Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 308 Krum's Choice

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

After a brief moment of shock, Karkaroff took a deep breath, his gaze towards Krum turning as cold as a snake: "But whatever your purpose in saying these words, I want you to understand that casually slandering a headmaster and the Director of the British Ministry of Magic is a very serious matter. If you insist on continuing, then what you will lose is probably not just your student status..."

"I regret to inform you, Professor, since I am confident in saying it, I am also confident in saying that it is not a slander."

Krum spoke calmly, but a hint of sadness, barely perceptible to others, flashed deep in his eyes—he was likely to become the nail that would nail his alma mater to the pillar of shame.

Although he had never had a good impression of Principal Karkaroff, Krum still had an inseparable bond with his alma mater, where he had lived for seven years and which held all sorts of memories for him. He was also unwilling to let the safety and reputation of his alma mater be damaged. Otherwise, he would not have volunteered to participate in the Triwizard Tournament.

But now, the school's reputation and the students' safety seem mutually exclusive. A principal's shocking scandal would become a stain on the entire school for decades, and the students who graduate from here would also be disgraced. But if left unchecked, it would be tantamount to letting a conspiracy slowly take shape, eventually dragging everyone into it... In the end, however, Krum made his own choice.

"...I have seen you many times during my seven years on campus, Professor."

Finally, Krum's fingers clenched quietly beneath his sleeves, the resulting strength prompting him to continue firmly: "And there were a few times when I occasionally saw faint marks on your wrist. I never understood what they were until I and the two warriors uncovered something, and Ken found almost the same marks on Crouch's wrist, and then I realized... it was an unbreakable oath."

"whispering sound!"

Karkaroff tried to sound dismissive: "Is this why you think there's something going on between Mr. Crouch and me? Just because of a few marks on my wrist?"

"You idiot, I really don't know how you became a warrior... If you go and look at the other students' wrists now, I bet you can find at least a hundred people with marks from wearing bracelets, sleeves that are too tight, or something else—are you trying to say that they all swore an unbreakable oath?"

"...An unbreakable oath can be detected."

Krum's voice remained unchanged: "And if it were really as you say, and I only saw two identical marks, I naturally wouldn't have stood up so confidently... The reason I did this is mainly because we also learned something else."

"You used to be a 'death-eating bandit,' right?"

"...Death Eaters."

Avada nudged Krum's arm quietly and corrected him in a low voice.

"Nonsense."

Karkaroff frowned and said, "When I first joined Durmstrang, people spread these kinds of rumors to try and suppress me. And now, people actually believe them?"

"There are probably more people who believe it than you think, after all, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts this year is named Alastor Moody."

Krum ignored Karkaroff's constricted pupils and continued speaking to himself: "I understand that you were hunted by Mr. Moody for a full six months before finally being captured, but you then made a secret deal with Mr. Barty Crouch, who was about to try you, allowing you to escape unscathed. At the same time, the number of Death Eaters captured by the Ministry of Magic suddenly surged several times over. There are even rumors that Crouch, in order to fulfill his deal with you, secretly erased all your files..."

"That's enough!"

Barty Crouch finally roared as he stood up: "I can no longer tolerate this blatant slander! Shut up your student, Karkaroff!"

"Oh, no."

Suddenly, a withered hand landed on Crouch's shoulder with undeniable force, silencing his roar and causing him to turn stiffly—Albus Dumbledore was smiling and gazing at him: "I believe everyone has the right to publicly express their dissent."

Crouch, his face pale, glanced at Dumbledore's other hand—which had already disappeared under his sleeve.

Meanwhile, the students below were already in an uproar.

"Are you kidding me? Mr. Crouch and Karkaroff are really in cahoots?!"

"Is there even a need to doubt it? Crouch's face says it all... and I seem to recall hearing similar rumors before!"

"But all those rumors are about Karkaroff! Mr. Crouch...didn't he personally judge so many Death Eaters?"

"Never mind that for now. Judging by the way Ken and the others are going...could the killer of Bagman be Karkaroff or Crouch? The suspicion is too obvious!"

Hearing the increasingly heated sounds below, Karkaroff and Crouch's faces grew increasingly grim, but they dared not move a muscle because of Dumbledore's smiling presence beside them. Maxim, who had previously known almost nothing about the situation, now looked tense, shifting his seat slightly further away and subtly placing one hand on his waist…

"...?"

A hint of doubt flashed in Avada's eyes, but he showed nothing.

"Among the Death Eaters who were 'suddenly arrested' because of Karkaroff, there happened to be a friend of Mr. Ludo Bagman, whose name was August Lukewood."

Krum's voice finally grew louder: "For this, Bagman was implicated and brought to trial once, and the person who tried him was none other than Barty Crouch. It is said that during that trial, Crouch was determined to imprison Bagman in Azkaban, to the point of almost disregarding the facts and evidence... I suppose you already realized at that time that Bagman might have guessed the deal between you and Karkaroff, Mr. Crouch!"

"This is the real reason why you and Bagman, as British officials, were able to break with tradition and serve as judges in the Durmstrang Championship."

His voice trembled with a hint of agitation: "Because Ludo Bagman used this incident to blackmail Karkaroff, demanding a referee's position and possibly even assistance in rigging the deal. Fearing the secret would be leaked, Karkaroff approached Crouch, and the two, their interests intertwined, devised a plan to kill Bagman!"

"The evidence is that Bagman's cause of death wasn't the fairy's dagger, but the Killing Curse! But whether it was Karkaroff, Crouch, or the later investigation team, they all insisted that Bagman was killed by the fairy, even though a simple life force test could have detected the anomaly!"

"yes!"

The students below immediately began to murmur among themselves: "I knew Bagman's death couldn't have been caused by a single dagger!"

"Yes, I saw it too. He seemed completely oblivious to the impending danger... He's an athlete, after all. Would he be completely unresponsive if someone stabbed him head-on with a dagger?"

"I knew Durmstrang couldn't be infiltrated by a mere fairy..."

"absurd!"

Karkaroff finally showed a hint of joy, slamming his hand on the table and shouting, "Not to mention that none of the many students in the corridor saw me or Mr. Crouch, and no one heard any chanting, let alone a lengthy incantation like the Killing Curse!"

"Are you suggesting that I, or Mr. Crouch, can now silently cast the Killing Curse, and that our magical abilities rival those of the Dark Lord?"

Avada smiled.

After waiting for so long, it's finally his turn to appear...

(End of this chapter)