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Chapter 245: It Seems We Misjudged You
Chapter 245: It Seems We Misjudged You
Upon hearing this shocking news, the Great Hall fell into a brief silence. Professors Flitwick and Sprout, their faces pale, immediately rushed out.
There was no need to continue the duel. Ivan turned to Snape and instructed him to restrain and protect the students in the hall, then hurriedly followed the others.
Snape was unhappy about Ivan's command, but he still fulfilled his duty as a professor, ordering all the students to stay put and not to leave!
On the other side, Ivan rushed to the third floor as quickly as possible.
Apart from Snape, all of Hogwarts' teaching professors were already there. Madam Pomfrey was crouched on the ground, examining the victim.
Dumbledore stood to the side, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
Ivan took a few steps closer and saw the injured girl. She appeared to be a second or third-year Hufflepuff student, her face deathly pale, and her breathing barely perceptible.
Unlike the previous incident, the girl had not bled, and there were no strange writings on the walls around her.
Ivan was not surprised. He had been at the Dueling Club all night, and Tom might have known it would be impossible to frame him.
"Poor child, she has suffered severe life force depletion, just like the previous Ravenclaw girl." Madam Pomfrey sighed worriedly, but she could do nothing.
"What kind of dark magic could cause such an effect?" Professor Mcgonagall was furious, her hand trembling as she held her Wand, looking at Dumbledore for an answer.
"The important thing is not how it was done, but who did it!" Dumbledore did not provide an answer, but spoke in a grave tone.
"Perhaps we can investigate which students didn't attend my dueling class tonight. The number should be small." Ivan suggested.
He suddenly realized this was a good opportunity to catch Tom Riddle. The corridor on the third floor was not remote, so the girl must have been attacked shortly after the Dueling Club started!
This meant that the majority of the suspects could be ruled out!
The few students who didn't attend the class could be investigated one by one, and it would be immediately clear who had the Horcrux!
"An excellent suggestion! We should act immediately!" Professor Mcgonagall quickly understood the point and said with surprise.
"By the way, where is Severus?" Professor Mcgonagall was puzzled by Snape's absence.
"I left him in the Great Hall to protect the children, just in case the attacker strikes again while we're gone. It also makes it easier to count who didn't show up!" Ivan said confidently. He believed that this time, Tom wouldn't be able to escape!
"Professor Lockhart, it seems we misjudged you. You proved to be quite reliable in this critical moment." Mcgonagall was surprised by Ivan's cautious arrangements.
The other professors also looked at "Lockhart" with a mix of curiosity and disbelief. They found it hard to believe that those words had come from Lockhart.
Noticing the puzzled looks, Ivan realized he had overplayed his role and that it didn't quite fit "Lockhart's" persona.
However, the opportunity to find the Horcrux was too rare, and in his excitement, he had momentarily forgotten his role.
Ivan quickly cleared his throat and added,
"Cough, cough. Of course, such emergencies are nothing new in my legendary career. I dare say no one in the Wizarding World knows better how to handle a crisis than I do!"
Ivan managed to pull himself together, and fortunately, the professors were not in the mood to probe further, their minds focused on capturing the attacker.
Ivan volunteered to go and round up the young Wizards who had skipped class.
He felt that it would be best to find the Horcrux before anyone else, come up with a reason to destroy it, and then report it, to prevent Dumbledore from learning any information that could be detrimental to him from the Horcrux.
Although the possibility was small, he couldn't afford to take any chances.
Unfortunately, after Ivan offered to join the search, Dumbledore rejected his proposal.
"No! I need you to inform Severus and work with him to protect the children in the Great Hall, and compile a list of all the students who didn't attend the duelling class!" Dumbledore said.
Couldn't someone else be assigned to such a minor task? Ivan was about to protest, but he noticed Dumbledore's half-moon spectacles trained on him and quickly closed his mouth.
"Alright, I'll go inform Snape." Ivan averted his gaze to avoid eye contact with Dumbledore and turned to leave.
Ivan had been using Occlumency the entire time, but even after walking down the entire corridor, he found no signs of his mind being invaded.
Despite this, Ivan sensed that Dumbledore had some suspicions about his identity, which was why he had rejected Ivan's offer to join the search.
"Damn, I should have kept the Marauder's Map with me!" Ivan couldn't help but sigh as he made his way to the Great Hall.
Because he had to switch identities with Lockhart today, he had put away all items that didn't fit his new persona, to avoid them falling out and arousing suspicion during a fight.
Ivan hadn't anticipated that Tom Riddle would be so bold, daring to launch a second attack at this time!
...
When Ivan returned to the Great Hall, he found that Snape had already cast a spell to remove the duelling platform and restore the four house tables, with all the young Wizards sitting obediently in their seats.
Snape, upon seeing Ivan enter the hall, approached with a dark expression. "What happened? Did someone get attacked?"
Ivan nodded and recounted the incident involving a third-year Hufflepuff girl being attacked, then continued.
"In any case, we need to take a headcount. The attacker is likely among the students who didn't attend the class! I'll handle Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and you can take care of Slytherin and Hufflepuff."
After explaining, Ivan hurried to the two house tables to compile the list of students.
Snape, though reluctant to follow Ivan's commands, had to admit that the plan made sense, so he begrudgingly complied.
It took them over half an hour to verify the list of students, and Ivan was pleasantly surprised to find that the number of absentees was much smaller than he had anticipated—only two young girls from the lower grades!
The Horcrux must be in one of their hands!
Ivan felt that Tom wouldn't be able to keep up his act for much longer, but the smooth progress of events made him feel a bit uneasy.
(End of Chapter)
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