Mysteries Upon Mysteries

Hugo wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth and said thoughtfully, "President, didn't you remind me to be careful of the participants from other schools, especially Durmstrang? Considering the visibility at the bottom of the Black Lake and the inconvenient way of moving around, I've brought out all my trump cards..."

"Huh? You actually kept something from me?!" Patricia's eyes widened immediately.

"Whether I keep it to myself or not doesn't matter, because this is a spell only I can use—" Hugo explained, "But I still couldn't escape the attacker's spell..."

As he spoke, he lifted up a bit of his hospital gown, revealing half of his white, greasy belly.

"Others have eight-pack abs, you have eight layers!" Ian exclaimed in surprise.

Unexpectedly, Hugo calmly said, "I did it on purpose."

Sean frowned as he looked at the other man's large belly—he usually wouldn't pay attention to his friend's stomach, and Hugo was already fat, so there was nothing to worry about. But now that he heard the other man say this, Sean realized something was wrong.

Hugo's large belly was a bit too loose.

The blond fat man picked up his wand and pointed it at his belly. "Stupefy!"

A beam of red light struck his stomach to everyone's astonishment.

Hugo's belly fat jiggled, like ripples on a lake after a pebble has been thrown in, but then nothing happened.

"This is probably my talent. I can accumulate magic in my fat layer to form a kind of Defensive Spell," he explained. "As you know, I have a naturally large Magic Power Source, and with all the eating, I have a lot of magic accumulated in my fat layer."

"When I need it, I can awaken this magic to ward off spells for me, just like before—of course, it's not unlimited; the magic will be consumed along with fat while warding off external spells."

Sean suddenly realized. "You mean, your defense didn't work?"

Hugo nodded. "When I entered the water, I awakened my magic. Theoretically, I could resist several spells—but when I woke up, I found that the magic in my fat layer had not decreased. You can see this from my belly. If a spell takes effect, my belly will shrink."

Patricia suddenly had a look of realization. "No wonder when my spell hit you during our sparring sessions, you were completely unharmed, and even looked a little thinner the next day."

"I thought you guys would have figured it out a long time ago—but now doesn't seem like the time to talk about this, President?" Hugo turned around.

Sean leaned against the white wall of the hospital room, pondering, and said, "Simply put, you activated a passive ability that automatically defends, but this passive ability didn't work when you were attacked..."

"You could say that."

"What about hypnotic spells, curses, or Dark Arts?" Sean pressed.

Hugo pondered for a moment and said, "Based on my own experiments, hypnotic spells and curses won't work. I'm too afraid to test Dark Arts myself, but I think that apart from those few Unforgivable Curse, I can resist some of the power of other Dark Arts —the essence of a spell is still the effect of magic, and most spells can be resisted with a large amount of magic... However, I can't resist Transfiguration spells that control form, but Transfiguration doesn't have a spell that can make me unconscious, right?"

Sean nodded. "This doesn't fall under the category of Transfiguration —it seems the other party has mastered a spell that can ignore defensive magic, which feels a bit like the Killing Curse..."

Hugo patted his stomach. "President, don't scare me. I can't withstand the Killing Curse."

"That's not what I meant, but the Killing Curse can't be blocked by Defensive Spell. It ignores the magic of defense. You either have to dodge it or use a physical object for cover—and this object can't be made of pure magic either. For example, spells like the Shield Charm or Magic Shield have no effect on the Killing Curse. Isn't that similar to your situation?"

As a master of the Killing Curse at its highest level, Sean is very qualified to speak on this matter.

Hugo pondered for a moment, then said with some doubt, "But it's also a bit different. I didn't notice the attacker at all. I just felt my body go limp, and when I woke up I was lying here. However, in the instant I lost consciousness, I had a feeling, as if all the magic in my body had suddenly lost its vitality, and I no longer wanted to move."

Upon hearing the other person's description, Sean's pupils contracted slightly.

The magic has lost its vitality... This description sounds a lot like the Sin [Sloth]!

