Chapter 247: Roleplay

Albert was never a suspicious person by nature, at least not in his previous life. This might have been influenced by his past environment. However, now he had to admit that Professor Rowenna Smith seemed a bit suspicious. At least, that was the conclusion drawn from connecting the various pieces of information they had gathered so far.

Undeniably, there was a touch of bias from Albert's perspective as a time-traveler, but he still believed that before Voldemort was completely defeated, every wizard who came to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts could potentially be up to something, possibly involving certain matters.

Perhaps the final answer would be far from his speculations, but that didn't stop Albert from temporarily placing Professor Smith on his list of suspicious individuals before Smith left Hogwarts.

There was no helping it; the fact that Boggarts took the form of people's inner fears had to be considered. And Professor Smith's Boggart had turned into Isabelle's father's corpse. This naturally led Albert to have doubts.

He even boldly speculated that Isabelle's father's death might have been caused by Professor Smith. Even if there was no direct link, an indirect connection might exist. Otherwise, how could Professor Smith's Boggart taking the form of Isabelle's father's corpse be explained?

According to what Professor Blood had said, Isabelle's father died in a magical experiment.

If you were to connect all these things, the only common factor among the four of them was that they were all candidates for being heirs, having all undergone training as potential inheritors.

Therefore, Albert ventured to guess that Isabelle's father's failed magical experiment was caused by foul play. And Professor Smith was highly likely to be the mastermind. Thus, Isabelle's father's corpse became a source of fear for Professor Smith, possibly due to guilt or indirect involvement in causing his friend's death. After all, they were friends.

Albert recorded his speculations with a quill pen in a small notebook. This kind of plot was actually quite common in detective novels—a catalyst for some event.

As for that "event"?

Naturally, it would be related to the inheritors.

For the sake of inheriting a large sum of Galleons and other valuable legacies, committing such acts wasn't all that strange.

While such speculations might seem laughable, it didn't mean they lacked logic or possibility.

When wealth grew to a point where it drove people to madness, and the benefits obtained were substantial enough, betraying a friend wasn't entirely implausible.

Furthermore, there was the speculation about Ravenclaw's knowledge vault.

Why did Professor Smith want to obtain the wealth in Ravenclaw's chamber? Two possibilities arose: either the chamber was related to the inheritors, or Professor Smith was purely after the treasure inside. However, knowing that the treasure inside was knowledge, it was the sight of Professor Smith's departing figure that became laden with melancholy.

If the four individuals were connected to Ravenclaw's vault, the first possibility seemed more likely.

Moreover, Isabelle probably found out about Ravenclaw's knowledge vault from her father's notes. This indicated that her father had possibly been inside and might have acquired something from it, becoming an inheritor.

However, because there could only be one inheritor, did someone eliminate him?

But then, why didn't Professor Smith become an inheritor? Albert was sure that Professor Smith wasn't an inheritor due to the incident during Easter when he was invited to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom by Moeg Macdougal. Albert noticed that Professor Blood and the others had their ages distributed over the years, with a gap in their twenties and thirties. If they were indeed related to the inheritors, or rather... what if Professor Blood and the others were responsible for selecting the inheritors, or even former inheritors themselves?

So, what was Professor Blood's purpose in coming to Hogwarts last year?

Was it for Ravenclaw's knowledge vault? Or was it related to the inheritors? However, there was one thing Albert wouldn't deny—even though Professor Blood had been of great help to him and harbored no ill will, treating him as kindly as a family member.

This led Albert to not initially suspect Professor Smith, not only because they knew each other and at that time, Albert wasn't aware of the inheritors, but rather, he believed Professor Blood intended to involve him in some friend circle.

If his daring speculations were true, then what role did Isabelle play in this matter?

Avenger seeking revenge for her father?

Or a contender for the position of the heir?

Or perhaps... both?

"Then, what role am I playing?" Albert looked at the parchment in his hand, muttering to himself, "The unfortunate soul inexplicably caught up in this affair? Or one of the candidates vying for the position of the heir?"

And finally, what roles did Professor Blood and Mr. Moeg Macdougal play?

Were they the judges selecting the heir?

So, was Mr. Smith the contender for the heir's position and the antagonist?

No, Professor Smith might no longer be eligible. After all, he was a candidate in the previous round, and regardless of his success or failure, the role of a contender for the heir's position should have been eliminated. Besides, he had failed.

Of course, there was another possibility: Mr. Smith might also be a "heir" judge. After all, with Severus Snape's case as precedent, it wasn't easy to ascertain the truth until the end.

There was no way around it. Sometimes, novel plots were indeed absurd, but reality could be even more absurd, not to mention that he was now living in a world where he wasn't sure if it was fiction or reality.

Of course, all of this could just be Albert's imagination, but he still believed that Professor Smith's presence at Hogwarts was likely related to the heirs. After all, the surname Rowenna Smith was quite a coincidence, and often, coincidences were artificially created.

So, the final question.

Isabelle seemed to know a lot about these matters. How did she come to know so much?

Did someone tell her, or did she deduce it from what her father left behind? Or perhaps, she had some method of gathering information?

Any of these three possibilities was plausible, but without a doubt, Isabelle was well-informed, even closer to the truth than he was, but she just chose not to reveal it.

Albert could actually understand Isabelle's perspective. If he were in her shoes, he'd definitely keep secrets and wouldn't easily trust others.

"I don't know why, but I always feel like this world is very unsafe!" Albert tore out the pages from his diary, threw them into the flames, and watched as they turned to ashes.

Now, he just hoped that everything was nothing more than his speculations and idle fantasies.

"The world is so dangerous; I really should be better prepared to defend myself." Albert stared at the ashes of the burnt paper, muttering to himself.

If possible, he really wanted to carry two wands with him.

As for why two wands?

It was a sort of instinctive thinking. Most wizards only carried one wand, but losing your wand meant losing the power to resist. Many villains enjoyed taking away an enemy's wand and taunting them with words to show their superiority and savor the taste of victory.

However, that was an opportunity to turn the tables, to seize victory from defeat.

After all, who said villains had to die from excessive talking?

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(End of this chapter)