"…Just as Ken guessed, Ludo Bagman bet on Krum."
Inside Avada's room, after Fleur repeated word for word everything she had heard at noon, she frowned and summed it up:
"In other words, our previous deduction was correct. Bagman really did deliberately manufacture a conflict with Krum in order to lower his chances in the eyes of the audience, raise his odds, and then place a huge bet on him… three hundred Galleons."
"And as for why he appeared at Durmstrang, that can probably be explained now too. He likely fought for that position himself after learning about the Triwizard Tournament. He was the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and the Tournament was originally supposed to be held in Britain. If he exerted enough influence, he might really have been able to sway Durmstrang and get Karkaroff to add a judge's seat for him. And since the number of judges had to be odd, Barty Crouch was invited in as well…"
"And this also proves that Bagman's death should have nothing to do with goblins. Which means the investigation team spreading those rumors is probably indeed suspicious…"
"If we want to continue investigating Bagman's cause of death, we'll likely have to start with the investigation team, or even Crouch himself."
Krum's expression was rather dark as well.
"But we may already be running out of time."
"Even though our actions at noon didn't expose any flaws on the spot, they'll definitely notice later. Ken's magic may be able to delay that for a while, but sooner or later they'll realize something was wrong. If we're unlucky, they may already have reacted to what happened at noon and started guarding against us more strictly. On top of that, we've already held one private meeting…"
"Exactly."
Fleur nodded seriously.
"Once the investigation team realizes that we may be secretly cooperating, they'll probably place us under even tighter surveillance. We may not have much room left to act freely."
"I suggest we hand over what we've found to someone trustworthy."
Krum said, "It'll be hard for us alone to keep fighting against the forces hiding in the dark. Besides, this doesn't seem like something we were meant to handle in the first place. We only want our names cleared and our wands back… maybe we should tell Maxime and Dumbledore. Among the four judges, only they have nothing to do with this matter."
"Don't think about that yet, Krum."
Avada, who had been silent all this time as though thinking something over, suddenly spoke up and cut Krum off.
"There's something else I found out today that may directly help with the next stage of the investigation…"
"What is it?"
Fleur and Krum both raised their brows at the same time and looked at Avada expectantly. After working with him for the past day or two, they had already begun to sense just how capable this youngest champion was when it came to stirring things up.
"Some inside information about Karkaroff and Crouch."
Avada adjusted his posture a little, and his voice unconsciously dropped.
"Someone told me that Igor Karkaroff used to be one of Voldemort's men—a criminal from Britain. After Voldemort fell, he fled on his own, and it took the Aurors six months to catch him. Then he traded in his accomplices in exchange for escaping punishment…"
After briefly recounting his earlier deductions, he added one more sentence:
"And this morning, when I was eating breakfast, I specifically observed Crouch for a while. I really did find traces on his wrist!"
"An Unbreakable Vow?"
Krum's face darkened even further. After all, this was dirt on his own headmaster. If it came to light, it would be enough to become a disgrace for all of Durmstrang.
"If you didn't see it wrong, then that's probably ironclad proof that he and Karkaroff were in collusion… but are you sure Bagman was really killed because of that? And that the murderer really was those two?"
"And even if that's true, how would they have known that Bagman knew about their secret deal? And why would they only kill him now?"
Fleur pressed as well.
"If all of this really comes down to Augustus Rookwood alone, then shouldn't Bagman have started suspecting Crouch and Karkaroff more than ten years ago?"
"…There are too many possibilities. We can't draw a conclusion yet."
Avada slowly shook his head, then continued:
"Maybe Bagman let something slip. Or maybe something happened during his attempt to secure a judge's seat, something we still don't know about… but the reason I started suspecting Barty Crouch in the first place actually wasn't any of that. Everything I said earlier was only supporting evidence. Do you remember how, right after Bagman was murdered, Crouch found me much faster than he found either of you?"
"…That's true."
After thinking for a moment, Krum answered, "Fleur and I were called over together, but when we were brought to the headmaster's office, you seemed like you'd already been there for a while…"
"To be exact, at most two or three minutes after I said goodbye to Bagman, Crouch suddenly came to find me and brought me to the headmaster's office."
Avada said seriously, "Even if Bagman died the moment I left, it still should have taken a fair amount of time for someone to discover the body, report it to a professor, and for the news to reach his ears… He arrived too quickly. It was almost as if he'd been waiting there from the start."
"…"
The room fell silent again.
"…Then,"
in the end, it was Krum who broke the silence first, "there are only two unresolved issues left now. One is whether it really was Crouch who killed Bagman, and what his motive was. The other is the thing we mentioned before… how exactly did Bagman die?"
"The goblin dagger? Or the Killing Curse? If it was the dagger, then why didn't Bagman notice anything at all? And if it was the Killing Curse, then why didn't anyone hear the incantation?"
"And what role Karkaroff played in all this," Fleur added. "If Crouch really did do it, then I don't believe Karkaroff knew nothing about it."
"Right. And Karkaroff."
Krum nodded decisively, not showing the slightest intention of shielding his own headmaster.
"Karkaroff…"
Avada's brows furrowed tightly as well. He had spent so much time analyzing Bagman and Crouch earlier that he had barely paid any attention to Durmstrang's current headmaster at all.
That had been his oversight.
So he began carefully recalling every single thing Karkaroff had done since he first arrived at Durmstrang—his opening speech, hosting the feast, announcing the champions, checking the wands, even Karkaroff's behavior when Crouch examined the three of their wands…
"!!!"
Suddenly, his whole body shook violently, and he urgently asked the other two champions:
"Starting from the day before Bagman was murdered… have either of you seen Karkaroff use his wand at all?!"
(End of Chapter)