Chapter 322

After sending off Leanne, Professor McGonagall turned her gaze toward John and the others.

"Is there anything else you know?"

Professor McGonagall asked the group.

Harry spoke up first: "Professor, Katie was under the Imperius Curse, right?"

"If she had known the danger of that necklace, she absolutely would never have gone to give it to Professor Dumbledore."

Professor McGonagall nodded.

"That is correct; she was indeed cursed."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Harry said impatiently: "It must have been Malfoy!"

Upon hearing this, Professor McGonagall's expression faltered slightly.

"I saw him at the Three Broomsticks; he was staying in a corner all by himself, acting suspiciously."

"Later, he went to the restroom and was never seen again."

Harry blurted out all his suspicions regarding Draco.

"Before this, he was also seen lurking at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley with Death Eaters; John can testify to that, and those Death Eaters were even captured by John."

Before Harry could finish his accusation, Professor Snape's voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"That is a very serious accusation, Potter. Do you have any proof?"

The sudden voice gave Harry a start.

Turning around, he saw Professor Snape standing behind him, staring him down.

Harry swallowed hard, but still bit the bullet and said:

"No, but I just know it was him."

"Intuition is not evidence, Potter."

Snape's voice was like cold iron scraping against a blackboard.

"Perhaps the glory of the last two years has led you to a misunderstanding about yourself."

"Do you truly consider yourself the Savior, to the point where you feel you can accuse others at will without facing any consequences?"

Hearing this obvious defense from Professor Snape, Harry frowned.

Although he had always disliked Snape, he had more or less considered him one of their own.

Yet at this moment, he was standing completely on Draco's side.

Seeing that the atmosphere was wrong, Professor McGonagall gently raised her hand, interrupting the escalating confrontation.

"Alright, Severus. First, tell us, how is Katie?"

Professor McGonagall turned to ask about Katie's condition.

"She is out of immediate danger and is currently being sent to St. Mungo's for further treatment."

Hearing Professor McGonagall's words, Professor Snape returned to his usual demeanor and said.

"That is good. You should take a look at this."

Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief, then pointed to the cursed necklace placed on the desk.

Professor Snape did not hesitate; he drew his wand, wrapped the necklace in magic, and carefully examined the curse upon it.

As Professor Snape analyzed it, the curse on the necklace gradually surfaced.

"This curse does not look like the Dark Lord's handiwork."

"It should be some kind of Dark Magic artifact that has existed for a long time."

Hearing the words "Dark Magic artifact," John also remembered that he seemed to have indeed seen this necklace at Borgin and Burkes.

"I remember now; I think I saw this necklace in the Borgin and Burkes Dark Magic shop."

"When I saw it before, the owner had it displayed in a glass cabinet in the shop, with a 'do not touch' sign."

Speaking of Borgin and Burkes, it was naturally impossible to avoid what Harry had just mentioned: Draco and the Death Eaters lurking there.

Sure enough, as soon as Harry heard this, he got excited again and spoke up once more.

"It must have been that time during the summer break when Draco took that necklace from Borgin and Burkes!"

Professor Snape's cold gaze fell upon Harry once again.

"Potter, I must remind you."

"Your baseless accusations only expose your ignorance and recklessness."

After being reprimanded by Professor Snape again, Harry finally couldn't help but explode, retorting loudly:

"Then who else do you think it could be!"

"Could it be that Katie wanted to kill Professor Dumbledore!"

"Draco is clearly the one with the most suspicion!"

Harry shouted these words out, and Professor Snape's face turned so dark it seemed ink could drip from it.

He put down the necklace and walked toward Harry.

"Enough, Potter. Your groundless accusations have crossed the line."

"If you don't want to be put in detention, then shut your mouth."

Seeing this, Harry didn't back down at all, and with a particularly stubborn attitude, he wanted to fight back.

But Professor McGonagall stepped between the two, gently separating the distance where sparks were almost flying.

"Alright, you all should go back now. Everyone go back."

Professor McGonagall said in a tone that allowed no refusal.

As she spoke, she glanced at John, clearly hoping John could take Harry away.

John nodded in understanding, then reached out and patted Harry on the shoulder.

"Let's go, Harry. The Headmaster will investigate this matter clearly."

Although John also really wanted to drag Draco out and get rid of him.

But seeing Professor Snape protecting him so firmly, he remembered something.

There was an Unbreakable Vow between Draco and Professor Snape.

And the content of the vow was to protect Draco.

If he didn't protect Draco, then he himself would die.

So if he forcibly dragged Draco out, it would be equivalent to forcing Professor Snape to turn traitor immediately.

Doing so would only do more harm than good.

It was better to leave Draco to Professor Snape to handle.

Seeing that John had spoken, Harry, although still angry inside, had no choice but to stop arguing and nodded.

Afterward, the group left the office together.

To avoid causing panic, the matter of Katie being cursed was not spread everywhere.

So only John and his friends, along with a few professors, knew about it.

Professor McGonagall only warned the students to be wary of all suspicious items, especially those from outside the school.

As for Harry, although he still held a grudge regarding Professor Snape's protective behavior.

He indeed had no direct evidence to point to Draco's criminal acts.

So he could only temporarily bury his suspicions deep in his heart.

The following days were another peaceful routine.

Soon, it was the day of Professor Slughorn's Slug Club gathering again.

Because Harry had already promised Professor Slughorn at the Three Broomsticks bar that he would attend this time, he had no choice but to make some preparations.

Of course, the most important part was sharing information with John, as well as coordinating their stories.

Since Harry hadn't paid much attention to Professor Slughorn's affairs, he just followed John's plan.

Using a step-by-step approach to extract information.

Now was the perfect time for Harry to make his appearance after "playing dead" for so long.

Because John had already established a fairly good relationship with Professor Slughorn previously.

And Harry, as the "Savior" whom Professor Slughorn had gone to great lengths to invite, would surely stir up enough of a ripple in Professor Slughorn's heart.