Chapter 414 "Something Is Weird"

Snape frowned slightly when he heard Sean's words, "Are you that skilled, Wallup?"

The corners of Sean's eyes twitched, "Leave that aside for a moment, professor. Did you check his wand with a Reverse Spell Effect Charm?"

If there was something wrong with Dawson, there must be something wrong with his wand. Sean had been noticed before, but Lavender did not have this kind of strength, proving that the lurker must have been there.

If that person was really Dawson, to deal with Snape's investigation, he forgot his memory and weaved a new one in a short time.

Memory checks are cumbersome, but using Prior Incantato to check wands is much more convenient.

Snape glanced at him, "Do you think I wouldn't know about such a basic inspection? His wand is normal and shows only Lumos and several other common spells."

The wand is normal. Sean frowned.

Could it be that he was overly suspicious? However, the possibility of Dawson having a spare wand cannot be ruled out.

"Where's his place? Is there anything out of the ordinary, like another wand or an empty glass bottle or something?"

"Everything is normal." Snape said coldly.

The easiest place to hide things in Hogwarts is the Room of Requirement, but the Room of Requirement is Sean's territory. As for other places, Dawson is secretly watched by ghosts in the castle most of the time, except for his own room, but his room is normal, too.

This lurker has tried their best to control the students with the Imperius Curse and has made many thorough preparations. On the one hand, he does not want to expose himself. On the other hand, he had to send messages to the outside world about the prophecy made by Trelawney.

However, the memory bottles that Trelawney extracted were not found with Dawson. Regardless of whether the lurker is Dawson or not, this person dared to use the Imperius Curse at Hogwarts.

Because a student has been used for a long time and has experienced frequent erasure of memory, their state will definitely be different later. If Sean hadn't happened to bump into them tonight, Lavender and the others' anomalies would not have been discovered.

Also, how did that opal necklace that nearly killed Parvati get into the school's grounds?

New teaching assistants have to go through strict inspections when they enter the school, and something tampering with their memory cannot be detected. Sean narrowed his eyes slightly. That lurker must have a way to communicate with the outside world and even send items.

It took only a moment to think like this. Sean raised his head, searched around, and found his target.

He moved naturally to the side of the pearly white ghost, "Hey, Sir Nicholas, how are you doing?"

Headless Nick smiled after hearing Sean's words, and proudly puffed out his chest, "Very well, it is an honor for a man to serve Hogwarts."

Sean set up a barrier and asked straight to the point, "Nick, you are in charge of coordinating the inspection of the new teaching assistant, right?"

"Oh, yes, Professor McGonagall has entrusted me with this task, and I will not disappoint her. By the way, don't you call me Sir?" Headless Nick was fiddling with his head.

"Listen, Sir Nicholas, I need you to tell me what Max Dawson has been doing these days."

"What's going on? Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape have already asked me, everything is normal." Nick said.

"No, describe it to me in detail."

Nick thought while playing with his head, "According to the professor's instructions, the ghosts should monitor his usual travels, except when he returns to his room. Most of the time, in his spare time, he stays in his room or the staff lounge. I was looking through the wall by the fireplace last time you were talking to him."

"What about his usual travel route?"

"His usual route is also normal; he basically went to offices, classrooms, the library, the lounge, the Great Hall, and the bathrooms, and occasionally went to the library. Oh, Mr. Dawson often disapproves of Hogwarts things, but in my opinion, he is still very polite, and he would not go out to find any secret rooms in Hogwarts."

From this point of view, everything is normal.

Headless Nick continued, "Oh, by the way, he's been to Hogsmeade a few times."

"Hogsmeade? What has he been doing?"

"Oh, nothing much, Sean. Mr. Dawson behaved normally when he went to Hogsmeade. After all, students are not allowed to go to Hogsmeade now, and he has been going there as a teacher recreation. All he does is get some butterbeer and buy some candy or clothes."

"When was the last time he visited there?"

"Oh, I know that very well. It happened that I followed him secretly that time." Headless Nick puffed out his chest proudly. "Just the day before yesterday, he went to Hogsmeade in the evening."

The day before yesterday. The suspicion that Sean had just dispelled suddenly resurfaced. It's hard not to be suspicious at this point in time.

"Explain in more detail, Nick."

"It's Sir Nicholas, Sean—" Nick corrected him and then said, "It must have been about five o'clock in the afternoon, and he came out of his room to relax."

"Along the way, he met a few students and greeted them. When he left the school gate, he met Hagrid. The two exchanged a few words. After arriving in Hogsmeade, hesitating for a while between the Three Broomsticks Inn and Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, I finally chose Three Broomsticks Inn, which happened to meet Professor Trelawney."

Sean frowned.

Nick continued, "The two of them didn't look very familiar, greeted, and walked into the Inn together. Professor Trelawney came out first, and after a while, Mr. Dawson also came out. Oh, he also met Professor Lockhart after he came out. Fortunately, Mr. Dawson didn't go to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. That's where Lockhart came. If he went there, he would have to endure that guy's bragging story."

