Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 217 Silently

Grevis took the document in surprise. It felt warm to the touch and had a strong ink smell, indicating that it had probably just come out of the printer half a minute ago.

A standard printed title is printed at the top center: "Forensic Autopsy Report." The columns below contain basic information, external examination, details of injuries, internal examination, toxicology, and supplementary reports.

"Male, 42 years old, identity confirmed..."

"Height 179 cm, weight 70 kg..."

Mr. Grevis flipped through the autopsy report, his bloodshot eyes blinking, and finally couldn't help but look up and ask, "Why is it still in English?"

"It's the computer system's built-in translation tool; otherwise, how would I know where the print icon is?"

Melvin produced a pair of disposable gloves from somewhere; they were white nitrile and made a snapping sound as he pulled them on. “Don’t waste time on these trivial matters. Quickly pry them open and check if there are any magical wounds on his body.”

"They cut it open and then stitched it up, and now they have to pry it open again..."

Mr. Grevis shook his head, his lips moved, and he made the sign of the cross with his fingers, silently praying for the deceased. Wizards generally do not believe in God, but considering that the deceased was a Muggle, Grevis respected his faith.

With two clicks, he put on the medical gloves, which fit his hands perfectly and were so thin that they barely affected his sense of touch. The dead body was slippery, cold, and had no elasticity. In addition, the temperature in the cold storage was too low, so Mr. Grevis couldn't help but shiver.

Melvin glanced at him and said casually, "Don't worry about damaging the body. Just use a restoration spell to fix it when we get there."

Grevis's brow twitched slightly. To some extent, this was a little-known fact about magic: many spells cannot be used directly on living beings, but can be used to treat corpses. The Healing Charm and the Levitation Charm are classic examples.

After opening up the chest and abdomen, the two found that forensic doctors not only had to endure psychological pressure, but also had to contend with physiological pressure. Various lifeless flesh and fat were laid out in front of them, the visual impact brought by the cold colors, the smell of chemicals mixed with dead flesh lingering around their noses, and their digestive systems felt intense discomfort.

Fortunately, the shielding effect of the metal blister pack was very effective, so Melvin didn't have to endure the strange smell.

"How come the spleen and liver are ruptured?"

Grevis looked at the organs inside the body. The cold, hard organs had irregular cracks, traces of dried blood everywhere, and some blood clots could be seen deposited.

"The paper says he died from external injuries sustained in a fight, with ruptured internal organs and massive bleeding. He must have been beaten to death, right?" Melvin poked at his internal organs with one hand and flipped through the documents with the other. "Look at his back and spine. The report says there are strange bruises, the color and shape of which are different from the other injuries."

“Aren’t they all just scars?” Grevis muttered.

They slightly lifted the chilling body, turned it over, and checked the back and spine according to the instructions in the report. They immediately saw the strange bruise, an irregular oval, jet black almost like ink, several centimeters deep under the skin, which made them instinctively think of a deadly poison, but the toxicology test section said there were no abnormalities.

Melvin narrowed his eyes slightly as he sensed a faint fluctuation of magical energy.

The wounds and bruises were as black as ink, clearly caused by some kind of dark magic, but they lacked the undisguised cruelty of the Killing Curse, the malice of the Divine Strike and the Cruciatus Curse, and even the pure ravages of Fiendfire.

In his perception, it was just ordinary magic. The bruises had a savage and rough feel to them, without any obvious inclination. It was as if he had concentrated his magic and suddenly unleashed it, without any skill or control whatsoever.

Could it be some kind of magical creature?

Melvin stared at the wound for a moment, then came to his senses and found Mr. Grevis standing there, his eyes glazed over, his expression slightly blank, as if he were lost in some distant memory.

"Mr. Grevis, Mr. Grevis?"

Melvin waved his hand up and down in front of him, pulling him back to reality. "Did you remember something? Is there any clue?"

A strange light gleamed in Grevis's bloodshot eyes. He took off his right glove and gently stroked the scar: "I've seen scars like this before, no, I mean photos of scars like this... In fact, this is the first time I've seen it in real life."

"Have there been similar cases involving black magic before?"

Melvin examined the bruise-like wounds, thinking that Riddle in his youth was not authoritative enough; the Dark Lord hadn't even recognized this kind of dark magic that had appeared before.

