"Goblins… heh."
From beginning to end, Avada had never believed the claim that "Ludo Bagman was killed by goblins." To him, it was absurd from the very start.
Leaving aside, as Cedric had said, that goblins would never directly murder an important British Ministry of Magic official over something as simple as unpaid debts, Bagman's actual cause of death alone did not line up with goblins at all—he had died from the Killing Curse, and very likely a silent Killing Curse at that!
There had indeed been many cases throughout history of goblins attacking wizards, more than enough to prove that goblin magic was not to be underestimated. And perhaps goblins had many ways to take a wizard's life. But one method that absolutely would not be among them was the Killing Curse.
If a silent Killing Curse was something only a handful of extraordinarily powerful wizards could manage, then a wandless Killing Curse was already completely beyond the limits of all magical creatures. Goblins, whose natural magical ceiling was far lower than that of wizards and who neither had the right nor the habit of using wands, were naturally even less likely to be capable of it.
In fact, as a product of the early development of human wizardry, the very concept of the wand had been designed from the beginning specifically for humans. From form to function, it was completely suited to the characteristics of human spiritual power, ensuring that only in the hands of human wizards could it unleash its greatest power. That was one of the major reasons human wizards had ultimately risen above other intelligent races, and the saying that "the wand chooses the wizard" was a concrete manifestation of exactly that.
So even if a goblin somehow obtained a wand through certain means, they would still use it awkwardly and inefficiently, in a state even worse than a human wizard wielding an ill-suited wand. The law forbidding goblins from possessing wands was therefore more symbolic than practical…
"Still, I can't rule out the possibility that goblins were involved."
As Avada walked back into Durmstrang Castle, signed his name once more at the table by the entrance, and headed toward the stairs leading down to the underground floor, he thought to himself, 'After all, based on the information currently available, Ludo Bagman really was killed silently with the door wide open and without anyone noticing. That could very well involve goblin spatial magic…'
Although he did not know exactly what goblin spatial magic looked like, Avada had seen goblin warding magic before. Almost every magical creature with spatial talent fell within the scope of goblin warding, and that very likely meant the goblins had already mastered the underlying principles and could reproduce similar effects—just as Avada himself was now capable of doing.
"Let's first see what this so-called 'investigation team' coming tomorrow has to say. In any case, if I were the pure-blood families, I definitely wouldn't miss such a perfect chance to slip openly into Durmstrang…"
"And besides… hasn't this 'investigation team' trick already been used once before?"
…
And so, the night passed.
Just as Cedric had said, after a day went by, Durmstrang did indeed lift the lockdown, and students could once again be seen moving through the corridors. But that, in turn, brought Avada even more attention—because now, aside from being a champion, he also carried the identity of a suspect. That double status was probably unprecedented in the entire history of the Triwizard Tournament.
The only consolation was his companions from Hogwarts—not a single one of them truly believed there was even the slightest chance Avada was the killer. But the fact that Bagman had been murdered less than a minute after Avada left was indeed bizarre enough that they could only say they were powerless to help. Those with the means merely tried their best to provide whatever gossip and rumors they knew about Ludo Bagman, or dig around for related information and offer as many clues as possible…
"Gambling pools? You mean… betting on this Triwizard Tournament?"
Avada looked at Baron in surprise. Baron was one of the people best positioned to know such things. His pure-blood connections gave him acquaintances who could get information even in a place as far removed from Britain as Durmstrang.
"How did you even hear about that? Isn't Durmstrang completely sealed off right now? Not even a single letter should be getting in or out."
"I actually got the news from Hogwarts."
Baron shrugged.
"You know as well as I do that quite a few upper-year Slytherins are more than happy to get involved in this sort of thing. The betting markets were already open practically on the second day after the Triwizard Tournament events were announced—some people were betting on who the champions would be, some were betting on the specific tasks… so once the champions were selected, the betting on who would win the tournament definitely opened the very same day the Goblet of Fire chose you. And given Ludo Bagman's personality and his current position, there's almost a one hundred percent chance he got involved too."
"So?" Avada did not understand for a moment.
"Don't you think it's strange?"
Baron frowned slightly.
"This is a tournament hosted by Durmstrang, yet they invited two British officials to serve as judges… and in all the previous Triwizard Tournaments, there had never been judges besides the three headmasters. Even if what they said about wanting to thank the British Ministry of Magic were true, that still wouldn't justify changing a long-standing tournament tradition just for that."
"What's more, there are so many odd things about Ludo Bagman becoming a judge. Two of the three champions had direct or indirect conflicts with him before the tournament even began, and the man himself was infamous for his gambling addiction. Normally, even if it were only to avoid suspicion, someone like that should never have been made a judge. Even at the Quidditch World Cup, Bagman had only been a commentator. That arrangement was clearly meant to avoid exactly this kind of bad rumor…"
"Perhaps you should try investigating from that angle."
He shot Avada a somewhat teasing look. Others might not know, but Baron knew perfectly well how capable his friend was when it came to operating behind the scenes. And after being influenced for years by the comings and goings of various pure-blood families, and after going through the Chamber of Secrets crisis in third year, he was instinctively wary of the so-called "investigation team" that was about to arrive.
"All right."
Immediately catching Baron's meaning, Avada nodded with an amused smile.
"I'll do my best."
After finishing the brief conversation with Baron, Avada spent the rest of the morning enduring the strange looks directed at him. Then, at lunchtime, something finally happened that could divert everyone's attention.
Karkaroff entered the dining hall and announced that after dinner that evening, a meeting would be held in the main hall to announce the arrangements to follow the incident. All students were required to attend, including the visitors from Hogwarts and Beauxbatons.
(End of Chapter)