Late at night, after dealing with the sudden incident, Dumbledore returned to the Headmaster's Office. Exhausted, he went to his desk and sat down, staring blankly at its surface.
Scattered across the desk were many sheets of paper. The two on top were the neatest.
The sheet on the left listed many names—all of them Hogwarts students. Beside each name, small notes recorded a wealth of details, such as:
Gemma Farley: Distant relative Thomas Harrison suspected of being a Death Eater. Harrison once passed through the Forbidden Forest and later had contact with Farley. Farley has shown no unusual behavior at school so far, but cannot be ruled out.
There were many similar notes, and the long list contained more than a dozen names. It was clear how much effort Dumbledore had put into this.
The sheet on the right also listed a long string of names, but the notes beside them mostly read "suspicions ruled out"—Quirrell and Snape were among them.
Beneath the two neatly arranged sheets lay countless more, scattered haphazardly. Their contents were far more varied:
Some looked like mind maps, but on closer inspection, they were family trees...
Some were brief letters, detailing who had once visited the Forbidden Forest...
Some were painstakingly detailed, lengthy daily records of people under suspicion...
"Phew..."
After letting out a long breath, Dumbledore pulled a blank sheet of paper from beneath his desk and began writing in an ornate hand:
To the respected members of the Hogwarts Board of Directors:
Last night, a deeply distressing incident occurred at the school. First-year student Draco Malfoy...
My investigation has revealed that the Dark Curse originated from the teachings of Mr. Lucius Malfoy. I can only conclude that Mr. Malfoy was retaliating against me for being unable to dismiss a professor...
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