At 10 a.m., Severus and Lupin followed Yuma out of the French Ministry of Magic.

The weather in Paris was quite pleasant at the moment. They traveled directly through the Auror Office's fireplace to the apartment building where the Rosier family lived.

After the incident was uncovered, the apartment had been completely sealed off by the Aurors under the guise of Muggle police, leaving the young couple unable to return home.

Yuma led them into the room where eyewitnesses had reported seeing the Flamels being taken.

"I've already reported your findings to Girard. She'll find a way to verify whether the man in the portrait is indeed Thomas Shafiq." Yuma said to Severus, "From now on, I've been assigned to work under you. Whatever you need, whether it's investigating leads or meeting someone, I can arrange it."

Clearly, Severus had provided such crucial information on his very first day that Girard had significantly increased her regard for him.

Now, Yuma had been assigned as his full-time assistant, ensuring Severus could focus entirely on the case.

"Let's examine the scene first."

At some point, Severus had produced a pipe, and his holly wand had transformed into a cane.

The sudden costume change left Yuma momentarily stunned, while Lupin, who had grown up listening to his mother's stories about Sherlock Holmes, covered his forehead with one hand.

"Elementary deduction, Watson!"

He muttered the words under his breath. Lupin sighed helplessly.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Dudley doesn't like being Watson, nor does he like being called Conan." Severus Holmes shrugged, "I thought you might enjoy it."

"Probably not me either." Lupin retorted, following him into the room.

Inside, two Aurors had been standing guard. When they saw Severus and the others enter, they immediately stood up, about to greet Yuma, but the non-Magique officer waved them off, signaling that they could step outside and wait.

Once the two unrelated Aurors had left, Severus, pipe in mouth, began carefully surveying the room.

As Yuma had described, all the furniture and appliances had been cleared out, leaving the small space looking barren. The floor was strewn with scattered papers and fabric scraps, some of which bore sketches resembling fashion designs.

'Those were likely the work of Mrs. Rosier, who worked at a custom tailoring shop.'

The apartment had two bedrooms, neither of which held anything unusual. The only notable feature was the faint remnants of alchemical symbols and runes on the floor in the middle of the living room.

Severus crouched down to examine the blurred, incompletely erased traces.

"No wonder you suspect the kidnappers' goal wasn't just the Philosopher's Stone, but more likely the knowledge behind its creation. These runes are probably original excerpts from The Book of Abraham."

Lupin frowned.

"The Book of Abraham?"

"Your scholarly knowledge doesn't do justice to all the books you read in school, Watson/" Severus remarked, standing back up after running his fingers over the symbols, which had clearly been written in dragon's blood.

"A young Nicolas Flamel gained insight into the ultimate secrets of alchemy after obtaining The Book of Abraham, allowing him to create the Philosopher's Stone and attain endless wealth and immortality."

"Some excerpts from the book were once made public. The text and illustrations weren't written but were instead pressed or stamped into the metal, with colors filling the recesses. The content spans twenty-one pages, but the page numbers are marked as three sets of seven. The published illustrations were also cryptic, making it hard to imagine how Nicolas Flamel managed to become a master alchemist based on them."

Lupin looked puzzled.

"I've never seen that book in the Hogwarts library."

"Of course you haven't. It's a banned book within the Restricted Section."

"You only discovered it after becoming the Head of Slytherin?" Lupin asked, realization dawning.

Severus replied nonchalantly.

"I stumbled upon it in fifth year while sneaking into the Restricted Section to find material for a spell I was inventing."

Lupin: "..."

Yuma remained by the door, keeping silent unless addressed. If Severus needed him to speak, he'd gladly chime in… after all, could wizards really be accused of stealing knowledge?

"These runes can serve as clues, but we shouldn't rely on them too heavily." Severus assessed, "Given how much time the kidnappers had after abducting the Flamels, they could've easily erased all traces before you found this place. The fact that they left some hints behind suggests they might be trying to mislead the investigation."

As he spoke, he checked the two empty bedrooms, ensuring the Aurors hadn't overlooked anything.

Yuma, who had been standing by the door, followed him.

"We also suspected the symbols on the floor couldn't be fully trusted. But they cleaned up too thoroughly… not just the surface-level evidence. Yesterday, we brought in numerous spell experts to conduct a full magical residue scan, hoping to detect any lingering traces of magic."

"But after three thorough sweeps, they found nothing. There wasn't even a trace of Apparition. It's as if the two men brought the Flamels here and then vanished into thin air."

As Yuma explained, Severus rested his chin on his fingers, gazing absently out the apartment's bedroom window.

The view overlooked much of the 16th arrondissement, but the nice scenery didn't mean the apartment itself was well-situated.

"Is this building the tallest one in the area?"

He suddenly asked.

The question caught Yuma off guard. He scrambled through the documents in his folder before finally pulling out the relevant materials.

"Yes! This building is classified as a historical heritage site among Muggles. It's the oldest in the neighborhood and even has a functioning fireplace! It's an 1934 Haussmann-style apartment, with a total height of about 42 meters, including the roof structure!"

