After watching the door slam shut with a bang, Avada could not help but begin pacing around the room in agitation. After thinking fruitlessly for a long time, he finally just threw himself onto the bed and let out a long breath.
"Someone killed Ludo Bagman less than a minute after I left?"
The more he thought about it, the less he could understand.
"And when I left, Bagman had even specifically told me not to close the door! The corridor was full of students coming and going at the time! How could he have been killed so silently like that?!"
"I can be certain that the Bagman interviewing me at the time was the real one—not a disguise, and he wasn't under the influence of any curse or other magic that could kill silently. There was no third person in the room besides the two of us, either!"
"In other words, he really was killed within less than a minute after I left. He wasn't killed in advance with the murderer disguising themselves afterward, and the murderer wasn't hiding in the office waiting for an opportunity. The door was even open when the killer struck, and students were passing outside, yet somehow no one noticed anything… how is that possible?!"
"And Ludo Bagman himself was a sturdy, quick-reacting athlete… how could he be killed instantly with a dagger? Without even making the slightest sound of resistance? Even if someone wearing an Invisibility Cloak silently approached and attacked him, stabbing a person to death with a dagger would still take a certain amount of time… and the commotion during that time should absolutely have been enough to draw the attention of people outside!"
"Who could it have been? And who else could it be?!"
"Could it be related to the pure-blood families' plot? But why would they want Bagman dead?"
Avada's thoughts were thrown into complete chaos by the countless questions. He raised his arm and stared at the badge Dumbledore had made on the spot—just as Dumbledore had said, the badge could precisely track the wearer's location, monitor their physical condition, and even make simple recordings of the surrounding environment. And if it was removed, or if the wearer left the designated area with it on, it would indeed sound an alarm.
"…There's no hidden message from Dumbledore."
After carefully analyzing the structure of the badge with his magical senses, Avada only grew even more puzzled. Logically speaking, Dumbledore and he were allies in this conspiracy, and Dumbledore knew perfectly well how useful his abilities were. If he had discovered any suspicious point or clue, he should have found a way to let Avada know.
And yet there was nothing inside this badge?!
Even back in his third year, when Dumbledore had been directly forced out of the castle, he had still secretly left him information, telling him Snape was on their side and having him help protect the students!
But now…
Did this mean Dumbledore himself had no clue what was going on? Or had he discovered something extremely dangerous and decided that only he could handle it, not wanting to drag Avada into it?
Either possibility meant that this incident was far more troublesome than Avada had initially expected.
"There's too little information. All I can do now is wait…"
He took a deep breath and forcefully calmed his growing irritation. Under his old habits, this would have been when he went to the kitchen for a few pieces of chocolate or some biscuits, letting the sweetness soothe his mood—but that was obviously not appropriate for the current situation. Although the room Dumbledore had prepared was clean and tidy, there was not even a single book inside. That probably reflected Dumbledore's own unease at the time as well.
…
Not long afterward, however—just a few hours later, in fact—he was lucky enough to learn another piece of good news.
"You may leave now."
The door opened with a sudden click, startling Avada, who had been lying on the bed staring blankly into space. Standing outside were Dumbledore, Maxime, and old Barty Crouch.
"After a series of inspections, some of your suspicion has indeed been ruled out. The spell records all match, and your movements are supported by sufficient witness testimony… but unfortunately, since a certain degree of suspicion still remains, after your confinement is lifted, you will still need to continue wearing the badges Dumbledore gave you for further observation. At the same time, your wands must regrettably remain in our custody…"
"We're still under suspicion?"
Soon, the three champions all emerged from their rooms. Fleur Delacour frowned and asked in a distinctly displeased tone, "Why? We had no motive to kill Mr. Bagman, and now you have already verified our alibis… what suspicion could possibly remain?"
"…According to our preliminary judgment, Mr. Bagman's death should have a great deal to do with goblins."
Crouch paused for a moment before answering.
"Before his death, Mr. Bagman had been involved in a rather serious debt dispute with goblins. The silver dagger that killed him bears traces of goblin craftsmanship, and goblin magic does indeed make infiltrating Durmstrang possible. This place likewise does not block certain forms of Apparition…"
"Then doesn't that only prove even more that we are innocent?"
"The problem lies precisely there, Miss Delacour."
Crouch replied in a low voice, lightly raising a finger and pointing ahead.
"Although goblins do indeed have the possibility of infiltrating Durmstrang through non-human Apparition techniques—for example, the methods used by house-elves or Jobberknolls—there is a prerequisite. They would first need to determine Durmstrang's exact location, or have an 'anchor point' inside the school. After all, during the Goblin Rebellions, Durmstrang was one of humanity's most secret strongholds. No matter how resourceful goblins today may be, there is no way they could bypass layer upon layer of obstacles and fully obtain Durmstrang's location…"
"You suspect that one of us was cooperating with goblins?"
Fleur's frown deepened. "This so-called suspicion of yours is based on something that absurd?"
"On the contrary, it is not absurd at all."
Crouch lightly raised his hand.
"For example, you, Miss Fleur Delacour—your grandmother, the Veela whose hair provided the core for your wand, happens to be on friendly terms with the goblins involved in Mr. Bagman's debt dispute."
"This is ridiculous…"
Fleur muttered in disbelief, and her earlier forcefulness immediately weakened.
"And Mr. Krum—everyone knows that you quarreled with Mr. Bagman during the Quidditch World Cup. Even if, as you said earlier, you would not kill someone over such a thing… what if you merely revealed Bagman's whereabouts, intending only to teach him a lesson?"
Krum pressed his lips tightly together, and his hands unconsciously clenched into fists. He knew that whatever he said now would be useless. This kind of suspicion—difficult to prove and equally difficult to disprove—was the hardest to deal with.
"And you, Mr. Ken… you surely don't think the fact that a murder occurred less than a minute after you left is not worth suspecting at all, do you?"
Avada shrugged.
By now, he could more or less guess what was happening.
Someone wanted to target the champions of this Triwizard Tournament.
Or rather… they wanted to target him.
(End of Chapter)