The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 505: Solving the Problem (Please subscribe, please bookmark, please vote)
"Professor McGonagall..." Seeing a thin layer of snow on the hat and shoulders of the elderly Professor McGonagall, Ryan immediately stepped forward to greet her. However, he was interrupted by the professor before he could finish his words.

"Now is not the time to say hello. Bring Miss Katie with me." After saying that, Professor McGonagall turned around and walked across the field towards the castle. Ryan and the others looked at each other and hurried to follow. Fortunately, most of the students were either in Hogsmeade or in the castle due to weather conditions at this time, and there was no one on the field, otherwise Katie floating in the air would definitely cause panic.

After arriving at the school hospital and putting Katie on the bed, Madam Pomfrey came out of the office and said, "Minerva, what's going on with this child?"

"Lian said she seemed to be under the Imperius Curse." Professor McGonagall briefly explained the current situation, and Madam Pomfrey's expression immediately became serious after hearing it. She immediately drew out her wand and whispered a spell, and then a ball of twisted smoke appeared on Katie's forehead.

"It's the Imperius Curse, what a poor girl." Madam Pomfrey muttered and walked into the office. After a while, she came out with a small bottle of sky blue potion and gave it to Katie to drink. Then she removed the binding curse on Katie. "It's better than expected. The person who used the Imperius Curse was not very skilled. After drinking the tonic just now and having a good sleep, I think she should be able to recover."

"That's good." Professor McGonagall and Ryan all breathed a sigh of relief, and then Ryan was taken into his office by Professor McGonagall. The window glass splashed with rain and snow creaked in the window frame. Although there was a crackling fire in the grate, the room was still very cold. Professor McGonagall closed the door, walked quickly around the table, sat down, looked at them and said, "Tell me, what's going on?"

Linnie stammered, pausing several times because of nervousness. She told Professor McGonagall how Katie had gone to the toilet at the Three Broomsticks and came back looking a little strange, holding the unmarked package in her hand; how the two of them had argued because she thought Katie shouldn't agree to hand over an unknown item; and how Ryan and Hermione quickly controlled the two of them with a spell.

"Okay," Professor McGonagall's expression eased, and she said in a gentle tone, "Lini, you can go and rest now. I think a good sleep will help you recover. If you still feel uncomfortable, you can go to Madam Pomfrey to get some medicine."

After Lini left, Professor McGonagall looked at Ryan and Hermione: "What did you two just find out?"

Ryan told how they heard Lini and Katie quarreling when they were dating, and out of curiosity, he looked over and found that Katie seemed to be under the Imperius Curse, and finally controlled her and brought her back to the castle. After recounting the whole process, Ryan put a lead box on the desk: "This is what the person who attacked Katie asked her to bring into the castle after the Imperius Curse was released."

"What's inside? Have you checked it?" Professor McGonagall asked after putting on her glasses.

"A gorgeous silver necklace with opals on it." Ryan opened the box and revealed the necklace. "But there is a fatal curse on it. Whether the necklace is worn around the neck or just picked up with bare hands, the victim will die on the spot. In addition, there is a temptation magic on the necklace that can tempt people to touch it. Fortunately, I stopped Miss Katie when she was about to pick up the necklace with her hands."

"Oh my God, Ryan, I can only say that you and Hermione did a great job this time." Professor McGonagall's tone was full of relief. "If this necklace is discovered during the inspection back at school, everyone in the hallway will be in danger of their lives. I'm going to give you and Hermione 30 points each."

"Thank you, Professor. By the way, this necklace--" Ryan asked Professor McGonagall who was about to write something on the parchment.

"I'll give it to Professor Snape in a moment. Do you have any ideas?" Professor McGonagall raised her head and stared at Ryan with her stern eyes, as if she wanted to see something sinister on Ryan's face.

"This necklace is very useful to me, mainly because the compound curse composed of the black magic on the necklace is very valuable for reference. According to the research results of the black magic above, I can develop targeted defensive alchemical props." Ryan explained to Professor McGonagall seriously.

"Well - sorry, Ryan, I can't give you this." Professor McGonagall thought for a moment and said to Ryan, "After all, you are in the castle now, and there are so many classmates around you. For safety reasons, it is not appropriate for you to hold this item."

Ryan was a little depressed because he couldn't tell Professor McGonagall that he had a space. However, Professor McGonagall also saw Ryan's depressed mood, and she smiled and comforted him: "Of course, Ryan. You can go to Sirius's house during Christmas vacation. I will ask Professor Snape to bring this thing over, and you can study this necklace there." "Okay, thank you." Ryan adjusted his mood and bowed slightly to Professor McGonagall, and then left Professor McGonagall's office with Hermione. Lunch time was almost here, and the two simply went downstairs to the hall to have lunch.

"Ryan, who do you think was responsible for the attack today?" Hermione asked Ryan after scooping out half a bowl of curry seafood soup and taking a sip.

"--It's hard to say." Ryan swallowed the roast chicken in his mouth and frowned and said, "But I think it is most likely that it was done by a Death Eater hidden in the school."

"Why?" Hermione asked curiously. She really wanted to know the basis for Ryan's judgment.

"Because this attack was too naive, it really didn't seem like it was done by an experienced Death Eater." Ryan concluded. "A truly experienced Death Eater wouldn't have allowed someone to bring such dangerous goods into the school without being proficient in the Imperius Curse, because this paper bag wouldn't even pass the inspection at the school gate."

"What about random terrorist attacks?" Hermione demanded. "Like creating panic or something."

"No, although the You-Know-Who may be emotionally unstable after slicing his own soul and have many abnormal thoughts. But after summarizing, you can find that all the previous attacks were purposeful. And as long as Professor Dumbledore is in charge of the school, this crude attack is just a joke. He will not invest so many resources in doing something that will bring him little gain."

"Did a lot of resources go into this attack?" Hermione asked in confusion. "It's just the loss of a dark magic necklace."

"Isn't it just the loss of a dark magic necklace?" Ryan looked at Hermione. "You can't think that this kind of thing is common just because I'm good at making magic props. For example, this necklace, I saw it in Borgin and Burke's when I went to Knockturn Alley once. It's worth 1500 Galleons."

"Well, it's a huge investment." Hermione admitted this. In the wizarding world where you can open a store in Diagon Alley for 1000 Galleons, 1500 Galleons is definitely a huge number. "So, who would spend so much money to carry out an attack that is basically doomed to be meaningless?"

"It's probably someone who is rich but inexperienced." Ryan said firmly. "It's very likely that the Death Eaters had to do something to prove themselves before joining the gang, and a guy with a lot of money used this method to get by."

"Why does it sound like Malfoy?" Hermione said with a smile, but she stopped smiling after seeing Ryan's serious expression. "You don't think he really did it, do you? This is a random killing of an innocent person. Is Malfoy so bad?"

"It's very likely." Ryan reminded. "Think about what happened to Harry on the train and the news he heard. Don't forget that Malfoy is from a pure-blood family, and his father needs him to support the entire family after he is imprisoned."

"--Damn it!" Hermione opened her mouth, not knowing what to say. In the end, she could only spit out a swear word as a way of venting her anger.

(End of this chapter)