Criminal Suspect

Upon being notified by the Prefect, Dumbledore arrived at the scene, followed by a large group of professors.

After he examined the handwriting, he waved his wand, and Filch floated up.

"Come with me, William, I need your help," he said softly. "Oh, and Mr Potter too."

Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.

"My office is the closest to here, the principal—it's over here—you can—"

"Thank you, Gilderoy." Dumbledore shook his head. "But your office won't do. I think Filch needs a bed."

"Yes, you're right, Headmaster. My office contains too many dangerous magical items that are detrimental to the preservation of corpses."

Lockhart nodded, somewhat excited, as if he had spotted some incredible material for a novel.

Professor McGonagall and Snape followed, while the other teachers led their students away.

Hermione didn't leave; after handing the Bobocha to Anne, she followed closely behind William.

Mrs. Norris was also with Filch.

The group arrived at the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey gasped in surprise, covering her mouth.

"Where's Merlin? What happened?!"

"An attack! I think a dark wizard attacked poor Filch. But it's alright, the danger is over, I'm here."

Lockhart was jumping around, already completely immersed in the role in the new book.

Madam Pomfrey will obviously be portrayed in the book as a flustered, indecisive, and somewhat annoying head nurse.

Dumbledore placed Filch on a bed and began to examine him carefully.

Harry shrank back fearfully, his mouth opening to silently tell William and Hermione, "It's none of my business."

Harry quickly shut up; Snape's dark eyes were staring straight into his, making him very uncomfortable.

Harry's intuition told him: Snape wanted to gouge out his eyes.

What deep-seated hatred and grudge could there be!

Do you hate my eyes that much?

Harry remembered William saying that Professor Snape's hairline was a bit dangerous... Harry was willing to give Snape his hair so he could make a beautiful wig.

Why bother picking on his eyes?

Dumbledore bent over, the tip of his long, hooked nose almost touching Filch's wound.

In the short time that followed, the wound had completely healed, and the blood that had congealed outside the wound had also completely solidified.

He touched it gently, and it turned into a reddish-brown powder.

Dumbledore's pupils contracted sharply.

seem,

Confusing.

He scrutinized Filch carefully through his crescent-shaped glasses, his long index finger, like a stick, poking and prodding at various parts of Filch's body.

Lockhart hovered around them, offering suggestions incessantly.

"It must be the Unforgivable Curses — Avada Kedavra killed Filch —I've seen others use this curse many times, and I have a lot of experience with this kind of Killing Curse."

It's a real shame I wasn't there, otherwise Filch could have survived like Harry, though he'd have a lightning bolt scar on his chest...

"... I remember something very similar happened in Uagadou," Lockhart said, "A series of attacks, detailed in my autobiography."

At the time, I provided Muggle with all sorts of amulets, which solved the problem immediately...

"Filch is not dead," Dumbledore said.

Lockhart was counting how many murders he had prevented when...

It suddenly stopped.

He's not dead?

"He's just unconscious, he'll wake up in a bit!" said Dumbledore.

"Ah! That's pretty much what I predicted!" Lockhart said.

Snape stood behind them, half his body hidden in the shadows, his gaze finally shifting from Harry to Lockhart.

His expression was very strange; he was desperately trying to stop himself from laughing.

seem,

Having such a colleague is not bad.

At least I'll be happy.

"Harry, what did you do to Filch!"

After Lockhart was quickly proven wrong, he noticed Snape's smile and began to change the subject, turning his attention to Harry.

"I didn't touch Filch at all!" Harry shouted. "When I got there, Filch was already lying on the ground."

"Heh heh, but I remember Filch reported you a few days ago, saying you colluded with Peeves and broke the Vanishing Cabinet. You might be holding a grudge..."

Everyone turned their attention to Harry.

Lockhart is right, Harry is clearly the prime suspect.

"No, I had just finished Quidditch training and I was covered in mud."

Filch took me into his office and tried to handcuff me. He even pulled out a whip, and then Nicolas rescued me.

Harry quickly explained it again.

It turns out that Nicolas had Peeves smash a cabinet on the ground to save Harry, thus attracting Filch away.

On that same day, the Nearly Headless Nick invited Harry to his Deathday Party.

But what surprised William the most was that Hogwarts actually had Vanishing Cabinet?

He immediately thought of the Vanishing Cabinet at the Borgin and Burkes.

Could they be a couple?

If so, how did the other one get to the Borgin and Burkes?

William decided to find some time to investigate.

"Excuse me, Headmaster," Snape began.

"Of course." Dumbledore nodded.

"Perhaps Potter just shouldn't have been there at that time," Snape said, a mocking smile playing on his lips, as if he deeply doubted it.

"But we did encounter a series of questions. Why did he go up to the corridor in the first place? Why didn't he attend the Halloween party?"

"I went to Nicolas's Deathday Party... There were hundreds of ghosts there; they can vouch for me—"

"But what happened after that? Why didn't you come to the banquet?" Snape said, his dark eyes Winky in the candlelight. "Why did you go up to the upper corridor?"

"Because—because—" Harry lied, "I'm tired and want to go to sleep."

Dumbledore looked at Harry with some disappointment.

This was not the answer he wanted to hear.

William also shook his head slightly. Harry's lying skills were really terrible, at least dozens of Hagrid worse than Cedric's.

It seems Cho will be tricked by Cedric sooner or later; Harry has no chance.

How can someone who can lie so convincingly deserve a girlfriend?

Snape smiled dismissively; he was a master liar.

"Clearly, our the Boy Who Lived is not telling us the truth. I suggest giving him some small doses of serum... like Veritaserum."

That way, we can even find out who he likes.

Before Professor McGonagall could say anything, Lockhart jumped in and loudly objected, "Merlin, using Veritaserum without authorization is illegal! We can't do that!"

Dumbledore said softly, "Of course, I never advocate the use of Veritaserum."

And as long as Harry isn't proven guilty, he's innocent, Severus.

Snape scoffed.

Dumbledore pondered for a moment, then finally asked a crucial question.

"Mr. Weasley, Harry, I noticed Ron wasn't with you tonight."

you,

Aren't they always inseparable?

Harry was startled; he suddenly remembered that Ron had been taken away by Filch.

Now that Filch is in trouble, I hope Ron isn't too.

(Thanks to the user "Name Eaten by the Feral Beast" for the generous donation.)