A Burned Body Wasn't Necessarily Burned to Death / Touching a Corpse by Mistake Gets You Cursed by Flies

Harry lost his grip and Luna Lovegood had already run off to some jugglers, but by the time he tried to take Hermione to find her, the whole street suddenly became incredibly noisy.

"The floats are coming!"

Suddenly someone shouted, and the crowd that had been celebrating just moments before surged to both sides of the street.

The crowded people seemed to form a wall in front of Harry, completely blocking his view of Luna Lovegood. He could only barely hold Hermione's hand and try to move forward in the surging crowd.

"You two brats, watch where you're going!" In the scuffle, Harry accidentally bumped into a passerby.

The other person was a male wizard wearing a long black cloak, but because of the hood, Harry couldn't see his face clearly.

"Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry." Harry didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he took the initiative to back down.

"Hmph." The male wizard snorted coldly, took a few steps to the side, and chose a good spot to watch the floats.

But because of this delay, when Harry turned around to go across the street to meet Luna Lovegood, the dancers leading the floats had already spun into the block.

"Looks like we'll just have to wait until the floats are gone before we can decide what to do."

The entire street cleared the main road, so Harry couldn't possibly crash into the float in front of everyone... although it wasn't the first time he'd done something like that.

Anyway, Luna Lovegood should be just across the street, so Harry didn't feel there was anything to worry about. He simply put his arm around Hermione and watched the fireworks together in this foreign land.

The real festivities began, with countless fireworks bursting in the sky, illuminating the night sky with a dazzling array of colors.

A float pulled by pure white horses moves slowly forward under the guidance of dancers. On the float are shamans who specialize in setting off fireworks. They frequently wave to the surroundings and, after the fireworks have burned out, they set the entire carriage on fire and manipulate the flames to create various shapes.

Bathed in the crimson glow of the fire, many people around them began to cheer excitedly, some even embracing and kissing passionately... Influenced by this scene, Harry and Hermione's heartbeats seemed to become erratic as well.

So he gently wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and slowly brought his face closer.

"Harry..." Fireworks exploded, Hermione murmured softly, and closed her eyes shyly...

Bang!!

However, just as their lips were about to touch, another crisp sound suddenly made Harry shudder.

He quickly turned around to look around, but found nothing unusual.

But Harry was convinced he hadn't misheard; that sound definitely wasn't from fireworks exploding, but rather...

Gunshots!!

Chapter 254 A burned corpse is not necessarily burned to death.

"Harry... what's wrong?"

Not receiving the expected touch, Hermione opened her eyes in confusion, only to be met with Harry's serious and wary expression.

"Something might have happened. You must stay close to me," Harry said in a low voice. "We'll go meet Luna Lovegood as soon as the parade is over."

Just now, sharp-eyed Harry spotted Luna Lovegood across the street through the gaps in the floats, and Harry also noticed Harry and waved at him.

Now that he was certain she was safe and sound, Harry wasn't too worried.

The question now is whether the sound he just heard was actually a gunshot.

And if it really was gunfire, where exactly did the bullet hit?

"Hmm? That person..."

Harry vaguely recalled the direction from which the sound came, and looked to his side, only to inadvertently catch a glimpse of the cloaked wizard he had just bumped into.

His attention was immediately drawn to the mysterious man who was intently watching the float. After all, someone dressed entirely in black from head to toe would definitely be the first suspect if they appeared at a crime scene...

"Something's happened!"

Where did they go?

There seemed to be some commotion across the street; for some unknown reason, a small area of the crowd suddenly erupted in gasps.

Boom!!

Suddenly, flames on one of the floats shot up into the sky in a bizarre manner, like fierce flames from the mouth of Dragon, instantly turning the area above the float into a sea of fire!

The horse responsible for pulling the cart had its tail burned off, and in its fright, it ran wildly, causing chaos and disarray throughout the entire caravan.

The wizard, who was supposed to be in charge of setting off the fireworks, could only wave his wand in vain. He was powerless against the strange flames before him and had no choice but to jump off the float, letting the flames run rampant.

"What... what is that?"

"It looks like one person!!"

But at that moment, the crowd of onlookers were astonished to discover that a strange figure had emerged from the burning flames!

