Chapter 330 328 Graves

Chapter 330 328. Graves

Such an arrangement is a humiliation according to Rosier.

But in fact, before coming here, John and Dumbledore had expected such a situation in their hearts. Since they came to Hogwarts Castle, they have not seen those enslaved Muggle students, which shows that the people in this castle are deliberately cautious.

According to Hermione's information, most of the Muggle students who are still in this castle have been completely enslaved, but there is also a small number of them who have been forced to become slaves because they have been organized into associations and their memories have been modified.

The Oblivion Curse is very powerful, but it is not the Unforgivable Curse. The reason why the Unforgivable Curse has such a special status in the magic world is that these three spells have no antidotes.

And the Oblivion Curse can obviously be removed, but the difficulty and method of removal are different depending on the difference in the means of casting the spell.

Hogwarts Castle deliberately avoided those Muggle-born students from appearing in front of Dumbledore and his party, and also asked Snape to emphasize that they were not allowed to enter Hogwarts Castle privately. Part of the purpose must be to prevent them from contacting these Muggle-born students.

Last year, John rescued the first and second grade students in the castle, which completely cut off the source of "slaves" for this school. Voldemort certainly would not give them another chance to let them rescue the remaining students who could still be saved.

But in fact, neither John nor Dumbledore had such an idea.

Since they decided to come here, they had never thought about abandoning the castle again, not just simply rescuing the people who should be rescued.

However, Snape's words also revealed some information. After he left and returned to the carriage, John followed Dumbledore to the principal's office alone.

"The first competition event is related to the Forbidden Forest?"

Dumbledore just shook his head.

"The formulation of the competition items was jointly determined by us, Riddle and the International Confederation of Wizards. Each party determined a project, and finally handed it over to the Confederation for coordination and adjustment. But apart from the Confederation, we and Riddle may only know the information about the projects we proposed. The competition items we proposed should be in the second round, so we don't know what will be the first round and where to compete."

"But from what Snape said, it can be heard that the first competition item should be related to the Forbidden Forest."

Hearing him say this, Jon touched his chin and asked appropriately.

"Professor, you were familiar with this Snape before?"

Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, and then he showed a somewhat emotional expression on his face.

"He, don't look at him like this, he is actually a very pure person, but a little too pure."

Speaking, Dumbledore shook his head.

"Don't mention him for now, I just have another thing to find you."

Jon was still analyzing the meaning of Dumbledore's words, and after coming back to his senses, he showed a puzzled look.

Dumbledore looked at him seriously.

"I need you to lend me the invisibility cloak that Lily gave you for a while."

The students in the carriage did not stay in the carriage for the whole afternoon.

Anyway, they were warned not to enter the Forbidden Forest and the castle, and the scope of Hogwarts is far more than just these two places.

After Dumbledore gave a few instructions in the car, some students got off the car and strolled along the Black Lake.

"Bill said that every year when school started, the freshmen of Hogwarts had to take a boat across the lake and enter the castle. At that time, Hagrid was the person in charge of welcoming the freshmen."

George squatted by the lake, looking at the quiet mirror-like lake surface splashing water, and chatted with Lee Jordan beside him.

"There is also a giant squid in the lake, but Charlie said it is very friendly to students. Once when their team was practicing Quidditch, a Quaffle accidentally fell into the lake. There was no hope of finding it again, but the giant squid helped to send it back from the bottom of the lake."

Lee looked at the lake, as if he wanted to find the legendary friendly squid from inside, but even if he looked until his eyes were sore, he didn't find any.

"Speaking of Hagrid, I just saw him heading towards the Forbidden Forest. His movements were very cautious, as if he was deliberately avoiding people."

George shrugged.

"Hagrid has a special feeling for this forest that we don't have. I heard from my father that he used to be a gamekeeper here for more than 40 years. The Forbidden Forest is his home. Now that he is back again, he must feel it more deeply than us."

"Will he sneak in?"

"That's not surprising. I heard that he has many magical animal friends in there."

"I saw Hagrid talking to himself in front of the fire before, as if he was apologizing to a person named Fang."

"Maybe that's not a person. He likes to name every animal he can recognize."

"Ah, let me guess, it sounds like a dog's name."

They were chatting by the lake, and a wizard came to them at some point.

The expressions on George and Lee's faces suddenly became alert.

They knew very well that this was in Britain, and it was also the base camp of the Dark Lord. Any stranger was very likely to be hostile to them.

"Hello sir, what can I do for you?"

Lee did not hide his vigilance, he asked politely and distantly.

The middle-aged wizard wore a gray top hat and a long open-necked trench coat. His black hair was meticulously groomed under the hat. He had a gentle smile on his face and did not look like someone with malicious intent.

"Hello, my name is Matthew Graves, a member of the International Confederation of Wizards. Are you students of Headmaster Dumbledore?"

His English accent was very special, a version that neither Lee nor George had heard of.

George looked into his eyes and nodded, but did not reduce his vigilance.

"What can I do for you?"

"Can you take me to see your headmaster? We are friends who have known each other for a long time. At that time, he was still the president of the Confederation."

The wizard named Matthew smiled and blinked at George while speaking.

George and Lee looked at each other, and after a look, they quickly made a decision.