"Wait, wait," Sean quickly interrupted Nick's comment, "What happened in the Inn? Mr. Dawson and Professor Trelawney, what happened to them in the Three Broomsticks Inn?"

"I don't know." Headless Nick spread his hands.

Sean was taken aback for a moment. He and the professors had forgotten one thing. Ghosts can only wander around where they have been before. Headless Nick died more than five hundred years ago. Although Hogsmeade existed, the Three Broomsticks Inn doesn't exist yet.

Nick said, "There were no bars and teahouses when I was alive. I couldn't get in, so I could only watch the outside part. I could have gone there if only he had gone to the Hog's Head Bar, which had just been established when I was alive. You can't even imagine how bright the place was in there at... um, Sean?"

Nick looked at Sean suspiciously. He leaned his head against the wall, thinking about something, and said nothing.

In Hogsmeade, on the cobblestone road, Sean's figure was revealed with a twist of the air. He had to come to the Three Broomsticks Inn to see the situation, so he left a clone on the spot and teleported to Hogsmeade.

Sean sighed, hid his figure, and pushed open the door of the Three Broomsticks Inn.

"Welcome. Are there still some people this late? Huh?" Rosmerta looked suspiciously at the door of her bar, which was pushed open and closed, and there was no one there.

"Is it just a wind?" In doubt, she put down the wine glass in her hand and went to the door to check with drunken eyes.

Sean behind her has narrowed his eyes.

"Ma'am, can you tell me what happened to Dawson and Professor Trelawney?" Sean directly revealed his figure.

His appearance didn't shock Rosmerta. On the contrary, these words seemed to trigger a switch, and her eyes became even more dull.

Sure enough, her memory was also tampered with.

Rosmerta was confused for a while, and pulled out her wand and pointed it at Sean, "Avad-"

A red light hit her body. Sean waved his wand and restrained Rosmerta. The Imperius Curse can only be solved by someone who's an expert, and he can't do anything now.

He turned around and searched the bar. Finally, Sean finds something amiss in Rosmerta's bedroom: extra wands that were well hidden. Sean tested them one by one with Prior Incantanto.

Many spells relating to controlling a person and tampering with the clues were listed. There is even a spell that Sean has never seen before, but it should be used to send a message.

Sean took a deep breath. The lurker controlled Madam Rosmerta and used her to communicate with the outside world.

Dawson is the culprit. 

Sean didn't hesitate any longer; he directly used a spell to hide Rosmerta and used the teleport spell again to return to Hogwarts. Sean had been leaning against the stone wall, slowly raising his head and opening his eyes.

At this time, the students had already gathered at one side of the hall, and they were going to sleep there tonight. Dawson, who had just been cleared of suspicion, was talking with the others.

Sean walked to Professor McGonagall and said in a deep voice, "Max Dawson is not clean, the information given by Nick has some flaws, and the Imperius Curse controls Madam Rosmerta."

"What?!" The shock in Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed, but she controlled her expression and didn't even glance at Dawson.

"Professor, you must get him. But there are too many students here. Find an excuse and ask a few teaching assistants to check on the situation outside. I will try to subdue him immediately. If the sneak attack fails, call the professors."

"No problem." Professor McGonagall nodded.

Professor McGonagall called several teaching assistants.

"Max, Charlotte, Sterling, and you, Sean. Go and see the situation at the gate. I think something is wrong with the dementors tonight. Sean, if the situation is okay, please inform the prefects and council for me."

"Okay, no problem." Sean nodded.

Several people walked towards the outside of the castle.

Sean walked beside Dawson; he smiled wryly as he walked and said in a sympathetic tone, "Max, you did well lately."

He smiled and shook his head, "No way, I can only help a little. To be honest, I don't even know what happened tonight."

Sean lowered his voice, "Someone infiltrated into Hogwarts, controlled the students with the Imperius Curse, and tried to steal something. After all, you are the new teaching assistant, so it's normal."

Dawson opened his mouth wide in surprise and sighed again, "That professor made me drink Veritaserum..."

The conversations seemed normal. Dawson weaved his memory, and what he said now was what he thought.

But Dave has been telling Sean, "There is something wrong with his brain. It seems to have suddenly changed."

Sure enough, he set a memory switch for himself.

Several people had already reached the empty square. Sean held up his wand and stretched his waist, "What time is it?"

Charlotte and Sterling, who had been arguing quietly behind them, received the signal, and the quarrel suddenly became louder, and the two fought each other.

"Sterling, what do you mean?!"

"Miss Hawke, please watch your words."

The two drew their wands directly.

Dawson turned around, "You two, please stop arguing during these times."

Sean's eyes suddenly turned cold, and his wand was aimed directly at Dawson. Before a spell could be cast, in an instant, a power that made Sean's heart waver appeared.