“I’ve seen photos of these scars many times, all in my father’s study.”

Grevis said softly, "For the past fifty years, he has been investigating that case. The older he got, the more he couldn't let it go. Even after he retired, he still refused to give up and spent years investigating outside, refusing to go home. This caused a lot of unpleasantness between him and my mother."

"Your father... Mr. Percival Grevis?"

Melvin's heart stirred slightly, and many doubts were instantly resolved at that moment.

This name has appeared in many magazines, newspapers, and even history books, often associated with the old case from fifty years ago, the most serious and worst magical leak in hundreds of years, a disaster that almost destroyed the entire city of New York and exposed the Magical Congress to Muggles without any cover.

Grevis removed his left glove and nodded slightly.

Percival Grevis is a genius of the Grevis family. At the age of 11, during the Sorting Ceremony at Ilfamoni, he was recognized by the statues of the Thunderbird, Pukchi, and Cat-Leopard houses. He then served as prefect and president. At a young age, he showed talent in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He never lost a duel with his peers.

He was already able to duel with seventh-year wizards in fifth grade. After graduating, he became an Auror and declared that he was not afraid of any dark wizards. At the age of twenty, he encountered a fleeing dark wizard organization and single-handedly confronted seven dark wizards, dragging them all the way to Woolworth Tower for support.

Percival clearly had the potential to become President of Congress, but he chose to stay on the front lines fighting dark magic crimes, comfortably sitting in his position as Chief of Security, while fully supporting the equally young Picqueri's campaign. This led to a rapid increase in the Grevis family's wealth and power during that period.

In 1926, the Obscurus was briefly spotted in New York. A reporter from the Ghost Newspaper took a few blurry photos, and the news attracted the attention of wizards around the world. Percival, as the Director of Magical Security, investigated the Obscurus case while maintaining the safety of wizards in New York.

But no one expected that the wizards drawn by the silence included not only curious tourists and reporters, but also the leader of the UMNO party—

Gettler Grindelwald.

That night, Percival was ambushed by Grindelwald on his way home from work. Faced with this world-renowned dark wizard, he instantly lost the ability to resist and could only let Grindelwald take away his wand and torture him with magic to extract the results of his hard-won investigation.

Most importantly, he watched helplessly as Grindelwald plucked out his own hair, drank the Polyjuice Potion, and disguised himself as Percival.

The following events were recorded in detail in the International Wizarding Federation's report. Grindelwald, using the identity of Percival, freely entered and exited Woolworth Building, and at will appeared in New York City. In a short time, he locked onto the activity range of the Obscurus hosts and found a group that was suspected of having Obscurus hosts hiding their identities: the New Salem Charitable Association.

"At that time, the Second Salem had not yet become involved with the Purifiers. The head of the guild, Mary, was a descendant of Bariborn. Her ancestor had once toyed with the feelings of the Twelve Witch Trees, and it was from her that I learned about the existence of wizards and magic..."

"Although Mary was just a Muggle, she stubbornly spread the wizarding threat theory, handed out leaflets everywhere, and chattered incessantly to disturb the local residents. However, the Muggles saw that she had adopted several children and just thought that she was using it as a gimmick to raise money for the orphanage, so they were relatively lenient with her."

Mr. Grevis paused, "The host of the Obscurial, Claysden Barryborn, is the orphan she adopted."

Grindelwald, posing as Percival, observed for a long time but still couldn't determine who the true Obscurus host was. However, the leader of the Masonic Party was adept at manipulating people's hearts. He deceived Claysden with lies, making him work for him to find the true Obscurus host.

After a series of coincidental farces, Grindelwald's lies were exposed, and Credence, enraged and desperate, unleashed the true Obscurus. The powerful and uncontrollable force swept through the city, nearly destroying most of New York, and also exposing the existence of magic to Muggles.

Later, with the help of Newt Scamander and others, Chairman Pikeley, together with the Aurors, used magic to destroy Credence. Enraged, Grindelwald attacked the Aurors, but his disguise was exposed, and he was arrested on the spot.

The Muggles' memories were erased by the Winged Demon's venom, and the matter came to a satisfactory conclusion. But for the real Director of Magical Safety, Percival Grevis, life was just beginning.

