Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 363 Old Barty's Deal

"Great, it seems everyone has arrived!"

After all the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had entered the university hall and the other two doors were finally closed, a sudden explosion caused by Apparition rang out in front of everyone, startling the still somewhat dazed students.

Along with the loud explosion appeared three wizards dressed in black robes, while the one who had spoken to the people was an elderly witch with white hair. She stepped forward, waved to the crowd, and wore a kind smile, seemingly very pleased to see so many young people visiting.

"Welcome to the University of Northridge."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it easily cut through the chaotic chatter of the crowd, reaching everyone's ears clearly: "This meeting might seem a bit abrupt—I know what's happening outside, and I know you all probably still have many questions. But rest assured, I will try my best to explain everything that happened today, so you won't worry so much..."

"First, let me introduce myself. My name is Miranda Goshak, and I'm the principal of this school. I think many of you here have probably heard of me..."

"Miranda Goshak?!" Before she could finish speaking, the students who heard the name practically erupted in excitement. Even before that, several students standing closer to the front, who could clearly see the witch's face, showed expressions of astonishment and uncertainty: "Miranda Goshak?"

Anyone who has attended any wizarding school in the world has undoubtedly heard of Miranda Goshak—both her early work, *The Book of Spells*, and her later revised *Standard Spells*, are basic reference books that have been translated into dozens of languages ​​and are bestsellers worldwide. Naturally, they are also textbooks used in European schools such as Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. And yet, such a great educator has appeared before them so unexpectedly?

Moreover, she seems to be the headmistress of a magic school? She is qualified to be the headmistress of any school, but why have I never heard of this before?

And the name "Nobiridge University" is completely unheard of... Oh, I have heard of "Nobiridge," he's a former Minister for Magic in Britain—but when did a magic school named after him appear? And a "university" that has never existed in the magical world before?

"It seems I don't need to do any further introduction."

Seeing the students' expressions, Miranda Goshark smiled as expected, and then continued, "As for what happened in the Triwizard Tournament just now—please rest assured, both Professor Dumbledore and your three heroes are perfectly safe now, and Professor Karkaroff did not actually defect to Dumbledore."

"What about Ludo Bagman?"

Upon hearing that Karkarov had not actually betrayed the government, the atmosphere among the students eased considerably. However, after noticing that Goshak had temporarily stopped talking, some still inquired about another referee who had supposedly betrayed the government, Ludo Bagman.

"That's not Ludo Bagman."

This time, it was one of the wizards beside Goshak who answered: "According to our investigation, that person likely imprisoned the real Bagman and then used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him and infiltrate Durmstrang. As for who that person is and how they did it, we still have no clue..."

As he spoke, he exchanged a glance with the other wizard beside him—in fact, the university had known from the beginning that the man's true identity was Barty Crouch Jr., the Death Eater who was supposed to die in Azkaban. However, since they had already secured the full cooperation of a certain Director of Magical Sports in England using this as leverage, they did not intend to reveal the man's identity. They would even secretly help clean up the mess afterward to prevent the Aurors from discovering anything amiss…

"In fact, since last summer, a force has been trying to infiltrate and interfere with this year's Triwizard Tournament. Their goal is to kill Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore and take back the soul of their former master, Voldemort, from him."

Miranda Goshark continued, "Fortunately, Dumbledore discovered what they were doing in time and ultimately chose to cooperate with us to resolve the matter completely while ensuring the students' safety—which is why you've come here for refuge. Dumbledore will feign defeat and then lure everyone involved in the plan to Durmstrang..."

The students from the other two schools were still somewhat confused, but the students from Hogwarts immediately realized—wanting to kill Dumbledore and reclaim Voldemort's soul... weren't they Death Eaters?

They've been relentlessly trying to cause trouble for the past three years—first, Voldemort himself infiltrated the school and was sealed away, then there was the terrifying Locked Room incident, which ultimately led to half of the school board being sent to Azkaban, and there were even rumors that they were involved in the werewolf attacks that caused a huge uproar throughout the UK last year… They still don't seem to be planning to stop.

And the situation escalated further—they even brought Grindelwald back!

By the way, speaking of Grindelwald...

"Ms. Goshak, but what about Grindelwald, who's fighting the headmaster?"

Upon hearing this name, the crowd, which had relaxed slightly due to previous news, tensed up again. The students, especially those from Durmstrang, were very familiar with the name of this once-powerful dark wizard and naturally understood just how serious it was that he had suddenly escaped from the tower that had imprisoned him for fifty years. If they were unlucky, this might be the beginning of another major upheaval in the entire magical society!

"Grindelwald?"

Surprisingly, upon hearing the name, Goshak and his companions didn't show any signs of tension. Instead, they couldn't help but burst into laughter: "This is the most dramatic part of the plan that Dumbledore, Karkaroff, and we devised... I'm sorry I can't tell you the truth for now, but I can let you see it for yourselves..."

As he spoke, Goshak lightly waved his wand, conjuring a large expanse of familiar mist that formed two screens in mid-air. One screen still displayed the interplay of red and blue flames, clearly showing the underwater battle; the other screen displayed a familiar lakeside. Most surprisingly, a large number of figures in red robes were still gathered there, all craning their necks to watch the scene on the mist screen…

"What happened?!"

The Durmstrang students immediately erupted in chaos: "Didn't we all evacuate? How come so many people are still left behind?!"

"Don't worry, those aren't Durmstrang's students."

Seeing this, Goshak couldn't help but chuckle again, and before they could start checking who was missing, he explained, "Those are students from our university—they're responsible for playing the roles you're playing to distract the approaching people and then helping to catch them at the end..."

"And there's no need to worry about their safety—I bet they're having more fun than anyone else right now."

(End of this chapter)