Avery nodded and continued:
"But the situation kept getting worse. Every time I tried to do something, it was discovered a step ahead of me... If I'd injured Harry Potter myself, it would've been far too obvious. So I could only stop his evening tutoring sessions... Later, the woman in the hospital wing broke free from the Imperius Curse, and she confessed to many things... I could only take it one step at a time. The Master ordered me to turn the Triwizard Cup into a Portkey, but you insisted on personally inspecting everything—I had no opportunity whatsoever..."
"So the Master sent Wormtail again. The night of the third task was our final deadline. If we couldn't complete the mission tonight, we'd both die... We were terrified, so we had to take a desperate gamble..."
Avery kept talking. Once or twice, Sirius made small sounds as if wanting to say something, his hand still gripping Harry's shoulder tightly, but Dumbledore raised a hand to stop him.
"We initially tried using the Imperius Curse to control the champions, but Wormtail was discovered when he transformed back into human form. We had to knock out that girl. Though the Imperius Curse on Krum succeeded, he kept struggling. Using him for attacks would hardly be effective—Potter would definitely be on guard..."
"Just then, Wormtail dragged that boy, Cedric Diggory, over. We put him under an Invisibility Cloak and hid him in a secluded corner. I plucked his hair and disguised myself as him, letting Krum distract Harry Potter's attention while I pretended to help out of kindness..."
"You planned to strike the moment Harry grabbed the Cup, didn't you?" Orli asked softly. No wonder Cedric had acted so strangely then, standing before the Cup and repeatedly insisting Harry take it first.
"Exactly... What better moment to catch someone off guard than when they're claiming their grand prize? But just then, Snape and that little girl appeared out of nowhere... The same girl who'd first discovered Wormtail years ago. I'd been avoiding her since my very first class, but she still came to interfere..."
Avery twitched unconsciously for a moment, then continued:
"Snape bound me instantly—I thought everything was finished... But then Wormtail burst out from the grass. He bit a chunk of flesh from Harry Potter's ankle, then escaped using the Portkey we hadn't used before... Hahaha... The Master... he's coming back. All the traitors will pay the price..."
A twisted smile appeared on his face, and his head drooped.
Dumbledore straightened up. He looked down at Avery with disgust, then raised his wand again and cast a series of complex spells on the man lying on the ground.
Professor McGonagall returned to the maze at just that moment.
"Albus, all students are settled in their dormitories, with all prefects watching over them," she reported quickly.
"The other three champions are all seriously injured—Diggory's hurt the worst. Poppy's caring for them, and Diggory's parents and Madame Maxime have gone to the hospital wing."
"As you instructed, Bagman and Amelia Bones are waiting in the empty room beside the Great Hall, and the entire Weasley family is settled there as well. However, Karkaroff is nowhere to be found—it seems no one's seen him for some time," Professor McGonagall added.
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