?"
The wizard guarding the gate shook his head and said ingratiatingly, "Rita isn't here."
This person had no idea that Sirius Black had come to seek revenge on Rita Skeeter.
Sirius asked again, "Is Barnabas Guffey in there?"
The wizard guarding the gate shook his head again and said cautiously, "Mr. Gufei hasn't arrived yet."
The man was puzzled and asked Rita Skeeter and then the editor-in-chief, Mr. Gufie, who this elegantly dressed man was looking for.
"Should I go inside and wait for them?" Sirius asked again. "I can't just stand on the street like this!"
Sirius was quite different today; he was dressed smartly and asked questions in a good-natured manner, and on the surface, he didn't seem to be there to seek revenge at all.
"Of course!" said the wizard guarding the gate. "Just register your name and the purpose of your visit at the registration desk at the entrance, and you can go in."
"Please lead the way," Sirius said politely, without making things difficult for the guards.
Led by the gatekeeper wizard, Sirius Black entered the headquarters of the Daily Prophet without any hindrance.
The Daily Prophet is the best-selling newspaper in the British wizarding community, wielding significant influence over public opinion and maintaining strong ties with the Ministry of Magic.
However, the newspaper's headquarters was somewhat unworthy of its prestigious name. The entire lobby on the first floor was deserted, with a few sofas placed haphazardly and the overgrown green plants left untrimmed.
A pretty young witch, who looked to be no more than twenty years old, stood at the front desk.
"Daisy, visitor registration," the male wizard guarding the gate said to the young witch at the registration desk.
Daisy glanced at the wizard guarding the gate, then at Sirius Black, who was dressed in fine clothes and looked handsome, before readily taking out the registration form and quill pen.
"Thank you," Sirius said, giving Daisy a smile.
The mature man's charm was on full display at this moment, and young Daisy was momentarily stunned, a strange happiness quickly enveloping her.
However, Daisy's happiness did not last, because Sirius wrote his name on the registration form.
Sirius Black.
Daisy paused for a moment, then recalled the sensation a year ago when the newspapers were full of articles about "Sirius the Little".
How dare a notorious Azkaban prisoner, a murderer who killed twelve people with a single spell, show his face in Diagon Alley!
Just as Daisy was about to scream, she suddenly remembered that Blake seemed to have been wronged, and the real culprit who slaughtered innocent people was not the handsome man in front of her.
And so, the young receptionist Daisy was happy again.
The witch at the front desk was happy, but the wizard guarding the door was in a panic.
Although the Blake in front of me is not the Blake I know, how many Blakes are there in the world?
What is he doing here? Is he just passing by, or is he here on behalf of Miss Black? We must inform Mr. Guffer as soon as possible!
While the wizard was thinking rapidly, he continued to greet him with a smile, saying, "It's all my fault for not recognizing Mr. Blake. Please don't take offense, Mr. Blake."
Sirius smiled and didn't say anything more; he had no intention of making things difficult for the two working people.
Seeing that Sirius was very easygoing, the gatekeeper wizard was relieved and quickly invited Sirius to take a seat, warmly welcoming Mr. Black.
After settling Sirius Black in and instructing Daisy to take good care of the visitor, the gatekeeper wizard hurriedly left to find a way to notify the editor-in-chief.
For the next half hour or so, Daisy stayed close to Sirius, like a planet orbiting a star.
Sirius simply smiled and responded to Daisy's overly enthusiastic advances with sparing words.
Daisy poured him water, he drank it, and even smiled at her; Daisy spoke, he didn't respond, but still offered a smile.
Sirius Black, the ever-smiling maniac, completely baffled young Daisy, leaving her utterly clueless about his true intentions.
About half an hour later, young Daisy finally received her savior—Barnabas Goughfe, the editor of the Daily Prophet, finally arrived.
With a beaming smile, Barnabas Guffey strode into the lobby and walked briskly toward Sirius Black.
Since Rita Skeeter took over writing again, the sales of The Daily Prophet have been rising day by day, and Mr. Goughfy's lips have never fallen out of his mouth.
Barnabas Goughfe valued newspaper sales more than so-called journalistic integrity and factual accuracy, which gave Rita Skeeter room to maneuver and made her the cash cow of The Daily Prophet.
"Mr. Black, it is an honor to have you here. I am so sorry for not greeting you sooner!" Barnabas Goughfe strode over.
Sirius Black put down his teacup, slowly stood up, and asked, "Barnabas Guffey?"
"It's me," Barnabas Goughfe said with a smile. "May I ask what brings Mr. Black here?"
"The editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet?" Sirius asked again.
"It's me," Barnabas Guffey was still smiling. "I'm Barnabas, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet—" Before he could finish speaking, Sirius Black had already raised his fist and slammed it heavily into Guffey's face.
