Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 381 The Forgotten One in the Castle
Coming out of the abandoned classroom, Floyd headed back towards the dormitory with a happy smile on his face.
Behind her, the two followers had worried expressions on their faces.
"Is it really okay for us to just leave her here? From the look on her face just now, I feel like something might go wrong later..."
The smile on Floyd's face turned cold.
"Problem? What else do you think will go wrong with her?"
The follower explained in a panic.
"I'm not sympathizing with her. I'm just afraid that she might become depressed and commit suicide..."
"suicide?"
"Yes, if it's just a curse, then we can still suppress it and won't get into any trouble. But if she dies, the professor will definitely hold someone accountable, which violates the Bloodline Law."
Floyd sneered disdainfully.
"If she really had such courage, would she have endured it until today? Don't worry, I know Conrad. Even if you lend her a hundred more courage, she will never commit suicide."
She said it with such confidence that the two followers following her had no choice but to put aside their worries.
However, that same evening, after the curfew patrols in the castle began, the Aurors suddenly began to search various locations in the castle.
Floyd was woken up from her bed in the middle of the night. She was acting like a spoiled brat and kept yelling when she was woken up, saying that she would use her family connections to teach these ignorant Aurors a lesson.
Then she met Lucius Malfoy, the purest of pure-bloods, who was the boss of all British Aurors stationed in Hogwarts Castle.
"Ms. Floyd, I heard that you were the last person to see Asia Conrad."
After seeing Lucius, Floyd panicked.
Even among pure-bloods there are differences in status, and someone like her and a new-style pure-blood family that has only accumulated ten years of foundation are not even worthy of carrying shoes in front of the Malfoy family.
"She, what happened to her?"
"Has anyone ever taught you to answer the questions others ask you before asking them?" Lucius looked at Floyd with undisguised contempt and disdain, as if he was looking at a bumpkin who had just come to the city from the countryside.
Such a look made Freud feel humiliated, but she didn't have the courage to lose her temper.
"I, I did meet her, and she offended me, so I wanted to use some tricks to scare her, but other than that, I didn't do anything else to her!"
"Use some tricks to scare her? What tricks?"
Lucius sat in the chair calmly. There was no need for him to personally intervene in the case involving half-bloods, but the special thing was that the incident happened in Hogwarts Castle at such a special time. In order to prevent the incident from being involved with Dumbledore's people, he needed to step in.
Floyd's eyes wandered.
"It's just a...little curse for fun."
"We found traces of your spellcasting on the sixth floor of the castle. It's obviously not just a small curse." Lucius's eyes were full of indifference, just like Freud looking at the mudbloods. "Blood curse, do you know that the magic law clearly stipulates what the consequences will be if someone is found to have used this spell?"
"First, sir, there is no record in the bloodline law..."
"So your family only taught you to read the law of bloodline?" Lucius did not hide his disdain at all. "Did you know that some laws are superior to ?"
In front of Lucius, the quill that was writing on the desk suddenly paused. He lowered his head to glance at the contents on the parchment, then continued to ask.
"This is the last question, Miss Floyd. It is also the most crucial one. I hope you can think it through before answering me. This is related to what kind of crime you will be convicted of in the end."
Floyd's body tensed.
"Did the blood curse you cast on Miss Conrad finally succeed?"
The scene suddenly fell silent. Floyd was stunned, but soon she swallowed nervously and asked tremblingly.
"Mr. Malfoy, I remember that the Bloodline Code stipulates that in any interrogation, without the consent of the headmaster himself, it is not allowed to use truth serum and Legilimency, right?"
Lucius said casually.
"Since you are familiar with the law of bloodline, why do you need to ask me for confirmation on such a question?"
"No! I just wanted to scare her! I pretended to cast a blood curse, but I didn't actually use it to curse her!"
Floyd spoke suddenly and loudly, her voice firm and unquestionable, as if she had already confirmed something.
After hearing her answer, Lucius had no intention of wasting time here any longer. He simply tapped the parchment on the table. The parchment rolled up and flew into his robe pocket.
"You should stay here until the final result comes out."
After saying that, he turned and left the makeshift interrogation room.
In addition to his personal interrogation of Floyd, other Aurors were interrogating her two followers on the same issue. After finishing the interrogation, Lucius did not stay and once again came to the abandoned classroom where the crime occurred. Here, Aurors were already handling the scene.
He held a small transparent bottle in his hand, which contained some white ash.
"Director, it has been confirmed that she drank the deadly fire potion which led to her ultimate death, but whether it was suicide or not is still under discussion."
"Did you collect any traces of the fifth person's activities at the scene?"
"No, we only found four people, namely the three suspects and the victim himself."
"What information do the others who are collecting evidence from the surrounding students have?"
"Some of the victim's classmates are willing to confirm anonymously that the three suspects and the victim don't get along well in daily life and often abuse her, and the situation has been getting worse recently. We also retrieved the victim's borrowing records from the library and found that she had recently borrowed several books about blood curses. We also found a record of her purchasing materials for preparing the dead fire potion from her package receiving records."
Lucius looked at the information in his hand while listening to his subordinates' reports. Finally, he casually threw Floyd's confession to his subordinates.
"Since everything has been investigated clearly, what are we waiting for? Let's close the case. The result is obvious. This student thought he was cursed by the blood and committed suicide."
