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Chapter 571: Moaning Myrtle's Plea
Chapter 571: Moaning Myrtle's Plea
"Oh, of course." Tecross snapped out of his confused expression, "So—right, are there any other students who want to try? I know that in this special situation, some parents might violate the ban out of safety concerns... the Ministry of Magic is not planning to pursue it for now."
Harry's heart skipped a beat. He stared at Malfoy, who had boasted to him a long time ago that a professor had privately agreed to tutor him in spells, including apparition.
But Malfoy didn't show any intention of standing up. All the way to the end, he only completed the side-along apparition under Mr. Diggory's guidance.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
The Ministry of Magic spent two days screening over a thousand students at Hogwarts from top to bottom. In the end, fewer than a hundred students did not meet the requirements. According to Tecross, "I must say, I'm impressed. This has greatly reduced our workload."
"If you had come a few months later, the number of students who didn't meet the standards would have been even smaller", Sirius said, not sure if he was proud or complaining.
"Madam Bones is very worried", Tecross said, half-concealing the truth.
Sirius's heart skipped a beat. He pulled Tecross aside and whispered, "I know. I worked as the Minister's assistant for nearly two months and have a good relationship with Amelia. She told me... the situation hasn't improved, has it?"
"Alas, I only found out by chance", Tecross said. "The number of Muggle victims has been increasing recently, many of which were discovered during the Ministry's private investigations. Their bodies have also been stolen... Madam Bones is concerned that the Dark Lord might be planning something big."
Sirius frowned.
When he brought this up with Felix, Felix remained unusually calm.
"Voldemort is acting personally. He seems to be planning to create a batch of Inferi."
"We should stop him!" Sirius said urgently.
"I would, but—remember, I said 'Voldemort is acting personally.' He isn't using any Death Eaters. And when he decides to do something like this, you won't be able to catch him."
Sirius's face froze. He muttered, "We have to do something."
"We have made some preparations. In fact, it might happen in the next few days—" Felix said to Angelina Johnson, who was sitting on a long bench in the courtyard, "Miss Johnson?"
Angelina slowly walked over, "Are you calling me, Professor Hup?" Her companions were idly watching her.
"Yes, I just wanted to point out that your hair color is different from what I've seen before", Felix said calmly.
Angelina gasped, pulling out a small mirror from her robes and examining herself. "You're right", she said, frowning as a strand of bright pink hair in her ponytail turned back to black.
"Tonks?"
Sirius growled.
"Hi, Sirius, long time no see", 'Angelina' waved at him.
"And the other one—could it be Remus?" Sirius was shocked, staring in disbelief at the other girl on the bench.
"Why would you think that?" Tonks rolled her eyes, "He didn't come. He's guarding the Sword Fort. That's Emmeline Vance, Kingsley, and Mad-Eye. They've been pulled out from the Department of Mysteries."
Sirius gaped, "When did this start?"
"Yesterday", Tonks said cheerfully.
Over the next two days, Sirius tried hard to spot any unusual behavior in his students during class, even becoming somewhat paranoid. He always felt that one of the students might be Mad-Eye Moody, or Kingsley, or even Mundungus.
After class, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the Great Hall for dinner—
"Sirius has been acting weird these past two days", Harry said.
"I've been meaning to ask", Ron grinned, "Do you play frisbee when you're alone together?"
Harry lightly punched him.
"Hi, Neville, Dean, Seamus", Harry greeted, sitting down in the empty seat next to them. Dean and Seamus seemed to be trying to convince Neville to do something. Dean said eagerly, "Cast the spell one more time—what was it? The Daydream Charm? I found that my study efficiency has improved."
"Professor Hup told me this spell shouldn't be overused", Neville whispered.
"Using it occasionally is fine", Seamus shook his head and said.
Harry knew this spell. During the Christmas holiday, Ginny had learned some Auror training techniques from Tonks. After school resumed, they tried to apply these techniques to the front-line lookout station training, but the results were not ideal. The massive training load overwhelmed the members, and not everyone could adapt to the mechanical repetition of spellcasting.
Later, Neville stepped forward and hesitantly introduced a spell he had learned. Harry's first experience with the Daydream Charm was quite impressive—it was almost like the cosmic starry sky magic he had experienced on the golden invitation card. Of course, objectively speaking, the effect was much weaker. Harry's Occlumency constantly reminded him that everything he felt was fake, which significantly reduced Neville's spell's effectiveness.
For the other members, however, this spell provided a spiritual cleansing. Compared to the vast expanse of the cosmos, their petty troubles seemed insignificant. Those who experienced the spell were at least invigorated for a while.
"It's a bit like the charm Cedric came up with, but it's clearly a different path. I prefer this one", Fred commented.
...
Coming back to his senses from the memory of the last club meeting, Harry keenly sensed someone staring at them. He followed the feeling and saw two students sitting at a table across from them, a boy and a girl, who seemed to be a couple. When Harry looked back at them, they smiled at him in unison.
In the evening, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione emerged from the Library, it was already quite late. They were among the last to leave. The three of them walked down the empty corridor, with Ron creatively cursing Snape and the homework he had assigned.
It was an innovation, Harry thought. Ron seemed to have found a true purpose for Divination class—they could draw endless, unfortunate inspiration from the classroom and apply it to Snape. Suddenly, a girl's ghost flew past them quickly.
"Moaning Myrtle?" Harry exclaimed, he hadn't seen her in a long time.
"Oh, it's you", Moaning Myrtle was also startled. She turned to float away but then stopped mid-air, as if petrified. She slowly turned around, her large, protruding eyes staring at them through thick, round glasses. Harry felt uncomfortable; her gaze was scrutinizing and evaluating, reminding him of Malfoy.
"You'll do", she continued.
"What are you talking about?" Ron grumbled, "We've been working on homework all day and are already exhausted. We just want to go back to bed."
"Are you friends with Draco?" Moaning Myrtle asked.
"Who?" Ron's head snapped up.
"Draco, Draco Malfoy", Moaning Myrtle said, "He's in a bit of trouble, and I don't know who to ask for help. But I definitely shouldn't go to a professor; that would make things worse..." She rambled on, floating back and forth in the air.
"Did someone flush him down the toilet?" Ron said excitedly, "And conveniently blocked your home?"
"Rude!" Moaning Myrtle dropped from the air and shouted at Ron. Then she floated up slowly, covering her face in embarrassment, "But he is in my bathroom."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances.
Moaning Myrtle savored the moment for a while before remembering what she needed to do. She hurriedly urged them, "Are you going to help or not? We're running out of time!"
"Who's dragging their feet... I don't want to get caught in the girls' bathroom", Ron muttered.
"You've been there many times", Hermione pointed out.
Indeed, they had been there more than once. In their second year, they spent a considerable amount of time brewing Polyjuice Potion in there. After Malfoy discovered them, they moved to other locations.
"Maybe, but for Malfoy..." Ron hesitated, looking at Harry for a decision.
"Let's go and see", Harry finally said.
(End of Chapter)
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