The incident silently devastated half of New York. While buildings and roads could be repaired, some severely injured Muggles could not be saved. Faced with the most serious magical leak in centuries, Grindelwald, who was captured, could not bear all the blame. Someone within the Magical Congress needed to take responsibility, or rather, scapegoat.

Several members of Congress blamed Percival for the casualties.

"They say it was all because of my father's negligence that Grindelwald infiltrated Woolworth Building, causing the subsequent disasters: Credence going out of control, the Obscurus disaster, the magic being exposed... it's all Grevis's fault."

Mr. Grevis leaned wearily against the freezer, the exhaustion from not sleeping all night almost engulfing him. "Although the other members of parliament did not accept such an absurd reason, the Grevis family was forever nailed to the spot of shame and never recovered."

New Salem is indeed a jinx for the Grevis family.

“Don’t just stand here, let’s go. Let’s go to the scene of the incident and find clues to bring them to justice.” Melvin reached out and patted his shoulder, as if comforting a Hogwarts student. “The International Wizarding Union Conference is in two years. This time, you need to write in your report that Grevis saved Paris.”

"Grevis... saved Paris!"

Mr. Grevis looked up, his pupils blazing with fire.

……

"Clang... Clang..."

The sound of the subway passing by was deafening.

"Philip II Station, Philip II Station..."

Grevis stood in front of the subway map, silently searching as he read it aloud. His already tired eyes became even more sore, and the flame of passion that had just risen was extinguished. He secretly vowed that if he couldn't find the route, he would go back and tattoo the map on his knee!
How long do you plan to stay here?

Turning around, I saw Melvin, with a faint smile on his face and two subway tickets in his hand.

"Are you sure this is a ticket to Philip II Station?"

"Confirmed, Line 2, I've already checked."

"Don't you not speak French?"

"The administrator speaks English."

"..."

Grevis fell silent.

A few minutes later, the two entered the carriage and let the subway rattle and clatter towards Philip II station, the 20th arrondissement of Paris. The scene of the incident was at Père Lachaise Cemetery.

"The Obscurus is a special kind of magical creature, according to Newt Scamander in his book."

Sitting in the crowded carriage, Mr. Grevis leaned against the window, watching the rapidly moving light and shadow outside. "In the period when young wizards have not yet learned to wield and control their power, they suffer unbearable torment, feel pain and despair, and thus develop an aversion to magic. They unconsciously suppress the flow and release of magic power. Under this subtle influence, magic power transforms into a dark force, constantly parasitizing and devouring the life of its host."

The soul is the source of magic, and emotions are connected to the soul—this is the revelation Melvin received from the long-horned water snake.

Magic can subtly change depending on the caster's emotions. Pleasant and positive emotions can give rise to guardian spirits, while dark and negative desires can lure people into the abyss of black magic. Releasing an unforgivable curse requires intense hatred and malice, and a strong aversion to magic is also an emotion that can cause unpredictable changes in magic.

The Hogwarts and Ilfamoni libraries contain relevant materials, which Melvin has also consulted before. However, due to the scarcity of research cases, the magical principles of Obscurus conversion remain unknown, and the descriptions of Obscurus are merely summaries of relevant records.

Obscurus usually does not have a physical form and usually appears as a black granular fog or an oily substance, like a weightless fluid moving in the air. Sometimes it may have a scarlet core, and sometimes it may show the host's blurry face, such as grayish-white eyes without pupils.

When it appears, it generates a powerful, raging energy that is different from magic or other forces. It is difficult to control and observe, and has extremely strong destructive power. Even without contact, it can shatter hardwood, rock, and steel.

The size and power of the Obscurus depend on the host's inner strength. The more negative emotions accumulate, the stronger the host's magic becomes, and the stronger the Obscurus becomes.

"...The Second Salem is just a bunch of Muggles who don't know magic. Although there are dark wizards among the Purifiers, their descendants cannot receive formal magic school education. The new Purifiers, who are trained through a single line of inheritance, are simply no match for the Aurors trained by Efarmoni."

"In this situation, they want to defeat the real wizard..."

Melvin paused for a moment, then calmly stated his conclusion: "He turned his attention to Obscurity."

Mr. Grevis gripped his wand tightly in his sleeve, his eyes reddening, which made his expression somewhat ferocious.

(End of this chapter)