Investigation Team

"The Tooth-Growing Hex is one of the simpler curses. Its effect is quite straightforward: it makes the victim's front teeth grow rapidly. Ultimately, the size of the teeth reflects the strength of the spell..."

Professor Foxx noticed Lynn's conflicted expression as he explained, so he stopped.

"Do you think this spell looks useless?"

Lynn nodded. He did feel that a spell seemingly only fit for children's pranks did not deserve to be classified as a curse.

"You need to make flexible use of every spell you know," Professor Foxx said seriously. "A truly powerful wizard may not necessarily know many powerful spells, but he will certainly be able to use every spell he knows with flexibility.

"Take the Tooth-Growing Hex, for example. On the surface, its only effect seems to be making someone's front teeth bigger, at most making an enemy look ridiculous. But you must understand that the mouth is one of the most important organs for every wizard. Even the most skilled wizard cannot cast every spell nonverbally. The Tooth-Growing Hex makes the victim's front teeth keep growing, which will certainly affect their incantations. That effect can be extremely useful in actual combat."

Professor Foxx watched Lynn's look of realization, lightly tapped the desk with a finger, and asked him a question.

"Then do you know why the Tongue-Tying Curse has a similar effect to the Tooth-Growing Hex, and restrains wizards even more effectively, yet is considered inferior to the latter in the hierarchy of Dark spells?"

Lynn thought for a moment and quickly came up with the answer.

"Because the Tongue-Tying Curse's effect is too effective. It completely prevents a wizard from making any sound, while the Tooth-Growing Hex merely interferes with pronunciation. And sometimes, interference with a wizard's pronunciation while casting can cause more harm than being unable to cast at all."

Professor Foxx looked at him approvingly. "That's right, Lynn. The most important thing for a wizard is to make good use of his brain. In fact, most wizards in the magical world lack flexible thinking. You clearly possess that talent, so remember not to waste it."

Lynn's first week at Hogwarts was far from peaceful.

After Hubert was attacked, there was no further news of him. Some students said he was still in the school hospital, others said he had been sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, while still others claimed his parents had taken him home to recover.

People still argued over Hubert's condition, but nearly all the young wizards had reached a consensus over who they thought the culprit was.

After several days of rumors spreading, countless young wizards who knew nothing of the truth had accepted Professor Foxx being the culprit as fact.

It was said that some particularly radical Gryffindors had even cursed Professor Foxx out during Defense Against the Dark Arts, saying he was unfit to teach the subject.

No matter how one looked at it, Professor Foxx's situation was dire.

During this time, Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts's most respected figure, had not shown himself even once.

However, when people asked about it, Professor McGonagall did offer an explanation.

She said Professor Dumbledore was currently handling some matters at the Soviet Ministry of Magic and would not return for some time.

The recent disputes at Hogwarts had little to do with Lynn.

His days remained full. Every morning, he practiced spells with Cedric by the Black Lake. He spent most of his free time in the library, and Professor Foxx had given him several slips granting access to the Restricted Section. The books there were all related to dark magic. Before he completely mastered Dark spells, he also needed to learn the theoretical foundations of dark magic.

His private instruction was arranged for after dinner.

Professor Foxx seemed entirely unconcerned about his circumstances at Hogwarts. Sometimes, he even jokingly told Lynn how many young wizards' parents had sent Howlers to the school to complain about him that day.

But Lynn understood that the professor had arranged the time for learning Dark spells after dinner because he was afraid of dragging Lynn into it.

Those young wizards who had learned the "truth" had nowhere to vent their anger. They might very well ostracize students who were close to Professor Foxx.

In the blink of an eye, the weekend arrived.

Normally, on this day, young wizards from the second year and above could visit the small town of Hogsmeade near Hogwarts to relax.

But because of the recent dark magic attack, Professor McGonagall canceled this week's outing.

The older students were all deeply disappointed. However, the Weasley twins had sought Lynn out the previous day and hinted that they had special ways of getting to Hogsmeade, asking whether he wanted to go with them the next day.

Lynn declined. The real culprit had not been caught, and danger still lurked around Hogwarts. Even if there were no danger, he would not know what to do outside.

Wasn't it better to stay safely at Hogwarts?

On Saturday morning, while Lynn was still practicing the curse he had just learned in his single dormitory room, Professor McGonagall welcomed two visitors from the Ministry of Magic at the gates of Hogwarts.

One of them was a tall, bald, dark-skinned wizard wearing a gold earring in one ear. He clearly held the leading position between the two.

He seemed to have known Professor McGonagall for a long time. Upon meeting, the two first shared a warm embrace.

"Professor McGonagall, it truly has been a long time," the wizard said in a slow, deep voice.

"Yes, Shackle. Time passes quickly. You've already become an outstanding Auror," Professor McGonagall said warmly.

The visitor was Kingsley Shackle, an Auror from the British Ministry of Magic.

As they spoke, Kingsley turned and introduced the other Auror accompanying him to Professor McGonagall.

"This is my assistant, Sevich Quickley. He only became an Auror this year, but though he is young, he has great potential."

Sevich was a tall, fair-skinned wizard. He shook Professor McGonagall's hand.

"Hello, Professor."

"Hello. Then let's go inside."

On the way into the castle, Kingsley dispensed with any further pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Professor McGonagall, we have also seen the attacked child at St. Mungo's Hospital. There are obvious signs that he was tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, and the caster was highly skilled. The Cruciatus Curse was used at just the right level to make the child endure tremendous pain without causing his mind to collapse. This was clearly the work of an experienced hand.

"The child has regained consciousness, but the attacker erased his memories of that time with an Obliviation Charm. We obtained no valuable information from the victim, which is why we came to the scene of the incident. We hope to find clues to the dark wizard who attacked a minor wizard."