The Return to Hogwarts

About half an hour later, the person on the monitor screen turned into a ghost. Amosta saw Peeves, wearing a comical round hat, rush into a long-abandoned washroom on the second floor with a wicked grin. Soon after, water began to seep into the corridor outside the washroom.

The long night had just begun, and Amosta was already feeling bored. He went to his desk and picked up a book he was compiling, "Basic Models and Structural Optimization of Spells," and casually flipped through it, looking for inspiration.

Suddenly, there was movement on the monitor screen in the lower right corner. Professor Lockhart, dressed in a purplish-red robe and carrying a few books, came out with a smile on his face and an elegant demeanor. Judging from the direction he was walking, it seemed to be heading straight for his monitoring room.

Their offices were both on the same floor, and less than two minutes later, Professor Lockhart appeared outside his office.

Tuk Tuk——

The moment the knock sounded, Amostella waved her wand, and a huge black curtain covered the wall. The stool beneath her bounced back onto the desk with tap-dance steps, straightened itself, and returned to normal.

“Professor Lockhart?” Amosta opened the door with a perfectly timed look of surprise. “What brings you here?”

Amosta led the enigmatic Lockhart into his office and poured him a cup of tea, but Lockhart seemed unwilling to drink it.

"--Actually, it's like this,"

Lockhart was about to explain his purpose, but when he noticed a copy of "Wandering with Werewolves" on Amosta's bookshelf, his smile became almost excessively bright.

“It was my mistake, my mistake, Amosta. I should have thought of it, but I didn’t realize it,” he winked at the somewhat bewildered Amosta. “A cunning and crazy worshipper, isn’t he? This is quite an unexpected turn of events!”

"I'm sorry, Professor Lockhart, perhaps I'm just too slow to understand what you're trying to say."

"No need to hide it anymore, Amosta. You went to great lengths to get into Hogwarts just to get close to me, didn't you?"

Lockhart laughed merrily. "Professor McGonagall told me that the Board of Trustees sent an investigator to track down the secret room. I imagine you must have spent a lot of money to make this happen!"

Amostella followed Lockhart's gaze to the bookshelf, blinked,

"If you're referring to the book 'Wandering with Werewolves,' then yes, I had a bit of a disagreement with a group of werewolves, and to deepen my understanding of them, I looked for some of the most famous ones."

"Aha, you've finally been exposed!"

Lockhart seemed to have finally caught Amosta red-handed.

"Just like Miss Granger from two years ago, she knows me inside and out, doesn't she? Yes, yes, many people are amazed by my calm and decisiveness when I was cornered in a phone booth by the werewolves when they talk about that book, but you're different, Amosta. You want to learn how I made peace with the werewolves, don't you?"

An hour later, Lockhart left Amosta's office, satisfied. Standing at the door, he lowered his voice and said to Amosta,

“No need to worry about not being able to explain to the board, Amosta. There won’t be another locked-room attack. As for the reason, you surely know, right?” Lockhart winked at Amosta again. “Because I’m right here!”

Amost watched Professor Lockhart leave, then closed the door and stood at his desk, staring at the gift Lockhart had given him—a complete set of hardcover, signed books.

“Heh, what an interesting fellow!” Amosta suddenly laughed.

Back at Hogwarts that night, Amos Tower and Professor Snape discussed suspicious individuals in the school. When Gilderoy Lockhart was mentioned, Snape's disdain and sarcasm were palpable, yet he didn't seem to think Lockhart was a problem, which puzzled Amos Tower at the time.

"However, as a well-known star author in the magical world, he is at least a fairly friendly wizard."

Lockhart, with his strikingly distinct personality, is really difficult to write about.

Also, I'll try to follow another chapter this afternoon.

Chapter 30 Chain Reaction

The first week of school passed quickly amidst a flurry of rumors. Now, Harry was enjoying the same treatment he received last year after accidentally revealing his Parsleyan voice in Professor Lockhart's dueling class. Wherever he went, he could feel people around him secretly watching him and whispering ominously.

Among the gazes that peered at him were both pity and schadenfreude, and this was the case even within Gryffindor.

