Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 535 Teachers and Students
Not only did Harry's faith collapse, most of the students in Hogwarts felt the same way.

Because they had also received the expedited edition of "The Quibbler" that Penelope had spent a lot of money to print urgently.

The various irrefutable evidences in "The Quibbler" forced them to believe a fact.

That was their hero, who was captured by the person they respected the most in such a humiliating way.

For a moment, the originally noisy auditorium suddenly became silent, and everyone's face was filled with intense confusion.

You know, in their impression, Michael and Dumbledore are in the same camp. Why would two comrades who fought Voldemort together fight each other?

Moreover, since Dumbledore was able to subdue and kill Michael, who was Voldemort, in a crushing manner, this shows that he is at least capable of competing with Voldemort.

Then the problem is coming.

Why didn't Dumbledore take action when Voldemort and the Death Eaters were rampant in the wizarding world of Britain?
Is it true, as "The Quibbler" says, that their principal is timid when facing evil, but strikes hard when facing heroes?
Most teenagers' thinking is always in a straight line, and their superficial social experience is not enough to support them to think about problems from more perspectives.

So when they found that they could not give a reasonable answer to this series of questions with their own wisdom, they chose the most direct way - to question Dumbledore.

So, after a brief moment of silence, the Hogwarts Great Hall became noisy again.

The students began to rush towards the Hogwarts principal's office like crazy.

This scared the professors who were maintaining order in the auditorium, and they quickly stood in front of the students to stop them from moving forward.

Normally, the students would scatter like birds and beasts as soon as their professors started causing trouble, but today was different. Under the stimulation of a series of events, many students had lost their minds, and some even took out their wands and started attacking the professors.

Hogwarts professors have always been synonymous with power, a reputation that has been hard-earned by senior professors such as Flitwick, Snape and McGonagall.

But in fact, on the whole, the strength of the professors at Hogwarts is not that high. You have to know that Hogwarts is still a school after all. What they need is not powerful fighters, but teachers who have mastered all kinds of profound knowledge.

The professors who are currently staying in the auditorium belong to the latter category. These scholar-professors were stunned the first moment they were attacked.

In a sense, the battles between wizards are very similar to the gunfights between Muggles, both are extremely strong on offense but extremely weak on defense. Even though these are just attacks from students, if they are really hit by these spells, they probably won't feel too good.

So, faced with the aggressive students, these professors who were once high and mighty retreated.

A large number of students directly broke through their defenses and continued to rush towards their destination.

At this moment, a huge force emerged from the stairs and pushed the students back into the auditorium.

Snape, dressed in a black robe, walked slowly out from the stairs, staring at the students silently with a pair of eyes as deep as a lake.

Seeing this, the students who were originally fierce immediately became timid.

A person’s name is like a tree’s shadow!
The name Professor Snape has cast such a huge shadow in the hearts of these students over the past few years that they instinctively retreat whenever they see Snape.

For a moment, the scene returned to its previous state of confrontation!
Just when the situation was at a stalemate, Chris's tall figure suddenly appeared in the auditorium.

In this auditorium that now has gathered at least a hundred people, Chris walked around the crowd openly, looking around and visiting the Hogwarts Hall. From time to time, he touched the wall or the table beside him with his hand, looking very contented.

What was strange was that the students standing around ignored the person who suddenly appeared next to them. They just let Chris stroll through the crowd and reach the stairs.

Looking at Snape who was blocking the stairs like a door god, the corners of Chris' mouth suddenly curled up.

He put his face close to Snape and looked at his shiny hair carefully. After confirming some things, he frowned and shook his head with a little disgust, then quickened his pace and walked around Snape towards the stairs behind him.

Snape, who was being observed closely by Chris, seemed to have noticed something. He frowned and looked behind him, but in the end he still did not find Chris. He could only turn back angrily and continue staring at the group of students.

At this time, Chris had already stepped onto a flight of stairs, and let the floating staircase take him to a passage higher up before walking down.

Looking back at the familiar stairs with some nostalgia, Chris set out on his journey again.

But before he could walk far, an illusory figure appeared in front of him.

That's Peeves!
Peeves was seen laughing strangely and floating towards the auditorium.

There was a hint of joy in Chris's eyes, and he looked at Peeves with great interest. Although Peeves was basically a disliked character in Hogwarts, but in Chris's eyes at this moment he was more like an old friend who had not been seen for a long time.

While Chris was looking at Peeves, Peeves was also looking at Chris.

Originally, Peeves didn't want to play a trick on this student. You know, as the most famous prankster in Hogwarts Castle, Peeves had to go to the auditorium to attend the "banquet"!

But Chris's staring at him made him angry.

Are all the kids nowadays so ignorant?

It would be fine if you didn't run away when you met the Peeves, but how dare you stare at me with such a look?
So, Peeves decided to teach this ignorant boy a lesson!
But just as the Pipi Goblin swooped down with a smile, ready to pass through Chris' body and give him a chill, his translucent body suddenly froze.

"You...you are..."

Before he could finish his words, Peeves' body began to tremble violently. He turned around and tried to escape by drilling into the wall.

But it was too late.

Chris just hooked his finger lightly, and Peeves' body was grabbed by a big hand and pulled in front of Chris.

"Peeves."

Chris murmured as he stretched out his hands and rubbed Peeves' illusory body repeatedly.

