Who let this Dementor into Hogwarts!

Chapter 150: The Troubled Hogwarts

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed.

Cohen did nothing but watch from the sidelines (indifferent).

Seeing the stiff Hermione being taken away, Harry rushed in that direction without thinking, as if he wanted to use his body to hold back the basilisk that had captured Hermione - he had completely forgotten the danger of the basilisk.

A typical Gryffindor, but Cohen didn't think Harry was stupid for doing this. On the contrary, Cohen felt that people who saved others should never be ridiculed or mocked.

The old basilisk had gotten into the pipe first, and when Harry pounced on it, his fingertips touched only cold stone.

Ron didn't choose to leap forward, so he was hit on the head by the thick wall.

thump--

Harry scrambled to his feet, drew his wand and tried to reopen the hole.

"The flames are blazing!"

"Split into pieces!"

Harry didn't care whether the spell would work or not, and cast all the spells he knew - but unfortunately, this magic was not enough to shake the wall of Hogwarts.

"Open the Alaho hole!"

Ron also pointed at the wall and cast a spell, but this spell didn't seem to fit his current knowledge.

"I heard Hermione use it before - is my hand gesture wrong or is this spell ineffective against it?" Ron waved his smoking wand anxiously.

"What are you doing?"

Cohen materialized from outside the open classroom door, turning into the classroom so that it would look like he had just returned from the bathroom.

"Hermione—the basilisk has taken her!" Harry breathed. "Coin, I saw the basilisk!"

"Eyes?" Cohen asked, feigning ignorance. "How did you survive? I only saw the wall—"

"No - I only saw its tail!" said Harry. "It curled around Hermione, and then there was a hole in the wall, and then when it was gone the hole disappeared again..."

"Harry, move aside."

Coin knew that his spell wouldn't blow up the wall, but he still had to give Harry a little "I really want to save him but I really can't so let's go find Dumbledore."

If I'm not mistaken, Dumbledore should be dealing with the impeachment notice from the school board now - Voldemort said that he would let Draco talk to Lucius about expelling Dumbledore before the attack.

It was no use though - no one could keep Dumbledore away while he was alive, and with Fawkes around, he could appear anywhere.

This plan of "killing Harry Potter", which seemed extremely reasonable to Voldemort, only served a cosmetic purpose, making the plan look a little more step-by-step.

The reason why Cohen did not interfere was that Dumbledore must have wanted to use the monster to train Harry. With the presence of the phoenix, Harry would at most suffer a little.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for Dumbledore to not realize that the basilisk was actually crawling around in the pipes in the wall even though he already knew there was a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets...

Even Hermione could figure it out.

Harry is such a poor child...

Cohen felt that he should not be called "The Boy Who Lived" but "The Boy Who Died".

"Thunderbolt explosion!"

Cohen worked hard on several spells.

"Shattered to pieces!"

The wall remained unmoved.

"Araho Cave is open."

Avada Kedavra should be able to explode, but it is not useful in front of Harry.

"The basilisk should have gone far away." Cohen gave up the meaningless attempt, "We have to find Professor Dumbledore."

"Hurry!" Harry hurriedly pulled the two of them and ran towards the auditorium.

But Dumbledore was not in the Great Hall, nor was Professor McGonagall.

"Where's Professor Dumbledore?" Harry had just entered the hall and had no intention of sitting down.

"Busy in the office, I guess," Cohen said.

"Professor McGonagall isn't here either." Ron pointed at the teacher's seat and said anxiously, "What should I do... If only Hermione were here—"

"Let's go to the headmaster's office," Harry said hastily.

When they climbed the escalator and arrived at the door of the principal's office, they heard conversation inside.

"Albus can't leave!" Professor McGonagall was criticizing someone sharply. "How stupid are you to think that driving Albus away will solve the problem?"

"This isn't my personal decision," Lucius said, his voice filled with pride. "All twelve members of the board have signed this temporary suspension order. Since Dumbledore hasn't been able to find the mastermind behind the attack, the students are still living in fear..." "Are they going to expel Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked Cohen and Ron in surprise outside the door. "Is there something wrong with my ears?"

"No, that's what I heard," said Ron.

"We'll be able to go in and join the discussion soon." Cohen said, holding his forehead.

The two men didn't care how loud their voices were. Through the small wooden door, the people inside must have heard them.

