Chapter 330 328. Graves
Such an arrangement is a humiliation according to Rozier.
But in fact, before coming here, Jon and Dumbledore had expected such a situation in their hearts. Since they came to Hogwarts Castle, they have never seen those enslaved hemp students. People in the castle are deliberately careful.
According to Hermione's information, most of the marsupial students who are still in this castle have been completely enslaved by their thoughts, but a small number have been modified because they once organized an association. Memory, forced to become a slave.
The Forgetting Curse is very powerful, but it is not an Unforgivable Curse. The reason why the Unforgivable Curse is so special in the magic world is that these three spells have no solution.
The Oblivion Curse can obviously be lifted, but depending on the method of casting the spell, the difficulty and method of lifting are also different.
Hogwarts Castle deliberately prevented those **** students from appearing in front of Dumbledore and his party, and also made Snape emphasize that they are not allowed to enter Hogwarts Castle privately. Part of the purpose is definitely not to let them and this part Hemp kind of student contacts.
The fact that Jon rescued the first and second grade students in the castle last year has completely cut off the source of "slaves" in this school. Of course, Voldemort will not give them another chance to rescue the remaining students who are still alive. Walk.
But in fact, neither Jon nor Dumbledore had such an idea.
When they decided to come here, they never thought about throwing away the castle again, not just simply saving the rescued people.
However, Snape's words also revealed some information. After he left, he returned to the carriage, and Jon followed Dumbledore to the principal's room alone.
"Is the first event related to the Forbidden Forest?"
Dumbledore just shook his head at this.
"The formulation of the competition items is jointly determined by us, Riddle, and the International Federation of Wizards. Each party has determined a project, and finally handed it over to the Federation for overall planning and adjustment. But in addition to the Federation, we and Riddell It is only possible for Dell to know the information about the project he proposed. And the competition project we proposed should be in the second round, so we don’t know what will be compared in the first round.”
"However, from what Snape said, it can indeed be heard that the first competition event should be related to the Forbidden Forest."
Hearing what he said, Jon touched his chin and asked just right.
"Professor, you knew this Snape very well before?"
Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, and then a somewhat emotional expression appeared on his face.
"He, don't look at him like this, he is actually a very pure person, but a little too pure"
Saying that, Dumbledore shook his head.
"Don't mention him for now, I just have another matter to ask you."
Jon was still analyzing the meaning of Dumbledore's words, but when he came back to his senses, he showed puzzled eyes.
Dumbledore looked at him solemnly.
"I need you to temporarily lend me the invisibility cloak that Lily gave you."
The students on the carriage didn't just stay in the carriage all afternoon.
Anyway, it was the Forbidden Forest and the castle that were warned not to enter, and the scope of Hogwarts was far from limited to these two places.
After Dumbledore explained a few precautions in the car, some students got out of the car and wandered along the Black Lake.
"I heard from Bill that every year when the school started, Hogwarts freshmen had to take a small boat to cross this lake and then enter the castle. At that time, Hagrid was the person in charge of welcoming the new students."
George squatted by the lake, watching the quiet mirror-like lake flicking the water, chatting to Lee Jordan beside him.
"There is also a huge squid in the lake, but Charlie said it is very friendly to the students. Once when their team was practicing Quidditch, a Quaffle accidentally fell into the lake. There was no hope that it would be recovered." I found it, but it was brought back from the bottom of the lake with the help of that big squid."
Li looked at the lake, as if he wanted to find the legendary friendly squid from inside, but even though his eyes were sore, he didn't find anything.
"Speaking of Hagrid, I just saw him heading in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. His movements were very careful, as if deliberately avoiding people."
George shrugged.
"Hagrid has a different feeling for this forest that we don't have. I heard from my father that he has been a gamekeeper here for more than forty years. The Forbidden Forest is his home. Now that he is back, he must have more feelings than we do. Be deep."
"Will he sneak in?"
"That's not surprising, I heard he has many magical animal friends in it."
"I saw Hagrid talking to himself before the fire, as if he was apologizing to a man named Fang."
"Maybe it's not a human being. He likes to name every animal he can recognize."
"Ah, let me guess, that sounds like the name of a dog."
They were chatting by the lake when a wizard came to them at some point.
The expressions on George and Li's faces suddenly became alert.
They knew very well that this was in England, and it was also the base camp of the Dark Lord. Any stranger would have a high possibility of being hostile to them.
"Hi sir, what can I do?"
Li didn't hide his alertness, he asked politely and distantly.
The middle-aged wizard was wearing a gray top hat and a long trench coat with an open collar. The black hair exposed under the hat was meticulously groomed. He had a gentle smile on his face. What kind of malicious person.
"Hello, my name is Matthew Graves, a member of the International Federation of Wizards. Are you a student of Principal Dumbledore?"
His English accent is very special, it is a version that neither Lee nor George have heard.
George looked into his eyes and nodded, but he didn't lower his vigilance.
"What's your business?"
"Can you take me to your principal? We are friends who have known each other for a long time. At that time, he was still the president of the Federation."
The wizard named Matthew smiled and blinked at George while talking.
George and Li looked at each other, and after making eye contact, they quickly made a decision.
George didn't move, while Li turned around and trotted towards the carriage. Matthew saw their movements, and the smile on his face remained unchanged. He knew that the black boy was looking for an adult. He looked at George, as if very happy. Interested in small talk.
