Hogwarts Bloodline Chapter 971: The Secret Compartment in the Picture Frame - Novel Cool

Chapter 971: The Secret Compartment in the Picture Frame

Chapter 971: The Secret Compartment in the Picture Frame

After Luna admitted she could do nothing more, Ivan had to abandon his hope of getting any leads from Dumbledore. Now, his only option was to head to the Headmaster's Office himself.

However, Ivan didn't rush into action immediately. He had finally found a way to use the Resurrection Stone and wanted to take this opportunity to conduct some thorough experiments. The guinea pigs for these experiments were the Death Eaters who had died by his hand.

After a series of tests, Ivan discovered that the majority of the deceased had no power to resist the Resurrection Stone's summoning and had fallen into an endless darkness at the moment of their death, their memories frozen at that final moment.

The only exception seemed to be Dumbledore.

The information he had gathered from Harry and the behavior of the summoned Dumbledore both clearly indicated that the headmaster could maintain his sanity in the afterlife.

Was it due to the vast difference in magical prowess during his lifetime?

Ivan pondered this for a moment and then asked Luna to summon Nicolas Flamel. To his surprise, it went smoothly. However, after their conversation, Ivan was surprised to find that the renowned Alchemical Master, like others, knew very little about the afterlife.

Given this, Ivan decided to ask about the method to repair the memory-erasing device.

Fortunately, despite this setback, the overall results of the experiments were highly satisfactory. The power of the Resurrection Stone, one of the Deathly Hallows, indeed had the ability to summon the souls of the dead from the afterlife.

This meant that with the Resurrection Stone, he possessed the power to break the barrier between life and death. If he wished, he could use Dark Magic Rituals to resurrect any deceased person ...

However, Ivan did not let this inflate his ego.

Since the creators of the Three Hallows had deliberately placed magical restrictions on the Resurrection Stone, there must have been a profound reason. Perhaps the misuse of the Resurrection Stone could lead to severe consequences.

With this in mind, Ivan turned to the young witch beside him and said, "That's enough, Luna. Put the Resurrection Stone away."

Luna nodded and immediately stopped supplying magic to the Resurrection Stone. The dark, ethereal space around them shattered, and the gentle night breeze blew through, revealing the sea of blue and purple flowers once again.

"Thank you, Luna", Ivan said gratefully as he took the Resurrection Stone from her. Without her help, he would have no idea how long it would have taken to obtain the information about the Horcrux.

"You don't need to thank me. We're friends, aren't we? And you've already given me the best gift!" Luna gently shook her head, lost in the sight of the petals being carried away by the night breeze, dispersing into wisps of blue and purple Magic Lumos.

Once all the petals had vanished, Luna opened the glass bottle containing the memories. Under the guidance of her wand, the wisps of white mist returned to her mind.

She remembered everything she had forgotten. Scenes of her time with her mother replayed in her mind, and the memories ultimately settled on the afternoon when her mother had died in an accident. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

"You'll see her again soon, I promise you that!" Ivan said solemnly.

...

After bidding Luna farewell, Ivan Apparated back to Hogwarts Castle and made his way directly to the Headmaster's Office on the top floor.

Ivan pushed open the door and looked around. It had been nearly half a year since his last visit, and everything here seemed somewhat unfamiliar.

The Olive Branch where the Phoenix once resided was nearly withered, and a large number of unprocessed files were haphazardly piled beside the desk. Only the portraits on the background wall remained unchanged.

As Ivan stepped into the Headmaster's Office, the eyes in the portraits all turned to him, curiously examining him.

Ivan's gaze also shifted to one of the portraits. In the frame, Dumbledore was leisurely sipping tea and chatting with a few headmasters about the students' amusing antics.

"Professor Dumbledore, is there something you've been forgetting to tell me?" Ivan stepped forward with a hint of irritation, interrupting the headmasters' conversation.

"Rude boy... Can't you see we're discussing important matters?" A female headmaster from Ravenclaw glared at Ivan, clearly displeased.

"Really? I never knew discussing student gossip could be so important..." Ivan rolled his eyes, sarcastically retorting.

He had always assumed that the portraits in the Headmaster's Office maintained their dignity and didn't leave the room, which was why he never saw them around the castle.

Now it seemed that wasn't the case. Instead, they were quite secretive, likely hiding somewhere to spy on students' gossip every day...

The headmasters were clearly unhappy with Ivan's remarks. They were genuinely concerned about the students' growth, not just gossiping.

"Well, it seems the time has come..." Dumbledore didn't seem surprised by Ivan's arrival. After a brief discussion with the other headmasters, he got up and fiddled with a bookshelf in his portrait.

In the next moment, a side of the portrait frame began to move.

Ivan moved closer and noticed that there was a secret compartment hidden beneath Dumbledore's portrait.

In his previous search for the Elder Wand, he had thoroughly searched the entire Headmaster's Office and even considered moving these headmaster portraits. However, the wall behind them was under a powerful fixing spell, and to avoid damaging these valuable portraits, he had given up the idea. He never expected Dumbledore to be so crafty and hide things here.

Sometimes, one shouldn't be too merciful...

Ivan reflected, taking down the portrait frame and setting it aside.

The secret compartment was small, containing several dozen transparent glass bottles. Each bottle held a few wisps of white mist, which looked like Memory Threads.

So, the answer Dumbledore wanted him to find was in these memories...

Ivan took out the glass bottles and glanced at a particular portrait, his expression turning sour. This was such an important matter, yet when he visited the Headmaster's Office months ago, Dumbledore hadn't mentioned a word.

Dumbledore in the portrait shrugged, calmly explaining that he was just following orders. The person Ivan was looking for was already dead, and he was just a portrait...

With no outlet for his frustration, Ivan decided to focus on the glass bottles containing the Memory Threads. He lightly shook his Bone Wand, and the nearest glass bottle opened, releasing wisps of white mist.

Ivan waved his wand and shouted loudly.

"Priori Incantatem!"

(End of Chapter)

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