The Return to Hogwarts

Amosta, who had graduated with excellent grades from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nodded solemnly.

"--Then things became unusual—"

Perhaps knowing that Amosta was eager to obtain this information, or perhaps because she wanted to find the murderer of Frazier, Louise seemed much calmer. She spoke quickly.

“If I remember correctly, Frazier rarely wrote to me and my parents starting from the second semester. He was always slow to reply to our letters, and when he did write, it was usually to say that he was researching magic with someone. Researching... Hmm, I remember there was a word in one of Frazier's letters that seemed to be... um, Muggle?”

Amosta rested his knees on his raised knees, his interlaced fingers twitching, while Kingsley, who had been standing outside the door for half a day, suddenly pursed his lips.

"--Probably a Muggle."

After all, it happened several years ago, and many memories had become hazy. She shrugged slightly, her expression helpless.

"I don't quite understand the research that allows Muggles to gain magic; it was probably the club's research topic. To be honest, my parents and I didn't care much at the time. We thought Frazier had a girlfriend at school and was spending all his energy on her, so he didn't have time for us. So, when he came home looking very haggard at Christmas of his second year, my dad even joked about it."

Louise paused, her expression turning serious.

"But then Frazier never came home again. He never came home once during the remaining two years he was at that school. His father was worried that something had happened to him and went to visit him at the school."

When Dad came home, he told us that Frazier almost never attended classes, his grades were terrible, and he couldn't pass any of his subjects. His roommate told Dad that Frazier rarely came home to sleep either, and that he devoted almost all his energy to his absurd research in his club.

Did your father see your brother back then?

Amosta asked, frowning.

"I saw it—"

Louise's eyes held a hint of reminiscence.

“My dad told me that when he found Frazier, he was in an abandoned basement at his school researching magic. There were many glass bottles filled with potions that smelled terrible. In front of my dad, Frazier drank what was being boiled in a cauldron. Then he collapsed on the floor, and my dad took him to the hospital—”

Amosta was speechless, unsure of what to say.

"--At the hospital, Frazier had a big argument with his father. He insisted that magic existed and refused to go home with his father."

Did your father meet any other members of that gang at the time?

“Dad was planning to confront them,” Louise said angrily, “but Fraser threatened him that if he did, he would cut ties with the family!”

To be honest, hearing these things made Amosta feel a little heavy-hearted.

Let alone Muggles, even in the magical world, how to give Squibs the ability to cast spells is an unsolvable problem. It's utter nonsense for a Muggle who knows nothing about real magic to expect to solve this problem.

"That school eventually expelled Frazier because of his terrible grades—"

Louise's face turned pale.

"I only found out about it a year later. At the time, I was traveling in New York with my friends, and I left for a while to visit Fraser in Bologna, where I learned about it."

He was emaciated at the time and still stayed in the school's basement. It was said that a highly respected professor in the school had fought for his rights within the club. That professor seemed to be researching the same subject as him.

"What is the professor's name?"

Amosta immediately grasped the key point.

“Oh,” Louise said, slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t ask—”

“It’s alright, we can find out about this—” Amosta shook his head slightly, “Please continue—”

Louise took a deep breath.

“I was furious because Frazier was completely wasting his life, and he didn’t care about his family or his parents. He was indulging in unrealistic fantasies and being irresponsible. I argued with him, and then he kicked me out.”

Louise tried to calm herself and continued speaking.

"He seemed to have completely disappeared from our lives. My parents didn't want to mention him anymore, but I didn't want him to continue like this, so after I graduated, I went to Italy again—"

Louise's expression changed; she seemed confused, and even a little frightened.

"But by then, he was no longer there. Nobody knew where he went, and the club he was in had disbanded. I found out that all the members of that club had graduated and left the school, and some of them had been in accidents while still in school. I was very worried about him, but I couldn't find any way to contact him—"

Is that professor still at the university?

Amosta brought up the professor again.

“I don’t know, I don’t remember him—” Louise shook her head, then looked at Amosta strangely.

"Why are you so concerned about that professor, Mr. Blaine?"

"Just call me Amosta--"

Amosta paused for a few seconds before slowly saying, "These kinds of societies usually have founders. If I'm not mistaken, this highly respected professor might be the one who initiated the research."

Chapter 767 Wise Leader

2024-02-18

"The person who initiated the research."

Louise bit her lip and shook her head slightly; she didn't quite understand the true meaning of what Amostella had said.

Amosta had no intention of explaining, and simply asked, "And then what? You must have seen Frazier, right?"

This goes without saying; otherwise, Louise wouldn't have been able to get Fraser's address phone number.

