Weilan watched Oni, his face devoid of the joy a hunter feels when catching prey, only filled with the anger brought by the deaths of those House-elves.
“You instructed your House-elf, Cassie, to sneak among the House-elves of Hogwarts under some pretense, and then use that opportunity to mix magic powder into the flour, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t! Don’t you dare accuse me falsely, that was Luna’s doing.” Oni retorted, his voice trembling.
Snape, the Dean of Slytherin, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, about to rush out to defend his Slytherin student, but Dumbledore pulled him back with a reverse grip.
“Then how do you explain this House-elf recognizing you as her master?”
“I don’t know her at all. That House-elf’s mind is broken! This was Luna’s doing.” Oni stubbornly resisted, trying to push Luna away.
“Take your dirty hands off Luna!”
Weilan rushed forward, pulled Oni’s hand away, and then spread his arms, protecting Luna safely behind him.
Cassie knelt on the ground, crying helplessly. Oni desperately denied everything. Dumbledore remained calm as usual, but the other Professors were in disarray. They couldn't distinguish who was telling the truth and who was innocent, so they could only follow Dumbledore’s lead and observe.
The entire Great Hall was in an uproar.
Weilan’s dark eyes narrowed, realizing they couldn’t remain in this stalemate.
He had to employ some psychological tactics.
At his core, Oni was just an immature, underage child, while Weilan was an adult who had lived two lives.
If Oni was truly innocent and had a clear conscience, then Weilan’s psychological offensive would not cause him any harm. But if Oni had a guilty conscience…
Weilan slowly paced around Oni, deliberately slowing his speech, like a dull knife cutting flesh, trying to find an opportunity to breach Oni’s psychological defenses:
“You might think that as long as you don’t admit it, we won’t be able to convict you. Is that right?”
Oni didn’t answer, a flicker of surprise flashing in his eyes as he looked at Weilan.
“But you don’t know that there’s a precious Potion called Veritaserum. Just three drops, and you’ll reveal any secret in your heart without reservation. You might also not know that Professor Snape’s office just happens to have a bottle of Veritaserum.”
Snape’s hooked-nosed face turned blood-red. Dumbledore raised a long, slender finger, making a shushing gesture, signaling Snape to continue watching.
“Impossible, don’t take me for a fool.” Oni flicked his sleeve, pointing directly at Weilan, “The Ministry of Magic strictly prohibits the use of Veritaserum in general settings. What you’re doing violates Ministry of Magic regulations!”
“This is not a general setting.”
Weilan countered him:
“Putting magic powder in the students’ food is endangering the students’ lives. magic powder is related to Dark Wizards, this is an incident involving the Dark Arts! How can you consider this ‘general’?”
“Furthermore, among Hogwarts students, many have parents who are high-ranking Ministry of Magic officials. Do you think these parents would sit idly by while their children are poisoned by you?”
Oni was instantly speechless.
Weilan seized the moment of Oni’s silence and continued:
“Even if we take a step back, Stonfield, even if it comes to the absolute last resort, who do you think will administer the Veritaserum to you first, the Professors or the Ministry of Magic stopping the Professors?”
“Stonfield.” Dumbledore, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke. He still looked like the approachable old man, “I believe you are still a good child. If you confess everything now, you still have a chance for leniency.”
“Otherwise, what you’ve done is enough to send you to Azkaban.”
“Azkaban… I… No, I don’t want to go there!”
The collapse of his psychological defenses was instantaneous. Oni could no longer hold on: “Professor Dumbledore, I was also misled by someone… I’ll tell you everything, please don’t send me to Azkaban.”
Oni confessed the entire story, including how he worked at Borgin and Burkes during the summer, how he came into contact with a strange Potion called “Spirit Dust” by Borgin and Burkes, and how he was tempted by greed to put the “Spirit Dust” into the food for the Welcoming Feast.
“I don’t know what happened to me at the time, it was as if I was bewitched. I spent night after night imagining myself controlling all my classmates with Spirit Dust.”