Has a Sin infiltrated the competition? No, perhaps it's like Thomas, whom I once encountered, Thomas two companions are still locked in the cell within his ring.

The attacker who infiltrated the contestants was likely just like Thomas and his two companions.

Calling them "Sin" is clearly inappropriate; they have only acquired a portion of the power of the Sin of "Sloth," not "Sloth" itself. Sean feels that "Temporary Vessel" might be a more fitting term.

It's almost certain that the attacker was one of Durmstrang's men, with Leon Schneider being the prime suspect.

This was not unexpected for Sean. He knew from the start of the recruitment last summer that Durmstrang must have been in contact with the Returners and might have some plans for the Triwizard Cup.

So what is their purpose...? Sean shifted his gaze to Hugo on the hospital bed.

Hugo's acquaintance with Sean was actually facilitated by Grindelwald. Given Grindelwald's gluttonous nature and physique, in Sean's mind, Hugo was most likely Sin Gluttony.

The opponent targeted the unawakened [Gluttony], but only stunned him?

Thinking of this, Sean frowned and asked, "Hugo, feel it more carefully. Is there anything different about you now compared to before you fell into a coma? Or do you feel like something is missing from your body? Magic or something else, whatever."

Seeing Sean's serious expression, Hugo closed his eyes and carefully sensed it for a moment, then scratched his head in confusion. "To be honest, apart from being a little hungry, there's nothing different."

This is strange. If the other party wanted to do something to the "Gluttony" in Hugo's body, Hugo, as the host, couldn't possibly be completely unaware of it. Removing the Sin "Gluttony" is not a simple matter.

Either Hugo wasn't Gluttony, or the other person just wanted to confirm whether Hugo was indeed Gluttony.

But if the person who attacked Hugo and Daisy was the same person, something strange happens: Daisy isn't to Sin; the real Sin is Stephanie, who was with her...

There are seven Sin in total. The known information so far is as follows: the first Sin, Pride, resides in Sean's body; Lust resides in Stephanie's body; Neville and Harry are the other two Sin that Dumbledore personally told him about. However, neither of them shows any signs of awakening their Sin at the moment. They are obviously waiting for Pride to awaken before they can react.

Hogwarts has four Sin, and Sloth has been identified as belonging to the Returners.

These are the five confirmed Sin. Hugo has a good chance of committing two other Sin, namely Gluttony. The remaining Sin is unknown, as is its location.

Of course, Sean could also directly activate the power of Pride to test Hugo, Harry, and Neville one by one, in order to find out whether there was a destructive tenant residing inside them.

However, the more people know about the Prophecy Prophecy, the more likely it is to come true. As an important part of the Prophecy, the less these three know, the weaker the Prophecy's power will be. Moreover, Sean worries that if he triggers Pride to test it, it might cause the other Sin to awaken prematurely, a situation he cannot allow.

This is troublesome. The Returners clearly knows more about the Sin, and the information gap between the two sides makes it impossible for Sean to judge the other party's true purpose. Moreover, the mysteriously appearing Obscurus magic is also inexplicable.

Seeing Sean deep in thought, the others exchanged puzzled glances, as if the matter was more serious than they had imagined.

"Get some rest, I'm leaving now." Sean left these words behind and quickly left the ward.

Patricia licked her lips. "The president is becoming more and more unpredictable. A few years ago, he would blush in front of me."

Ian fiddled with the playing cards in his hand, blinking rapidly. "Is there any possibility—I mean, just maybe—that you've become ugly..."

"You're asking for it!"

Watching Ian being chased, Hugo, lying in his hospital bed, scratched his head and then picked up another hamburger and stuffed it into his mouth.

"The principal isn't here. If you need anything, please let me know, and I'll pass it on for you," the Gargoyle said gruffly to Sean in front of the Headmaster's Office.

"Hasn't Professor Dumbledore been spending a lot of time in the castle lately?" Sean frowned.

The Gargoyle shifted its stone base. "But he's really not here right now—is there something you need?"

