Hogwarts: The Exemplary Wizard I Am Chapter 919: The Note in the Locket, and Voldemort's Fury - Novel Cool

Chapter 919: The Note in the Locket, and Voldemort's Fury

Chapter 919: The Note in the Locket, and Voldemort's Fury

Not long after Professor McGonagall's departure, the entire Hogwarts was in motion.

Despite the late hour, all the professors rushed from every direction as quickly as possible.

"Oh... Miller..." Professor Slughorn panted as he rushed downstairs, his heavy footsteps and labored breathing accompanying him to Professor McGonagall's side.

"Miller... Could you explain why you've gathered the students at this late hour?"

"For safety," Professor McGonagall replied.

"Safety... I see." Professor Slughorn stroked his silk pajamas, looking around, "Does Severus know? I don't see him here."

"This doesn't warrant bothering our Headmaster," Professor McGonagall assured him.

Whether intentionally or not, the silver tabby cat, a Patronus, entered every professor's office, except for the most crucial one—the Headmaster's office.

"I apologize for gathering everyone," Professor McGonagall said, holding her wand, "I believe the one whose name must not be mentioned is about to arrive. Before that, we must ensure all students are safely escorted out of the castle."

Professor Sprout gasped and unconsciously took two steps back, stumbling slightly and almost falling.

"Sorry, Filius," she quickly apologized.

Professor Flitwick rubbed his shoulder, equally shocked by the news Professor McGonagall brought. He didn't notice the movements of those around him; otherwise, he could have dodged it.

But Professor Flitwick didn't mind.

"What should we do?" he asked in a strained voice. "You must know that no matter what we do, we can't keep the mysterious person out, right?"

"That's how it was before," Professor McGonagall said, her eyes flashing, "But Kyle just brought us good news. That person is injured."

"Injured?" Professor Flitwick exclaimed, "Can you be sure?"

"Of course, Professor," Kyle said, approaching from a short distance away.

"I'm not questioning your words," Professor Flitwick said, steadying himself, "But this news is astonishing. Could you elaborate?"

"As far as I know, it's probably the third time."

Kyle thought for a moment, "The first time was a few months ago when Death Eaters attacked the Ministry of Magic. The mysterious person and Professor Dumbledore were engaged in a grand battle abroad, and he took Professor Dumbledore's wand, but at a great cost."

"The second time was in the Valley of Godric, where I saw the mysterious person's body being scorched by Professor Dumbledore's spells."

"That same body, not long after, was burned again by the Fiendfyre Curse."

With each statement from Kyle, the surrounding professors gasped and murmured in shock.

Most of their information came from The Prophet and conversations with colleagues, and they were genuinely unaware of these secrets, especially the latter two.

"Was Professor Dumbledore also at the Valley of Godric?" Professor Sprout asked curiously, "He never mentioned it, and what's this about Fiendfyre?"

Professor McGonagall knew a bit more than them, but some details were unclear.

According to Kyle's description, she pondered for a moment and said, "It should be the Weather Charm."

"What?"

"At the Valley of Godric," she explained, "Albus must have used the Weather Charm to create lightning with Runes. It's his specialty."

"Remember the thieves who broke into Hogwarts thirty years ago? They were captured by those sudden bolts of lightning, rendering over twenty wizards powerless in an instant."

"Oh, I remember now," Professor Flitwick said, "I had just joined Hogwarts then, and I was envious of his skill."

"It was powerful," Kyle agreed, "The mysterious person's movements were unsteady afterward.

"Combined with the subsequent Fiendfyre Curse, I'd say the mysterious person's current state is far from ideal. He didn't even dare to show himself when Death Eaters attacked the Ministry, even after Professor Dumbledore's death."

As they listened to Kyle, the professors fell into deep thought... If this was the case, it was indeed the best opportunity to eliminate the mysterious person.

"But, Kyle..." Professor Slughorn finally said, catching his breath, "If that's the case, how could the one whose name must not be mentioned possibly come to Hogwarts? He should know it's more dangerous here than at the Ministry."

"If I were him, I'd find a place to hide, now that Professor Dumbledore is dead..." Professor Slughorn added, "Hey, don't look at me like that, I'm just stating a fact."

Professor Slughorn noticed the looks from the professors around him and quickly explained, "I mean, with his greatest rival gone, there's no need to rush to confront Hogwarts."

"In theory, that's correct," Kyle smiled, "But I have a reason he can't refuse."

"What is it?"

"This." Kyle produced the Ravenclaw Diadem, "Professor Slughorn, you should be familiar with soul artifacts like this, right?"

Professor Slughorn's face paled, and he took two steps back, stammering, "I-I've heard of it."

He knew about it, or rather, he taught Tom Riddle how to create such artifacts.

To conceal this knowledge and avoid being killed by Voldemort, he even altered his memories and went into hiding.

Could it be...

Professor Slughorn raised his head to look at the diadem, and then he sighed in relief.

"Well, there's not a single trace of a Horcrux on it."

"I never expected it, the mysterious wizard from the newspaper is actually you." Slughorn regained his confidence, "Do you think the mysterious person wanted to obtain the Diadem and make it into a Horcrux?"

Looking at the pretentious Slughorn, Kyle didn't expose his intentions but merely shook his head, "He did have that idea, and he's already done it. He made the Diadem into his Horcrux over a decade ago."

"That's impossible!" Slughorn exclaimed, "Horcruxes aren't like that."

"That's because the soul fragment inside has already been cleaned up." Kyle looked at him and smiled, "Mr. Lemniscus did a great job, right? It looks brand new."

The Diadem radiated a dazzling brilliance, just like the professors' eyes.

