Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 678 Soul-Stealing Curse

Chapter 678 Soul-Stealing Curse

Because Slughorn bought the bottle of oak-aged mead from the Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade Week had to be ended early, and Professor McGonagall brought him back to Hogwarts.

Fortunately, most people had already bought what they wanted in the morning, so it wasn't a big deal for them to come back early.

As a result, even more people started discussing Slughorn.

All afternoon, Harry and Ron observed Malfoy's every move.

Dumbledore and the others finally returned in the evening, when Shiren was doing his homework in the common room. He had just finished his paper for Transfiguration, and from the mouth of the eavesdropper came a voice that did not belong to Madam Pomfrey or Slughorn.

"The Imperius Curse, my God—" That was Tonks' voice. "How did you guys find out? I didn't notice anything wrong at all when I was talking to her earlier."

Even without seeing Tonks herself, Siren could tell from her anxious voice that her hair must have turned bluish-gray or dark purple—that's how she gets when she's nervous.

Lady Rosmerta was controlled by an Imperius Curse, but she was unaware of it and even told the Aurors about their plans.

If Rosmerta were to tell the Death Eaters this, her disguise would become meaningless, and she would be blatantly exposed to all her enemies.

She's an Auror, after all.

"Don't be alarmed, Tonks," Dumbledore said. "If the one who cast the curse is suggesting she continue to behave normally, then even the experienced Alastor probably wouldn't know she's been hit by the Imperius Curse."

"What on earth is going on?" Mrs. Pomfrey asked in a panic. "Who would cast a soul-stealing curse on Rosmerta?"

"That's a question for Rosmerta himself to answer," Dumbledore said softly.

After that, a long silence fell over the school hospital. No one spoke; all Siren could hear was Mrs. Pomfrey's breathing.

Just then, Xilun suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps.

"Albus, I heard someone cast a soul-stealing curse on Rosmerta?"

It was a deep, hoarse voice, and combined with the distinctive footsteps from before, Xiren quickly guessed his identity.

"Alastor, you've finally come," said Dumbledore.

"I was following a group of Death Eaters who seemed to want to buy something from Borgin-Bokri," Moody said. "I just got the news five minutes ago and came right over. Am I too late?"

"No, you've come at just the right time," Dumbledore said. "We need—"

"Wait a minute, Albus," Moody suddenly interrupted Dumbledore, then asked, "What is this?"

Xilun felt a pang of panic.

When Moody said this, the sound was exceptionally clear, indicating that the other person was very close to his ear.

The next second, Dumbledore's words confirmed his guess.

"It's just a fallen leaf; it probably blew in with the wind," said Dumbledore. "Let's close the door; I'm feeling a bit cold."

"Sweeped away in a whirlwind—"

The sound disappeared there; it must have been the ear disguised as a leaf that Moody blew out of the school hospital.

What surprised Celen even more was that Moody only felt something was off, rather than immediately realizing that the leaf was fake—it has to be said, Fred and George's inventions are indeed quite remarkable.

Silen casually tossed the remaining part of the bugging earpiece into the fireplace next to him, destroying the evidence.

Although he didn't hear much, he roughly knew the reason for the incident.

It is true that Rosmerta sold the problematic oak-aged mead to Slughorn, but that was because she was under the Imperius Curse and had no idea.

So it's Malfoy?

However, although Lady Rosmerta was known for her beauty rather than her strength, she was, after all, an adult wizard.

Moreover, being able to run the only legitimate pub in the most famous wizarding village in all of Britain is clearly not something an ordinary wizard can do; at the very least, her strength must be exceptionally high.

Can Malfoy really control Rosmerta with the Imperius Curse?

It's not that Celen underestimated Malfoy, but given his strength, even a sneak attack would be difficult for him to pull off.

In addition, wizards can break free from the Imperius Curse through willpower, so a single Imperius Curse cannot control a person for too long, at most a few hours.

But according to Dumbledore, Rosmerta had been under the Imperius Curse for a long time, and during this time, Malfoy had been at Hogwarts and had no chance to reinforce the magic.

Clearly, someone is helping him, and that person is in Hogsmeade—though Dumbledore and the others should have figured that out too.

Siren watched as the eavesdropping ear turned to ashes in the fireplace. Just then, the Fat Lady's portrait was opened from the outside, and Harry and Ron crawled in through the passageway.

Harry had intended to continue observing Malfoy's every move in the common room, but he forgot that the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw was next week.

After dinner, the other players called him away, saying they needed to come up with some kind of battle plan.

"Sirlen, has Dumbledore returned?" Ron asked impatiently as soon as he crawled through the passage.

"You're back." Xiren nodded and told them what he had heard.

As expected, upon hearing that Lady Rosmerta had been afflicted by the Imperius Curse, the two immediately assumed it was Malfoy's doing.

For some reason, Ron seemed particularly angry, his face flushed, and he was shouting that he would lock Malfoy in Azkaban!

"Ever since those Dementors rebelled, Azkaban has been unable to contain the Death Eaters," Hermione said irritably.

"What—" Harry was stunned for a moment, "What about the Death Eaters the Aurors capture?"

"Who knows? Maybe he's locked up right there in the Ministry of Magic," Hermione said. "Oh, and Sirius, this is for you."

She pulled out a roll of parchment and handed it to Siron.

"Luna just came to deliver a letter to Harry; this is yours."

Upon seeing the familiar little scroll, Sirius immediately recognized it as an invitation from Dumbledore to attend class.

"Tonight," Harry said to him as soon as he opened the parchment, "if the contents of the two parchments are the same."

"You're right." Sirius looked at the contents of the note. Dumbledore had indeed told him to go to the headmaster's office at 11 p.m. tonight.

"It's getting late," Harry said. "Curfew would have been in effect long ago."

"Perhaps he has other things to attend to, after all, the matter of Ms. Rosmerta has not yet been fully investigated." Xiren glanced at the time—9:30, still a while before the agreed time.

"Does this even need an investigation?" Harry said angrily. "It was definitely Malfoy's doing, and Snape was an accomplice. They were just together!"

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