"I heard that in these years, Principal Dumbledore took you and never left England? Are you in exile in a carriage while attending classes?"
George glanced at him.
"Aren't you a friend of Professor Dumbledore?"
"Don't be so cautious, child, even if this is the base camp of your enemies, they will not attack you during the Triwizard Tournament."
His words did not ease the atmosphere in the slightest, and George still looked at him with suspicious eyes.
"Your principal and I are indeed old friends, but that was when he was still the president of the federation. I had dealt with him a lot as a diplomat in the Congress, but after the change of master in the UK, we did not There is no contact for a while. This time, I just have the opportunity to come and visit him."
After listening to Matthew's explanation, George seemed to have noticed something.
"Are you a wizard in America?"
"The Department of International Magical Cooperation of the Magical Congress of America, Director of the Office of the American Branch of the International Federation of Wizards."
As he spoke, Matthew took out a document from his windbreaker pocket and handed it to George.
George confirmed his identity. Of course, this kind of certificate can be forged, but since Lee has already informed Dumbledore, there is no need for him to forge at all.
"You are one of the referees for this Triwizard Tournament."
George obviously also heard that there will be people from the International Federation of Wizards present among the referees.
"The federation attaches great importance to this competition. We all hope that the conflict can be resolved peacefully, so they sent three people over, and the other two have already gone to the castle. I came here specially to meet old friends."
Matthew didn't seem to mind George's wariness of him just now, and his attitude was still peaceful.
George looked at this middle-aged wizard who seemed easy to get along with, and asked tentatively.
"So you'll be leaning towards us more when refereeing?"
Matthew laughed.
"I will only make the most impartial evaluation."
At this time, Li had already trotted all the way and jumped out of the carriage, and he waved to George from a long distance away.
"Professor Dumbledore asked me to invite this gentleman to the carriage as a guest."
Matthew said goodbye to George, and then followed Li into the carriage.
Although Dumbledore didn't get out of the car to greet him in person, he also took the initiative to wait in front of the office to show his respect for this old friend.
As soon as they met, they hugged each other.
"I haven't seen you for many years, Albus."
"Ha, Matthew, you're still wearing this perfume, I can't help but sneeze every time I smell it."
Dumbledore rubbed his nose, and led the diplomat of the Magical Congress of America into his office.
"I actually expected that you might be the person representing the Americas, but I didn't expect that they actually sent you here."
The steaming teapot automatically poured tea into the teacup in front of Matthew.
Matthew didn't hide his gaze from looking behind Dumbledore, on the wall covered with portraits of previous principals, he shrugged and said.
"That means my fairness is well known, doesn't it?"
Dumbledore smiled.
"That's right, the Federation is very clear about what we need. Since we want to avoid war, we must maintain the most basic fairness. Who are the other two referees?"
"Old friends of yours too, the Asian wizard is Abdul Rahman, the Arabian magic diplomat who keeps saying he will give you an emerald, and the African wizard is Imran Kamil , the vice-principal of the Vagador School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the old witch who said she wanted to exchange students with Hogwarts but was rejected by you."
Dumbledore crossed his hands in front of him, and the smile on his face didn't change with the two names.
"The federation is really careful enough. No matter what decision you three make, you will only be impartial. You have some friendship with me, and you have all had conflicts with me."
Matthew spread his hands.
"This is the candidate that was finally determined after two months of discussions in the meeting. You know that although I am a diplomat, I have very little experience in lying to others. The Federation really does not want to see war happen, so we also We all know that only the fairest of referees can avoid this."
"So why did you come to me first?"
Dumbledore was not confused by his seemingly pertinent words, but blinked and looked at him calmly.
"Both Rahman and Imran know to go to see my student first, so as to avoid unnecessary suspicion of you, and it is also the best choice for the normal conduct of the subsequent games. You specially came to me in advance alone, What is it for?"
Matthew didn't touch the cup of black tea in front of him that had gradually dissipated in heat. He stared at Dumbledore's face, and the original soft expression gradually faded, becoming a bit stern and serious.
"Because I got an unexpected question in the United States, even if I am not the referee arranged by the federation this time, I will make a special trip to England to meet you and want to confirm one thing from you. "
Dumbledore had a surprised expression on his face.
"Yeah, I should have thought about it a long time ago. You can only come to see me so eagerly for one thing."
Matthew Graves stared hard into his eyes.
"So, is that news true or false?"
"it is true."
Didn't deliberately change the subject, and didn't lie, Dumbledore just answered the answer he wanted to know so straightforwardly and calmly.
The atmosphere in the principal's office suddenly became quiet, and only the slight snoring of the portrait could be vaguely heard.
After a long time, Matthew seemed to have rectified his emotions, and asked again in a voice that had become extremely cold.
"So, who has the power to release him? The federation sentenced him to life imprisonment!"
"If he doesn't want to, Matthew, which prison in this world do you think can hold him?" Dumbledore asked softly.
"He should have been executed immediately!"
His voice became colder, but his emotions became more agitated.
Dumbledore looked at him and shook his head.
"I thought it's been so many years, you should have forgotten."
Matthew picked up the cold cup of black tea in front of him, and drank it like drinking plain water. His voice became a little hoarse at some point.
"Not everyone is as generous as you are. He killed my father and took his identity to embarrass my family in Congress. Do you think I should forget about that?"
(end of this chapter)