Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 290 An Impossible Murder

"Who is it? What's wrong??"

Avada didn't immediately understand what Crouch had said.

What did he just hear? Crouch seemed to be saying... Ludo Bagman, dead?

Ludo Bagman? The Ludo Bagman who just finished interviewing him less than a minute ago??

"Ludo Bagman—the Ludo Bagman you just met—was found dead in his office. I've made myself clear. Now come with me, immediately!"

Old Barty raised his wand slightly. Avada, still somewhat dazed, swayed to his feet and followed...

"Are you kidding me? Or is this actually the first test in the three-way battle for supremacy?"

"But if that's the case, why is Old Barty so serious? He doesn't seem to be joking at all?"

"Ludo Bagman...is he really dead?!"

dong dong dong.

A series of urgent knocks startled him from his thoughts, and he realized that he was once again standing in front of the black wooden door. The knocking had come from old Barty Crouch beside him.

The wooden door was immediately pulled open from the inside, revealing that only Kakarov was now in the office. His face was gloomy, a far cry from his cheerful and enthusiastic demeanor that morning, and his expression betrayed his inner tension and agitation...

"The person has been brought."

Old Barty nodded briskly: "Logically speaking, he should be the last person to see Bagman... Dumbledore and Maxim haven't returned yet?"

"It should be soon."

Karkaroff gave a brief reply and then fell silent, sitting back in his chair with one hand gripping his goatee tightly, as if trying to tear it off. He occasionally looked up, scrutinizing Avada's face with a sharp gaze, wanting to speak first, but seeing that the other party had no intention of asking, he had to give up—the entire office was thus dominated by an unprecedentedly oppressive silence.

Not long after, Dumbledore and Maxim also hurried back, followed by Krum and Fleur respectively, the latter of whom looked on with a look of surprise and disbelief.

boom!

Seeing that everyone had finally arrived, Karkarov suddenly stood up, swung his arm forcefully, and made the wooden door slam against the door frame with a loud, buzzing sound.

"Mr. Ludo Bagman has just been found dead in his office."

His face was so dark it seemed to drip water, making him look like an angry black goat: "And you, the three warriors, theoretically, you should be the three people who last saw him before he died. Especially you, Mr. Ken, he was found dead less than a minute after your interview ended."

"So, do the three of you have anything to say?"

"Don't be nervous, speak slowly. You're not really suspects."

Dumbledore stepped forward, trying his best to soothe the three warriors with a calm and gentle tone, but anyone could hear the slight tremor in his voice.

"Ludo Bagman...is he really dead?! Isn't this part of the Triwizard Tournament?!"

Looking at the tense, anxious, sorrowful, and angry expressions of everyone in the room, Avada finally realized they weren't joking. She then fell into deep disbelief: "How could this be?!"

"From the moment I left his office to when Barty Crouch Sr. came to me, did it take three minutes?! Probably less than two!"

"I...I find it hard to believe."

He opened his mouth and uttered just one word, then quickly swallowed to make his voice less hoarse and frightening: "Mr. Bagman and I had just finished an interview, it was even after class, and there were quite a few people in the hallway. Mr. Bagman didn't tell me to close the door... He really died like that? How did he die? Who found him?"

"Now is not your time to ask questions."

Old Barty gave him a stern look, then turned to Krum and Fleur: "And what about you two?"

"I... everything was fine when I was doing the interview."

Krum still seemed somewhat hesitant, as if he couldn't tell whether the referee named Bagman was really dead, or if this was just part of the tournament: "I went to his office at three o'clock in the afternoon, and then answered some questions. The whole process only lasted about ten minutes, and I didn't see anyone else approach..."

"I remember you had an argument with Mr. Bagman at the Quidditch World Cup."

Crouch seemed to have reverted to his former self as the Chief of the Law Enforcement Division, a figure that struck fear into the hearts of the Death Eaters. He leaned forward slightly, causing Krum to involuntarily shrink back.

"I would never kill someone over something like this!"

He shouted excitedly, "Only a madman would do that! And I went to class after leaving his office; my classmates and professors can testify to that! Besides, the warriors of Beauxbatons certainly saw Mr. Bagman after me!"

"That's right."

Fleur Delacour tried her best to remain calm, but her hands were already tightly gripping the hem of her skirt: "I saw Mr. Krum once more on my way upstairs, and the interview with Mr. Bagman went smoothly afterward. After that, I went back to class, and many people saw me..."

Now, everyone's eyes in the room were drawn to Avada—he was the last person to see Bagman, and the time between his departure and Bagman's death was too short. If anything, he was the most suspicious of the three people present.

"...I need to inspect your wands."

Karkaroff stepped forward and extended his hand: "Words are meaningless; the magic you've cast is the most direct and compelling evidence. If I find any spells in any of your wands that are related to Mr. Bagman's cause of death..."

As he spoke, he resolutely extended his hand to the three men. The three warriors knew that the only way to prove their innocence was to hand over their old companions, so they didn't hesitate to draw their wands and hand them over.

"Hmm...it really was the three wands from this morning."

Karkaroff nodded, then turned and handed the three wands to old Barty: "You inspect them, Mr. Crouch—they are all our students, and only you can guarantee impartiality."

"it is good."

Barty the Elder took the wands, placed them on the table, then drew his own wand with one hand and picked up Avada's wand with the other, pointing it out the window. He then lightly tapped the end of Avada's wand with his own: "Pre-Flashback Charm!"

A somewhat psychedelic blue light appeared at the tip of the Avada Kedavra wand—a spell used to detect the ingredients of potions.

"Flashback Pre-Spell!"

This time, it's an auxiliary magic for making potions of joy—Avada Kedavra was taking potions classes before the interview.

"Flashback Spell! Flashback Spell!"

Old Barty relentlessly continued casting the Flashback Charm, eventually even abandoning the incantation and simply banging Avada Kedavra's wand repeatedly like striking a wooden fish. Since everyone present was a master of spells, there was no way he could resort to underhanded tactics…

He cast over thirty Flashback Charms in succession, until the light emanating from the tip of his wand was so blurred that it was no longer discernible, before finally putting down Avada Kedavra's wand: "Did you memorize them all?"

"certainly."

The headmasters nodded—they had been recording the magic emanating from the Avada Kedavra wand while Crouch cast the spell.

"We will check these spells with your professors and classmates one by one."

Crouch still looked at Avada with that scrutinizing gaze: "And until it's over, you must remain under surveillance."

(End of this chapter)