Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 163 The Heir, Lockhart, Hedwig

At least one thing, Tom Riddle was not wrong-Toby was indeed distressed because he was sorted into Slytherin House, and even suffered psychological torture because of it.

Even more than Slytherin Slytherin is just a path chosen by Toby himself, and the reason why he is so obsessed with the pursuit of ancient magic also stems from his desire to prove the uselessness of blood theory.

He didn't understand why a Muggle-born would be sorted into Slytherin, where the blood was supreme.

Toby can often feel the vague repulsion of the black walnut wand, which seems to prove that the idea of ​​being more Slytherin than Slytherin is wrong, at least not completely correct.

Toby wants to find out the real reason, from Tom Riddle.

However, after torturing it for a long time, the notebook still refused to let go, it even gave up talking to Toby, and no matter what Toby wrote, a line of words would no longer emerge.

"Huh?" Al held up a small shovel and asked Toby if he wanted to continue the interrogation.

"No, stop first."

Toby said, throwing the notebook into the coffin, and then he sat on the chair behind the desk and thought silently.

Now it seems that the plan to force the notebook to answer truthfully has completely failed. Although Toby still has many methods that cannot be used, it is difficult to guarantee that the notebook will not be destroyed.

Perhaps, Toby shouldn't have been so impatient at the beginning, he should have left the notebook by Luna's side, and secretly observed what the plan of the notebook was.

But that's really against what a professor is supposed to do - framing students.

And Toby had already thought of a better goal.

Myrtle once mentioned that an uninvited guest sneaked into the abandoned bathroom before school started. This happened to correspond to one of the places mentioned in the notebook. What is the connection between this notebook.

After all, this Tom Riddle notebook couldn't have been conjured out of thin air.

Toby calls Al over and he whispers something.

Gradually, Al showed a malicious smile.

It didn't like the megalomaniac who dominated the charts from the start.
-
On the other hand, after Professor Highmore left Hagrid's cabin, the three of Harry also bid farewell and left quickly.They found a place by the Black Lake, sat down, and discussed in low voices what they had just seen.

"As soon as Professor Highmore woke up, he went to Hagrid and asked him to take him to the chicken coop." Harry said, "Do you feel that something is wrong?"

"Need to say." Ron smacked his tongue: "The first time I saw Professor Haimer, I thought there was something wrong with him. Why did he wrap himself up so tightly? To be honest, he probably wouldn't Really turned into a mummy? Do you remember the pharaoh mask?"

He asked with his eyes the only person who had clearly seen the whole process during the last confinement.

"Of course I remember." Hermione said worriedly: "But I think it might have something to do with the magic circle on the professor's body, which looks much more dangerous than the pharaoh's mask. After all, who would do that kind of experiment on themselves what"

She still hasn't forgotten the shocking scene at that time - there are dense magic circles engraved on Professor Haimer's upper body, and all of them emit an ominous black light.This caused Hermione to have nightmares for several days, each ending with Professor Highmore turning into a monster and killing both her and Harry.

Seeing that the topic was getting more and more biased, Harry quickly stopped them and said, "Let's talk about Professor Highmore later. I mean the monster, the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. After all, Professor Highmore is the only witnesses."

Ron looked at him suspiciously: "Did I hear you right? Are there any monsters that are associated with roosters? Favorite food?"

Hermione was stunned for a moment, she suddenly stretched out her hand and patted her forehead: "Rooster—quick, follow me to the library, I seem to know!"

"What do you know?!" Ron shouted behind her, but Hermione ran so fast that she didn't have time to stop, so the two had to follow her in confusion.

Under Mrs. Pince's dissatisfied eyes, the three walked into the library quickly. Hermione searched in front of the tall bookshelves, picked up a copy of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", and found a table with Harry and Ron. Get down and turn the pages quickly.

"Look!"

Hermione suppressed her excitement and said, "Look at this."

Harry looked over quickly, and Ron read in a low voice the passage pointed to by Hermione: [In our country, there are many terrifying beasts and monsters roaming around, the most bizarre and lethal one is the basilisk, also known as snake king.The snake, which can become very large and often live for hundreds of years, is hatched from an egg by a toad.The Basilisk kills in an astonishing way, as its deadly stare can kill as well as its deadly fangs.Anyone caught by its gaze is instantly killed.The spider will run away when it sees the basilisk, because the basilisk is the deadly enemy of the spider, and the basilisk will run away if it hears the crowing of the rooster, because the crowing of the rooster is also fatal to it. 】

Harry and Ron heard Hermione say excitedly: "The basilisk, I think this is the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. Maybe Professor Highmore went to the chicken coop because he knew this - and the spiders, you remember in the Those spiders at the place where Mrs. Norris was killed, they are all running for their lives, and the basilisk is their natural nemesis-this all corresponds to it!"

Harry and Ron exchanged a look, and then Ron hesitated and said, "It's not that I want to hit you, but if the eyes of the basilisk are fatal, then why isn't Professor Highmore dead? And, most importantly, Why didn't Professor Highmore tell us this? He doesn't seem to have any reason to hide it from the students, or any other professor, even Headmaster Dumbledore."

Hermione calmed down a little.

Yes, what Ron said is correct, if Professor Highmore really knew about the existence of the basilisk, he did not die in the attack of the basilisk.
"Maybe it's because he hasn't had time to tell us." Hermione said with a fluke mentality: "Go back to the common room and take a look, it might be published in the college magazine."

They hurried back to the Gryffindor common room again, scrolling through the huge pages of the house magazine.

However, there is not even a word of the basilisk mentioned there.

At this moment, not only Hermione, but even Harry and Ron had bad thoughts in their hearts.

They didn't understand why Professor Highmore didn't tell the story.