Sean hesitated for a moment. "Never mind..."

Watching his departing figure, the Gargoyle pouted its sharp stone beak. "I've always kept my mouth shut, so why is no one willing to tell me all my secrets?"

The little figures in the nearby oil painting let out a mocking laugh.

How the Gargoyle and the oil painting figure were arguing was not Sean's concern. He entered the Room of Requirement, took off his ring, and then went inside.

As soon as they entered the ring, the Magical Creatures immediately surrounded them. Leorea and Leoreus seemed to have gotten along well with the other Magical Creatures, as they even allowed the Wampus Cat Aero-Wing Bird to perch on their heads.

The Thunderbird were also growing rapidly. Apart from the largest one, the seven that hatched later had grown into the size of young Thunderbird and had begun to possess the power to summon lightning.

After playing with his friends for a while, Aero-Wing Bird curled up into a ball and hugged it, while Naja transformed into a scarf and wrapped around his neck. He also casually put a Swooping Evil card yo-yo on his hand. Sean then headed towards the cave by the lake.

With such a large space, Sean also created some special areas, such as prison cells.

The cells in the cave weren't very large, but Sean wasn't interested in providing the prisoners with cozy little rooms where they could eat and drink their fill, especially since most of his mortals didn't need to eat, drink, or relieve themselves.

Upon entering the cave, torches on both sides lit up one by one. At the front was a single cell, inside which a dark figure floated in mid-air, maintaining an expression of astonishment, shock, and anger.

Gormlaith Gaunt, the VVVIP of the Sean Cave prison, is a ghost whose gaze is fixed upon by the Basilisk and can no longer die. This wicked witch maintains her malevolence and sinks into darkness.

Sean merely glanced at her and moved on. Gormlaith Gaunt was essentially useless now. Of course, considering that Salazar Slytherin might return to reality in another special way, Sean kept her. Otherwise, she and her ghostly form would have long since vanished from this world.

Next to Gormlaith Gaunt was a cell reinforced with layers of magic, inside which also floated a dark phantom, wearing the black robes characteristic of the Returners.

This was the first Returners that Sean had caught at the Ministry of Magic. He wanted to extract more information from the other party, but he was struggling to find a good interrogation method. He was worried that if he unfrozen the other party, there would be unexpected problems, especially since last summer, even Dumbledore's Portkey had its teleportation path forcibly distorted.

Further inside was a large room filled with countless stone statues, all with expressions of terror, their eyes wide and mouths agape in fear—these were the Death Eaters Sean encountered when he went to the Baron Skinner's Manor to investigate the truth of the Blood Pact. Voldemort had returned, and the Death Eaters, who had been intimidated by Sean, had returned to their master's command, only to be wiped out by Sean in one fell swoop.

On one side of the large room, there was another person who had not been petrified. As soon as he saw Sean enter, he trembled and shrank into a corner. His once fierce face was now filled with fear and timidity. His hands, covered with sharp claws, tightly hugged his knees. He looked pitiful, weak, and helpless.

Fenrir, this guy wasn't petrified, so he's one of the... survivors Sean left behind?

However, Voldemort obviously wouldn't tell this brainless Werewolf his plans, Sean, having gotten nothing out of him, could only leave the guy aside.

Sean glanced casually at Fenrir, and after the other cowered and avoided his gaze, Sean continued walking inside.

It was also the most secure cell in his cave prison.

He pulled out the spell and pushed open the dark iron door; a flash of blue light from the Defensive Spell streaked past.

At the far end of the room, three people, firmly bound by various binding Magical Item, appeared before Sean.

"Ha, here we go again, Wallerup kid..." Thomas uttered in a muffled voice, his mouth covered by an iron mask.

"What, you missed me?" Sean chuckled and pulled up a chair to sit down in front of him.

Thomas let out a mocking laugh, "Wishful thinking... Ha, didn't you want to know our real plan? Come closer, I'll tell you in secret..."

Sean sighed, "You're such an idiot..."