The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

The price was outrageous; he felt the scholars' alliance had no intention of letting anyone exchange for the document.

but……

“What does this have to do with your search for real geniuses?” Scott asked.

Mr. Bode spoke again, seemingly in a daze.

"The research is not progressing, and I am not earning any new credits."

"Everything seems to be caught in a vicious cycle."

"I need a true genius, preferably one like Dumbledore. Such a genius always has a lot of inspiration, and as long as I control a genius, I can get more credits."

"So after hearing about Scott's reputation, I conducted a detailed investigation into him and discovered some previously unknown clues."

“Many things seem to have nothing to do with him on the surface, but they all involve him. I don’t think they are all coincidences. One thing may be a coincidence, but too many coincidences must not be coincidences.”

"He must have done a lot of things behind the scenes that no one knows about, and I have caught him red-handed."

"You want to control him? Is that why you're threatening him?" Scott said with a hint of helplessness. "I think even if Scott worked himself to death, it would be difficult for him to earn that many credits."

He began to suspect that Mr. Bode had become dull-witted from burying himself in research at the Department of Mysteries.

Because if the goal was to control him, Mr. Bode's threats were far too ineffective.

For Scott, he had no substantial evidence, only some suspicions, so what did it matter?

So much effort was put in, and this is the result?

Moreover, 99999999 credits...

In short, Scott felt that Mr. Bode thought too highly of him.

“Of course, Scott is just the first,” Mr. Bode replied. “As I gain more and more control, one day I will accumulate enough credits to redeem that document.”

But you were the first one to fail.

Scott really wanted to say that.

But this is not a time for jokes; he still has some questions he wants to figure out.

What is your relationship with Stephanie Grampland?

“I once saved her life and helped her join the Scholars’ Union. She respects me very much.”

"As a Silent One, why would you cooperate with Death Eaters?"

“Everything I do is for research,” Mr. Bode said. “Voldemort feared death and had come incredibly close to it. I want to get close to him, observe him, and ideally, study him.”

"..."

Scott looked at him in surprise; his ambition was truly remarkable.

But he was still a little curious, "Medea Slytherin's experience was similar, so why did she choose Voldemort's side?"

“Of course, yes, Lady Slytherin is also worth studying,” Mr. Bode said. “That’s why I first joined the All Witchcraft Society and then pretended to get close to the Death Eaters to offer them some advice and help.”

"..."

Scott really didn't expect that this person's ambition was so great that he wanted to have his cake and eat it too.

They're not afraid of choking to death.

He paused, then asked, "When you helped the Carol siblings ambush Scott in the Forbidden Forest, weren't you afraid they would kill him?"

"A true genius will not be killed by two mediocre people."

Mr. Bode said it in a matter-of-fact tone.

"If Scott loses, it means he's not a true genius."

“I will save his life and make him grateful to me. Of course, if that happens, I will no longer care about him.”

“If he’s a true genius, I might even let him participate in my research. If not, he just needs to earn credits for me, like Stephanie did.”

Scott found his words somewhat amusing.

He was quite certain that even if Mr. Bode had shown up and saved them, he would never have been grateful to him.

And so, he talked with Mr. Bode for a long time, and finally figured it out in general terms—

Although Mr. Bode is cunning and cruel by nature, perhaps it's because he's been a mute for too long...

After graduating from Hogwarts, he successfully joined the Department of Mysteries, where he has been working for over thirty years.

His long period of silence deprived him of communication with others, and his excessive obsession with research made him paranoid.

In short, although he was a middle-aged man, Mr. Bode was somewhat naive and lacked social skills.

For example, the reason he manipulated the memories of other mutated people was not for any other reason than to make them tools to help him with his research and earn credits.

“They are all wise wizards, and I need to gather their wisdom to help me,” Mr. Bode said.

The lack of progress in the research made Mr. Bode somewhat impatient, so he made some rather drastic moves, which is why Mr. Weasley, who was watching him closely, was able to find fault with him.

In the dimly lit cell, Scott looked at Mr. Bode, who was squatting in the corner, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

"Gah...gagga..."