What's even more unclear is how Professor Highmore was only harmed by petrification instead of dying.

Moreover, did Professor Haimo really wake up by luck?
"Maybe you guys think I'm crazy." Ron said dryly, "But why do I think that Professor Haimer is the mysterious murderer? Don't you think it's reasonable—he did it through petrification first. Hurt himself, so that when he wakes up, no one else will suspect him."

"Professor Highmore is the heir of Slytherin. I'm sorry, Harry, but it looks like you lost the election."

"No, it can't be like this." Harry didn't believe this statement from the bottom of his heart. How could it be Professor Highmore?He was the only Slytherin who was different, and even changed Harry's impression of Slytherin House. At least, it wasn't all purely annoying bigots there.

"Let's go to Principal Dumbledore." Hermione suggested calmly, "Now we can only do this."

Hermione was right, and in case Professor Highmore was the real murderer, Harry couldn't think of anyone who could stop him - probably only Dumbledore.

They hurried out of the common room again, only to find that none of them knew where the headmaster's office was, or who had been taken to see the headmaster, when they were in the corridor.

"How about writing a letter?" Ron suddenly thought of this method.

So, amidst the fat lady's complaints, they crawled back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry hurried back to the dormitory, took out the parchment and quill, but hesitated at how to write.

"Let's write about the basilisk first." Hermione knew why Harry was hesitating: "As for Professor Highmore. What do you think of the fact that Professor Highmore inspired us?"

Harry thought this method couldn't be more correct. After writing the letter, they went to the owl hut together and asked Hedwig to deliver the letter to Dumbledore.

The three of them stood on the terrace together, watching Hedwig fly farther and farther, and it didn't look like they flew to the principal's office.

"It seems that the principal is not at school." Ron clapped his hands and said, "Go back, I hope we can get a reply from the principal soon."

"You said, where did the principal go?" On the way back, Harry was still wondering: "Is it related to Professor Highmore that he chose to leave at this time?"

Neither Ron nor Hermione could answer.
-
At the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, Lockhart receives a mysterious letter with a package.

"Let me see which enthusiastic reader sent this in—no signature? How could it be unsigned?"

Lockhart turned the envelope over and over several times, but both the name and the address were blank.

"It seems to be a reader who likes a mysterious atmosphere."

Lockhart readily accepted the other party's kindness, which is not too unusual among the letters from fans, and it is also a treatment that another author in the same castle has never enjoyed.

[Dear Mr. Lockhart, I am a reader who cannot be named, but I really like your book, but I can't get a photo of your autograph, don't ask me why, it's also inconvenient revealed.All in all, I sent you a gift, I hope you can write my reply on the gift, I think I will feel those words in the dark. 】

Facing the curious eyes of the portraits on the wall, Lockhart opened the package and saw the black-covered notebook inside.

"Aha—as a top-seller author, I shouldn't let my readers down, should I?"

The portraits nodded approvingly, and several of them looked proud.

Lockhart took out a quill, opened the notebook, dipped some ink, and wrote on the blank page: "Dear reader, I hope you can feel these words with your heart, because I received your gift gone."

Just when Lockhart was thinking about how to continue writing, he suddenly saw these handwriting disappear little by little, and another line of blurred words appeared instead: [Who are you? 】

Startled, Lockhart watched as the line of writing disappeared as well.

Now it seems that it has broken away from the category of replying to book fans.

Lockhart tried to continue writing: "Is that you, my crazy book fan. Could you tell me your name if it's convenient?"

Then, the notebook's answer appeared.

[Don't think you can fool me with this method—Tom Riddle—I know this name will scare you, remember this name well, one day, you will pay for it——]

With a "snap", the notebook was forcefully closed.

A fine bead of sweat appeared on Lockhart's forehead, and he panicked suddenly.

"Merlin"

Lockhart hurriedly put the notebook in his arms, looked around, found a mirror, looked at the expression on his face in the mirror, and tried to show himself a confident smile in the past.

After adjusting for a while, he returned to his cheerful appearance, walked out of the office as if nothing had happened, and came to the corridor.

"Ok?"

Lockhart stared suspiciously at a piece of armor in the corner of the corridor, was it originally placed here?

He turned his head three times a step, stared at the armor for a while, and when he reached the stairs, he quickened his pace and hurried to the abandoned bathroom on the second floor, then opened a compartment at random, and threw the notebook into it, like It was as if he was getting rid of some unforeseen trouble, and then hurried away.
-
It was a gloomy room with the curtains drawn. Dumbledore sat on an uncomfortable chair, and he looked helplessly at the suspicious occupant opposite.

"Alastor, as I said, I am not joking."

Moody's hideous face appeared, and he grunted, "Oh, really? But I've never heard you make such a request of me—let me help one of your students Azkaban? I remember you hated dementors, which makes it hard for me to imagine what made you change your mind."

"It has nothing to do with my opinion of dementors." Dumbledore said, but Moody suddenly became alert at this moment. He quietly came to the window, wand in hand, looking ready to strike at any moment. look.

"Owl," he yelled suddenly, "dammit, those people found me after all! Don't tell me you're with them, Albus—"

"Don't be nervous." Dumbledore walked to Moody, and he also saw the flying owl: "If I'm not mistaken, it's just another student's pet of mine, let it in, there won't be any harm." Yes."

After Hedwig was allowed to enter the room, it was completely seen by Moody's magic eyes, and it hid in a corner and shivered.

Dumbledore opened the letter, and when he saw the contents, he frowned a little bit.

"What, is there a problem?" Moody asked, the magic eye still fixed on Hedwig.

A flame from Dumbledore's palm set the letter ablaze, and the flames shone across his darkened face.

"Always like that," he said quietly.

(End of this chapter)