On the surface, Link's words sounded like he was worrying about Dumbledore, or trying to share his burden.
But in reality, he was itching to give it a try.
Because the potential benefits hidden in interrogating Bagman were simply far too great.
If Bagman really was Voldemort's inside man, then Link would very likely be able to dig out some information about that mysterious faction from him.
And if Bagman was innocent?
Well, then the one bearing the blame would be Dumbledore, not Link.
"Cruciatus Curse? But that's an Unforgivable Curse!"
Hearing this, Dumbledore's face changed drastically. His voice turned urgent and stern as he said, "I remember I warned you to use less Dark Magic, especially the Unforgivable Curses!"
"But now it seems like you're treating them as your first option when problems arise? You must understand, you are special! Dark Magic, especially the three Unforgivable Curses, are poison to you!"
Link frowned. Dumbledore was not someone of the highest rank in his heart like Mrs. Flamel was, so when suddenly rebuked like this, he naturally snapped back, "I know my own condition. In my current state, I can completely use the three Unforgivable Curses as regular spells!"
And Link wasn't lying.
After his Occlumency had risen to level 6, both his mental barrier and spiritual strength had grown massively. As a result, the negative effects of using Dark Magic had been suppressed to such a low level that they were almost negligible.
But hearing this, Dumbledore's mouth opened and closed rapidly a few times, like he wanted to keep arguing. In the end, though, he realized he couldn't convince Link at all. After taking a few deep breaths in silence, he finally softened his tone and said sincerely,
"Countless people once held the same thought as you, that they could be the master of Dark Magic, rather than enslaved by it. But as you've seen, the number of people who truly managed it is extremely few."
"I won't demand that you completely abandon Dark Magic. But your future is bright, and I don't want that future stained because of something as petty as Dark Magic."
When he finished, Dumbledore didn't give Link a chance to speak. He turned to Filch instead, "Argus, Link's ability to use Unforgivable Curses must be kept secret. This is critical."
"Of course, Headmaster Dumbledore! I understand!"
Shaken by Dumbledore's authority, Filch began sweating, nodding repeatedly as he answered.
But in truth, even without Dumbledore's orders, he would have kept this secret for Link anyway. After all, his bond with Link went far deeper than Dumbledore imagined.
Seeing Dumbledore even help cover for him eased Link's dissatisfaction a little as well.
The two then walked on in silence as if nothing had happened, finally arriving before the door of the innermost cell.
Inside, Bagman was indeed still groaning and sobbing vaguely with words like, "I'm innocent," and "Dumbledore, please…"
Compared to his previously flashy, glamorous self, Bagman now looked utterly bedraggled.
His thousand-Galleon formal robes were covered in dust and stains, and he lay collapsed on the floor, half his face soaking in the filthy water of the dungeon.
But as soon as he saw Link and Dumbledore, his spirit suddenly flared back to life.
He scrambled across the floor, crawling and rolling until he reached the bars of the cell. Clutching them with both hands, eyes wide and crying, he pleaded, "Let me out! Please! Dumbledore!"
"I only wanted to boost the ratings, that's why I kept the camera on Link, you know how it is, everyone loves Link… Ah! Link, you're here too! You know it, right? Everyone loves you! I was just giving people what they wanted, that's all…"
At the mention of his own name, Link frowned, pinched his nose, and backed up a few steps, shaking his head.
Now, he began to understand why Dumbledore was willing to risk so much to use Veritaserum on Bagman.
Judging by his current behavior, Bagman had clearly never undergone any interrogation resistance training. His ability to conceal his emotions was practically zero.
The stench of fear pouring off him was so strong it was almost suffocating, a sure sign of a guilty conscience.
No one with nothing to hide would be this terrified.
Dumbledore's expression grew complicated as he stepped forward and said, "Ludo, my old friend, quickly tell me everything you've been hiding. This is the last chance I can give you."
"Dumbledore, what are you saying? I, I haven't hidden anything from you… Ah!"
Bagman yelped in horror, he had spotted the Veritaserum in Dumbledore's hand. He didn't know what potion it was, but that didn't stop him from fearing it.
He cried out miserably as he fell backward, scrambling desperately until his back was pressed hard against the wall.
Finally realizing he had no way out, he forced a shaky smile and stammered, "You, you can't do this, Dumbledore. We're friends! Old friends! Back when I was a Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, we already knew each other. I even gave you my autograph and tickets back then!"
Hearing this, Dumbledore's face briefly showed a flicker of nostalgia and pain. But it changed nothing.
He pushed open the cell door and walked in.
"I'm sorry, Ludo. For the sake of innocent lives, I must do this."
As he spoke, Dumbledore poured the Veritaserum into Bagman's mouth.
Bagman didn't want to drink, but under the weight of Dumbledore's magic, his still somewhat-strong body was completely restrained. Worse, he even made swallowing motions, as if cooperating with the potion.
Clatter!
The empty vial fell to the ground. Bagman, meanwhile, began twitching and foaming at the mouth, his only form of resistance under Dumbledore's control.
But there was no way to force the potion back out now.
Five minutes later, Bagman's resistance had weakened to nothing, his expression becoming dull and vacant.
Dumbledore released his magical hold and snapped his fingers twice in front of Bagman's face. Seeing no reaction, he asked,
"What is your name?"
"Lu... Ludo Bagman."
"Gender?"
"Male."
"Age?"
