Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 476 The Miraculous Portrait of the Principal

This was the first time Xilun had ever seen such a strange scene... A dozen wizards whose names appeared in the history of magic were gathered in a room in the form of portraits, arguing noisily.

This scene truly broadened Xilun's horizons.

It was only when Dumbledore spoke up that the farce came to an end.

“I hope you’ll pay more attention to Sirius,” she said. “Phineas, how about you take over?”

Phineas Black didn't seem to want to help, closing his eyes and pretending not to hear.

"We have an obligation to serve the current Headmaster of Hogwarts!" shouted an old wizard who looked somewhat frail. "I'm talking to you, Phineas!"

"Should I persuade him, Dumbledore?" Another shrewd witch raised an extremely thick wand, which looked as if she were hugging a thick tree trunk.

Xilun looked at it with great curiosity, but unfortunately the wand was just a drawing, and he couldn't see anything about it.

“Oh, alright.” Phineas glanced at the wand with some fear. It was easy to tell from his eyes that he was well aware of the other party’s methods.

"But I can't guarantee I won't be exposed. You know, guys who dare to cause trouble at Hogwarts are usually very capable."

"Then you're finished!" The witch waved her wand again, clearly threatening her.

“It’s alright, Phineas, I believe you’ll be fine,” Dumbledore said gently. “Besides, it’s just a matter of being more careful, not surveillance. I’ll have other portraits help you.”

“Fine, I got it,” Phineas Black said reluctantly. “Consider it for that idiot.”

Dumbledore, having arranged everything, looked at Sirius again.

“I have some more important things to do, so I probably won’t be able to stay at school for much longer,” he said. “Mr. Ollivander, there’s something I hope you can promise me.”

"What is it?" Xilun asked.

“I hope you will promise me that you will avoid contact with Sirius Black unless absolutely necessary,” Dumbledore said seriously. “I have no doubt that you will not give anything away. But neither I, as the headmaster, nor Minerva can accept a student willingly putting himself in danger, do you understand?”

He should understand...

Siren blinked, pondering Dumbledore's words... Actually, there wasn't much to ponder, since Professor McGonagall had said similar things to him more than once before.

“Okay, I’ll try to avoid Sirius as much as possible,” Sirius said. “Besides, we have so much more homework, we might not even have time to go looking for him.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “OWL is too important to you. The professors are doing this just so you can get a few more points on the exams. I was in the same situation when I was in school, with so much homework I could never finish it.”

"...Oh, is it already so late?"

Dumbledore glanced at the time and said in surprise, "Pleasant conversation always makes people forget the time. It should be curfew by now."

Hearing his words, Xilun stood up at the right time, ready to leave.

“Filch should be patrolling nearby now. Do you need me to escort you?” Dumbledore draped a dressing gown over himself.

“No need,” Siron declined his offer. “The Gryffindor common room is right next door. It’s that close. Filch can’t catch me.”

Celen glanced at Fox again, then walked out of the oak door under Phoenix's impatient urging.

At this point, the spiral staircase outside had started moving downwards, and Xilun, standing on it, was sent back to the eighth-floor corridor.

The wall closed again, and the dripping stone beast jumped back to its original position.

It was almost midnight, and the corridor was quiet, except for a yellow light that flickered on and off in the passageway not far away.

That was the kerosene lamp that Filch often carried.

Dumbledore was right, he was indeed nearby.

However, Xiren had a solution. He took out a Galleon from his pocket and casually tossed it over the railing.

A tinkling sound came from below. "Who's there!?"

"stop!"

"I see you!"

Filch shouted, and then Celen saw the lamp move quickly downstairs, soon reaching the sixth floor.

At that moment, Xilun flicked his wrist, and the Galleon he had just thrown down jumped back into his hand.

The Mischief Coin is a new prank item created by the Weasley brothers, inspired by Irish goblins.

Throw the coin out, then flick your wrist, and it will return to your hand, leaving the person who picked it up disappointed.

Of course, the gold coins here are also fake; the two of them are not yet able to cast a retrieval spell on the real Galon.

While Filch left the eighth floor, Celen also came to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Mibu Mibao." He recited the command and returned to the common room through the passage behind the portrait.

It was quite late, and only a few fifth-graders remained in the common room doing their homework. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were among them.

Upon seeing Xilun walk in from outside, they immediately cast concerned glances at him.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing,” Siron said. “Professor McGonagall just asked me some questions about Transfiguration.”

Animagus is also a form of transfiguration, so there's absolutely no problem with it.

Hearing what Xilun said, the three of them relaxed a lot.

Although Hermione seemed interested, after much hesitation, she didn't ask and continued reading Harry and Ron's papers.

The assignment, which was originally a foot long, was immediately reduced to a third after she made the revisions.

“Writing these down should be enough.” Hermione took out a book, opened it, and placed it in front of the two of them.

“Sirlen, have you finished your homework?” Harry asked.

"Ah, I'm done writing," Siron said. He didn't linger, chatted briefly with Harry for a bit, and then went back to his dorm.

……

The next day, he got up early, dressed, and went straight to the library instead of eating in the auditorium.

He borrowed many books, trying to figure out if there was any way to extend the effects of the compound decoction to more than three hours, but to no avail.

Almost every potion book that mentions Polyjuice Potion emphasizes that the potion's effects only last for two hours. This is a limitation inherent to the potion itself and has nothing to do with the ingredients or brewing method.

In other words, even if the best potion master used the highest quality African tree snake skin, they couldn't extend the potion's effect by even a minute.

Then, Xiren looked for some books related to the Imperius Curse, hoping to find a special Imperius Curse that could keep a cursed wizard conscious.

Unfortunately, the Imperius Curse is an unforgivable curse, and most of the books that students can borrow only mention it briefly.

Perhaps it's available in the restricted book section, but that would require the professor's signature.

This wouldn't have been difficult, and Sirius certainly wouldn't have refused, but he had just promised Dumbledore yesterday to try to avoid contact with the other party, so he had no choice but to give up.

"Forget it, let's think of another way."

……

(End of this chapter)