Just then, Rimbaud's voice came from outside the prison.

It seems I have no choice but to leave.

Scott raised his wand and aimed it at Mr. Bode's head.

"Obliviate".

He cast a powerful and excessively crude forgetting spell, destroying all of Mr. Bode's memories.

Then, he quickly erased all traces of himself, transformed back into a peregrine falcon, and slipped out through the window on the outside of the fortress.

Rimbaud caught him, holding onto the severed arm bone.

They passed through the group of Dementors again and flew into the sky.

About half an hour later, they landed on a rocky island not far from Azkaban.

Scott reverted to human form and sat down to recover his strength.

Rimbaud told Scott, "A wizard just went into that corridor. It was an old wizard who delivered food to the prisoners."

Scott nodded. "It's okay, I've asked all the questions I needed to."

"Did you kill him?" Rimbaud asked.

Scott shook his head. “I can’t kill anymore. Otherwise, every wizard who opposes me dies mysteriously after entering Azkaban, which will naturally make people suspect me.”

Moreover, this is unlike the last time Elijah Caro was killed, when Scott did not personally carry out the operation, had an alibi, and the Roll family was blamed.

Rimbaud was somewhat surprised. "You let him go?"

“How could that be?” Scott chuckled. “I erased all his memories, leaving his mind completely empty, turning him into a complete idiot.”

In Azkaban, it's quite normal for prisoners to become idiots after being severely persecuted by Dementors... right?

Rimbaud nodded. "That's a good fit. That way, he won't be able to get any crooked ideas out of him."

“I’m going to Azkaban again; I want to make some arrangements beforehand,” Scott said with a smile.

He took out a bag of compressed biscuits from the deformed lizard skin bag to eat and rested for another hour.

He knew that the wizard in charge of guarding the prisoners wouldn't linger in the prison full of Dementors, and he wasn't worried about being discovered if he went there again.

Even knowing that Medea and Dumbledore might both be watching Azkaban, Scott wasn't worried about being discovered.

He's not going to break into prison, and he won't cause any big commotion.

This time, Scott didn't enter the fortress; instead, he arranged some things around it among the black rocks on the island.

Afterwards, he and Rimbaud returned to the forest in the Scottish Highlands using the door key.

Back at the oak cabin, Scott, exhausted from a long day, lay on the bed, too tired to move.

"Are you alright?" Rimbaud asked.

“I think I still haven’t gotten used to flying,” he told Rimbaud. “I feel like I can’t lift my arms anymore.”

"Gah gah gah..." Rimbaud let out a strange laugh, "It seems you still need to practice more."

Just then, the hooting of an owl came from outside the window.

Scott looked up and saw a snow owl circling outside the cabin through the window.

“It’s Harry’s Hedwig,” he said. “It can’t find the house hidden by magic.”

He stood up, opened the door of the wooden house, and somewhat reluctantly rode his flying broomstick out of the area hidden by the Crimson Loyalty Curse.

"Cuckoo..."

Hedwig cried out excitedly, threw the letter on his head, and then flew away without hesitation.

Scott took the letter, returned to the cabin, and opened it to read.

"It seems Harry won't need the birthday present I gave him for the time being; he's living with Sirius now."

In his letter, Harry said that now he only needs to spend "two tough weeks" on Privet Drive before he can spend the rest of the summer with his godfather.

Judging from his somewhat messy handwriting, he was clearly very pleased with this.

Chapter 424 Voldemort is back in action

After reading Harry's letter, Scott was finally relieved for the time being.

So he immediately lay down and fell asleep without even taking a shower or having dinner.

I slept straight through to the next day.

After waking up, Scott stretched his body and felt all his fatigue disappear, as if he had been reborn.

My stomach was growling with hunger.

Scott made a simple meal using ingredients that Rimbaud had bought from Hogsmeade the day before, and while eating, he checked the surveillance "videos" stored in the Magic Mirror.

Rimbaud flew into the cabin through the window and landed on the small dining table to watch with him.

They had been watching for a short while when suddenly they all froze, as if frozen in place.