"42 meters..." Severus repeated the number. He opened the bedroom window and leaned out, scanning the surroundings, "Are we currently in the middle unit of the top floor?"

"Yes, this is the smallest unit in the apartment. Being on the top floor, it's also the cheapest to rent."

After receiving this answer, Severus nodded and muttered, "This is in line with Rosier's financial situation."

At this time, Yuma looked at Severus expectantly.

"Have you made another discovery, Mr. Snape?"

"Let's head downstairs first." Severus said, "No need to rush, Yuma. We'll leave this room and check the ground floor."

With that, he took the lead, walking toward the apartment's lower levels.

This move left both Yuma and Lupin baffled, as neither could discern what Severus intended to investigate downstairs.

But neither hesitated. The moment Severus stepped out, they followed closely behind, descending to the first floor.

Once there, Severus led them straight out of the lobby and onto the empty street outside.

Finally, after crossing the road and reaching the opposite side of the street, Severus stopped and turned back to examine the building.

Yuma and Lupin mirrored his actions, and when they looked back at the apartment building, they were struck with surprise.

Because only after stepping outside did they realize just how massive the building truly was!

It was easily the largest structure in the 16th arrondissement. Its gray, weathered stone walls, marked by the passage of time, stood out like castle ramparts, casting a gloomy shadow that seemed to blot out the otherwise clear sky.

"Aurors shouldn't limit their investigative methods to just wizards and magic. Sometimes, you have to break free from the constraints of conventional thinking to see the bigger picture."

Severus narrowed his eyes, studying the building intently.

"This structure is unique. The criminals who abducted the Flamels may not have targeted Rosier's home solely because of his identity… they might have chosen it for its location. His status as a Squib from a pure-blood family could've just been an unfortunate coincidence."

Lupin held his breath. Though he wasn't an alchemy expert, his extensive reading had given him a basic understanding.

"They chose this building, and Rosier's specific unit within it, to bring the Flamels here!"

"An alchemical ritual!" Yuma murmured. Severus had practically spelled it out, so if he still couldn't grasp the key point, his brain might as well be useless.

"They intended to perform some kind of secret alchemical ritual in that room!"

He jumped excitedly but then quickly reconsidered.

"No… no! Yesterday, we brought in not just the Ministry's alchemy experts but also specialists from the Alchemists' Guild. They all examined the room and found no signs of any ritual being performed!"

Severus slowly removed the pipe from his mouth and said softly, "Then we'll need more evidence to confirm."

…

"What he said is definitely not true!"

At the French Ministry of Magic, Harry finally found Draco in the Auror Office's restroom.

The Malfoy heir was still fuming, vehemently insisting,

"That fraud is despicable! He's told so many lies he's started believing them himself! You're not actually buying his nonsense, are you?"

Suddenly, he fixed Harry with an unblinking stare.

Only now did Harry finally understand the true meaning of Severus' words, 'Treat him as a child younger than you and less mature.'

He also grasped why Rosier had said that if he hadn't been a Squib… if his father hadn't abandoned him… he, too, would've grown up like Draco, never questioning pure-blood dogma.

Under Draco's intense gaze, Harry carefully chose his words.

"Of course, I'm not saying everything he said is true. After all, we only have his word… there's no proof, right?"

Hearing this, Draco's expression softened slightly. The boy who had once beaten him until he cried for his mother now seemed slightly less detestable.

"But we also don't have proof that he's lying." Harry added at the end.

This made Draco's face darkened again!

"There has to be a way to expose that liar!"

"How about we talk to his wife?"

Harry seized the moment to suggest.

He was rather pleased with his little ploy. If he had outright proposed visiting Rosier's Muggle wife, Draco's disdain for Muggles would've made him refuse outright.

"If he's truly a pathological liar, his wife would know best… and she wouldn't forgive him!"

Draco was indeed tempted by Harry's proposal and took the bait.

"Do you know where she's being held?"

"In one of the rooms down the hallway we just passed." Harry said, having already asked the witch guarding Rosier's door earlier, "She's confined there and isn't allowed to roam the Ministry… because she's a Muggle."

"Let's go, then!" Draco adjusted his collar, his aristocratic composure restored as if his earlier meltdown had never happened.

"After you, Mr. Malfoy." Harry had figured out Draco's temperament by now… the stubborn brat was easy to handle if you stroked his ego.

Draco was increasingly satisfied with Harry's attitude.

"When we return to Britain, you can be my lackey." He declared magnanimously.

Harry said nothing, simply sticking his tongue out at the back of Draco's head as they walked.

They soon retraced their steps to the hallway and found the detention room holding Mrs. Rosier.

No one was guarding the door, which remained shut.

But after Harry tracked down the witch overseeing the room and pleaded with her for a while, she finally relented… allowing them a 20-minute visit.

"The Ministry's keeping her confined for her own protection." The witch explained as she unlocked the door, "For some Muggles, magic and wizards are concepts they simply can't accept. Those with fragile minds sometimes suffer complete mental breakdowns upon learning the truth."