A look of hesitation appeared on the subordinate's face.
"But if she wanted to commit suicide, why did she have to drink the deadly fire potion and burn herself to death?"
"It's not a simple logic. She thought she was under a blood curse. If she simply ended her life, the activated beast soul would completely take over her body, making it impossible for her to maintain her human image even after death. Instead, she would reveal an ugly appearance that her family could not accept. It would be better for her to drink the Death Fire Potion directly to retain a bit of dignity."
Lucius said casually. He seemed to have no interest after he was sure that no one from Dumbledore was involved and it was just a simple case of school bullying.
But his subordinate was still puzzled, so he continued to ask.
"But the truth is just as Floyd said in his confession. She was just trying to scare Conrad. She didn't really mean to put a real curse on him. Did Conrad scare himself? The magic runes and residual potions we found at the scene can prove that she had made all the necessary preparations. How could she fail on purpose in the end?"
Lucius suddenly turned around and looked at him indifferently.
"How about you go and ask that gentleman to use truth serum on Freud?"
The Auror's body suddenly tensed, he stood at attention and lowered his head.
"I dare not."
"If you don't dare, then stop talking nonsense. Close the case immediately and notify the victim's family. Report the final result to Snape and Crouch and let them decide how to deal with the three suspects. This matter must be concluded within three days. You know what time it is now. A half-blood bastard committing suicide for such a boring reason cannot affect the subsequent games!"
After saying that, Lucius turned around and left without looking back, leaving the Auror holding Floyd's confession and Asia's ashes standing there silently, and finally let out a long sigh.
All the evidence was sufficient, and the testimonies of Floyd and the other two were consistent. They all insisted that they did not really cast the blood curse on Asia, but simply wanted to scare her. As a result, the case of the mixed-race student's suicide was quickly closed.
The punishment for Floyd and the other two was announced immediately. The main culprit Floyd himself was punished by delaying his graduation for one year and returning home to reflect until the start of the next semester. The two accomplices were each sentenced to two months of solitary confinement.
This punishment, which was better than nothing, did not cause much disturbance, because according to the information reported by the Aurors, Floyd and others had only carried out some "trivial" pranks, and the main reason was that Asia's own psychological endurance was fragile and her heart was fragile, which led to her eventual suicide.
In addition to the special status of pure-bloods, this kind of minor punishment did not cause any disturbance or public opinion not only among professors but also among students. Everyone's attention was mainly focused on the upcoming Christmas dance. The suicide of a mixed-blood student who usually no one paid attention to did not cause much discussion.
Just like that, Asia was like she had never appeared in the castle and was soon forgotten by everyone in the castle.
This matter was quickly kept secret within the castle, and when the students inside had nothing to talk about, there was no possibility that the news would spread outside the castle.
In other words, until the day before Christmas, Jon was still a little puzzled as to why the mixed-race girl who had always come to see Hermione had not appeared recently.
"Is there any conflict between you two?"
Jon and Hermione chatted during dinner.
Hermione's expression was calm and she shook her head.
"No, it's not that we have a conflict, it's that the school she attends is sick."
Jon couldn't help but complain.
"I always feel like you're imitating my way of speaking."
Hermione's eyes narrowed into crescent shapes.
"If you can feel it, it means I have learned it very well, right?"
"How's everything going with what you and Professor Dumbledore have been working on? Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"You've already done me the greatest favor by inviting me to the ball." Hermione said half-jokingly and half-seriously.
Jon couldn't help but shrug.
The current Hermione is obviously different from the cautious little girl he brought back from the castle two years ago. She has more confidence, and as she experiences more and knows more, she looks less and less like a fifteen-year-old girl. Compared with Jon, whose mental age is not of this age, she is truly mature beyond her years.
As the temporary head of Hogwarts Castle, Snape also formally invited Dumbledore and his party who were stationed outside the castle to this ball.
In addition to the lead dancers and their dance partners who can enter the castle, other students who are willing to participate in the dance can also relax in the auditorium, but they can only do so in the auditorium or the temporary garden outside the castle. Other areas of the school are still blocked to them.
In the end, Dumbledore and Rosier asked the students to decide voluntarily whether to attend the ball. Except for John and Diane, who had to go, and their respective dance partners, most of the students were actually not interested.
After all, this kind of behavior in the castle was more like charity than respect, and in the end only eight students decided to attend the dance.
It started snowing again on Christmas Day.
However, the snow was not very heavy, and there was no oppressive feeling of heavy snowfall. Instead, the scattered snow seemed like God was adding some embellishment to the upcoming dance party.
As usual, every student on the carriage received a Christmas present of their own. Since some students from Durmstrang were also in the carriage this year , Hogwarts thoughtfully prepared one for them as well. This made every student very happy during lunch, and even the intense competition did not affect their festive atmosphere.
In the evening, Rosier led John, Diane and other students who were going to attend the dinner tonight into Hogwarts Castle, while Dumbledore stayed in the carriage to spend this year's Christmas with the rest of the students.
The Hogwarts Great Hall had already been grandly decorated, and many students from the castle had gathered here. When Jon and his friends arrived, they attracted the attention and pointing of many students.
As soon as Jon entered the auditorium, he didn't pay attention to anything else. Instead, he quickly glanced at the people in the auditorium, but did not find the person he wanted to find.
