Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 389 No one knows

388 No one knows

On the second day of Christmas, everyone got up very late. The Gryffindor common room was much quieter than the previous days. People were chatting intermittently, interrupted by yawns from time to time.

In addition, Harry was surprised to find that Hermione's hair was messy again.

"What, now you think I'm not worthy of being invited?"

Hermione's tone was still very aggressive.

"Can't you talk properly?" Harry said dissatisfied. After that, he looked around cautiously and happened to see Ron who had just woken up walking towards this place, so he quickly grabbed Hermione and asked

: "You can't hide from us anymore. We must find out what you have done to the house elves today."

After the two of them experienced Moody's fright last night, they didn't even bother to look for a kitchen. This was mainly because of what Professor Moody said later: "But I'm afraid you violated the archaeological regulations. I remember there was

This thing, right?”

Although they don't understand the meaning of this sentence, everyone knows that the archaeological regulations are an excuse specially created by Professor Heimer to punish students, because there are no detailed regulations at all.

This made Harry and Ron worry about this for a long time, thinking that they would be called to the Ancient Magic Office that night. If they were found in the kitchen at this time, it would definitely be earlier.

But the strange thing is that nothing happened until the two of them fell asleep.

At this time, Ron also walked over quickly, and he continued what Harry said: "Yes, I don't want to wake up one day and find that I have changed into a teacup suit and have to clean the room everywhere - you don't

Are you really going to lead the house elves in rebellion?"

"This is none of your business." Hermione was determined not to trust these two friends: "I remember you laughed at me at the beginning, just wait, if there is such a day, you two will definitely be the first to be...

For those who have been replaced, I may occasionally be kind enough to host Quidditch matches for you, but remember to catch the Golden Snitch when the time comes, otherwise you will have nothing to eat at night."

Ron stared at Hermione's back as she walked away carefree.

"She's kidding, right?"

Harry looked a little relieved.

"Then at least I have dinner, which is not bad."

There is no doubt that Hermione either went to the kitchen or the library. No matter where she was, this was a place that Harry and Ron didn't want to go to at the moment.

In fact, they didn't want to move at all, they just wanted to sit by the warm fireplace and play a few games of wizard chess.

Just when Ron was about to beat Harry for the third game in a row, Fred and George came in from the passage. The expressions on their faces were not very good, and they threw a note in front of them as they passed by.

.

"Professor Heimer gave it to you." Fred said without stopping: "Remember not to go late, otherwise you will probably feel better."

Harry picked up the note and looked at it, and found that it was Professor Heimer who asked him and Ron to go to the Ancient Magic Office for lessons. The two people's classes were not over yet. Ron didn't know what his devil looked like. Harry still had

He was unable to fully face the oppression of death.

"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked towards their backs: "Who provoked you so early in the morning?"

Fred did not look back, only George waved his hand and said: "Forget it, who would have thought that the retired professor would be so unreliable, and we have to find a new clerk again."

"He means Snape?" Harry said, standing up and making a mess on the chessboard so that he wouldn't have to take another verbal attack from Ron.

"Otherwise, who else could be there?" Ron miraculously placed the chess pieces back one by one. He actually remembered the positions of all the chess pieces.

"There are less than ten chess pieces left in total. Do you think I can't remember it? Hurry up and play chess. It's still early. Don't think you can interrupt my three-game winning streak."

His White Queen taunted her at the right time: "Yes, you little loser."

——

After losing five games in a row, Harry had to put his hands behind his back to avoid punching Ron in the face.

Ron said with satisfaction: "Maybe we should consider adding some chips. If we had done this earlier, I would have made a fortune in advance. What do you think?"

"Then you will also be kicked out of Hogwarts earlier." Harry said coldly: "Do you think gathering people to gamble does not violate school rules?"

Ron sighed.

"Hey, why are the ways I make money written in the school rules? This is unfair."