"Who's out there?!"

Lucius snapped.

"Snapped!"

The next second, the door to the principal's office opened, revealing three furtive students who were eavesdropping outside.

Lucius' pupils constricted when he saw Cohen, but returned to normal after a while.

"Potter, Norton, and Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked in confusion, "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be having dinner in the Great Hall now?"

"Because we have something important to say to Professor Dumbledore—about the attack—" said Harry anxiously.

"Huh." Lucius snorted. "I think the board would want to hear this. No wonder Dumbledore couldn't find the murderer for so long. It turns out he's so old that he can only entrust students to investigate—"

"Professor Dumbledore didn't ask us to investigate!" Harry said angrily to Lucius Malfoy. "Our friend has been captured - just now - a huge snake swept her away and disappeared into the wall!"

"What?" Professor McGonagall's eyes widened. "Are you telling the truth? She... you mean Miss Granger?"

It took Professor McGonagall barely a second to identify the victim.

"Giant snake, in the wall..."

Professor McGonagall thought of something terrible - Hogwarts was full of walls, and students would never be safe as long as they stayed in the school.

"It seems that it's more than just suspending the headmaster," said Lucius. "Hogwarts needs to let parents pick up their children - of course, I mean the Muggle-borns. We all know that Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets cleans out the Mudbloods."

"Minerva, contact the students' parents and send them home as soon as possible," Dumbledore said.

"I believe you have lost your authority over the faculty, Dumbledore," Lucius said viciously. "The time for the removal is twelve o'clock noon today."

"Perhaps you should issue another order of dismissal for the Vice-Headmaster today," said Professor McGonagall angrily. "If not, Dumbledore's decision will be my next decision."

It is obviously impossible to hold another meeting to recall the vice-chancellor today.

Lucius snorted coldly and strode away.

"Should I...shouldn't I have said..." Harry swallowed.

"No, Harry," Dumbledore said, "These things have nothing to do with you. When a friend is in danger, it is the right choice to seek help from adults as quickly as possible."

"Albus, we don't have much time. Even if we contact the parents today, the students won't be able to evacuate immediately. I think we may need to temporarily set up tents outside the school grounds to prevent the students from continuing to be threatened by monsters in the castle." Professor McGonagall quickly offered a solution. "Potter, everything you just said is true, right? That giant snake crawled out of the wall?"

"That's right, Professor." Harry nodded nervously, "How should we save Hermione..."

"Break through the wall and find the location of the monster." Professor McGonagall said, "Where did you find it? I remember that your class this morning was Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"It's in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom—" said Harry. "Professor Dumbledore will rescue Hermione, won't he?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Dumbledore.

"I will be expelled from school at twelve o'clock." Dumbledore's voice did not sound resentful or angry, as if it was an ordinary little thing. "But I believe this matter will be properly resolved. You will find that at Hogwarts, those who need help will always get it."

As he spoke, Dumbledore suddenly slapped his head.

"Oh, by the way, there is one thing you need to do before you leave. Cohen left something here last time. Remember to bring it this time." Dumbledore took a slightly thick book from the desk and handed it to Cohen, even winking at him, as if giving a secret signal.

Huh? A code?

What code?
Cohen was puzzled by Dumbledore's actions, especially since the book was called "Hunting with Ghouls."

"Alright, you three, follow me to the Great Hall first, then stay with the other students. I'll organize you to set up a makeshift tent on the grounds," Professor McGonagall said decisively. "This situation is very dangerous. I know you want to find your friends, but not only will you be unable to deal with the monster, you will also be in danger."

"Understood, Professor McGonagall," said Coin.

Harry wanted to say something, but was silenced by Cohen's "I know".
-
Compared to Dumbledore's "doing nothing", Professor McGonagall's actions were swift and efficient. At one o'clock in the afternoon, dozens of tents of various colors were set up on the grounds outside Hogwarts - there were even patterns of various colleges on them. They should be the school's old inventory. There was a musty smell in the tents.

The new administrator, Mr. von Braun, led the students in groups to find the tents where they would stay for the night.

Having seen Cohen's box that was bigger inside than outside, Harry was not surprised again when he walked into the Gryffindor tent on the grass. He even felt that the tent was a little small.

But this is not the focus they need to consider now.

"Good news," said Cohen. "Although Dumbledore is not here, he has provided us with some special help."

(End of this chapter)