Although they knew that a fragment of Rowena Ravenclaw's memory had been preserved, they were still somewhat excited after seeing the Diadem.

The heads of houses like McGonagall and Sprout were a bit better; they had learned a lot of inside information from Dumbledore in advance.

But it was different for the professors of regular subjects; ever since Kyle took out the Diadem, their eyes hadn't moved an inch.

"Lemniscus..." Slughorn clutched his chest, feeling that Kyle seemed to know something.

"A cleaned Horcrux shouldn't be enough to fool the mysterious person." He changed the subject, "Even if he takes it back, it's useless."

"But the mysterious person doesn't know that it's been cleaned." Kyle shrugged, "You wouldn't be unaware that soul fragments are independent of each other, and they can only be sensed when they're close enough."

"And we cleaned the Diadem before the mysterious person was resurrected. He wouldn't have known that one of his Horcruxes had been destroyed."

"Ah, yes, that's right." Slughorn stammered, "I'll go call the Slytherin students now."

He hurried away, as if afraid that Kyle would reveal some of his foolish deeds in the next moment.

"When did Horace become so proactive?" Professor McGonagall said, "Well, I suggest we gather the students in the Great Hall as well.

"Most students must leave, but if there are adult students willing to fight, I think we should give them the chance."

"Agreed." Professor Sprout had already walked towards the door, muttering, "Venomous Tentacles, Devil's Snare, Man-Eating Kale..."

Professor Flitwick quickened his pace, his footsteps heavy but with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

"The injured mysterious person, perhaps we can truly win this time." He muttered to himself, glancing back at the Diadem in Kyle's hand.

As the Head of Ravenclaw House, Professor Flitwick knew more than the other professors. Originally, he thought Dumbledore would lock the Diadem in the Headmaster's Office, but he never expected that Dumbledore would give it to Kyle.

Or perhaps, this was Rowena Ravenclaw's decision... after all, she herself was in a corner of the castle.

It was unknown whether she would help this time.

She was Rowena Ravenclaw, the smartest witch in history, one of the creators of Hogwarts, with countless honors to her name... thinking of this, Voldemort and the Death Eaters suddenly didn't seem so scary.

"Oh, no, we can't place our hopes on a wizard from history." Professor Flitwick shook his head, quickening his steps.

Soon, only Kyle and Professor McGonagall remained.

"I still need to confirm." Professor McGonagall said, "Will the mysterious person really come to Hogwarts just for a Horcrux, dragging their injured body?"

"One might not, but what about many?" Kyle said, "We have more than just one Diadem here, he will definitely come."

"When?"

"I don't know." Kyle said, "It depends on when he realizes his Horcruxes are gone. I left him clues, he should be able to sense it."

...

"Oh!"

In a room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry suddenly woke up from a startling dream, his nightclothes soaked in sweat, his hair damp with perspiration.

But he didn't pay attention to these details, he just sat up and covered his forehead scar with his hand.

"Bang!"

The room door was pushed open from outside.

Sirius rushed in anxiously from outside, "I heard your shout, what happened?"

He held his wand, cautiously examining the surroundings, not daring to relax even knowing it was safe enough.

Harry Potter blinked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because we received news that he is very likely to attack Hogwarts." Sirius Black spoke quickly.

"Oh no, Hermione and Ron are still at school."

"So we must go there immediately." Sirius said, "Hurry up, Remus is already waiting, let's go."

"Okay!" Harry immediately replied.

He rolled out of bed, and before he could stand still, a wave of intense pain surged onto Harry's head, his head felt like it was about to split open.

In an instant, he looked down and saw a pale, withered hand, it was Voldemort's hand, holding an opened locket box, with a piece of paper inside.

Harry tried to read the handwriting on the paper, but couldn't manage it, as the burning scar kept distracting his attention. He could barely make out three letters on the paper.

R.A.B.

"Harry, Harry, are you okay?" a voice said, and Harry snapped back to reality, finding himself sitting on the floor, with Sirius pulling on his arm.

"You just scared me, did you see him again?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded, and asked subconsciously, "Sirius, do you know what R.A.B. means?"

"R.A.B.?" Sirius shook his head, "It sounds like an abbreviation of a name, in fact, my brother Regulus's abbreviation is this, but you shouldn't know him, right?"

"I don't know." Harry thought for a moment, realizing that he indeed didn't know the name Regulus.

"What did you see?"

"A cave, Voldemort was inside, and he had a locket box, with this written inside."

Harry didn't notice that as he spoke about the cave and locket box, Sirius started trembling, and his eyes were covered with a layer of mist.

"Can you... explain in detail?" he asked cautiously. "That cave... what does it look like..."

"Very dark." Harry didn't understand why his godfather was so affected by that cave, "And there's a pitch-black lake, with a stone basin in the middle, and Voldemort took the locket box from there."

"Haha, hahaha!"

Sirius suddenly burst into loud laughter, startling Harry.

His laughter grew louder, even attracting Lupin from outside.

"Sirius, what's going on?"

Sirius didn't respond, but looked at Harry, "What was Voldemort's reaction, I mean after he saw that locket box."

"He was furious." Harry said, "I saw him destroy the entire cave, and falling rocks filled the pitch-black lake."

"Wait, you just said you saw..."

Lupin stared at Harry, "You spied on Voldemort's thoughts again? Dumbledore should have told you that it's a very dangerous thing, and you saw..."

"I don't know." Harry thought for a moment, realizing that he indeed didn't know the name Regulus.

"He's Regulus?"

"Yeah." Sirius wiped the corners of his eyes, with a sense of relief in his voice, "Let's go to Hogwarts first, and then I'll tell you everything."

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end

Report