Avada had completely forgotten to track the direction in which the two men left.
The moment Professor Baker appeared, Avada had been badly shaken. It took him quite a while to finally confirm that the owner of that face truly was the professor he knew—the one who had once sealed his primary soul inside a Horcrux, who had gifted him that massive tome that was still proving invaluable even now, and who had even provided the crystal orb used to imprison half of Voldemort's soul…
And this time, viewing things through the soul-perception he had gained last year, Avada was finally able to clearly see Professor Baker's soul state as well.
After several years apart, it seemed Baker had successfully created a complete Horcrux. There was now a subtle but unmistakable void in his soul—and this time, the portion remaining in his body was without question his main soul.
Yet as shocking as Professor Baker's reappearance was, it wasn't even the most staggering part of what Avada had just witnessed.
What truly left him reeling was the sheer amount of information revealed in the conversation between Baker and Trimble—so much so that his mind still hadn't fully caught up.
Large numbers of staff within the Department of International Magical Cooperation and the Department of Magical Games and Sports had suffered some form of harm? And judging by their tone, many other departments within the Ministry of Magic had also been affected?
The Damocles Belby he had always deeply respected seemed to be working with them?
And they all appeared to belong to the same organization—one that might very well be a school, given that they had mentioned a "headmaster" and "professors" in their conversation…
But which magical school could it be? Beauxbatons? Durmstrang? Or some institution from another region?
And on top of all that—they were actually planning to infiltrate Azkaban?!
Who exactly were they? And what were they trying to accomplish?
"Still, if Damocles Belby really is a professor at some magical school, then his teaching ability—enough to straighten Hagrid out—suddenly makes a lot more sense…" Avada muttered to himself. "But according to Hagrid, isn't Belby currently supposed to be planning that basilisk breeding project?"
There was no longer any point in staying where he was. Avada simply Apparated back to his room at the Leaky Cauldron, temporarily severed control over Nathan Clarke's body, and let his consciousness fully return to his true self, focusing entirely on sorting through what had just happened.
His real body was currently sitting in an exam hall, taking an opening-term test. But his paper was nearly finished and there was still plenty of time left, so spacing out for a bit wasn't a problem at all.
"Calm down… and sort this out properly…"
He absentmindedly spun his pen between his fingers.
"They clearly have an organization—and one with intelligence capabilities that surpass the Ministry's. They can easily determine how many people inside the Ministry have been compromised, and they even tried to trace the background of my false identity… though there's no way they'd succeed."
"And that probably explains why the book Professor Baker gave me contains so much knowledge left behind by powerful dark wizards. He wasn't fighting alone—he had teammates. A righteous group beating, basically?" Avada thought dryly. "Just Trimble alone is a formidable combatant. And if they're bold enough to plan an infiltration of Azkaban, then there must be many more battle-hardened wizards among them. That book was likely the collective result of their efforts…"
"But if that's the case, then that organization is absurdly well-stacked with talent. They have the combat strength to hunt dark wizards in groups and infiltrate Azkaban, they've gathered vast amounts of high-level knowledge, they can even create Horcruxes, and they have research-oriented minds like Damocles Belby…"
"At that scale, they're practically on par with the Order of the Phoenix. So just what kind of person is their 'headmaster'?"
"Just the contents of that one book were enough to let a student like me soar. The knowledge held by that organization must be even greater. If everyone there can freely study it… just how powerful would they become?"
Lost in thought, Avada suddenly realized something felt wrong in his hand. Looking down, he saw that his quill had somehow slipped onto the desk—his fingers had been spinning nothing but a few loose feathers.
"Quills really aren't suitable for spinning," he muttered, rolling his eyes.
He picked it back up and swiftly finished several long-answer questions, pushing the paper's progress forward another notch.
"Still, according to them, infiltrating Azkaban is meant to resolve the current crisis… but how are the two connected? Do they believe someone with critical information is imprisoned there?"
"But if that's all it is, why go to such extreme lengths? Wouldn't it be easier to commit a minor offense and get locked up temporarily? It's not like prisoners in Azkaban never get time outside…"
"Tch, pointless to speculate blindly…"
He shook his head slightly.
"At the very least, one thing is clear: something is going wrong in the wizarding world again—quietly, in the shadows. And the Department of International Magical Cooperation and the Department of Magical Games and Sports seem to be particularly hard-hit. That probably explains why that interviewer's reaction was so strange—he was likely one of those affected."
"The sudden surge of Pure-blood families installing Anti-Apparition wards is probably related as well. Most of them likely know something is wrong, but don't know exactly what—just like me right now…"
"I need to get to the bottom of this."
He paused briefly, then spent a few minutes finishing the exam in its entirety, clearing one worry off his mind and freeing the remaining time to properly—ahem—think.
"Dumbledore definitely knows something. With so many Anti-Apparition ward advertisements out there, he couldn't have missed it. With him backing things up, there's no need to panic… but what is worrying is that unknown organization that includes Professor Baker and Belby."
"Who are they? What do they want? And they seem to operate under the banner of a 'school'… Could this be connected to next year's Triwizard Tournament?"
"Thinking back, I probably entered their field of vision the moment Professor Baker gave me that book. And since he's also aware of my hidden trump cards… I need to act first and get clarity on this. At the very least, I have to confirm whether they pose a threat to me."
"In that case…"
"I'll start with that interviewer and dig into the next step of the investigation. Let's see what exactly is going on."
Ding—ding—ding~
A bell rang, signaling the end of the exam and time to hand in the papers. Avada set down his quill and let the proctor collect his exam, then stood up and walked toward the next examination hall…
(End of Chapter)