The sun was high in the sky when Adelaide slowly woke up and sluggishly got out of bed.
Meanwhile, the corporate slave Edward had already returned to the Ministry of Magic to work overtime, while the TV-obsessed Alice was still immersed in her sweet dreams.
Adelaide went downstairs yawning, only to find a heavy atmosphere permeating the living room of the old manor.
Dumbledore, who had returned at some unknown time, was sitting upright on the sofa, staring solemnly at the steaming teacup in his hand, as if the tea inside could reveal some major secret.
Adelaide walked over to the sofa on the side, sat down, grabbed some snacks from the coffee table, and quipped, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Dumbledore. Are you practicing tasseography?"
Dumbledore looked up, a kind and amiable smile appearing on his face as he replied, "Merry Christmas, dear Adelaide. You've come at just the right time. I have two pieces of good news for you; which one would you like to hear first?"
Hearing this, Adelaide couldn't help but raise her slender eyebrows, thinking to herself: *Is it really two pieces of good news? Looking at Dumbledore's expression, it doesn't seem like anything good happened at all.*
"Since you said they're both good news, don't keep me in suspense. There's no need to choose."
"The first good thing is the Chinatown riot; that matter has now been completely resolved. And fortunately, thanks to your excellent handling, your little friend didn't attract anyone else's attention."
Hearing this, Adelaide breathed a secret sigh of relief; after all, she didn't want to bring any trouble to Hermione because of this.
Dumbledore continued, "As for the second piece of good news... just two days ago, after a series of careful deployments and meticulous planning, we finally found evidence of Terence Higgs's collusion with the Death Eaters and caught them all in one fell swoop during their meeting."
"After being interrogated by the Aurors, Mr. Higgs and the Death Eaters confessed that they had sneaked into Hogwarts on Halloween night to find an opportunity to capture you amidst the chaos. This included breaking the Forbidden Forest Enchantment and injuring Professor MacFusty."
"After professional testing at St Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, they discovered that Mr. Higgs had actually fallen under an extremely bizarre and vicious curse similar to Imperio."
"Given the current situation, the Ministry of Magic has decided not to pursue charges against Mr. Higgs for the time being. After all, he is still an underage child. Furthermore, investigations show that his collusion with the Death Eaters and participation in those evil deeds were entirely due to the influence of the curse."
"In that state, his own will had been completely twisted, making it impossible for him to remain conscious enough to control his actions. His family also intends for him to rest at St Mungos first until his condition stabilizes and the curse's effects gradually fade, before returning to Hogwarts to complete his studies."
Adelaide nodded slightly, indicating she already knew that Terence Higgs was being controlled by the cockroach horcrux.
She continued to press, "Then what about Stephens from Hufflepuff? Was he not controlled?"
At this question, a helpless yet amused expression appeared on Dumbledore's face. He shook his head and replied, "Dear Adelaide, Stephens wasn't controlled by anything, nor did he participate in that Halloween intrusion. In fact, this young man is deeply infatuated with Miss Fawcett of your Ravenclaw House. When he learned that Fawcett wasn't very fond of overweight people, he resolutely embarked on a path of desperate weight loss."
Ah, this... After hearing this, Adelaide couldn't help but feel a wave of astonishment, momentarily unsure of how to respond.
She had made countless conjectures, but the only one she hadn't considered was that Stephens did it for love.
Perhaps because she still retained the traditional concepts and values of a Chinese person in her bones, she found it truly difficult to understand and accept children only eleven or twelve years old falling into love so early.
Their bodies hadn't even gone through puberty yet; where were the hormones to fall in love? In my previous life, I was still single in my twenties!
Thinking of this, Adelaide I couldn't help but purse my lips., then quickly shifted the topic elsewhere. "Alright, so regarding who exactly cast that vicious curse on Mr. Higgs, have you found any clues?"
Dumbledore sighed deeply and slowly shook his head, saying with a grave expression, "That is exactly where the problem lies."
He paused, then continued his narration, "According to Mr. Higgs, on that day, he arrived at the Eighth Floor of Hogwarts as if possessed, originally just wanting to find a hidden corner to stash those contraband items. He discovered a junk warehouse on the Eighth Floor—the Room of Requirement, the same room where you previously had hot pot with Miss Cho Chang and Miss MacFusty."
Adelaide rubbed her face; she knew this old man Dumbledore knew everything.
"While he was searching for a suitable spot, he suddenly noticed a plaster statue standing quietly in a corner. Surprisingly, the statue's head was wearing an exceptionally special crown that radiated a mysterious aura—a Diadem!"
"In that moment, Mr. Higgs seemed to be bewitched by some magical force, moving involuntarily toward the Diadem. When he gently picked it up and placed it on his head, a wave of intense dizziness hit him instantly, and he lost consciousness as everything went black."
"Since then, more than a year has passed, and poor Mr. Higgs has been in a daze and a stupor—I suspect that Diadem is a Dark Arts object, and something within it took over Mr. Higgs's body during this year."
"The reason he became less impulsive in Quidditch was also to prevent injury; that thing was afraid that if Mr. Higgs were injured and sent to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey would notice something was wrong."
At this point, Dumbledore paused slightly, seemingly organizing his thoughts, before continuing, "After learning of this situation, I immediately organized a team to conduct a comprehensive search of the entire Eighth Floor, especially the legendary 'Room of Requirement.' We also didn't overlook the Slytherin Common Room or Mr. Higgs's residence."
"But after a thorough, carpet-like search, we still failed to find any trace of that missing Diadem. It was as if it had vanished into thin air..."
"This kind of Dark Arts object that can move on its own is extremely rare even in the Wizarding World. Moreover, based on my years of experience, such objects often possess a soul and consciousness. Catching it will inevitably require some effort."
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