Karkaroff waved his wand. Behind him, cabinet doors and drawers in the tall bookshelf flew open by themselves, and countless pieces of parchment flew out.
From among those parchments, he quickly selected his target, holding a yellowed piece of parchment and finally spreading it out before Severus and the others.
"This is an ancient spell discovered in 1978 during a conflict between Death Eaters and Aurors over an ancient magical ruin. At that time, the Dark Lord's power was at its peak, and the Aurors were no match. The ruin, of course, fell into Death Eaters' hands. Under the Dark Lord's orders, some Death Eaters with knowledge of ancient magic participated in exploring and deciphering that ruin."
"Among them were me and the Fawleys!"
Severus looked at the parchment Karkaroff had retrieved. It was covered in various ancient runes and magical scripts. Among them was one magical symbol identical to the one Karkaroff had spotted in the letter to the Fawleys!
Whether in writing style or handwriting comparison, even someone with no discernment in this area could tell they were written by the same person.
"So, the person corresponding with the Fawleys also participated in exploring and researching that ruin with you?"
Karkaroff frowned.
"I can't remember who specifically recorded or wrote this section. But about seven or eight people were involved at the time. Two of them died in battles with Aurors within a year. Excluding me and the Fawleys, three remain."
"Rabastan Lestrange, Augustus Rookwood, Jeremy Greengrass."
Upon hearing these three names, Severus's expression darkened slightly, and he immediately ruled out two.
"Rabastan and Augustus need not be considered. They're already dead."
When he mentioned these three names, Karkaroff had been intently watching Severus's eyes, as if he had originally intended to verify something from Severus's reaction to these names.
After hearing Severus's reply, his breath hitched, and he couldn't help but show delight on his face.
"They're dead! Truly dead! So the news from Britain is correct! That Minister for Magic made up her mind and handed all the Death Eaters involved in that breakout attempt over to the Dementors! Ha! Haha!"
He laughed heartily, as if a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Sirius and Lockhart both looked at Karkaroff as if he were a madman, neither understood why the Durmstrang Headmaster suddenly had this episode.
But Severus clearly understood what Karkaroff was so excited about.
He wrote down the final name, [Jeremy Greengrass], on a piece of parchment, then put away the parchment.
"You truly no longer need to live in fear, you can relax properly. Bagnold overcame numerous obstacles and, before her term ended, signed the Ministerial Decree handing those breakout Death Eaters over to the Dementors. The other participants from pure-blood family were also sent to Azkaban, occupying the same cells the Lestranges and others once had."
"Dumbledore's public statements are also accurate. Voldemort truly will not return."
Severus's words made the smile on Karkaroff's face grow even more uninhibited. It could be said that among those in the world who least wished for Voldemort's return, he was certainly one!
However, Severus's following words caused Karkaroff's expression to stiffen slightly.
"But recently, I've heard rumors that the International Confederation of Wizards is planning inspections of the three major European magical schools. This initiative is being led by Dumbledore, aiming to check whether the magical laws preventing Dark Magic from infiltrating campuses are being effectively enforced."
As he spoke, Severus was already turning to leave with Lockhart and Sirius.
"A piece of advice, Igor. Since you've already cleaned up and made it ashore, it's best to properly maintain this prestigious Headmaster position from now on. No one will dig up the past as long as you stay quiet."
He left Karkaroff alone, sitting in his high-backed chair, his face shifting between expressions, clearly deep in thought.
Returning to Britain and resting for a night, the next morning, Severus and the others promptly made their way to the Greengrass Residence.
As another prominent pure-blood family, the Greengrass weren't deeply entangled with the Death Eaters. Although some family members had become loyal servants of Voldemort, the primary heirs had always maintained a neutral position.
Moreover, unlike Lucius, they weren't ostentatious in the British Wizarding World, so they weren't implicated in the recent Azkaban breakout.
The Greengrass family received Severus's visit politely. Soon, from their mouths, Severus learned of Jeremy's whereabouts.
After Voldemort's fall, he used the Imperius Curse defense to avoid Ministry punishment but never returned home afterward. Instead, he lived in a Muggle village in Crawley.
Having obtained this precise information, Severus and the others didn't linger. They immediately set off for the provided address.
However, upon arrival, they found it was already an empty house!
It turned out Jeremy had died three years prior. He had never contacted his family, so no one was informed.
"The clue is completely broken. We can't investigate any further," Lockhart said, shaking his head.
But Severus frowned, not easily giving up. After gathering information about Jeremy from the surrounding villagers, he returned to the abandoned house. Just as he planned to enter and see if he could find anything inside, a plume of thick smoke suddenly billowed from within the house.
Then, a faint 'pop' sound, like that of Apparition, softly rang out!