They bickered for a while longer, and then set off towards the Ancient Magic Office.

Professor Heimer was already waiting for them, and strangely, this time Mr. Al and Professor Angela were also there. When the two walked in, they happened to hear a conversation——

"Al, do you really have nothing to do today? Have you finished reviewing the articles for "The Quibbler"? Do you need me to give the students more holiday homework so that you have something to correct? You don't like being a professor the most

Yet?"

"It doesn't like it now. Al wants to stay with me. You are always thinking of sending it away. Don't think that it is only close to you."

"I didn't know you also had a Thestral Guardian God. Why, you secretly arranged it with Al?"

"Thank you for your idea, Professor Heimer. I will seriously consider this proposal."

The moment the two of them stepped into the room, a cold that was more terrifying than ice that would never melt hit their faces and almost froze them to death.

The two of them didn't know for a moment whether it was better to walk in or leave. Just as they were hesitating, Angela had already stood up from the sofa.

"I'd better not delay your evil plan, and I'm not interested in observing what you will turn these two poor little guys into - oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, I've been looking for them at Three Broomsticks

I bought a long-stay guest room, and I won’t be coming back for a while. I can’t help it, it’s really crowded here—especially when I see your face.”

Harry and Ron stared dumbfoundedly at Angela's arrogance, and then she walked out of the office with a cold face.

Al looked left and right, with a very embarrassed expression on his face. Finally he waved to Toby and hurriedly chased Angela.

"It's all my money you spent on finding a guest room!"

Toby shouted at the disappearing figure. He took several deep breaths. His hair was no longer as neat as yesterday. It was also messy and scattered in front of his eyes.

After a while, he waved to the two frightened little boys and said, "Come here, you must have not left behind the previous lessons, right?"

Ron was trying desperately to recall how he summoned the devil before, and Harry was also trying to recall the fear of facing death - otherwise he would definitely see an existence more terrifying than death with his own eyes.

I don’t know if this high-pressure environment caused the changes in the two of them, or if they were simply frightened by the Black Devil’s terrifying sight. In short, Harry and Ron were both in this special section after the dance.

I have gained a lot from my class.

"Professor, I can finally summon the devil! It is - it is - how can it really be a spider?!"

Ron was so frightened that he fell to the floor. He kept flopping back, but the Acromantula he summoned, which was about the same size as himself, was determined to get close to its owner and kept making out

A mind-numbing clicking sound.

Toby, who was sitting at the desk, just analyzed it lightly: "It seems that we have made a mistake in the direction of your study of the devil before. Only fear is your real talent, but it is not bringing fear to others, but

It’s scaring yourself—fine, put it away.”

"I can't, Professor!"

Ron had quickly hid behind the professor's chair, only daring to peek at the Acromantula, his face turned pale with fright.

Toby waved his wrist impatiently, and the black mist emanating from his fingertips easily defeated the fragile spider.

"It's time to check your results, Harry."

Toby turned his head and said.

Harry was lying on the floor, sweating profusely and panting from exhaustion.

"I finally did it, Professor."

Just now, he finally succeeded in facing death without giving up halfway.

"Yeah, I saw it, but it's still far from our goal. Maybe we should let you try Gamp wine more - forget it, pretend I didn't say it, after all, you are not an adult yet. That's it for today

Well, you two go back first, and I will let you know when there are classes."

Ron and Harry both had expressions on their faces as if they were surviving a disaster.

Especially Ron, he was even a little excited. As soon as he walked out of the office, he forgot about his previous ridiculous appearance and kept saying: "Hey, did you see it? Did you see my devil clearly?

Although it is not as good as the rune snake, I think it is at least more majestic than the devil snake with only one head left. Hermione will definitely be shocked when she finds out."

"You're right." Harry didn't bother to argue with him. His mind was filled with the next thing - what on earth will he do in the future to become the master of death?

After the two left, Toby was the only one left in the office who was empty.

