Where Would I Get Inside Information?

Ignis didn't know how Manus came to this conclusion, but it was indeed true, as Manus said, that Professor Millicent Bagnold returned to Hogwarts to teach a week later.

However, at that time, Ignis himself was competing in Russia and did not learn of the news immediately.

He only excitedly sought out Manus after returning to Hogwarts with the news of winning the Inter-School Wizard's Chess Championship.

"Congratulations on reversing Hogwarts' long-standing decline in the Inter-School Wizard's Chess Championship. This reputation will be very helpful for your future."

Manus sincerely congratulated Ignis. Ordinary honors wouldn't affect the Wildsmith Family's inheritance distribution, but the Inter-School Wizard's Chess Championship was still very prestigious.

Those who excel at Wizard's Chess are generally not lacking in wisdom, and wisdom is precisely what is needed to inherit and manage a family business.

In particular, Hogwarts hasn't had a student receive this title for over a century.

As for Manus? He no longer needs such icing-on-the-cake titles and prefixes; he prefers the profits he gains from them.

Because Ignis won the championship, the Inter-School Wizard's Chess Championship will be held at Hogwarts two years later in March, so Manus won't have to take extra time to travel abroad to participate.

Although he himself was not opposed to going abroad, and even looked forward to it, traveling abroad and participating in competitions abroad are obviously two different things, and the schedule of the Inter-School Wizard's Chess Championship did not allow him to go out shopping or sightseeing.

That would be pure extra time spent; even if Wizard's trip abroad wasn't that complicated, it would still affect their normal campus life.

Now it's different; Manus will only need to wait for the contestants from the other schools to arrive at Hogwarts.

"Hehe, I didn't expect that either... Wait, I didn't come here to talk to you about that."

Ignis, halfway through his sentence, realized what he was talking about and, remembering the important matter, continued in surprise to Manus:

"Professor Millicent Bagnold really came back to teach. Do you also have some inside information?"

"What need is there for inside information? Didn't you say Professor Millicent Bagnold was injured and even went to St. Mungo's's?"

Manus gave him a strange look:

"If she has completed her task, she should certainly return to fulfill her duties now. If she hasn't, her injuries indicate she has been exposed and is unable to resolve the issue, so someone else needs to be replaced."

Ignis pondered for a moment:

"Then why isn't there a possibility that Professor Millicent Bagnold might continue his investigation after his recovery?"

"That's a possibility, but very small. Besides, there might be information I'm completely unaware of, so what I said at the time was 'should.'"

Manus makes no secret of the fact that he is only making a prediction.

"I see..."

Ignis's regret was palpable.

"I thought you had some inside information, which would have allowed us to understand the development and effects of the Curse in greater depth and detail."

It sounds to Ignis and the others that Millicent Bagnold's injury this time is the effect of Curse... and that's not impossible.

"Where would I get inside information? I only learned about Professor Millicent Bagnold's recent news from you guys."

When Manus said those words, he didn't expect to receive the news so soon.

"A three-way battle between the Order of the Phoenix, the Death Eaters, and a group of others? Professor Millicent Bagnold was injured in this battle?"

Manus glanced at Regulus, then at Lily.

Regulus learned of this through his own family; his uncle, Alphard Black, was also involved in the operation, while Lily's source of information was a father in Gryffindor of the Order of the Phoenix.

The two people's messages pieced together the general events of that day from two different perspectives. Although their low level of involvement resulted in significant gaps in the parts before the melee, the details of the melee were still relatively clear.

Most importantly, they will have a clearer version of what happened after the melee, since the Death Eaters.

"They were fighting over a cup, a gold cup."

Regulus was quite certain that Alphard Black was probably present:

"That thing originally belonged to the You-Know-Who. A third party learned of the cup's whereabouts through Rodolphus, whom they had previously captured. The You-Know-Who was furious about this, and ultimately Bellatrix managed to retrieve the golden cup."

When talking about his cousin and cousin-in-law, Regulus showed little emotion. In fact, even when they shared the same stance, they didn't have much interaction.

Ultimately, they had already separated by their fathers' generation, not to mention the status of women in the Black Family...

Regulus and Narcissa were in the same school for only one year, six grades apart, but they saw each other more often in that year than they had in all the years before.

At this point, Regulus added with some confusion:

"Judging from the You-Know-Who's initial attitude, he should have valued that golden cup very much. But after it was You-Know-Who back, he rewarded Bellatrix with it... Even Rodolphus wasn't punished much, only scolded, which seems very strange."

Voldemort was not one to calmly comfort his subordinates or make their merits and demerits offset each other. Usually, unless he absolutely needed to keep a subordinate, the subordinate would not survive to perform meritorious service after making a mistake.

Not to mention Voldemort's reaction at the time, that mistake must have had a great impact on him. Even if he didn't intend to kill Rodolphus directly, he should have been unable to escape the torture of the Cruciatus Curse.

Manus narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

Regardless of whether the third party is the Greater Good, what the three parties are fighting over... is a golden cup?

Putting aside the possibility that it was some kind of object that Manus had never heard of before, he could immediately think of two suspects.

One is the wine cup that Jesus is said to have used at the Last Supper, in which Jesus held wine symbolizing his blood.

The last widely circulated account of this item is in the Arthur legend, where it was found by three Knights of the Round Table. Legend has it that the Holy Grail disappeared along with Galahad's soul as he ascended to heaven, but since there seems to be no god in this world, it is not impossible that the Holy Grail appeared in Britain.

The other is Helga Hufflepuff's golden cup. Strictly speaking, this object is nothing special; although there are legends that it is a golden cup with magical power, there is actually no more detailed description.

The reason this golden cup is still famous at Hogwarts and even in Britain is entirely due to the portrait in the Hufflepuff Common Room.