“In that imagination, they bowed at my feet, lining up to offer me money and loyalty. I seemed to have lost my sanity, desperately wanting to make it a reality.”
Oni hunched his body in fear, his arms wrapped around himself, trembling uncontrollably.
“So I had Cassie sew a set of Hogwarts House-elf uniforms in advance and brought her to school.”
“I didn’t take the Hogwarts Express; I came by myself. I arrived at school very early, when only a few people had arrived.”
“I had Cassie pretend to be a new House-elf, tricking the original House-elves, and taking the opportunity while working in the kitchen to mix the Spirit Dust into the ingredients.”
“If nothing went wrong, the students would eat the food containing Spirit Dust at the Welcoming Feast, and they would become addicted. I would be the only one who could provide them with Spirit Dust, so they would have to obey me to get it.”
Weilan realized that things would inevitably spiral out of control.
“And then this incident, which was supposed to be uneventful, became eventful?”
“I’m not clear on the specifics because Cassie was in the kitchen the whole time.”
Oni answered hesitantly: “The House-elves actually ate all the Spirit Dust I prepared, even Cassie couldn’t resist the temptation…”
“I’m sorry, little master, Cassie is sorry, little master!”
Cassie knelt and kowtowed to Oni, tears streaming down her face:
“I don’t know why, everything happened so suddenly. Those Spirit Dust burst forth with an astonishing allure, and all the House-elves couldn’t resist. The food was divided among them before it was even delivered to the banquet tables.”
Oni ran to Snape and Dumbledore, pleading:
“This is all I know. I was just confused, please, please don’t send me to Azkaban.”
Dumbledore raised his hand and patted his head:
“Confessing everything shows that you still have a conscience, child. We won’t send you to Azkaban.”
“But you cannot remain at Hogwarts this school year.”
Dumbledore handed Oni over to his Dean, Snape, then walked to the center of the teachers’ table, to his chair.
“Tonight’s Opening Ceremony had an unexpected incident. Some friends who have silently dedicated themselves to Hogwarts for a long time have left us.”
“I hope everyone will stand and observe three minutes of silence for them.”
As Weilan silently mourned for the deceased House-elves, the panel on his right eye quietly changed again.
“Parting the mists of time, perceiving past truths. Eye of Time-Trace experience +2”
“Experience Level: 1 (6/20)”
“Even a case involving so many deaths only yields two experience points?”
Weilan, considering the three experience increases and two new skills, felt he had fallen into a misconception.
“Perhaps this isn’t a golden finger specifically for investigating cases; maybe it’s just that the initial skill of 【Minute Observation】 is helpful for investigating cases.”
“If that’s the case, there must be other ways to gain experience that I haven’t discovered yet.”
After three minutes of silence, Dumbledore slowly opened his eyes:
“Regarding various matters for the new term, I believe Professor McGonagall has already explained everything that needed to be explained to you, including the Triwizard Tournament, Forbidden Forest rules, and the list of prohibited items submitted by Administrator Filch.”
“However, I wish to add something about a new, extremely dangerous edible green powder that has appeared this year. Professor Snape named it ‘magic powder,’ and it is also what Oni referred to as ‘Spirit Dust.’”
“I trust you have just heard from Stonfield. This poisoning case, the poison that killed the House-elves, was indeed magic powder!”
“Those deceased House-elves will be buried by Hagrid deep within the Forbidden Forest. But you, my children, you are still alive, and you have an infinitely wonderful future.”
“You may have heard how it enhances a Wizard’s power.”
“But what I want to tell you is that it also has strong addictive and hallucinogenic properties, as well as a powerful destructive effect on our bodies.”
“It can be said that from the first time those people use magic powder, their lifespan is destined to be less than two years.”
Dumbledore now showed his authority as Principal:
“Therefore, everyone. What I want to say is, from today onwards, Hogwarts strictly prohibits the entry and circulation of magic powder!”
“Those who privately carry, sell, or spread it, regardless of the dosage, will face expulsion from Hogwarts!”