"That was around Halloween two years ago. I received a letter from Fraser. It was the only letter I had ever received from Fraser in all these years. The letter didn't appear in my mailbox, nor was it delivered by the postman; it just appeared out of nowhere. It was on the balcony of my rented room. There was no stamp on the envelope, no sender's address, and no recipient's address. I knew it was from Fraser through the notes and the contents of the letter—"

Louise looked confused, as if she didn't understand how the letter had ended up in her hands.

"--Fraser told me in that letter that he had gone to a new country to continue their great research. He said it was arranged by the research organization he belonged to."

Louise pursed her lips, her beautiful face filled with gloom.

"Before that, I always thought it was just a student interest group in Bologna. I never imagined that this organization was not so simple; it also had bases in other countries. Then, in his letter, he told me that he was doing well and that I should take care of myself and my parents."

Amostella's eyelids twitched slightly. This was highly unusual. A Muggle driven almost mad by the pursuit of magical power was beginning to care about his family. Clearly, something was amiss.

"Did you realize that Fraser might have been in a precarious situation when he wrote this letter?"

Amos asked directly.

"Of course!"

Louise said indignantly,

"Although he didn't mention it at all, I could feel his fear at the time. I couldn't reply to him because I had no idea how the letter ended up in my hands. I even took it to the police because I suspected that Frazier might be in danger of being kidnapped, but the police said that an unsigned letter couldn't prove anything!"

“What about that letter?” Amosta leaned slightly forward.

"I burned it—"

Louise said she noticed some surprise in Amosta's expression, and immediately added,

"It was Frazier's request. At the end of the letter, he asked me in a very serious tone to burn it after reading it. The police said that maybe the letter was just a prank."

Amosta felt a pang of regret. The letter was probably sent to Louise by owl, and if the owl were still alive, it wouldn't be impossible to find the place where the letter was sent.

"--I met Frazier last September."

Seemingly realizing that it was the last time she would see her brother, Louise's breathing became erratic again, and her red eyes welled up with tears once more. Amosta did not urge her, but simply took a tissue from the coffee table and handed it to her.

"Thanks--"

Louise said in a hoarse voice, looking at Amosta with teary eyes, feeling that the mysterious Amosta Blaine was indeed a very gentlemanly man.

“I don’t know how Frazier knew where I lived, but he definitely came to my door--”

Louise gently rubbed her nose with a tissue, then crumpled it into a ball and held it in her palm.

"You know how surprised I was. So many years—I hadn't seen him. He looked a little fatter than the last time I saw him, but his mental state was terrible and he seemed panicked. He said he had run away."

"They escaped?"

Amosta squinted.

"That's right,"

Louise nodded, her voice trembling with fear.

"That's what he said. Maybe he was scared, so he said things he probably didn't originally intend to say. He said those people were a bunch of evil lunatics who had bewitched him into conducting magical research. They were doing experiments—all sorts of experiments—on people, including babies and pregnant women. He himself was used as a test subject. I was terrified. I asked him to come with me to find the police, but that seemed to have triggered him—"

Louise was breathing rapidly.

"He refused to see the police, saying that everyone would be in danger if those magical terrorists found out. He still insisted that he had witnessed magic firsthand and that he had seen those people use magic to torture and kill people. I guess he must be either too frightened or has been injected with hallucinogenic drugs and is mentally confused!"

"You must have asked him where he's been all these years, and where he escaped from, right, Louise?"

Amosta asked solemnly.

From the information Louise provided, he got closer to the truth, but at the same time, a deeper confusion also confronted him.

He could roughly guess what kind of organization Frazer was involved with, and it wasn't surprising that such an organization existed. In fact, it was hard to say whether there was any official influence behind it. However, why would such an organization, which should have been deeply hidden in the shadows and dared not face a ray of light, provoke Hermione and the others? They should understand that a young wizard plotting against Hogwarts was tantamount to angering him and Dumbledore.

He didn't want to say—

Amosta was deep in thought, while Louise nodded, clenching her fists tightly.

"He told me that knowing too much would also put me in danger. He seemed much more sober then. He said he shouldn't have come to me, but he regretted asking me to take care of his parents. Then he tried to leave, but of course I wouldn't let him go. I wanted to take him to the police station and have him go home to see his parents, but he resisted very much. We argued for a long time, and in the end, he only left me his phone number and wouldn't tell me where he lived now—"

That's where the story of Frazier ends. Then he was discovered by Amosta, turned into an Infernal Trap, and his body was completely destroyed in the rented room.

A torrential downpour began outside the window, strong winds lashed against the doors and windows, and faint thunder rumbled in the low-hanging clouds.

In the dimly lit room, only Louise's soft sobs, curled up on the sofa, and the crackling of firewood burning in the fireplace could be heard. Amusta closed his eyes, pondering the information he had received—

"Kingsley!"