His hands seemed to have some magical power. As he rubbed them, Peeves quickly turned into a ball and was tossed forward by him.

After getting the Pippi Ball, Chris seemed to be in a better mood. His steps became lighter and soon he arrived at the principal's office.

Unlike usual, the huge and ferocious monster statue was not guarding the office door at this moment. The dark fan-shaped corridor was exposed in front of Chris, as if the owner inside had anticipated the arrival of guests and opened the door in advance. Seeing this, Chris smiled at the twisted and terrified face on the ball in his hand, threw it aside, and strode in.

As he expected, the old and magnificent wooden door at the end of the corridor was also wide open. For some reason, he looked a little nervous at this moment. He hesitated for a moment, then straightened his clothes and entered the office.

As soon as he entered the office, Chris smelled a strange smell of decay, which made him frown.

But soon his frown relaxed, because as he looked around, the situation in the principal's office was almost exactly the same as when he first arrived, even the positions of the portraits of the old principal on the wall had not changed.

"Oh!"

On a wooden shelf in the corner of the office, the phoenix Fox chirped at Chris vigilantly.

Unlike the other things, Fox's body was noticeably smaller than the last time he came.

But Chris was not surprised by this. He knew very well that creatures like the Phoenix had to be reborn from the ashes every once in a while, so changes in their body shape were very common.

He smiled at Fox and turned his gaze to a lounge chair behind the planetarium in the middle.

At this moment, there was a figure lying on the couch - Dumbledore.

Dumbledore has become even thinner now, with almost no flesh on his body. The dry and wrinkled skin is tightly wrapped around his frame which is much thicker than that of a normal person.

The long white beard and hair on his head were extremely messy, and coupled with his dry and thin body, he looked like a large brush with the bristles blown up.

If the angry students downstairs saw Dumbledore's current appearance, they would definitely firmly believe that Dumbledore had been dead for many days, because at this moment he looked almost no different from a mummy.

But Chris knew that Dumbledore was not dead yet. Although he was close to death, at least he was still alive.

Taking a deep breath, Chris slowly walked up to Dumbledore, squatted carefully, and called softly:

"Professor, Professor Dumbledore."

"Ok?"

Dumbledore opened his eyes with difficulty and looked towards the source of the sound. His originally beautiful blue eyes had disappeared. A thick layer of white film covered his cornea, making people doubt whether Dumbledore could still see at this moment.

Chris was also deeply confused by this, so in order to allow Dumbledore to see him as clearly as possible, he deliberately moved his face closer.

"Tom, you are not dead yet."

A hoarse voice like the grinding of rocks came out from Dumbledore's dry throat, and upon hearing the words, a smile bloomed on Chris's face.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore!" Chris said with a smile, "Of course I'm not dead."

Dumbledore nodded and continued with difficulty:
"Are you here to kill me?"

As soon as Dumbledore said this, the expression on Chris's face froze immediately and he stood there without saying a word.

At this moment, the portraits on the wall that were originally sleeping soundly also opened their eyes and looked at the teacher and student below with vigilance.

What is surprising is that among the magical portraits of the old headmasters, there is a portrait of Dumbledore.

Unlike the mummy on the recliner, Dumbledore in the portrait had a rosy face, an upright posture, a smile on his face, and looked full of energy.

And in this eerie silence, Chris suddenly spoke.

"Professor, there is a question that has been bothering me. Can you help me solve it?"

Chris asked, but did not give Dumbledore a chance to refuse, and continued:

"Why did you reject my application to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts?"

After these words came out, Dumbledore's gray eyes seemed to become clearer. He looked at Chris with an expressionless face and shook his head slowly.
"Because of the look in your eyes at that time."

"look?"

"Yes, that look is very familiar to me. It is the look of a resentful person. Although I don't know what you went through before returning to Hogwarts, it must have been an experience that made you heartbroken and cynical." Dumbledore said with some emotion, "I have also been through it, so I know very well that you were not suitable to be a professor at Hogwarts in your current state. Every student is a blank piece of parchment. Your extreme emotions at that time would infect them and eventually make them as extreme as you. So... I rejected you, and looked forward to your improvement and return here again. As a result..."

"It turns out that I did come back, but I became more extreme, right?"

Chris interrupted Dumbledore, and a hint of ferocity gradually appeared on his expressionless face.

Dumbledore was silent.

Seeing this, Chris seemed to be unable to suppress his emotions any longer. He stood up and pointed at Dumbledore and shouted:
"You saw it clearly! You saw it clearly! Then why didn't you help me? Huh!? As a professor, isn't it your duty to help students out of trouble?"

"You always look down on me like this... like this! You burned my locker when we first met! And then when we got to Hogwarts, you kept targeting me! Do you hate me so much?"

Along with Chris's roar, a terrifying magical power suddenly emerged from his body.

The portraits on the wall immediately closed their eyes and pretended to sleep. Even the phoenix Fawkes hid in the corner and covered his eyes with his wings.

As for Dumbledore, as Chris's direct target at this moment, the pressure he was under was almost several times that of the Phoenix Fawkes.

But he looked into Chris's scarlet eyes as if he didn't notice anything.

After a long time, a line of turbid tears slid down from the corners of his eyes. His dry lips opened and closed slightly, and he choked and said:

"You've suffered, Tom, and I'm sorry."

(End of this chapter)