Both the Black siblings had a tendency to resort to violence at the slightest disagreement, and they did so without warning, a fact that Remus Lupin was well aware of.
Sirius's powerful punch stunned Barnabas Guffy, who stumbled back several steps before managing to regain his footing.
This punch not only stunned Gu Fei, but also startled Daisy, the receptionist.
What's going on?! How did Mr. Blake, the polite and gentlemanly man, end up fighting with the editor-in-chief? Should I go and call for help?
Young Daisy's hesitation caused Barnabas Goughfeck to suffer!
Before Mr. Gu Fei could react, Sirius Black was in front of him again and delivered another heavy punch to Gu Fei's face.
To make matters worse, Mr. Gu Fei couldn't even back away or dodge this time, because Sirius reached out and grabbed his collar, holding him firmly in place.
An extremely violent scene unfolded as Sirius's fists rained down like raindrops, striking Gu Fei's face one after another, leaving the pampered editor-in-chief utterly powerless to retaliate.
One punch, two punches, three punches until Daisy called for help, until someone pulled Sirius away, and Barnabas Goughfy, whose head was swollen from being beaten, finally caught his breath.
Having caught his breath, Mr. Gu Fei struggled to his feet with the help of his subordinates. He glared angrily at Sirius, who had assaulted him. Sirius shook his wrist, as if he hadn't finished.
Having risen to the position of editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, Barnabas Goughfe naturally understood the reasons behind it all, and he was well aware of the cause of his attack—Rita Skeeter's article.
At this moment, Mr. Guffer not only resented Sirius Black's violence against him, but also harbored resentment towards Rita Skeeter.
Barnabas Guffey forgot to hate himself; if he hadn't been blinded by greed, if he hadn't published Rita Skeeter's article, he could have avoided this beating.
However, Mr. Gu Fei, the editor-in-chief, was blinded by the newspaper's sales figures and focused solely on increasing sales, forgetting to uphold journalistic integrity.
"Sirius Black!" Mr. Guffer's voice trembled with rage, his eyes filled with venom.
The editor-in-chief also forgot about something else: there are some people he can't afford to offend.
Sirius smiled, but he didn't speak. He simply held up one finger, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Barnabas Guffey wasn't stupid; he could naturally see Sirius's threat—today was only the first time.
Just then, the Ministry of Magic's Enforcement Team arrived at the scene. It's unclear whether it was a report filed by an employee of the Daily Prophet or if Sirius Black had come prepared.
The law enforcement team members who arrived at the scene quickly stabilized the situation and separated Sirius from the Daily Prophet staff.
The wizard leading the group was named Earl Simmons. He first looked at the composed perpetrators, and then at the victim whose head looked like a pig's.
"Good heavens!" Captain Simmons thought to himself. "This is a pig's head that's been punched into shape!"
"Sir," Earl Simmons approached Sirius, "you are suspected of assaulting Mr. Barnabas Goughfe. Please come with us to assist with the investigation."
Captain Simmons spoke very politely. He recognized the perpetrator as Sirius Black and naturally wouldn't use excessive force.
Putting aside the Black family, the deputy director of the International Department of Magical Cooperation alone is someone Earl Simmons is not someone he would want to offend.
Captain Simmons could still tell the difference between the two Blacks and Barnabas Goughfe.
Having vented his anger, Sirius Black regained his polite demeanor, smoothing out the wrinkles in his robes and dusting off his clothes.
He said, "Of course, I'm willing to cooperate with the Ministry of Magic's investigation. But as you can probably tell, I didn't cast any spells on Mr. Goughfair; I just exchanged some simple boxing techniques."
Upon hearing this, Barnabas Guppy, whose head had been beaten into a pig's head, was so angry that he almost fell over.
What does it mean to simply exchange boxing techniques? Who in their right mind would punch someone in the collar while exchanging boxing techniques?
"Ahem!" Earl Simmons coughed lightly. "Whether you've used force or incantations, come with us. Your atrocities have severely offended Mr. Gufair."
As Captain Simmons spoke, he gestured to the law enforcement team members to take Sirius away.
Regardless of who was right or wrong in the brawl that occurred at the Daily Prophet's headquarters, Simmons' priority was to protect Sirius Black from harm.
Moreover, Sirius didn't chant any spells, so Gu Fei, who was hit, only suffered minor injuries at most, nothing serious.
Two law enforcement team members stepped forward, standing on either side of Sirius, and led him toward the street outside.
As Sirius walked out, he didn't forget to turn back and say goodbye to Mr. Gufair.
He turned and said, "See you another time, Mr. Gufair. By the way, please give my regards to Skeeter."
Barnabas Guffey was shocked: Brother! No way, you're back again?!