224: Searching Slytherin Dormitories

In the Merpeople village, one by one, the Merpeople lost their footing and tumbled onto the muddy ground. 

Krum, his ankle pierced, reverted to his human form, blood seeping from his wound. 

Harry was completely stunned by what had just happened. 

Now that they were out of the water, the enchantments placed on the three hostages were lifted, and they all began to wake up. 

"Bloody Hell, what is going on?" Ron stared in disbelief at everything around him. 

Gabrielle and Hermione spat out mouthfuls of water, equally confused. 

A heavy pressure descended upon them, and the merpeople who had still been preparing to attack screamed in terror and scrambled toward the towering walls of water on either side. 

"Gabrielle—!!" 

Fleur's frantic cry echoed across the lake. Gabrielle looked up to see the split water forming sheer cliffs on both sides. 

On the shore, her sister Fleur was calling for her, while John stood in the lake, gripping his silver sword, his eyes radiating an icy chill. 

"It's the champions!" 

"They're injured!" 

"Dumbledore, what is going on here?!" 

Everyone could now see what was happening in the middle of the lake. Karkaroff, in particular, was both shocked and furious when he saw the blood on Krum, immediately turning to Dumbledore and demanding answers.

He had completely forgotten that he was the one who kept delaying, nearly missing the chance for a timely rescue. 

Harry let out a breath of relief. Just then, the effects of the gillyweed wore off—his gills disappeared, and his hands and feet returned to normal. 

The merpeople were fleeing in all directions, but John had clearly seen them attacking the hostages when he split the lake. 

The patterns on his shoes lit up, sprouting wings that propelled him forward at high speed toward the merpeople. 

Just as a particularly decorated merperson—clearly of high status—was about to escape, a silver sword pierced through its hand. 

John descended from the sky, landing a firm foot on the merperson's lower back. He yanked Silverwick out and swung it to the side. 

The ropes binding Hermione and Gabrielle were instantly severed. 

With the gleaming blade now resting against the merperson leader's neck, John spoke coldly, "You'd better give me a good explanation." 

The merperson leader's face was filled with terror. 

"John Wick!" 

It was Dumbledore. He intervened just as John was about to act. 

John tilted his head slightly, locking eyes with Dumbledore. 

Dumbledore shook his head gravely and said, "It was controlled." 

The message was clear—the merperson leader had likely been manipulated. Dumbledore was asking John to let it go.

John laughed coldly and said, "Professor Dumbledore, it nearly got four students killed—two of whom are my friends." 

"John," Dumbledore took a deep breath and spoke seriously, "let it go. I will investigate this thoroughly." 

The chilling light on Silverwick blade flickered, while the towering lake walls on either side stood firm. 

John remained silent for a moment before finally moving his sword away. 

Madam Maxime had also come down. She brought Fleur to Gabrielle's side and gently stroked Gabrielle's head with affection. "Poor child… Thank you, John. You saved her." 

Madam Maxime expressed her gratitude, but John simply shook his head. Meeting Fleur's tear-reddened eyes, he turned to Dumbledore and said, "Professor Dumbledore, I hope you handle this properly." 

With that, John turned and left. 

The merperson leader was still trembling in fear as Dumbledore questioned it. 

And just as Dumbledore had suspected, it had been under the influence of a Confundus Charm. 

A highly advanced Confundus Charm—so subtle that it had unknowingly taken control of it. 

Unfortunately, the merperson had no idea who was responsible. 

It only remembered that yesterday, by the Black Lake, someone had used the merfolk language to lure them over. 

That memory, however, was a complete mess. 

The Confundus Charm had scrambled its recollection.

John was very dissatisfied with this outcome, but there was nothing he could do to change it. 

Harry was not seriously injured, but Krum was in bad shape. Besides his wounded ankle, he had multiple spear-inflicted wounds across his body. 

Hermione had also been affected—her robe had a hole in it where it had been pierced, though thankfully, the fabric was loose enough that she hadn't been harmed. 

In the end, the last two champions had not surfaced, but because of their noble actions in protecting the other champions underwater, they were still awarded high scores. 

The final results were: Cedric in first place, Harry in second, and Krum and Fleur tied for third. 

Due to Krum's poor performance in the first task, even with the high score he received this time, he only managed to catch up to Fleur. 

The third task was set to begin on June 24th. 

However, the aftermath of this incident was far from over. 

The Merpeople incident indicated that someone had been meddling behind the scenes. 