Clearly, Dumbledore knew a thing or two about interrogation. After a round of test questions, he seemed satisfied that the Veritaserum had fully taken effect. He nodded at Link, then continued, "Are you Voldemort's inside agent at Hogwarts?"
This time, Bagman didn't immediately respond like before. Instead, he stayed silent for a long while.
During that silence, both Dumbledore's and Link's heartbeats quickened.
But after the long pause, Bagman finally answered crisply, "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes and repeated the question.
For a moment, he wondered if the Veritaserum hadn't fully taken hold yet. Otherwise, why would Bagman give a third kind of answer outside of yes or no?
Just as he was debating whether to test him again, Link stepped into the cell and asked firmly, word by word,
"Why did Harry become the fourth champion?"
At this, Dumbledore's brows rose slightly. Obviously, he realized his earlier mistake, broad questions were harder to answer under Veritaserum, while more specific ones, like Link's, came more easily.
And sure enough, Bagman answered without hesitation, "You already know this, don't you? I cast a Confundus Charm on the Goblet of Fire, tricking it into believing there were four schools competing instead of three, and then entered Harry as the sole applicant for the fourth school."
"That way, he naturally became a champion. Honestly, it wasn't difficult at all. After all, I was part of the organizing committee, and I had already done it back when the Goblet had just been delivered to the British Ministry of Magic."
As he spoke, Bagman even looked a little smug.
Link and Dumbledore exchanged glances, then continued asking, "Who ordered you to do this?"
"Obelus."
"Who is that?"
"A bastard, a demon, dogshit…"
Bagman's face twisted hideously as he suddenly began cursing wildly, spitting out every kind of vulgar word mixed with meaningless phrases, like he had gone completely mad.
Link and Dumbledore quickly changed the subject, and after over an hour of roundabout questioning, they finally pieced together Bagman's connection with this "Obelus."
It turned out that back when Bagman was still a Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, he had already gotten involved in the gambling industry, starting with taking bribes to throw matches.
Later, after retiring, he relied on his connections in the sports world to expand his business, moving up from match-fixer to mid-level organizer.
Through this, he gained some experience and reputation. Eventually, thanks to his "pure-blood, clean background," the gambling tycoons backed him into becoming Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, making him the official shield of the whole sports gambling industry.
From then, he even began hosting small and mid-sized gambling rings of his own.
If things had continued normally, Bagman's end would have been to become either "Boss Bagman" or "Mister B."
But then something strange happened.
Like most pure-blood wizards, Bagman's grasp of mathematics was worse than that of a Muggle middle-schooler.
He even struggled with everyday things like counting change in shops (though part of that came from goblins deliberately complicating currency exchanges).
So he had no idea how to set betting odds properly.
On top of that, he refused to pay the heavy costs of hiring goblins to calculate for him.
As a result, the betting pools he hosted suffered one loss after another. Eventually, he not only lost all the wealth he had built up, but also fell deep into debt with massive usurious loans.
The debt snowballed until it reached an astronomical figure Bagman could never repay in his lifetime.
This filled Bagman with overwhelming fear.
Unlike the Muggle world, where "owe money and you're the boss" or "if I owe a billion, I'm the bank's father" might apply, in the wizarding world, failing to repay loans meant Azkaban.
And with shadow lenders, the "underground banks", it was worse. They would simply send you to hell.
Sure, this led to many bad debts. But everyone in the industry stuck firmly to this rule, to keep fear alive and ensure debtors tried their best to pay.
And Bagman was very close to meeting that fate.
But at that moment of crisis, Obelus appeared.
At first, he kept giving Bagman Galleons, in exchange for small favors Bagman could easily manage. But eventually, Obelus ordered Bagman to interfere with the Triwizard Tournament.
Bagman wasn't stupid, he knew that meddling in such a major event carried risks beyond imagination.
But by then, it was far too late to back out.
Obelus already had piles of evidence and debt contracts against him.
So Bagman had no choice but to follow orders. First, he made Harry the fourth champion.
Afterward, he kept feeding Harry and Link information and strategies, helping them both reach the final.
And Obelus's final command was that the camera must stay fixed on Link, absolutely never shifting to Harry.
"And who exactly is this Obelus? Did you manage to find anything out about him while working together?"
Dumbledore pressed eagerly after hearing Bagman's account.
This was, after all, the true purpose of the interrogation, to trace the mysterious faction behind Bagman.
At that, Bagman's face turned pale, the muscles twitching as he said, "Obelus is a businessman. He specializes in smuggling between the Muggle and wizarding worlds, selling magical items and potions to Muggles, then bringing back resources from them to sell to wizards."
"I found this out by hiring a certain Auror who liked to take under-the-table jobs. Unfortunately, that Auror couldn't figure out how Obelus actually converted his goods into money, otherwise, I'd have tried to get in on it myself."
Hearing this, both Dumbledore and Link exchanged odd looks.
It was obvious that "Obelus" was just a cover name for the mysterious faction. His "businessman" role also explained, at least in part, where the group's funding came from.
But still, an organization so deeply tied to Voldemort, working with Muggles in smuggling?
It sounded absurd.
Not that it mattered much. The important thing was, they now had the name "Obelus." From here, they could follow the trail back.
Thinking this, Link nodded without much hope, only asking out of courtesy, "Mr. Bagman, is there anything else you want to say?"
"Oh, of course." Bagman raised his vacant eyes and said blankly, "I just remembered, among the Galleons Obelus gave me, many of them bore the Black family crest."
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