The Lonely Dragon of Hogwarts

"Michelle, please inform Dumbledore and Professor Snape."

Staring into Karkaroff's somewhat distracted eyes, John said solemnly.

Michelle also understood the seriousness of the matter, nodded and ran quickly towards the castle.

"I'll go with you. You can't let the lady travel alone at night."

Bagman spoke and prepared to follow.

However, under John's gaze, he could only stop in his tracks.

Bagman explained awkwardly:

"I mean it entirely out of good intentions..."

"I know," John interrupted directly, "but in this situation, it's better for you to stay with me."

John had stood a little further away as he spoke.

This is a position that can alert both Karkaroff and Bagman at the same time.

Things are too suspicious tonight.

They discovered Karkaroff as soon as Bagman came to pay him back.

He would not completely believe Bagman.

After a while, Dumbledore arrived at the scene under Michelle's guidance.

Behind him were Snape and Madam Pomfrey.

John moved out of the way.

Madam Pomfrey bore the brunt and rushed directly to Karkaroff and started checking.

Dumbledore and Snape were obviously focused on Karkaroff at the moment, and they just nodded to John.

For a moment, no one spoke at the scene. There was only the sound of the night wind blowing through the hedges and the rustle of Madam Pomfrey conducting inspections.

After a long time, Madam Pomfrey raised her head under the concern of everyone.

Her expression was extremely solemn and she said:

"Dumbledore, it's the Cruciatus Curse."

"what!?"

Bagman was so frightened that he almost jumped, "Are you mistaken?"

Madam Pomfrey frowned and retorted:

"I don't want to believe this result. But I did five tests, and the results were the same every time!"

Bagman's body softened when he heard this, and he said in a daze:

"It's normal for Karkaroff to be attacked. I had already guessed that he would not die well. But why now... why must it be during the Triwizard Tournament? This is a project I am responsible for..."

"Bagman!"

Snape's sharp shout woke Bagman up.

He waved his hands in panic and said:

"I made a mistake!"

John glanced at him meaningfully, strolled over to Snape and said:

"Karkaroff said before that 'they' are back."

Upon hearing this, Snape's eyes suddenly shrank, and he clenched his left hand tightly, subconsciously looking at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore didn't look very good either.

His eyes passed over the faces of everyone present, and finally fell on Karkaroff.

Karkaroff's situation has become worse now than when John first discovered it.

He seemed to have lost his self-awareness and could only murmur meaninglessly, and from time to time he would roar like a madman.

Dumbledore took out his wand.

With a gentle wave, large swaths of silver-white positive energy fell from the tip of the staff like silk, covering Karkaroff.

The [Patron Saint Curse] relieved Karkaroff's crazy mood and gradually calmed him down.

Seeing this, Dumbledore softened his tone and asked:

"Karkaroff, what happened?"

"It must be them... they are back." Karkaroff said tremblingly, "I wanted to come to the venue this morning to peek at the construction progress and internal structure of the venue, and to find out some information to help... Help Viktor gain some advantages in the third project..."

"Aha! I knew it would be like this!"

Bagman shouted excitedly.

But everyone present ignored him at all.

Karkaroff continued:

"... something went wrong. Someone was waiting for me in the maze... They were waiting for me... Too bad! He put a spell on me! It hurts! It hurts—"

Karkaroff screamed and started twitching again.

"Stop asking, Dumbledore." Madam Pomfrey stopped, "The person who used the Cruciatus Curse on Karkaroff was very strong, although the other party stopped at the last moment and did not let Karkaroff completely He became a fool. But it also caused him a lot of harm! What Karkaroff needs now is to rest!"

Dumbledore nodded.

Madam Pomfrey immediately tried to carry Karkaroff away.

However, Karkaroff struggled hard at this moment.

"Michel, come and help me," Madam Pomfrey shouted, "The patient is in such a condition that no more magic can be used on him!"

After hearing this, Michelle glanced in the direction of John. Seeing John nod, she quickly stepped forward and cooperated with Madam Pomfrey to walk towards Hogwarts Castle.

Bagman also went up to lend a hand and walked away together.

In the huge maze, only John, Dumbledore and Snape were left.

Without outsiders, Snape finally broke out.

"Dumbledore! People from the Ministry of Magic are derelict in their duties!" he yelled, "They... how could they sneak into Hogwarts and attack Karkaroff!?"

John also said:

"This is normal. Didn't Black sneak in last year? It's unrealistic to expect the Ministry of Magic. I think the question we should pay more attention to is, who is the 'they' that Karkaroff said? And he has just met him. I, let me go find Professor Snape... Yes, he specifically mentioned Professor Snape."

"Probably a Death Eater. As for Severus..."

Dumbledore suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Because Snape was staring at him with a nervous and slightly pleading look.

"Of course, it's also possible that it's the 'Townley' Moody mentioned. There are many cases of Aurors degenerating into Death Eaters. Although there is no way to explain why his primary targets of attack are not you and Michelle, but Ka Karkaroff, and they spared Karkaroff’s life..."

Dumbledore changed the subject and said, "The target of the Death Eaters is most likely Harry. They want to kill Harry and avenge Voldemort. So, John, maybe this request is a bit excessive... but can you please share some of it?" Are the security forces around you going to protect Harry?"

John said without hesitation:

"Of course Harry is my friend."

Dumbledore smiled happily and said:

"Thank you, John. I will talk to Mr. Minister about the deployment of Aurors. Don't worry, the number of Aurors deployed will not be too many."

After saying this, Dumbledore waved his hand and motioned for John to follow him back to the castle.

Snape also came over and patted John on the shoulder and said through gritted teeth:

"No matter what, I will protect you!"

John nodded and followed the two of them silently.

His expression is a little complicated.

Naturally, the previous interaction between Snape and Dumbledore's expressions could not escape his eyes.

Based on his knowledge of Snape and Dumbledore, he could roughly guess some.

Snape probably didn't want to reveal his dark history as a Death Eater in front of him.

Although John already knew about it, Snape most likely knew that John already knew about it.

But Snape was still unwilling to discuss this topic with John openly.

This concerns the professor's face.

John also cooperated and did not try to open Snape's wounds again.

But if this happens, he may no longer be able to participate in Dumbledore and Snape's investigation of this matter.

But it's not a big problem.

John still has a pawn like Rita Skeeter.

Judging from her performance on the Moody matter, John felt that she might be more suitable to investigate the matter.

So after returning to the dormitory, John wrote a letter to Rita Skeeter almost immediately.

However, he waited for a full week, but the letter fell silent without any response.

John, who did not believe in evil, wrote several more letters over the next two weeks.

This time the results were even worse.

The letter was actually returned directly by the owl.

At the same time, Dumbledore and Snape also further strengthened the defense and search work related to Hogwarts.

But no matter how hard they tried, they still couldn't catch the guys who attacked Karkaroff.

Even Karkaroff's condition has deteriorated and he has not been able to regain his senses.

"That guy is just pretending to be crazy! He doesn't want to get involved in these things anymore!"

Bagman judged angrily.

In fact, John also had this suspicion.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any evidence.

The combination of these events made John increasingly irritable.

Especially Rita Skeeter.

He hasn't handed over this month's 'antidote' yet.

Has that woman already seen through his conspiracy?

While John was thinking, Snape appeared beside him at some point.

Snape's expression was a little haggard, but extremely solemn.

"Just received the news," Snape said almost through gritted teeth, "Rita Skeeter is dead!"