George didn't move, while Lee turned and trotted towards the carriage. Matthew saw their movements, but his smile remained unchanged. He knew that the black boy was looking for an adult. He looked at George, as if he was in the mood to chat.

"I heard that in all these years, Principal Dumbledore has never left England with you? You were in exile in a carriage and attending classes at the same time?"

George glanced at him.

"Aren't you a friend of Professor Dumbledore?"

The wizard laughed dumbly.

"Don't be so cautious, kid. Even if this is the base camp of your enemies, they won't attack you during the Triwizard Tournament."

His words did not ease the atmosphere at all, and George still looked at him with a suspicious look.

"Your principal and I are indeed old friends, but that was when he was still the president of the Union. As a diplomat of the Congress, I have had a lot of dealings with him, but after the change of masters in the UK, we have no contact. This time I have the opportunity to come and visit him."

After listening to Matthew's explanation, George seemed to have discovered something.

"Are you an American wizard?"

"Director of the Office of the International Confederation of Wizards, Department of International Magical Cooperation, MACUSA, and the American Chapter of the International Confederation of Wizards."

Matthew took out a certificate from his windbreaker pocket and handed it to George.

George confirmed his identity. Of course, this certificate could be forged, but since Lee had already informed Dumbledore, there was no need for him to forge it.

"You are one of the referees for this Triwizard Tournament."

George had obviously heard that there would be people from the International Confederation of Wizards among the referees.

"The Confederation attaches great importance to this competition. We all hope that the conflict can be resolved peacefully, so they sent three people here. The other two have already gone to the castle. I came here specially to see my old friend."

Matthew didn't seem to mind George's wariness of him just now, and his attitude was still calm.

George looked at this middle-aged wizard who seemed to be easy to get along with and asked tentatively.

"So you will be more inclined to us when you are the referee?"

Matthew laughed.

"I will only make the most fair evaluation."

At this time, Lee had already jumped off the carriage at a trot, and waved to George from a distance.

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to invite this gentleman to the carriage."

Matthew said goodbye to George, and then followed Lee into the carriage.

Although Dumbledore did not get off the car to greet him in person, he took the initiative to wait in front of the office door to show his respect for this old friend.

As soon as they met, they hugged each other.

"It's been many years since we last met, Albus."

"Ha, Matthew, you are still using this perfume. I can't help sneezing every time I smell it."

Dumbledore rubbed his nose and took the diplomat of the American Magic Congress into his office.

"I actually thought that the person representing America might be you, but I didn't expect that they actually sent you."

The steaming teapot automatically poured tea into the cup in front of Matthew.

Matthew did not hide his gaze at the wall behind Dumbledore, which was covered with portraits of past headmasters. He shrugged and said.

"This shows that everyone knows my fairness, doesn't it?"

Dumbledore smiled.

"Yes, the Federation knows what we need. If we want to avoid war, we must maintain the most basic fairness. Who are the other two referees?"

"They are also your old friends. The Asian wizard is Abdul Rahman, the Arab magic diplomat who has always said that he would give you an emerald. The African wizard is Imran Kamil, the vice-headmaster of the Vagado School of Magic, the old witch who said that she would send exchange students with Hogwarts but was rejected by you."

Dumbledore crossed his hands in front of him, and the smile on his face did not change with the two names.

"The Federation is indeed attentive enough. No matter what decision you three make, it will be impartial. You all have some friendship with me, and you have also had conflicts with me."

Matthew spread his hands.

"This is the candidate that was finally determined after two months of discussion. You know that although I am a diplomat, I have little experience in lying to people. The Federation does not want to see the war happen, so we all know that only the fairest referee can avoid all 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.

"Rahman and Imran both know that meeting my student first can avoid him from having unnecessary suspicions about you, and it is also the best choice for the normal progress of the subsequent games. Why did you come to me alone in advance?"

Matthew did not touch the cup of black tea in front of him, whose steam was gradually disappearing. He stared at Dumbledore's face, and his originally gentle expression gradually faded, becoming a little cold and serious.

"Because I accidentally got a question that sounded a little unexpected in the United States. Even if the referee arranged by the Federation this time was not me, I would come to the UK to see you and want to confirm one thing from you."

Dumbledore showed a surprised expression on his face.

"Yeah, I should have thought of it earlier. You can only come to see me so eagerly for one thing."

Matthew Graves stared at his eyes.

"So, is the news true or false?"

"It's true."

Without deliberately changing the subject or telling any lies, Dumbledore answered the question he wanted to know so directly and calmly.

The atmosphere in the principal's office suddenly became quiet, and only the slight snoring of the portrait could be heard faintly.

After a long time, Matthew seemed to have just sorted out his emotions, and he spoke again, asking in an extremely cold voice.

"So, who has the power to release him? The Union sentenced him to life imprisonment at the time!"

"If he didn't want to, Matthew, which prison in the world do you think could hold him?" Dumbledore asked softly.

"He should have been executed directly at the beginning!"

His voice became colder and colder, but his emotions became more and more excited.

Dumbledore looked at him and shook his head.

"I thought you would have forgotten it after so many years."

Matthew picked up the cold cup of black tea in front of him and drank it all in one gulp as if he were drinking boiled water. His voice became slightly hoarse without knowing when.

"Not everyone is as generous as you. He killed my father and stole his identity to embarrass my family in Congress. Do you think I should forget this?"