“What?”
After a moment of surprise, Weilan quickly calmed down and threw out several reasonable hypotheses.
“Mr. Potter, although this looks very intimidating, it shouldn’t be difficult to actually accomplish.”
“Transfiguration spells, or sitting on a flying broom, could both achieve this effect.”
James retorted swiftly and decisively:
“What if we consider the person’s age?”
Weilan closed his mouth, staring at the bright red small footprint behind the cordon, and tilted his head in thought.
James was right; the above conjectures were simply fantastical for a young Wizard.
But…
“Mr. Potter, do you think the small footprint must have been left by a child?”
“What? Are you saying…”
“Dwarfism, or a Potion that temporarily turns one into a child—I can think of Polyjuice Potion, provided a child’s hair is added.”
Looking at James, who was lost in thought, Weilan offered more deductions:
“Actually, of the two conjectures, I personally lean more towards dwarfism.”
“If it were the second option, I don’t know why he would specifically disguise himself as a child.”
“Not only would he have to prepare extra clothing, but it would also greatly increase the risk of being noticed.”
James opened his mouth to refute Weilan but couldn’t utter a single word.
Weilan could understand his dilemma.
Dwarfism… Peter Pettigrew was also a dwarf.
“Mr. Potter!” Weilan pleaded sincerely, “Let me examine the scene. Perhaps I can discover unexpected clues?”
“Sigh—Alright, sigh, put on shoe covers and gloves, Jack, let him in.”
“Also, Ruben, go to the Section 4 spectator stands and call two people for me…”
Amidst James’s continuous sighs, Weilan quickly put on shoe covers and gloves and entered the scene.
His shoulders felt heavy; Weilan could feel James’s entrustment—
The entrustment to clear Peter’s suspicion through an on-site investigation.
But as a transmigrator, especially one who had read the original work,
Weilan held great suspicion towards Peter.
In the original work, Peter was a cowardly and sycophantic villain.
He shamelessly revealed his good brother James’s hiding place to Lord Voldemort, directly leading to the tragic deaths of James and Lily.
No, harboring preconceived notions cannot uncover the truth of the case…
Weilan took a deep breath, scattering the chaotic thoughts in his mind.
He took a step forward, into the very center of the lounge.
Weilan opened only his right eye, nervously and quickly scanning the scene.
Minute Observation activated for the third time, remaining magic value 22.
The lounge was rectangular, with white walls and a light grey floor.
On his right side was a row of wooden benches, and on his left were private lockers against the wall.
These lockers were scattered haphazardly, and the metal doors of several lockers were even dented at an exaggerated angle.
“It’s magic… A small-scale magic battle once broke out here.”
These were details Weilan had learned from the preliminary on-site investigation report.
What truly made him ponder was Minute Observation’s comprehensive analysis of the messy fight traces at the scene.
The results showed that all the spells at the scene were cast from the same position.
Weilan paced to the front right of the lounge, right next to the end of the bench, observing the entire room from there.
According to Minute Observation’s analysis of the spell trajectories, all spells should have been cast from this spot.
But this is very strange, isn’t it?
If it was truly the victim and the suspect fighting in the lounge,
The two would stand in different positions, confronting each other and casting different attack spells.
This result simply couldn’t happen!
Weilan took a deep breath, clenching his teeth.
A bit troublesome; the fight was deliberately faked. Was it to cover something up?
His gaze temporarily shifted from the lockers, falling onto the narrow floor between the lockers and the bench.
A large patch of bright red marks on the floor subtly outlined a human shape, which was where the victim fell after being discovered.
The bright red marks were the Auror’s magic; they used magic to deepen this particular area.
“According to the preliminary on-site investigation report, when the victim was discovered, he was lying face down on the ground.”
“Then, the Killing Curse that caused his death should have come from…”
With the aid of Minute Observation, the scene of Rowan’s last moments was recreated.
Rowan was like a young man about to meet his crush.
His face was flushed, his eyes glazed, and he paced back and forth in the lounge, leaving layers of footprints.
Everything happened in an instant.
A green light emanated from behind him, accurately striking the back of his head just as he was about to turn.
Rowan fell heavily, coinciding with the bright red human-shaped mark on the floor.
The room fell silent; no fight had broken out.
Only Weilan stood beside the body, looking down at the bench beside him.
That Killing Curse was shot from here.
This wooden bench was largely intact and had soft cushions on its seat, making it look very comfortable at a glance.
However, the culprit couldn’t have appeared on the bench out of thin air.
The footprints on the indoor floor were messy, but primarily Rowan’s, with other few footprints having reasonable origins.
The only illogical detail was the small footprint that appeared out of nowhere at the lounge entrance, leading away from the scene.
The culprit might have hidden in the lounge beforehand, which would explain the absence of his entry footprints.
Following this line of thought, Weilan began to search the room for possible hiding spots.
Under the bench, inside the lockers, dark corners of the wall…
Time quietly slipped by, and Minute Observation’s duration quickly ended, yet Weilan found nothing.
Finally, he directed his suspicious gaze towards the ventilation duct above the bench.
The lounge had no windows, so a ventilation duct was installed here to promote air circulation.
The fan blades of the ventilation duct were still diligently rotating, emitting a faint humming sound.
But on the edge of the frame used to secure the fan blades, a screw had come loose, causing a narrow gap to appear where the frame met the wall.
Around the gap, spiders had spun webs, but these webs were now broken or deformed.
“Something came out of here!”
Weilan didn’t dare to act rashly and called the Aurors from outside the door.
After stating his discovery, Weilan watched the Aurors use Arresto Momentum to stop the fan blades from rotating.
The wooden bench on one side was still intact and sturdy. One of the Aurors stepped on the bench and carefully removed the fan blades from the ventilation opening.
The dust stirred up by the fan blades made everyone cough repeatedly. After the dust settled, a deep, dark, narrow passage appeared before their eyes.
“Lumos”
The Auror standing on the bench pulled out his wand and lit its tip with the Lumos Charm.
The wand’s light illuminated only a tiny, insignificant section within the passage.
But for those present, it was enough.
Just like all ventilation ducts that have been in use for some time, the surface of this duct was covered with a thick layer of dust.
Even without the aid of Minute Observation, Weilan could clearly see the footprints left in the dust.
They were a series of rat footprints, stretching from the ventilation duct exit all the way into the darkness.
The truth seemed to become clearer and clearer.
“Mr. Potter!”
Weilan yelled, deciding to call James in first.
He pointed out the discovery of the ventilation duct to James.