Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard

Chapter 929: Chapter 745: Imperio_3

This is also why, a dozen or so years ago, so many Death Eaters used having been put under Imperio as an excuse to escape the Ministry of Magic’s investigation—because with just a bit of manipulation, even an Auror wouldn’t be able to tell.

"Why don’t you ask Rosmerta herself?" Slughorn asked in puzzlement. "I’d think she ought to know who made her do it."

"In fact, we already have," Dumbledore said. "She knows nothing. That person never showed their face, and when we tried to question her in detail, she fainted from weakness."

"I see... all right then..."

For a moment, the room fell silent again.

The rain was coming down harder and harder. Worried that the students might see her and cause unnecessary trouble, Ms. Rosmerta had been sent to St Mungo’s Hospital.

Snape had left as well. Dumbledore wanted to call him back, but he turned a deaf ear and vanished with a swish into the corridor not far away.

"He didn’t hear that just now?" Kael asked tentatively, looking in the direction Snape had disappeared.

Snape going against the Headmaster... that really was rare.

"No, he heard," Dumbledore said, his expression complicated. "We’ve simply come to a disagreement on certain matters. If this weren’t such a serious affair, he wouldn’t even show up anywhere I am..."

"A disagreement?" Kael muttered under his breath, but when he noticed Dumbledore’s expression growing more and more complex, he wisely chose not to ask.

The two of them returned to the Headmaster’s Office.

Dumbledore waved his hand, and at once a sizzling pork cutlet, a few slices of toast, and a bowl of creamy corn soup appeared on the table—clearly prepared for Kael.

Kael didn’t stand on ceremony. He sat down, took a bite of the pork cutlet, then looked up and asked, "The one who used Imperio on Ms. Rosmerta should be Malfoy, right?"

"I believe so," Dumbledore said. "Only a Hogwarts student would make the shopkeepers lower their guard."

"So he’s switched his target to you this time?"

"I’m quite pleased he chose to do that," Dumbledore said, as if he didn’t mind someone coming after him in the least.

"But Mr. Malfoy seems to have gotten one thing wrong," he went on. "Horace would never part with a bottle of aged Honey Wine as a gift. The Redcurrant Rum he sent me was only because he didn’t care for it himself."

"That’s true," Kael nodded, and went back to eating the pork cutlet while thinking over everything that had just happened.

From the information they currently had, it wasn’t hard to tell that Malfoy’s original plan had been to go after Dumbledore. He used Imperio to control Ms. Rosmerta, had her sell a special bottle of Honey Wine to Slughorn, and then have Slughorn pass it on to Dumbledore.

It had to be said, it was a good plan—no one would ever suspect him. The only flaw was that he hadn’t expected Slughorn to have already prepared a gift in advance... that bottle of Redcurrant Rum Fudge had sent him, and which also happened to be a perfect present.

When that plan fell through, he could only think of another way.

Which led to what had happened this morning.

"He probably wanted Horace to assassinate me inside the castle," Dumbledore said calmly. "As a professor and an old colleague of mine, Horace would have had plenty of chances if he truly meant to do it."

Kael gave Dumbledore a look, not entirely agreeing with that assessment.

Dumbledore had barely been at the school lately; it was hard enough just to catch a glimpse of him, let alone kill him.

It sounded more plausible that the target was himself.

Kael narrowed his eyes. On second thought, that wasn’t impossible either.

"Perhaps in Mr. Malfoy’s eyes, I’m much easier to deal with than you are," Dumbledore suddenly said, pulling Kael out of his thoughts.

Dumbledore poured himself a cup of black tea. "But I have to say, he made a mistake."

"By having Slughorn drink the Love Potion in the school?" Kael asked.

"No." Dumbledore shook his head. "He chose the wrong man.

"Horace may not be much of a fighter, but he is a Potion Master. A Love Potion can be effective in the short term, but it can’t keep controlling him. An hour at most."

Dumbledore gave what was, if anything, a conservative estimate.

Kael had no reason to doubt that.

"What do we do next?" he asked. "We can’t just let him keep trying things like this."

Dumbledore didn’t answer. He only lifted his head to glance at the portraits on the wall.

"So far, there’s been no change on that map," a Witch said. "We’ve been watching."

"Seems he’s not planning to act immediately," Dumbledore murmured. "Has he not found the other Vanishing Cabinet?"

"No, he’s already found it," Kael said. "Over the Christmas holidays, one of the House-elves helping out at Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes saw Malfoy go to Knockturn Alley.

"The day I came back from Nicolas’s estate, I stopped by there as well. It’s at Borgin and Burkes. I saw it—its size, its carvings, everything is exactly the same as the one in the school."

Dumbledore’s eyes lit up.

"That really is good news," he said, standing up. "You never fail to surprise me, but why are you only telling me this now?"

"Professor, have you forgotten I came looking for you after the holidays?" Kael said unhurriedly. "Twice, in fact!"

"I couldn’t be helped; there are always emergencies." Dumbledore looked a little embarrassed, and hurriedly changed the subject. "All right, Kael, you go back for now. I need to think this through carefully."