The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 551 Investigation Results
Usually after dinner, there weren't many people in the common room, as most of them had their own things to do. But today, after Ryan finished studying the Shadowless Divine Sword, he found that the surroundings were a bit noisy. When he looked up and looked around the common room, he realized that the people chattering here were all sixth graders.

What made everyone excited was a new notice on the notice board, announcing the date of the Apparition exam. Before the first exam (April 21st), students who were seventeen years old or older could sign up for special training in Hogsmeade (with strict supervision).

This matter has nothing to do with Ryan, because his birthday is in May, even if he is very skilled in Apparition now, he has to wait until the second exam. The same is true for Harry, but Harry's exam time is later, and he has to wait until July.

The most unlucky one was Ron, as he was the oldest in the class. However, his age did not give him an advantage in Apparition, as he had never succeeded in the class. In this respect, he was not as good as Harry, at least in the last class, Harry successfully appeared in the wooden circle for the first time.

After understanding the danger of the Shadowless, Harry began to rack his brains to think about how to get Slughorn's memory. In yesterday's discussion, he had learned from Hermione that there was only one way to force others to do what you wanted them to do, and that was the Imperius Curse.

However, Ryan told him that with his level, he could not control Professor Slughorn at all, so he did not recommend him to use such a stupid method.

Harry had to admit that Ryan's judgment was correct. The person who could serve as the Head of Slytherin House in Hogwarts for a long time was definitely one of the top wizards in the wizarding world. He was definitely not someone that an underage wizard like himself could control with the Imperius Curse.

"Ryan, you really don't have any magic or potion that can pry open Slughorn's mouth?" After thinking for a while until his mind was in a mess, Harry stood up and walked to the table where Ryan and Hermione were sitting again and asked.

"Really not, Harry." Ryan said helplessly. "Unless we can truly control Slughorn and then take some irreversible and dangerous measures, there is only a glimmer of hope -" At this point Ryan's hand was slapped by Hermione.

"Harry, don't listen to Ryan's nonsense." Hermione glared at Ryan and then turned to Harry. "Dumbledore said that only you can get that memory, which must mean that you can convince Slughorn, but no one else can. It's not a matter of giving him a potion or using a spell. If that were the case, Professor Dumbledore would have done it himself a long time ago, and there would be no need for you at all."

As time went by, fewer and fewer people were in the common room. After Harry closed the Half-Blood Prince's potion book helplessly, he realized that only he, Ryan, Ron and Hermione were left in the common room. Three minutes ago, Ginny finished her homework and went upstairs to rest. Because Ginny had to take the OWLs exam this year, she was also very busy.

At this moment, a crackling sound suddenly came from the empty common room. Dobby appeared in front of the three people, his pot hat tilted to one side. "Harry Potter said to report Malfoy's movements to him regularly, so Dobby came to see Harry Potter to report his previous observations."

"So you came to me now because you discovered something?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Draco Malfoy is a bad boy!" Dobby screamed angrily. "A bad boy, he - he -"

At this Dobby shivered from the tassels of his teapot to the tips of his socks, and then he rushed to the fire, as if to jump in. Fortunately, Ryan was quick to catch him.

After struggling for a few seconds, Dobby softened and thanked Ryan. "Thank you, it's still hard for Dobby to say bad things about his old master..."

"This is normal. You may need to get used to it." Ryan said after putting Dobby on the ground. "Well, if you have any new discoveries, please tell us as soon as possible. This is the key."

"That's right." Dobby looked at Harry with his big eyes. "Dobby didn't find that Malfoy broke any rules, but he was still careful to prevent others from discovering what he was doing. He often took different students to the eighth floor, and they kept watch for him while he went into the Room of Requirement."

"I should have thought of that earlier." Harry slapped his forehead with his palm. "Most places in Hogwarts will appear on the Marauder's Map, but I have never seen the Room of Requirement on the map. I should have thought of that earlier. By the way, Dobby, did you see what Malfoy did in there?"

"No, Harry Potter, that's impossible," said Dobby. "Last year, Umbridge and the others—" Harry asked curiously.

"That's because you had an informer last year." Ryan said. "The Room of Requirement actually has the effect of a secret room. Think about it, before you were informed, both Filch and Umbridge spent so much effort but still couldn't find you. And now we don't know what the room looked like when Malfoy entered, so naturally we can't enter the place he entered before to see what he did."

"We'll find a way," Harry said confidently, then he lowered his head. "You did a great job, Dobby."

"Thank you, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby shrieked happily, then picked up a small leather bag and handed it to Ryan. "And Mr. Ryan Liang, thank you for giving me these magic props. Otherwise, I might have to stay up for days and nights to follow Malfoy."

"It's nothing. This is what I should do." Ryan took the leather bag. Dobby bowed to Ryan and left.

"I think I know what's going on now. Maybe I can catch Malfoy soon." Harry said excitedly. "I just need to wait for Malfoy to enter the Room of Requirement one day and then stop him."

"That sounds good, but we still have too few people," Ron pointed out sharply. "Don't forget that Dobby said that Malfoy always brings different people with him. If Malfoy is gathering with a group of people, we won't be able to figure out what he is up to, and it will also make him alert."

"You don't have to worry about that." Ryan thought for a moment and said, "According to what Harry said before, Malfoy is carrying out a huge conspiracy. He didn't even tell Snape. In this case, I don't think he would find a large group of people to do anything. You know, the more people involved in conspiracy, the more likely it is that problems will arise."

"So what do you think that's going on?" Ron asked puzzled.

"I guess it's the Polyjuice Potion," Ryan explained. "That would explain what happened. He should have only been looking for Crabbe and Goyle before, but he just asked them to drink the Polyjuice Potion with hair from different people added in."

"That's right." Harry's eyes widened suddenly. "Malfoy is so cunning that he doesn't even want people to see Crabbe and Goyle appearing there all the time to arouse suspicion. And when we had our first Potions class, there was a whole pot of Polyjuice Potion in the classroom, and he could easily get the medicine he needed from it."

"So the two little girls I saw with Malfoy before were Crabbe and Goyle?" Ron said with a laugh. "Good God... no wonder they are unhappy recently... disguised as girls..."

But his laughter soon died down because Ryan looked at him with an unhappy expression.

"——Okay, let's get down to business." Ron said sternly. "Why would the two of them listen to Malfoy? They should have strongly resisted."

"As long as Malfoy shows the Dark Mark on his arm, it will be enough." Harry said excitedly. "Official Death Eaters will always have some appeal to those Slytherin villains."

"Harry, what you need to pay attention to now is the most crucial memory, which is the key to defeating the mysterious man." Ryan said as he cleaned up the table. "As for Malfoy, I believe that with the headmaster's control over the school, he shouldn't be able to cause much harm."

(End of this chapter)