Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 294

"The Killing Curse... judging from the fact that the victim had no life force left and was completely caught off guard, it does indeed fit all the characteristics of being hit by the Killing Curse..."

"But shouldn't this be even more unacceptable?"

Avada felt she had lingered for too long, so she turned and went downstairs, out of the professors' sight. But the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt: "Bagman was murdered very shortly after I left. It was after class, there were many students in the hallway, and his office door was open... If it really was a killing curse, then someone would definitely have heard the chanting..."

"The Killing Curse is almost impossible to cast silently. Ordinary people can't even unleash its power if they chant it even slightly softly. Currently, there are only two known individuals who can cast the Killing Curse silently: Grindelwald and Voldemort... Of course, Dumbledore should be able to as well."

"Could it be that Voldemort secretly resurrected behind my back? Or has the pure-blood family raised a Dark Lord who can rival Dumbledore? That's a bit far-fetched—if the pure-blood family could really create another Dark Lord at this point in time, would they have been suppressed by Dumbledore so badly in the original story?"

"A soundproofing spell? A deafening spell? That would prevent the students in the corridor from hearing the incantation, but Bagman could still hear the chanting before he died—but judging from his expression just before he died, he didn't even have time to react..."

"What exactly happened?"

Durmstrang Castle is significantly taller than Hogwarts, and Avada, focused on his problem, couldn't walk very fast, so it took him quite a while to get downstairs. During this time, he was surrounded by empty space; there wasn't a soul in sight.

"Martial law has been declared in Durmstrang."

He thought to himself, and then finally arrived at the lobby on the first floor—sure enough, the door to the outside was now half-closed, and there was a table at the door with a professor on duty sitting in front of it. Hearing the noise, he turned around and stared at Avada, who had just come out of the corridor, with a wary look.

"You are... oh."

His brow relaxed slightly, clearly recognizing Avada: "Going out?"

"right."

After seeing Avada nod, the professor pulled out a booklet from under the table and opened it: "You need to register here and be sure to come back within an hour, otherwise you may be questioned... Also, it's forbidden to leave the castle after 8 p.m., and there's only half an hour left, so you'd better hurry up if you have something to do."

"……OK."

Avada picked up a pen, quickly wrote his name "Ken" in the booklet, then opened the half-closed door and ran briskly out of the castle into the cold wind, heading straight for the Hogwarts Express, which lay quietly nearby. Before he could even approach and knock, he immediately sensed an invisible but incredibly powerful magic tightly sealing off the entire train, preventing anyone from entering—clearly Dumbledore's doing.

Fortunately, there were still four or five students, probably on duty, in the conference room of the first carriage. Some of them caught a glimpse of Avada outside the window and immediately called their companions over, pressing their faces against the window. Fortunately, Dumbledore's magic only had the function of blocking and defense, and did not help much with soundproofing, so they could still barely hear each other's voices through the window.

"Ken?"

The man in the lead was Cedric, his voice muffled by the glass: "You're back? Sorry, Professor Dumbledore has cast a spell on the train, we can't let you in... How are things on your end?"

"Fortunately, I'm not a major suspect."

Avada shouted through the glass, "How are you? Is Dumbledore in the car?"

"Dumbledore is not here."

Cedric explained uneasily, "As soon as news of Mr. Bagman's murder spread, all the students were immediately ordered back to their lodgings. Professor Dumbledore, after making arrangements for us, also left with Karkaroff... Is it true?"

"Mr. Bagman was really murdered? Isn't this some kind of Triwizard Tournament event??"

"It doesn't seem so."

Avada shook her head: "Neither Crouch nor the other headmasters were joking, and all three of our wands have been confiscated—by the way, where's Dumbledore?"

"He said he would go with Karkarov to negotiate with the British."

A seventh-grade student explained, "If all goes well, the British Ministry of Magic should send someone over tomorrow or the day after to investigate with Durmstrang School officials, and the curfew won't be lifted until tomorrow!"

"That's good."

Avada appeared to relax a little, but her inner tension tightened even more: "By the way, do you know what kind of debt dispute Ludo Bagman had with the goblins? According to the preliminary investigation, he was likely killed by the goblins. And if that's true, it means someone has already infiltrated Durmstrang—at that point, no one might be safe!"

"Is that so?!"

The faces pressed against the glass were all startled at the same time—if this was really the case, then it was a fairy murdering a Ministry of Magic official… If this incident was not handled properly, it could easily ignite a conflict between wizards and fairies!

"But I heard that Bagman just lost a bet to a fairy and owes a lot of money!"

Cedric, whose family had connections to the Ministry of Magic, was quite knowledgeable in this area and immediately gave Avada the answer he wanted: "Would a goblin kill someone for something like this? He just made a personal bet with a few goblins; he didn't raid Gringotts!"

"A bet with a fairy?"

Avada paused for a moment.

"Everyone in the Ministry of Magic knows that Ludo Bagman is notorious for his gambling addiction..."

Cedric explained to him, "He gambles with almost everyone around him about everything, and for big events—like the Quidditch World Cup—he'd definitely participate in large-scale betting. Even within the Ministry of Magic, he has quite a few creditors, not to mention the goblins who specialize in this kind of thing, so there's nothing strange about it in itself… but I still don't think the goblins would kill him just for this, let alone infiltrate Durmstrang, the most secretive of all!"

"I see. Thank you, Cedric..."

Avada thoughtfully stroked his chin, then chatted casually with the others for a while before saying goodbye to his classmates before the allotted time ended and turning to walk towards Durmstrang Castle...

(End of this chapter)