Of course, Harry wasn't too surprised. He had expected this ever since Seamus told him on Monday night that Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff had finally found out from Professor Sprout what Amos Stare Blaine was there for at the Opening Ceremony.

Garlic, exorcising objects, and amulets, which were popular for a while last semester, are once again sweeping the campus. Fortunately, the only consolation is that Neville didn't wear his amethyst necklace this time.

The person Harry disliked the most was Draco Malfoy.

After Potions class on Wednesday afternoon, Harry was about to storm out of the classroom with his homework, which had received a 'D', but Goyle and Crabbe were standing in the doorway, blocking his way. Given their size, it was almost impossible for either of them to get through.

Harry turned around and gave Draco a cold look as he sat at his desk with a wicked grin. "Tell your two stupid lackeys to get out of the way, Malfoy, unless you want to see them cut into pieces and stuffed into jars!"

Hearing this, Malfoy's smile grew even more sinister, and the inexplicable pity in his eyes fueled Harry's anger even more. "Speaking of cutting it into many pieces, Potter..."

Malfoy raised his pointed chin and spoke in his usual drawn-out tone.

“I suddenly feel a little sorry for you, Potter. I originally thought your worst fate would be to spend the rest of your life in Azkaban living next to Dementors, but now, I can’t guarantee that. I think, maybe someone will cut you into pieces and send you to Professor Sprout’s mandrakes as fertilizer!”

“He’s been threatening people like this lately, Harry.”

Neville, standing next to Harry, blushed and whispered, "That's what he told me in the Great Hall at noon."

"And you actually let Malfoy walk out of the Great Hall alive, Neville? That's unbelievable!" Ron's face turned ashen with rage. He pulled out his wand, which was taped to his wrist, and pointed it at Malfoy.

"Want to see who turns into fertilizer first, Malfoy!"

"Twenty points deducted from Gryffindor, plus two days of detention, Weasley."

At that moment, Snape, who was tidying up his things on the podium and ignoring the conflict, walked over and lazily stared at Ron. "I hope this teaches you a lesson, Weasley. In my classroom, pointing your wand at your classmates is not allowed."

The outcome of this conflict left Harry in a bad mood for several days, and he was also out of sorts during Quidditch practice. Wood was particularly worried because of his previous absence from last year's final.

"If you want to catch the murderer and prove your innocence, Harry, could you please wait until after the finals before starting your plan?"

"Wood shouldn't have said that to you, Harry, it's not your fault!"

On Sunday evening, in the school hospital, when a depressed Harry relayed Wood's words to Hermione, Hermione angrily retorted.

“You can’t blame him like that, Hermione. I heard Fred and George say that Wood wants to join Pudmere United as a professional Quidditch player after graduation. That way, leading Gryffindor to a championship would mean a lot to him. Unfortunately, Wood is already in sixth grade, and this year or next year is his last chance.”

Ron spoke up for Wood fairly, which made Harry feel even more guilty.

"But he can't blame Harry entirely for not winning the game, Ron. Why can't he look for the reasons within himself?"

Hermione said angrily, her arms crossed.

Ron shrugged and wisely shut his mouth.

All three of them knew that as long as the heir of Slytherin was not found, Harry's current situation was unlikely to improve, and that was precisely the most difficult part. Otherwise, the school board would not have specifically sent someone to Hogwarts to handle this matter.

Hermione's cat tattoo had mostly faded from her face and body, making her less secretive about her appearance. She threw off the covers and got out of bed, pacing around the room with a furrowed brow, pondering how she could help Harry dispel people's misunderstandings.

The voices of several Gryffindor wizards came from outside the door. The voices belonged to people Harry and his friends knew: Neville, Ginny, Pettier, and Lavender.

They were negotiating with Madam Pomfrey, hoping to come and visit Hermione, as the rumors that Hermione had also been attacked and petrified had not yet been dispelled, but Madam Pomfrey had firmly refused them.

Hermione stared at the door, her expression less serious. In any case, she was still very touched by her friends' concern.

"Perhaps we can seek Mr. Blaine's help."

