Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 310 Settlement

"..."

Although the scores of the three warriors had been announced and the first competition had come to an end, the entire hall remained stiffly silent, as if those sitting in their seats were not students, but rather computers that had crashed, as if one could hear the groans of their overworked brains in the air...

"Well, it seems everyone still has some questions, more or less."

Looking at the students below, frozen in shock and seemingly brain-dead, Karkaroff couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. Meanwhile, Bagman, who had just "come back to life," immediately set up his camera and started snapping away, capturing the bewildered, confused, and helpless faces. It's likely that the Daily Prophet will produce a few more hilarious moments in the coming days...

"I understand, after all, it's also our production team's fault - in order to ensure the authenticity of the case to the greatest extent, to prevent anyone from realizing that this is actually a game, and to ensure the Warriors' enthusiasm for participating, we did put a lot of effort into the arrangements... Originally, this was supposed to be the behind-the-scenes content written in the report, but in order to put everyone's minds at ease, I'll reveal a little bit here first."

"When the Triwizard Tournament project was conceived, before the end of the second semester last year, we unanimously decided that we wanted to present a competition that was different from the traditional ones, more exciting and thrilling, and that could comprehensively test the courage, wisdom and strength of the warriors. In previous competitions, 'concealing the project' has always been the key to making the competition stand out, and this time, we decided to take this concept to the extreme... Ultimately, we decided to design the first stage with 'solving the case' as the theme."

"...So, that means Bagman deliberately caused me trouble during the Quidditch World Cup, and that was already part of the tournament from that point on?!"

Krum pointed with a slightly trembling finger at Bagman, who was still smiling—it would have been fine if this was just Bagman's plan, but it turned out to be a collaborative design by the entire tournament production team!

In other words, all their actions were predicted from the very beginning... no, from before they even started?!

"At that time, there were many alternative plans, and the conflict with you was just one of them. After all, we only knew that you were one of the most likely candidates to become a Warrior, but we couldn't be sure whether you would actually become a Warrior."

Ludo Bagman smiled at Clum: "But whether you become a Warrior or not, this will be published in the newspapers, and I will publicly apologize to you then... After all, this has caused you a lot of trouble and criticism for no reason."

"..."

Krum nodded silently, but his expression had softened considerably.

"As for the relationship between Miss Delacour's grandmother and the goblins, it was naturally a pretext to bring her into the competition. Of course, this was done with her grandmother's consent. After that, we arranged for Mr. Ken to meet Mr. Bagman last, thus absolving the three warriors of suspicion and using the confiscation of their wands as pressure to ensure their enthusiasm in the competition."

Karkaroff's smile grew even more smug: "Then, to ensure that every detail of the case is true and reasonable, we deliberately incorporated some characteristics that the participants actually possessed into the case. For example, Mr. Bagman does have a penchant for betting, and he did lose to the fairy before... but the amount was very small, basically for entertainment purposes. In addition, this matter is already known to all members of the referee team, so it will not affect the fairness of the competition. Please rest assured on that point."

"In addition, some long-standing conspiracy theories were incorporated into the design of the case, including the rumors that I was a Death Eater when I first entered Durmstrang..."

Karkaroff pulled up the sleeve of his left arm in front of everyone, turned to the side and showed his bare arm to everyone: "Look—just as Mr. Ken said before, members of the Death Eaters will have a black skull symbol branded on their left arm, which is the so-called Dark Mark... but your headmaster doesn't have one of those."

"……Fake."

Avada squinted and immediately saw the Black Mark hidden beneath Karkaroff's skin—the same mark that had once been on his own body—he had simply concealed it beforehand and then revealed it in public.

So, he and Crouch were actually using this opportunity to clear their names?

However, the other students were quite receptive to this—when Karkaroff voluntarily revealed his left arm, the tense atmosphere in the hall visibly eased, and many students finally showed signs of relief. Even Krum and Fleur's expressions improved considerably...

"The difficulty of this match lies in guessing Mr. Bagman's 'death method' and deducing step by step from the various clues we left in the castle the 'shady agreement' between Mr. Crouch and me."

Realizing his words had a clear effect, Karkaroff was in high spirits: "To be honest, we always thought this project was difficult enough. In our predictions, it would take at least until next week for the case to be solved... The efficiency of this year's Warriors has far exceeded our expectations, which is why their scores are so high... Oh, right, speaking of Warriors—their wands don't seem to be back in their hands yet."

Karkaroff then realized he had forgotten something, so he took the three wands out of his pocket and made them fly steadily to the corresponding warriors.

"...Thankfully, nothing was sabotaged."

Avada glanced briefly at the three wands before confidently taking his own wand in his hand, wiping it lightly, and then putting it away.

"so,"

After returning the wand, Karkaroff concluded, "Due to the warriors' astonishing efficiency, we might be able to move the second event forward slightly. After all, the timing of this tournament's events is flexible, which is one of the differences between this competition and previous ones… Therefore, I hereby announce that the second event of this Triwizard Tournament will begin on December 5th, which is one week from now. Well, it has been an honor to witness the warriors' brilliant performance with everyone, but it's getting late, and I think you all need rest, especially the warriors—you may now return to your lodgings."

"Everyone can leave now. Goodnight, everyone!"

After the last sentence was uttered, faint voices gradually emerged in the quiet auditorium, then grew louder and louder until it became a cacophony of voices. Students, their eyes filled with awe and admiration, surged towards their heroes, intending to give them the most solemn homecoming honor…

"..."

Avada outwardly maintained the same excited smile as everyone else, but secretly cut two pieces from his sleeve, turning them into two slips of paper. After discreetly handing them to Fleur and Krum, he returned to his group, beaming, and mingled with the other cheerful classmates. Fleur and Krum, however, froze for a moment after glancing at the information on the slips of paper…

The conspiracy hasn't disappeared; stay vigilant!

(End of this chapter)