"Killing Curse… judging from the complete absence of any residual vitality, as well as the victim's utter lack of reaction, it does indeed match every characteristic of someone struck by the Killing Curse…"
"But that makes even less sense, doesn't it?"
Avada felt that he had already lingered there too long, so he turned and headed downstairs, moving out of sight of the two professors. But the more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt.
"Bagman was killed within an extremely short time after I left. It was between classes then, and there were quite a few students in the corridor. His office door was also open… if it really was the Killing Curse, then someone would definitely have heard the incantation."
"The Killing Curse is almost impossible to cast silently. For most people, if they lower their voice even slightly while saying the incantation, the spell won't have enough power. As far as anyone knows, the only people capable of casting the Killing Curse silently are Grindelwald and Voldemort… though Dumbledore should probably be able to do it as well."
"Did Voldemort secretly come back to life behind my back? Or have the pure-blood families somehow raised another Dark Lord capable of contending with Dumbledore? That's a bit too absurd. If the pure-blood families were really capable of creating another Dark Lord at this point in time, would they have been suppressed so badly by Dumbledore in the original story?"
"A Soundproofing Charm? Muffliato? That would keep the students in the corridor from hearing the incantation, but Bagman himself still should have heard it before he died. Yet from the look on his face before death, he didn't even have the slightest time to react…"
"What the hell happened?"
The floors in Durmstrang Castle were much taller than those at Hogwarts, and since Avada was walking slowly while concentrating on the problem, it took him quite a while to make his way downstairs. During that time, the area around him remained completely empty. There was not a single person in sight.
'Durmstrang is already under lockdown.'
The thought crossed his mind as he finally arrived at the first-floor hall. Sure enough, the doors leading outside were half open now, and beside them stood a table where a professor was on duty. Hearing movement, the man turned his head and fixed Avada with a wary stare as he emerged from the staircase.
"You are… oh."
The professor's brows relaxed slightly, clearly having recognized Avada.
"Going out?"
"Yes."
After Avada nodded, the professor pulled a booklet out from under the table and opened it.
"Then you need to register here. And be sure to return within one hour, or you may be questioned. Also, leaving the castle is prohibited after eight in the evening, and there's only a little over half an hour left now, so whatever you need to do, you'd better do it quickly."
"…All right."
Avada picked up the pen and quickly wrote down the name "Ken" in the booklet, then pulled open the half-closed door and strode out into the freezing wind, heading straight for the Hogwarts Express, which was lying quietly not far away. But before he could even get close enough to knock, he immediately sensed an invisible yet extraordinarily powerful spell tightly sealing off the entire train, preventing anyone from entering.
That was obviously Dumbledore's work.
Fortunately, there were still four or five students on duty in the meeting room of the first carriage. A few of them caught sight of Avada through the window and immediately called the others over, pressing their faces to the glass. Thankfully, Dumbledore's spell was mainly for blocking and defense and did little for soundproofing, so they could still barely hear each other through the window.
"Ken?"
The one in front was Cedric. His voice sounded a little muffled through the glass.
"You're back? Sorry, Professor Dumbledore put magic on the train, so we can't let you in… how are things on your end?"
"I'm fine. My suspicion isn't that great."
Avada spoke toward the window.
"How about you? Is Dumbledore on the train?"
"Dumbledore isn't here."
Cedric explained uneasily, "As soon as the news of Mr. Bagman's death got out, all the students were immediately ordered back to their lodgings. After making arrangements for us, Professor Dumbledore left with Karkaroff as well… is it true?"
"Mr. Bagman was really killed? This isn't some Triwizard Tournament event??"
"Doesn't look like it."
Avada shook his head.
"Neither Crouch nor the other headmasters looked remotely like they were joking. And the three of us had our wands confiscated too. By the way, where did Dumbledore go?"
"He said he was going with Karkaroff to negotiate with the British side."
A seventh-year student explained, "If nothing unexpected happens, the British Ministry of Magic should send people over tomorrow or the day after to investigate together with Durmstrang. The lockdown won't be lifted until tomorrow at the earliest!"
"That's good."
Avada looked a little more relaxed on the surface, but inside the tension only grew tighter.
"By the way, do any of you know what sort of debt dispute Ludo Bagman had with the goblins? According to the current preliminary findings, he may very well have been killed by goblins. And if that's true, it means someone has already infiltrated Durmstrang. If that's the case, then no one here may be safe!"
"That happened?!"
The faces pressed to the glass all changed at once. If that were really the case, then it meant goblins had murdered a Ministry official… mishandled, an incident like that would be enough to spark another conflict between wizards and goblins.
"But I heard Bagman only lost a bet to the goblins and owed them a huge sum of money!"
Cedric, whose family had connections in the Ministry, was relatively well-informed about this sort of thing and immediately gave Avada the answer he wanted.
"Would goblins really kill someone over something like that? He only made private bets with a few goblins, it's not like he robbed Gringotts!"
"He gambled with goblins?"
Avada froze for a moment.
"Everyone in the Ministry knows Ludo Bagman is notoriously addicted to gambling…"
Cedric explained, "He'll bet on practically anything with the people around him, and when there's a major event—like the Quidditch World Cup before this—he's guaranteed to get involved in large-scale betting pools. He has plenty of creditors even inside the Ministry, let alone goblins, who specialize in this kind of thing. So there's nothing strange about that part… but I still don't think goblins would go so far as to kill him over it, much less infiltrate the ultra-secretive Durmstrang just for that!"
"I see. Thanks, Cedric…"
Avada stroked his chin thoughtfully, then chatted casually with them a bit longer. Only after that did he say goodbye to his classmates before the allotted time ran out, turn around, and walk back toward Durmstrang Castle…
(End of Chapter)