He stood upright with his arms outstretched to the sides, slowly rising into the air like a cross. The fierce flames coiled upwards like serpents, turning him into a human torch almost instantly!

Soon, the burning body seemed to lose its support, and he was thrown from the air to the ground like a rag doll by some force, instantly kicking up a cloud of flying ash.

"Ah!!" *N

When the burning man landed, the onlookers who had been watching the spectacle finally screamed in panic, jostling and pushing to get away from their spots, plunging the entire battlefield into chaos.

"Calm down! Everyone stay where you are and don't run around! Calm down... all of you calm down!!"

The bright signal spell exploded rapidly after taking off, and at the same time, an angry roar swept across the entire area under the effect of the Amplifying Charm. The chaotic crowd was stunned by the sound and managed to stabilize the situation with great effort.

"I am Corvors Lestrange, the Auror of the Ministry of Magic. No one here is to move! All of you stay where you are! No one is to leave!"

The one who spoke up to stop the commotion was none other than Corvus, whom Harry had just met. He was holding his wand and cautiously surveying his surroundings. Beside him lay a pile of shattered glass and a cane lying on the ground.

"Corvus is gone... he was burned to death."

At that moment, a dozen fully armed wizards rushed out from all directions of the crowd. They were probably Auror were acting with Corvus, and they quickly took complete control of the scene.

One of the Auror, after examining the charred corpse, shook his head regretfully at Corvus.

"Damn it! You few go and seal off all the surrounding entrances and exits. The rest of you come with me to investigate the scene... Hidden Street -Anti-Apparition Jinx have been set up here long ago, that guy definitely can't escape!!"

With gritted teeth, Corvus gave the order, and the Auror he brought also sprang into action. One group began to disperse and guard the entrance to the Hidden Street, while the rest began to interrogate the wizards who remained at the scene.

"Mr. Lestrange, what's going on?" Taking this opportunity, Harry, who had already reunited with Luna Lovegood, finally had a chance to step forward and ask what was happening.

"Harry, are you alright?" Corvus forced a smile, revealing an awkward grin. "As you can see, a murder just happened here. You'd better not get involved."

"I think we might be able to help." Harry shook his head seriously. "For cases like this that occur in complex environments, directly questioning all the suspects is the least efficient way, because the killer has most likely already taken advantage of the chaos to leave the scene. So what you should do now is send more people to all the entrances and exits, and try to completely seal off the entire Hidden Street as quickly as possible!"

"Well... you guys, go and help them too."

Corvus was taken aback for a moment, but then quickly recovered and sent several more people to provide support in various locations, leaving only two deputies on site.

After that, he couldn't help but look at Harry with a hint of surprise.

He hadn't expected Harry to be so calm. Even seeing a burning corpse didn't cause him any panic; instead, he calmly helped him analyze the case.

The two girls beside him also seemed extraordinary; although they were hesitant to look directly at the corpse, they showed no fear whatsoever.

What exactly did these three children go through in the past...?

"Harry, what do you think we should do next?"

The little incident had shown Corvus Harry's abilities, so he began to seek Harry's opinion, hoping that the other party could provide him with some ideas.

"There are too many people around, their opinions don't count. So, we can only let the corpse tell the truth!" Harry pointed to the charred corpse not far away, his words revealing unquestionable confidence!

This is his area of expertise, he absolutely...

"Make a corpse talk... Harry, you're not trying to use some kind of Dark Magic, are you?! I'm telling you, that's absolutely forbidden, you know that?!"

To everyone's surprise, Corvus hearing Harry's words, Corvace was suddenly horrified.

Harry: (?-?*)

Goodness, you have quite the imagination! So, making a corpse talk means I'm going to use Dark Magic to resurrect it?

Besides, your Lestrange Family rose to power through Dark Magic. Even if I really wanted to use Dark Magic, what are you afraid of?

"Mr. Lestrange, you've completely misunderstood." Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation. "The so-called 'letting the body speak' means we're going to conduct an autopsy to determine the specific cause of death and other details of the case."

"Cause of death? That's just..."

"He wasn't burned to death." Harry shook his head, rejecting the Auror's earlier assessment. "The time between him appearing in the flames and being thrown to the ground wasn't long. A normal person wouldn't die from asphyxiation and shock in such a short time. Besides, when the flames went out, his clothes weren't even completely burned off, which means that pure burning wouldn't be fatal. So the conclusion is... he was already dead before he was thrown into the float!"

