hotmtlnovel Chapter 414 The Death of Loila
Chapter 414 The Death of Loila
Chapter 414 The Death of Royla (Part 2)
Seemingly to prevent the heroes from clashing in the water, Barty Crouch did not have all six of them go into the water at once. Instead, he chose to follow the order in which they separated from Professor Hamilton, with the two from Beauxbatons going into the water first, followed by Hogwarts and Durmstrang after they had searched the area.
As Fleur and Emma jumped into the water, silence fell once again on the shore.
Harry pursed his lips and, mustering his courage, walked over to Madam Pomfrey, who was sitting sadly beside Professor Hamilton's body, sobbing softly.
Harry forced himself not to look at the pale-faced person lying on the ground, and instead focused all his attention on Madam Pomfrey: "Madam Pomfrey—what was the cause of Professor Hamilton's death?"
"—" Madam Pomfrey paused for a few seconds, seemingly gathering her thoughts, before slowly saying after wiping her eyes, "Miss Hamilton—there is no sign of pain on her face—and no wounds on her body—"
"He was probably killed by the Killing Curse."
Killing Curse —
Harry took a deep breath and bit his lip; the Killing Curse would leave almost no trace.
It's almost impossible to find any clues from the cause of death—so should we start with the environment?
The crime scene must have been in the Black Lake—meaning the killer's body would likely have traces of water.
Harry looked at the Aurors, and unsurprisingly, they were all wet—after all, they had just come back from the water—while the professors—
That's a bit strange.
Only Snape seemed to have water stains on him, and he was standing at the back of all the professors with a frown on his face, which was not pleasant.
Snape and Professor Hamilton's relationship did seem rather strained—Harry remembered that every time they met, Snape seemed to say something that made Professor Hamilton appear somewhat frightened—
Was it Snape who did it?
As a professor, Snape's ability to use spells must be quite strong—Harry looked at him suspiciously, only to meet his somewhat indifferent gaze.
"Heh." He seemed to chuckle coldly before turning his gaze away.
What does this mean?
In Harry's mind, Snape's suspiciousness was rapidly increasing.
But we can't be completely sure it was Snape—Harry's gaze shifted to someone else; what if it was someone from another school?
For example—Karkaroff? Although Karkaroff was relatively friendly to Harry, he was, after all, the headmaster of the Dark Arts School, wasn't he?
But—Harry was surprised to find that after searching around, he couldn't find Karkaroff anywhere.
Where did he go?
Did they escape?
That can't be right—with Headmaster Dumbledore here, the idea of him trying to escape is a bit too far-fetched.
Perhaps something was dealt with?
Harry thought Karkaroff was also unlikely to be involved; as a headmaster, he shouldn't be allowed to leave the shore so easily, let alone go into the water.
Who would that be?
"Harry—who do you think is the most suspicious?" Cedric's voice came, lacking its usual gentleness and instead carrying a hint of coldness. He stood beside Harry, his eyes sweeping over every professor present.
"Snape—" Harry whispered to Cedric, "He's the only professor with water stains on his clothes."
Upon hearing this, Cedric looked at Snape, remained silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly took a few steps forward, heading directly towards Snape.
His actions immediately drew strange looks from everyone else, and amidst these gazes, Cedric walked up to Snape.
"Professor Snape—I'm a little curious—why are there so many water stains on your robes?" He voiced Harry's question directly, without any hesitation.
"————" Snape's expression immediately turned ugly. He remained silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, "Cedric Diggory, I thought you were a smart man."
"Is there any possibility," he said with a cold laugh, "that in the original competition—there were parts where my help was needed?"
"————"
His answer was flawless, leaving no room for doubt. Cedric simply nodded slightly and said, "Thank you for your explanation, Professor Snape."
The trail went cold again — Harry pursed his lips and fell silent.
Snape was in charge of the match—but in other words, he was definitely in the water at the time—meaning that if he committed the crime, he had time—and since both he and Professor Hamilton were professors, Professor Hamilton wouldn't have been overly wary of him.
If he were to launch a sneak attack—he would almost certainly succeed—
But why would Professor Snape do that? Harry felt like he'd missed a useful clue—
Wait a minute—when Harry's gaze fell on Durmstrang and his companion, who were standing to the side talking in hushed tones, he had a sudden thought.
Miss Emma just said—Miss Siegfried Ansbach seems to have some kind of relationship with Professor Hamilton—they seem to have a bad relationship—
Is it possible that it was her? Although Dumbledore said it was unlikely the students were involved—we can't rule out the possibility that they did it—
Harry held his breath slightly, instinctively trying to listen to their conversation.
"That's impossible—" Siegfried said, seemingly a little displeased. "Her strength couldn't possibly be that—"
Died.
"There must be some other hidden story—like poison—"
"Or something else—I've tried ambushing before." Her words made Harry frown.
"Have you forgotten the last match?" Siegfried glared at Krum, "She could block the curse even with her back to us—"
"She was even busy with other things at the time —"
Is that so? — Harry knew how powerful Professor Hamilton was — but to be able to deflect spells even with one's back turned —
How was she ambushed by the Killing Curse in the water?
Was it due to negligence?
Or is it poison?
Harry felt his head was in a complete mess, and he rubbed his eyes, not knowing what to do.
"Splash!"
At this moment, the two from Beauxbatons seemed to have returned. They emerged from the water, but judging from their expressions, they didn't seem to have obtained anything of value.
Harry pursed his lips and then looked at Cedric.
Now that things have come to this—in order to avenge Professor Hamilton—I must find the truth together with Cedric.
Find the clues. — Then find that damned murderer — and make him pay for Professor Hamilton's life.
Harry took one last look at Professor Hamilton's body, took a deep breath, and used the Bubble Head Charm on himself.
Then he and Cedric plunged into the icy black lake.
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