"…What? Grindelwald won't let me see him??"
Inside the headmistress's office at Leach University, the Nathan Clarke body controlled by Avada stared at Miranda Goshawk in disbelief.
Ever since learning of Ludo Bagman's death and confirming that it was not some hidden event in the Triwizard Tournament, Avada, who had remained behind at Leach University, had immediately informed Professor Baker, who knew his true identity, and through him had this piece of news fed into the university's intelligence network. Originally, he had also wanted to notify old Mr. Shafiq while he was at it, but for some reason, the man had not appeared at the university at all recently.
As for this matter, Avada had not actually intended to ask Grindelwald about it immediately. After all, Grindelwald had already directly revealed the ending of the entire incident to him, and the information Avada had brought back to Leach University would inevitably reach him as vice-headmaster. If there really were some enormous danger hidden within all this, Grindelwald certainly would not stand by and do nothing—or at least, that had been Avada's assumption.
Then just moments ago, Headmistress Miranda Goshawk had suddenly called him into her office and informed him that the greatest trump card in his mind had gone completely offline. The kind you could not reach no matter how hard you tried.
"To be precise, he said that no one is to go looking for him."
Goshawk nodded with certainty.
"You were merely singled out for special emphasis."
"…And the exact reason?"
"He said that during this period, he needed to deal with some very private matters."
"He didn't tell you what exactly he was doing?"
"No."
"…If I remember correctly, you are the headmistress of this school, aren't you?"
"Of course. Which is why, in all matters related to education, the professors are still expected to follow my judgment."
Goshawk smiled faintly and nodded.
"But you should have known from the very beginning that we did not gather here merely for something as simple as running a university… I am the headmistress, yes, but only the headmistress."
"My purpose in coming to this university was simply to make education more accessible to more people, so they could have more choices for their futures. Of course, if I could promote my books along the way, that would be even better. But as for all those grander ambitions… I am not cut out for that sort of thing."
"…All right."
Avada fell silent for a short while before asking again, "Then did he say when he would be finished?"
"He didn't."
Goshawk shook her head.
"But if it is only ordinary intelligence handling, you do not actually need to go to Grindelwald. The university's own intelligence system is already fairly complete… If I remember correctly, what you have been investigating recently is Ludo Bagman, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"In that case, I do happen to know one piece of information related to him. It may be of some help to you."
She paused, then raised her head slightly and slowly searched through her memory.
"If I remember correctly, Ludo Bagman was once accused of colluding with Death Eaters, and nearly sent to Azkaban because of it. That accusation was later withdrawn, however, which was why he was eventually able to qualify for becoming a Ministry official…"
"Ludo Bagman had ties to the Death Eaters too?"
Avada was startled. He truly had never heard of that.
"And what is even more interesting,"
Goshawk continued with a nod, "if I am not mistaken, the man who presided over his trial back then, and who at one point tried to send him to Azkaban… was precisely the other judge standing alongside him in this Tournament—Barty Crouch."
Avada remained silent for a very long time.
"…Thank you, Headmistress."
Only at the very end did he express his sincere gratitude to Goshawk with a grave expression, then ask, "Where can I find the complete records of the whole matter?"
"This matter itself is not exactly a secret. Quite a few people know that Bagman had such a history."
Goshawk replied, "But if you want more detailed information, then you will likely have to find those who were involved back then, such as members of the jury, or perhaps even go directly to the archives and look up the relevant case files… The university's intelligence network should be able to manage that. It will simply take some time."
"…I understand."
Avada nodded heavily.
"Thank you very much for telling me all this, Headmistress."
'Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch…'
'No, there is still too little information in this lead. If I use it now, it could easily mislead me… I need to first find a way to fully uncover what happened back then before making a judgment. For all I know, it might have nothing to do with the current situation at all.'
…
Durmstrang, underground floor, Avada's temporary lodgings.
"Krum is right. We're all grasshoppers tied to the same rope now."
Seeing that Fleur had begun to show signs of wavering, Avada pressed on at once.
"Don't forget—the Triwizard contract still binds us, but the authority to hold the Tournament remains in Karkaroff's hands. We do not even have the option of withdrawing to protect ourselves."
"This kind of struggle between great figures is, for people like us, a case of gods fighting while mortals suffer. And now we also happen to be almost dead center in the middle of it. Some people want to use us, and others probably want to kill us outright, yet the people we could originally rely on are either too overwhelmed to help or have not yet realized how dangerous the situation has become… If this continues, the danger that is bound to come sooner or later will pick us off one by one."
"The only thing we can do now is unite and turn ourselves from passive to active. We were chosen by the Goblet of Fire in the first place. As outstanding students, if we work together, we can definitely become a force too significant to ignore—enough to influence the situation!"
"That's right. The current situation has already gone far beyond the scope of the competition. In this matter, we are no longer rivals."
Krum clenched his fist hard.
"We need your strength."
"…All right."
After a stretch of silence, Fleur finally lifted her head again, her silver hair swaying with the motion.
"Do we need a contract?"
"After all, all three of us are nominally still under suspicion… If we are to cooperate wholeheartedly, then we must first have mutual trust, no?"
"That's true enough."
Krum said in his rough voice, "But the problem now is… what are we supposed to use to make a contract? We do not even have our wands!"
"…"
"I think I can manage it."
Just as the two of them fell into an awkward silence, Avada stepped forward with an easy expression.
"I spent some time specifically studying wandless magic. If it is only a simple contract, I should be able to make it by hand…"
"Really?"
The two of them immediately looked at him sideways, their understanding of just how formidable this youngest champion really was growing by yet another notch.
"Of course. And a contract established this way will be relatively simple, so you can inspect the effect yourselves… for example, we could make it so that anyone who violates the contract has their hair change color? That is the most basic kind of curse effect. Like this…"
Avada began making it on the spot. He pulled a blank sheet of parchment out of his schoolbag, then started performing complicated hand movements while murmuring under his breath… As he moved, line after line of clear writing gradually appeared out of thin air on the parchment, faintly gleaming with a special luster.
"To guarantee that one has no causal connection whatsoever to the death of Ludo Bagman; not to attack or directly or indirectly harm any other contractor by any means outside the time of Triwizard Tournament tasks; not to actively disclose this contract to any lifeform other than the contractors by any means…"
Watching the detailed clauses appear one by one, along with the casting process Avada had intentionally made as clear and transparent as possible—so clear that anyone with even the slightest understanding of contract magic could follow it—Fleur and Krum both quietly relaxed. Once the contract was complete, they extended their hands and, using their fingers in place of wands, left behind their magical marks.
"Then from now on… we are teammates."
The three of them looked at one another and nodded firmly at the same time.
(End of Chapter)