Manus was certain Bagnold was not a spy for the Death Eaters. At least, he had yet to find any evidence pointing to that possibility.
Bagnold had come through a major battle in such good shape entirely thanks to his solid abilities and considerable luck.
There was little need to elaborate on his abilities. A weak fighter might survive a battlefield through sheer chance, but that had not been possible in the battle they had just fought.
With limited space and limited numbers, practically no one on either side had been left isolated. With Voldemort and Dumbledore occasionally freeing themselves up to sweep the battlefield, even the weakest survivors had only been weak by comparison.
On the Death Eaters' side, for instance, not a single Dark Wizard brought along to make up the numbers had survived. The dark creatures, whom Voldemort himself had not cared about, had all perished under their opponents' spells or in Fiendfyre.
Those who remained were unquestionably in the top ten percent of wizards in terms of ability.
Beyond that, luck had come into play. As Voldemort's first target, Bagnold had certainly needed skill to dodge that initial Killing Curse, but what followed could not be attributed to skill alone.
Once Dumbledore had joined the fight, Voldemort had focused entirely on him, but his devoted followers had not forgotten the target their master wanted dead.
Yet with their opponents keeping them occupied, their sight lines obstructed, Voldemort himself going berserk and setting fires, and all manner of other interference, Bagnold had somehow ended up facing only the weaker Death Eaters, surviving safely to the end.
This forced Manus to reconsider the curse on the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. In circumstances where the slightest nudge could quite plausibly have left Bagnold gravely