Hermione stared at the doorknob for a long time. For some reason, Amostra Blaine, whom she had only met once, suddenly came to mind. Putting aside the prejudices between the schools, Hermione had a good feeling about the gentle young wizard. At least, he was a polite and understanding person.

"Are you crazy, Hermione?"

Ron puffed out his cheeks in surprise. "Have you forgotten that Harry's current predicament is all because of this investigator!"

“That’s not his fault, Ron,” Hermione said defiantly. “Mr. Blaine was simply following orders from the Board of Governors to investigate the Chamber of Secrets. That’s his duty, but that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily targeting Harry, does it?”

Hermione was pleased that her words had put them both into deep thought. She looked at Harry, whose brow was furrowed, and continued to press for answers.

"So, Harry, to your knowledge, has Mr. Blaine taken any concrete steps?"

"That's the problem, Hermione!"

Ron answered the question for Harry, "Many people thought our investigator would definitely launch an unprecedented operation."

For example, he could have ordered everyone to search the castle, or summoned every Slytherin student for questioning, but so far, he's done nothing, just stayed in his office as if he came back to Hogwarts for a vacation. In my opinion, Hagrid must have made a mistake; perhaps someone else defeated Bill and Charlie!

Harry added with a troubled expression, "Fred and George told us that Mr. Blaine never goes out at night, and only occasionally goes to the kitchen during the day to make himself something to eat and take care of his hygiene."

This answer certainly surprised Hermione. She stood at the foot of the bed, frowning, her lips pursed as if Professor McGonagall had caught a Gryffindor student out for a night out.

"Fred and George are monitoring Mr. Blaine? I mean, they both have classes during the day, how do they know his whereabouts so well?"

"I asked them, but neither of them wanted to say!"

Ron said angrily, "Frain told me that this is the secret to their success. Hmph, apart from being good at dodging Filch, I don't see what else they've succeeded at!"

Ron's assessment wasn't very positive. At least Harry thought Fred and George did a pretty good job of making everyone happy, especially their occasional jokes, which were very popular with the young wizards.

Discussing how Fred and George spyed on Mr. Blaine has strayed from the original topic and is destined to remain unanswered.

At eight o'clock, Madam Pomfrey hurriedly arrived and chased them away. On the way back to the Gryffindor common room, Ron kept complaining that Hermione was unwilling to share her Potions homework, but Harry was used to it. Generally, Hermione wouldn't let them copy a single word until they had finished their homework on their own.

"If you can prove your innocence to Mr. Blaine, Harry, in the current situation, it might be more effective for him to help you explain things to everyone as an investigator than it would be for Headmaster Dumbledore!"

Standing before the portrait of the Fat Lady, Harry hesitated, recalling Hermione's earlier warning.

P.S.: This is the third update. I'd also like to ask for your investment and votes. Thank you!

Chapter 31 Announcement

The first morning of the second week of school began with a chorus of yawns. Professor Snape's Potions homework was clearly troubling more than just one or two people. The Gryffindor common room was packed with second-year students who had stayed up all night to finish their homework. After all, no one wanted to be locked up by Snape in the first month of school.

Last night, before Harry and Ron returned to their dormitory yawning, Neville was squatting by the fireplace with a long face, working on his five-foot-long paper. He didn't even notice that his robes were on fire from the fireplace. Luckily, his toad named Rafer bit his ear hard, saving him from the miserable fate of being roasted alive.

In short, Neville probably didn't sleep much all night, so it took Seamus and Dean about ten minutes to wake him up this morning. And when he went down the spiral staircase, he rolled right into the lounge in front of many people.

“I’ll speak to Professor Snape, Mr. Longbottom, and ask him to be mindful of proceeding gradually.”

Neville's wretched state even touched the heart of the usually stern Professor McGonagall. During the morning's Transfiguration class, when Professor McGonagall understood why Neville was wearing a charred robe, had two large dark circles under his eyes, and had clear bite marks on his ears, she took a deep breath and said...

Neville's little incident briefly made people forget about the investigator who had come to the school, but such luck can't always happen.