The villagers of Little Hangleton still like to call this house "Riddle House", even though its owners, the Riddle family, have not lived here for many years.
This large building is located on a hillside, and you can overlook the entire village from its balcony. This was also one of the favorite things of its owners back then, which can reflect their high status.
But now, the windows of this house have been sealed, the tiles on the roof are incomplete, and the ivy has crawled all over the house.
Riddle House was once a beautiful mansion, the most spacious and magnificent building within several miles, but now it has become damp, desolate and no longer the grandeur it once was.
And because of long-standing rumors, the villagers of Little Hangleton have always believed that this old house is a haunted house. It is said that half a century ago, a very bizarre and terrifying thing happened here, so that
Until now, the elders in the village like to talk about this matter when they have nothing else to talk about.
Because this story has been told over and over again, and many parts have been added to by each narrator, no one can say for sure what the truth is in the end.
But every version of this story begins in the same way: fifty years ago, Riddle House was still a well-managed and extraordinary place.
It was at dawn on a sunny summer day that when a maid of the Riddle family got up and walked into the living room, she found that all three members of her master's family had died.
The frightened maid screamed all the way down the hillside and rushed into the small Hangleton village at the foot of the mountain. Her screams woke up all the sleeping villagers in the village.
"They were all lying down with their eyes wide open! They were all cold! They were still wearing their dinner clothes!"
This was the only thing the frightened maid could say. Then the police were called, and the entire village of Little Hangleton was immersed in surprise and curiosity. Although the villagers tried their best to hide their excitement, they failed.
.
There is a saying that goes like this: We are all professionally trained and generally don’t laugh unless we can’t help it. Obviously, the villagers in Little Hangleton Village are the kind who just can’t help it.
Besides, they had no intention of wasting their energy on holding back and pretending to feel sad for the Riddle family, because this family was not popular in the village.
Although these two old couples are very rich, they are snobbish and rude. Although their adult son Tom has been missing for a long time, you may not believe it, but he is actually a bit worse than his parents.
.
Even though the villagers had been looking for him for a while because of the reward issued by his parents, he finally ran back on his own, and the villagers failed to get a penny. Instead, they were driven away by the Riddle family.
Therefore, when all the Riddle family members were suddenly killed, none of the villagers were sad. Instead, they were only gossiping about who the murderer was.
Obviously, even the villagers who have not read the book know that it is impossible for three seemingly healthy people to die of natural causes at the same time on the same night.
That night, the business of the Hanged Ghost Tavern in the village was particularly prosperous. Almost everyone in the village came here. Everyone, regardless of gender, old or young, was talking about the murder.
But what they don't know is that there is indeed a way in the world that can cause three healthy humans at different ages to die naturally at almost the same time.
This method is called magic, and it is not half magic, but Avada Kedavra, which is classified as the Unforgivable Curse in the huge magic classification.
Of course, it is impossible for the villagers to know about magic. After all, they are just a group of uneducated country Muggles, not wizards who know magic.
The police, who were also Muggles, were more educated than the Muggle villagers, but they also didn't know what magic was. So they finally arrested the Riddle gardener on the grounds that he was the only one who had the key to the back door.
They didn't know that the murderer did not use a key to enter Riddle's house, but used a spell called the unlocking curse. Therefore, from the beginning, the Muggle police were heading in the wrong direction.
But fortunately, the forensic doctors were professional enough, and they came to a relatively professional conclusion: No one in the Riddle family was injured by poison, sharp objects, or pistols, nor was they suffocated or strangled to death.
It can even be said that their family is very healthy, except that they have all died. Of course, it is not completely abnormal, that is, they all have a look of horror on their faces.
But the expressions couldn't tell anything, and due to the conditions at the time, no one would assume that they were scared to death. So in the end, the Muggle police let the Riddle gardener go. After all, they had no evidence to prove that he was the murderer. However, their colleagues in the wizarding world did not follow such rules. They hastily identified the murderer's forged evidence and captured an unlucky guy who couldn't even speak human words.
Anyway, both parties ended the case in the end, thinking that the matter was over here, and never thought that the real murderer was still at large. As for the two unlucky guys who were caught, the gardener who was more lucky returned to his home after being released.
In the small shack of Riddle House.
As for the unlucky one, he died directly in Azkaban. Of course, the gardener never thought that the real murderer would come back to take his life after more than half a century.
Of course, history should have developed this way, but this time there was a slight deviation. Before the real murderer and his lackeys came to the door, another magical visitor came to the door.
"Are you Frank Bryce?"
"Yes, little one, whose child are you from? I don't think I've seen you before. Wait, you're not from Little Hangleton Village?"
"Of course not, my name is Rolf Scamander, from Dorset."
"Dorset? What are you doing here?"
"Of course I'm here to find you, or to save your life."
"What are you talking about..."
Old Frank, who was originally wary of Rove, became furious when he heard Rove saying that he wanted to save his life. But as soon as he turned around, a spell hit him.
Then in the next moment, Rove caught the old man who almost fell to the ground, and then put him back on the bed in his small shack in Riddle House.
Then Rove's body shape and height began to change. His originally straight back began to become rickety, and his normal legs also became lame.