But this alone time did not last long. Soon, a flame was lit across the desk, and Toby didn't look surprised at all, as if he had expected it.

"Toby, Toby."

Obviously his tone sounded a bit like Professor Slughorn, but the person who appeared on the chair was Dumbledore. As soon as he appeared, he saw Toby pouring Dark Devil wine into the cup, and the rim of the cup kept rising.

Steam with a skull pattern.

"What's wrong?" Toby's tone was not very friendly: "Moody asked you to say bad things about me again. Isn't he really afraid that I will secretly go to him someday?"

"I dare say that he has been looking forward to this day." Dumbledore said calmly. He watched Toby pour the wine and did not stop him. Instead, he talked about another old friend.

"Nick was disturbed to find that his Philosopher's Stone was missing."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with this. After all, didn't he want to end this journey a long time ago? At most, a strange and kind-hearted person showed up to help him."

"What about Severus, where did you hide him?"

"What do you mean I hid him somewhere? Shouldn't it be buried somewhere? Maybe you can look carefully and maybe you can find one of his arms or something in a smelly ditch. It should be a picture of him.

Very interesting puzzle.”

"What about Angela? What happened between you two? I thought you always wanted to find out her identity according to the plan set by Hai Erbo."

When he heard the name, Toby's face finally changed slightly.

He said helplessly: "What else could it be? I can't ask her to do things according to my wishes at all times. Emotions are an important source of power for wizards, and Angela is no exception. There are always times when she loses her temper.

I just don’t know when I will change my mind. But Al has already gone to comfort her, so it probably won’t take too long.”

"Do you really think so?" Dumbledore asked sharply: "You know very well how much Angela is looking forward to this ball, but you still want to cut off all her thoughts-"

"Merlin." Toby sighed and said, "I thought you were here last night. Otherwise, how could you know so clearly? Or was Harry's Invisibility Cloak stolen by you?"

"It does not matter."

Dumbledore looked directly at Toby and said.

"What really matters is that I'm done with Azkaban, and I have plenty of time to waste with you. Don't make things difficult for me, Toby."

"I've already told Horace this once, but I really don't want to have to say it to you again."

——

Black lake, big boat.

In the warm and comfortable cabin, Lockhart, who had finally stopped feeling vomiting, was carefully reporting last night's situation to Grindelwald on the wall.

"I didn't expect that glass of wine to have such great stamina -"

"Tell the important point."

"Okay, okay, Professor. I just realized now that Toby may not have intended to kill Snape in the first place, or he did think so, but if that's the case, he doesn't have to involve me to make a joke.

To be honest, the first thing I did when I came back last night was to write my suicide note and plan to go find my family members tomorrow and cast a forgetting spell on them to completely forget me."

"Point, Lockhart."

"The point, yes, the point. Well, nothing happened - is that the point? Well, let me think about it again. I remember Snape mentioned Lily, but we had already guessed that.

, isn't it? He has always loved Lily deeply, and has always felt guilty for Lily's death, and even resented Toby for it. But I guess as long as he can save Lily, he will definitely be able to let go of everything. That was the case last night.

What’s going on——”

"Snape suddenly mentioned Lily, and Toby seemed to understand something, and he stopped showing off that scary aura and just walked away. And Snape, I really want to follow him, but

My vomiting sounds were too obvious to just follow him, so I came back, that's all."

"Is it just Lily Evans? I know, keep staring at him."

"Yes, Professor."

The faces on the wall slowly faded away. Lockhart sat in the rocking chair and felt it carefully for a while. He relaxed a little after making sure that he didn't feel vomiting.

"It's finally over. This is really torture."

He quietly pulled up his cuffs, and could faintly see the traces of thin ropes on his arms, which looked like fiery snakes.

"I don't want to lie either, Professor."

Lockhart slumped down on his chair in despair, mumbling inarticulately.

"But this is an unbreakable oath."