"He was already dead? Impossible... absolutely impossible!"

Upon hearing Harry's words, Corvus stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Chapter 255 Accidentally touching a corpse will incur the curse of flies.

"Harry, I admit there's some truth to what you're saying, but it's simply impossible."

Corvus disagreed with Harry's conclusion. "This deceased... I was standing with him the whole time, protecting him closely. Unless he died the instant he was thrown into the float, how could I not have noticed?"

"He's right, they were indeed standing together before," Luna Lovegood suddenly interjected. "I just saw it; he was watching the parade with an old man. The old man was holding a crystal ball and was leaning on a cane. But when the fireworks went off, the old man's crystal ball shattered, and then he suddenly disappeared."

"Yes, when the crystal ball shattered, I became alert to my surroundings, and then he mysteriously disappeared right beside me." Corvus' voice was filled with deep regret. "When he reappeared, he was already on the float... a dead man."

"Disappeared suddenly..."

Harry glanced at the crystal ball and cane scattered on the ground, and with a sudden thought, he quickly walked to the wreckage and carefully searched through the pile of broken glass with his wand.

"As expected... we found it!"

Among the shards of the crystal ball, Harry found a somewhat Transfiguration bullet.

He used Levitation Charm to lift the warhead and then presented it to Corvus.

"This is..." Corvus was taken aback upon seeing this.

"A pistol bullet, and this should only be one of them," Harry said calmly. "Clearly, the killer used a firearm to kill the important person you were trying to protect. He fired at least two shots; one shattered the crystal ball and also alerted you to your surroundings; the other took advantage of that opportunity to kill you instantly."

"A pistol? But... I clearly cast the Shield Charm on him!" Corvus said in surprise and doubt.

"How the pistol bullet pierced the shield is not our concern right now." Harry shook his head, pointing to the charred corpse not far away. "What we need to do now is clean the remaining clothing from the body and see if we can find any obvious bullet holes."

"Go and examine the body again."

Corvus called an assistant to remove the deceased's clothes, while Harry simply watched silently, not overstepping his bounds to intervene.

He left his Space Ring at Nicolas Flamel's house, so he didn't have the necessary tools for an autopsy. Besides, it was just checking a bullet hole; there was no need for him to get involved...

"Found it... found it!" After examining the body again, Auror indeed found a charred hole in the left chest area!

But in the next instant, the corpse, which had been scorched by the flames, suddenly shriveled up. Then, countless buzzing insects burst out from the corpse's mouth, nose, and bullet holes, turning into a black torrent that gathered and dispersed in the air!

"Ugh... Help!!" The Auror who went to examine the corpse was suddenly surrounded by flies and insects. Before he could even cast a spell, he collapsed to the ground.

"A fly? Hermione, help!" Harry exclaimed in alarm, and quickly pulled out his wand with Hermione.

"Incendio!!" *2

The power of the Twin-Core Wands was once again on full display. The two rushing flames intertwined to form a giant burning net, instantly incinerating all the flies and insects.

"What a powerful curse..."

Looking at the flies swarming in the flames, Harry couldn't help but feel a chill of fear.

"How badly is that Auror injured?" Hermione asked worriedly, looking at the Auror lying on the ground.

"He... is beyond saving, and you must never touch his body rashly, or you will also be cursed..."

"I can't breathe," Corvus said hoarsely. His face was extremely pale, and he was swaying as if he would collapse to the ground at any moment.

"They've appeared... Sure enough, they've really appeared..."

Corvus muttered words that no one could understand, and his mind suddenly became very dazed, as if he had suffered a huge blow.

"Whatever has happened, you just have to stay focused!" Harry stepped forward to support Corvus, squeezing his hand firmly. "Your colleagues are losing control of the situation, and there are also the Auror guarding the entrances and exits; they could be in danger at any moment!!"

"You mean... the entrance/exit?" Upon hearing Harry's words, Corvus was jolted awake.

"The shooter is about 180 cm tall, of slender build, and judging from the voice, is a middle-aged man. He was wearing a long black cloak, though he may have changed his clothes now. This guy... is probably loitering near some entrance or exit, waiting for an opportunity to leave Hidden Street!!"