"Who? What happened??"
For a moment, Avada did not even process what Crouch had said.
What had he just heard? Crouch seemed to be saying... that Ludo Bagman was dead?
Ludo Bagman? The same Ludo Bagman who had interviewed him less than a minute ago??
"Ludo Bagman—that same Ludo Bagman you saw just now—has been found dead in his office. I have made myself perfectly clear. Come with me, now. Immediately!"
Old Barty's wand lifted slightly.
And still half-dazed, Avada swayed to his feet and followed after him...
'You've got to be kidding me. Or is this actually the first task of the Triwizard Tournament??'
'But if that's the case, why is old Barty's mental state this serious? He doesn't look like he's joking at all.'
'Ludo Bagman... really died?!'
Knock knock knock.
A rapid knocking sound jolted him out of his thoughts, and only then did he realize that at some point he had once again arrived in front of that deep black wooden door. The knocking had come from old Barty Crouch beside him.
The wooden door was pulled open at once from the inside. Karkaroff was the only one in the office right now, and his face was dark, with not a trace left of the bright warmth he had shown that morning. His mental state likewise revealed the tension and agitation in his heart...
"I brought him."
Old Barty gave a crisp nod.
"Logically speaking, he should have been the last person to see Bagman alive... Dumbledore and Maxime still aren't back?"
"They should be soon."
Karkaroff responded shortly, then said nothing more. He returned to his chair in silence, one hand gripping his goatee so tightly it looked as though he meant to tear it out by the roots. Every so often, he looked up and studied Avada's face with a sharp gaze, making him want to say something first, but since the other man showed no intention of questioning him, he could only hold his tongue.
And so the entire office fell under an unprecedentedly oppressive silence.
Not long later, Dumbledore and Madame Maxime also returned in hurried strides, with Krum and Fleur following behind them. The latter two likewise wore expressions of shock and disbelief.
Bang!
Seeing that everyone had finally arrived, Karkaroff suddenly stood up and swung his arm hard, slamming the wooden door violently against the frame with a loud, ringing crash.
"Ludo Bagman was just discovered dead in his office."
His face was so dark it seemed ready to drip water, making him look like an enraged black goat.
"And you three champions, theoretically speaking, should have been the last three people to see him before he died. Especially you, Mr. Ken. Less than a minute may have passed between the end of your interview and the discovery of his death."
"So then, do any of you three have anything to say?"
"Do not be nervous. Speak slowly. Your suspicion is not actually very great."
Dumbledore stepped forward as well, trying to soothe the three champions with as calm and gentle a tone as possible. But anyone could hear the faint tremor suppressed beneath his voice.
'Ludo Bagman... really died?! This isn't part of the Triwizard Tournament?!'
Looking at the people in the room, their mental states full of tension, grief, or anger, Avada finally became certain that they were not joking with him.
And then he sank into deep disbelief.
'How is that possible?!'
'From the moment I left his office to the moment old Barty Crouch found me, was it even three minutes? Probably not even two!'
"I... I find that hard to believe."
He opened his mouth, got out only a single word, then quickly swallowed before his voice could stop sounding hoarse and dreadful.
"When I left, Mr. Bagman and I had just finished the interview. It was even still class dismissal time, and there were plenty of people in the corridor. Mr. Bagman didn't even ask me to close the door... He really just died like that? How did he die? Who found him?"
"Now is not the time for your questions."
Old Barty shot him a severe look, then turned to Krum and Fleur.
"And you two?"
"I... everything was fine during my interview."
Krum still looked hesitant, as though he could not quite tell whether the judge named Bagman was truly dead, or whether all of this was just another part of the Tournament.
"I went to his office at three in the afternoon, and then I just answered some questions. The whole process only lasted about ten minutes, and I didn't see anyone else go near him..."
"At the Quidditch World Cup, I believe you and Mr. Bagman had an argument."
Crouch seemed to have reverted once more into the feared former head of Magical Law Enforcement, the man who had once made Death Eaters tremble at his name. He leaned forward slightly, and Krum shrank back almost involuntarily.
"There's no way I'd kill someone over that!"
he shouted loudly, his emotions flaring.
"Only a madman would do something like that! And after I left his office, I went straight to class. My classmates and professor can both testify to that! And the Beauxbatons champion definitely saw Bagman after I did!"
"That's right."
Fleur Delacour was trying her best to remain calm, but both hands were already clenched tightly around the fabric of her skirt.
"I even saw Mr. Krum once on my way upstairs. After that, my interview with Mr. Bagman also went very smoothly, and afterward I likewise returned to class. Many people saw where I went..."
At that, everyone in the room found their gazes drifting toward Avada.
He was the last person to see Bagman, and the gap between his departure and Bagman's death was simply too short. If one had to say it plainly, then among the three people present, his suspicion really was the greatest.
"...I need to examine your wands."
Karkaroff stepped forward and extended a hand.
"Words prove nothing. The spells your wands have cast are the most direct and powerful evidence. If I find that any one of your wands has used a spell connected to the cause of Mr. Bagman's death..."
As he spoke, he firmly held out his hand toward the three of them. And the champions all understood that the only way to prove their innocence now was to surrender their old companions, so they did not hesitate much before drawing their wands and handing them over.
"Mm... yes, these are indeed the same three wands from this morning."
Karkaroff nodded, then turned and handed the three wands to old Barty.
"You do the examination, Mr. Crouch. They are all students of the three of us. Only you can guarantee fairness."
"Very well."
Old Barty took the wands and laid them on the table. Then, drawing his own wand with one hand, he picked up Avada's with the other and pointed it out the window. After that, he lightly tapped the end of Avada's wand with his own.
"Prior Incantato!"
A somewhat dreamy blue glow appeared at the tip of Avada's wand—that was a spell used to test potion ingredients.
"Prior Incantato!"
This time, what appeared was an auxiliary spell used in brewing a Cheering Potion—before the interview, Avada had been in Potions class.
"Prior Incantato! Prior Incantato!"
Old Barty stubbornly continued casting the reverse-spell effect over and over. By the end, he could not even be bothered to say the incantation anymore, and simply knocked against Avada's wand like he was striking a wooden fish: bang bang bang.
In any case, all the people present were masters of charms. There was no chance of him secretly doing anything underhanded...
He cast more than thirty reverse-spell checks in a row, only setting Avada's wand down after the light coming from its tip had grown so blurred that it was impossible to distinguish anymore.
"Did you record them all?"
"Of course."
The headmasters nodded. While Crouch had been casting the spells, they had been recording every bit of magic produced from Avada's wand.
"We will verify each of those spells one by one with your professors and classmates."
Crouch still looked at Avada with that same scrutinizing gaze.
"And until that is finished, you will remain under supervision."
(End of Chapter)