Dumbledore assigned Moody to investigate the matter. 

Whoever had the ability to control the Merpeople village had to be extremely powerful. 

As an experienced Auror, Moody was the best choice for the job. 

So when Dumbledore entrusted this task to him, there was little opposition. 

But what John never expected… was that Moody's first suspect would be him.

By the time John found out about this, the entirety of Slytherin had already been searched. 

... 

Moody swaggered into the Slytherin common room under the pretense of searching for suspicious individuals. 

"Out, all of you, get out here." 

Standing in the common room, Moody bellowed for everyone to come out. The Slytherin students all looked displeased. 

But Moody acted as if he didn't see it, muttering under his breath, "I'm going to conduct a search now, so don't even think about hiding anything. I know you lot—I caught half of the Death Eaters, and they were all from Slytherin." 

Malfoy couldn't stand it anymore and snapped, "That's a serious accusation!" 

"Accusation?" Moody stomped over to Malfoy, his magical eye spinning wildly as he roared, "Don't think I don't know—you're just like your father, Lucius. A filthy, despicable bastard!" 

"You're not allowed to insult my father!" 

Malfoy's eyes turned red with fury. He had always looked up to his father and couldn't tolerate such an insult. 

Moody grabbed Malfoy by the collar and shoved him aside. "I know, I know all about you lot. Now, everyone stand still—I'm going to conduct my search." 

He was practically one step away from outright declaring that all Slytherins were future Death Eaters, which made every Slytherin student's expression turn grim. 

Malfoy clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his eyes burning with rage as he shouted, "You don't have the authority to do this!" 

Moody's face darkened. He lowered his voice and whispered into Malfoy's ear, "Don't think I don't know your father was a Death Eater by choise. Dumbledore knows too—that's why he's never trusted Slytherin. Do you understand?"

Malfoy's breath hitched as Moody had already moved on to pushing open another dormitory door for his search. 

Moody had Dumbledore's authorization; they couldn't stop him. 

As one dorm after another was searched, an overwhelming sense of humiliation washed over them. 

When he finally reached the last room, Malfoy couldn't take it anymore and shouted, "Get out! That's John's room!" 

"Yes, yes, I know," Moody sneered. "Which is exactly why he's the most suspicious, isn't he?" 

Moody had no intention of listening, but in the next second, a streak of red light shot past him. 

That finally got his attention. 

He turned his head to see Malfoy gripping his wand tightly. Clenching his teeth, Moody said, "Do you even know what you're doing, boy?" 

"If you don't leave right now…" Malfoy's actions made the others react as well. Without a word, they all stood behind him, silently staring at Moody. 

Moody let out a cold laugh. "I'll be sure to report everything to Dumbledore." 

But he didn't enter the room. Instead, he turned on his heel and stomped out of the common room. 

The entire Slytherin house fell into silence. 

They all understood the gravity of the situation. 

Suddenly, someone spoke up. "...Dumbledore has never trusted us."

The student's face was filled with humiliation, and his words resonated with everyone. 

"We should've known from the beginning," Malfoy said through gritted teeth. "He's always been biased toward Gryffindor!" 

"The moment something happens, we're the first ones suspected." 

"I'm telling my father about this." 

Some Slytherins still wanted to maintain a neutral stance, but when they learned that out of all four houses, only Slytherin had been searched, their anger flared as well. 

By the time John emerged from the Constellation Society's secret chamber, he was already aware of everything. 

Even John couldn't suppress his anger. 

"Dumbledore isn't a fool. I imagine he knows what needs to be done." 

Right now, emotions were running high, and John's face held no trace of a smile. 

"Moody is deliberately targeting us. Why?" He couldn't understand why an experienced Auror would act so irrationally. 

Malfoy, still humiliated, sneered, "What else? He looks down on us. Don't forget, from start to finish, he's always defended those Gryffindors." 

"Whether it's Potter or Weasley." 

John's expression darkened, his voice steady as he said, "I'll report this to Professor Snape." 

He wanted to see how Snape, Dumbledore's most loyal follower, would react.

As John made his way to Snape's office, he was stopped. 

It was Professor McGonagall. 

Her expression was complicated as she said, "Wick, I need you to come with me to the Headmaster's office." 

"There are some things I hope you can explain." 

John's heart sank a little, but he nodded in agreement. 

He left with Professor McGonagall, and the scene did not go unnoticed—students nearby began whispering among themselves.

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