Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 292 Suspicion Remains

After watching the door slam shut, Avada began pacing anxiously around the room. After pondering for a while without success, he simply lay down on the bed and let out a long sigh.

"Someone killed Ludo Bagman, less than a minute after I left?"

The more he thought about it, the more incomprehensible it became: "Bagman even specifically told me not to close the door when I left! The corridor was full of students coming and going at that time! He was killed so silently?!"

"It's confirmed that the Bagman who interviewed me was indeed him, not an imposter, and he wasn't under a curse or affected by any other magic capable of killing silently. There was no one else in the room besides us at the time!"

"In other words, he really was killed less than a minute after I left, and not killed beforehand and then disguised by the murderer, or the murderer was hiding in the office waiting for an opportunity, and even the door was open when he committed the murder, and there were students passing by outside, but he just didn't get discovered... How is that possible??"

"Furthermore, Ludo Bagman is a physically strong and agile athlete... Could he really be stabbed to death in an instant? Without even making a sound of resistance? Even if someone were to approach silently in an invisibility cloak and stab someone to death with a dagger, it would still take some time... and the commotion during that time would definitely be enough to attract the attention of those outside the door!"

"Who could it be? Who could it be?!"

"Could it be related to a conspiracy by the pure-blood families? But why would they want to kill Bagman?"

Avada's thoughts were in turmoil, jumbled with countless questions. He raised his arm and stared at the badge that Dumbledore had made on the spot—just as Dumbledore had said, this badge could accurately pinpoint the wearer's location, monitor their physical condition, and even record the surrounding environment in a simple way. And it would indeed sound an alarm if the wearer removed or left the designated area.

"...There is no hidden information from Dumbledore."

After carefully analyzing the structure of the badge with his magical senses, Avada became even more puzzled—logically, Dumbledore and he should have been cooperating in this conspiracy, and knowing his own abilities, if he discovered any suspicious points or clues, he should have found a way to let him know… But this badge contained nothing at all?!

Even when Dumbledore was expelled from the castle during his third year, he still secretly left a message for himself, telling him that Snape was one of his own and asking him to help protect the students' safety!

But now... does this mean that Dumbledore is also clueless about this matter? Or has he discovered something extremely dangerous that he believes only he can handle, and doesn't want to involve Avada Kedavra?

Either way, it means that the severity of this incident has far exceeded Awada's initial expectations.

"There's too little information; we can only wait..."

He took a deep breath, gradually calming his agitated emotions. Normally, he would have gone to the kitchen to get some chocolate or cookies to soothe his mind with sweetness, but that was clearly not the right approach now. The room Dumbledore had tidied was spotless, but it didn't even contain a single book—perhaps a reflection of his own unease at the time?

……

However, not long after, only a few hours later, he was fortunate enough to receive another piece of good news.

"You may leave now."

The door to the room opened with a sudden click, startling Avada, who was lying on the bed in a daze—standing outside were Dumbledore, Maxim, and Barty Crouch the Elder.

"After a series of checks, some of your suspicions have indeed been cleared—the spellcasting records match, and there is ample eyewitness evidence of your whereabouts… However, unfortunately, because you still remain a suspect, after your release from confinement, you will still need to continue wearing the badges given to you by Dumbledore for further observation, and your wands will also have to remain in our custody…"

"Are we still suspects?"

Soon, the three warriors emerged from their rooms. Fleur Delacour frowned slightly and asked in a very dissatisfied tone, "Why? We had no motive to kill Mr. Bagman, and now you've established our alibis... what suspicion do we have left?"

"...Based on the initial assessment of the current situation, Mr. Bagman's death should be closely related to the fairy."

Crouch paused for a moment before answering, "Mr. Bagman had a serious debt dispute with the fairies before his death, and the silver dagger that killed Mr. Bagman showed signs of fairy craftsmanship. Fairy magic can indeed infiltrate Durmstrang, and there's no way to block certain types of apparition here..."

"Shouldn't that further prove our innocence?"

"That's the problem, Miss Delacour."

Crouch replied in a deep voice, "While fairies do indeed have the potential to infiltrate Durmstrang using non-human apparition techniques—such as house-elves or dwarf birds—the prerequisite is that they must determine Durmstrang's exact location or have an 'anchor point' within the school. After all, Durmstrang was one of humanity's most well-hidden strongholds during the fairy rebellion. No matter how powerful the fairies are now, it's impossible for them to bypass all the obstacles and completely obtain Durmstrang's location information..."

"You suspect that one of us is colluding with the fairies?"

Furong's brows furrowed even deeper: "Is this the kind of absurd suspicion you're talking about?"

"On the contrary, it's not absurd at all."

Crouch raised a finger slightly and pointed forward: "For example, you, Miss Fleur Delacour—your grandmother, the Veela who provided the core for your wand—who happens to be friends with the goblin who has a debt dispute with Mr. Bagman."

"This is utterly absurd..."

Furong muttered to herself in disbelief, her momentum suddenly weakening.

"And Mr. Krum, everyone knows you had a disagreement with Mr. Bagman at the Quidditch World Cup. Even if, as you said before, you wouldn't kill someone over something like that... what if you just wanted to teach him a lesson by revealing his location?"

Krum pursed his lips tightly, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists—he knew that nothing he said now would make a difference; this kind of suspicion, which was difficult to prove or disprove, was the hardest to deal with.

"And you, Mr. Ken... you don't think it's entirely unsuspecting that a murder occurred less than a minute after you left, do you?"

Avada shrugged.

Now he could roughly guess what had happened—someone wanted to sabotage the Warriors in this Triwizard Tournament.

Or rather... he wanted to mess with himself.

(End of this chapter)