Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 157: Mouse Spots
As night falls, the lights come on.

This year's Christmas dinner at Hogwarts was more grand than in previous years. The flickering candlelight, the bright torches, and the crystal ornaments on the fir trees illuminated the entire hall, and the air was filled with the sweet aroma of candy and cream.

The colorful firecrackers exploded with a loud bang, and the students' laughter echoed.

The dinner plates were placed on the long table. As the principal gave the order to start the banquet, the food that had been prepared long ago appeared out of thin air: golden roasted turkey, baked beans mixed with butter, fried steaks that were just right, and rich stewed broth. The tempting aroma made people drool.

The cork of the wine bottle opened with a crisp sound.

Hagrid sniffed the aroma of eggnog and couldn't help but smile. He poured himself a full glass. He said he would quit drinking, but today was Christmas, so he would quit tomorrow.

"Merry Christmas! Cheers!"

"Merry Christmas."

Several colleagues nearby also had smiles in their eyes.

Professor McGonagall was a little reserved at first. After drinking a few glasses of eggnog, her cheeks turned slightly rosy, and she giggled at Flitwick's jokes.

Dumbledore was wearing formal dress robes, which should have highlighted his headmaster's demeanor, but the flower-adorned women's wizard hat on his head detracted from the robes' elegance. This strange mix of styles, on Dumbledore, strangely suited his temperament.

Melvin was wearing a crisp black suit, a white silk shirt, a green handkerchief tucked into his jacket pocket, and surprisingly, a fedora, which he placed on the table instead of on his head.

If someone had a keen eye, they could see the brim of the hat shake slightly, as if something was moving inside.

"Lockhart is unable to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so I have to ask you to cover for it again. Should we stick to the original arrangement? What do you think?" Dumbledore chewed a piece of beef rib slowly.

“Do substitute teachers get paid?”

Melvin said this with confidence.

He teaches classes every year. Others just contribute more as deans, but he is the only one who gets the salary of an elective professor.

"Well, I can't make the decision on that. You can ask Minerva for the request."

Dumbledore was equally confident and had no guilt at all, but considering that this was a reasonable demand from the employees, he took out a box from his pocket, put it on the table and handed it over.

"what is this?"

Melvin glanced at the box. It was made of wood, not very elaborately crafted, as if it had been casually made using Transfiguration. "Hasn't the Christmas present already been given?"

Dumbledore smiled and whispered, "Open it and take a look."

Melvin glanced at the principal, wiped his hands with a napkin, and opened the wooden box.

There are no sophisticated mechanisms or magical powers. Inside is a cushioning sponge with two green gems on it, one as big as a pigeon egg and the other the size of a grain of rice. The surface is polished and crystal clear, but if you look closely you can find fine lines on it, which is very delicate.

"Look carefully," said Dumbledore.

Melvin leaned in to examine them, touching the two gems with his fingers. They were lighter than expected, with a small hole on the side that emitted a familiar magical fluctuation.

"Untraceable Extension Charm?" Melvin looked up and asked.

"The gems are from my own collection, and I commissioned Newt Scamander to transform them. He called these two gems the Snake Caves. The space inside is spacious enough for snakes to live in, and there are open holes so that you can hear the sounds outside and snakes can come in and out freely.

"The big one is used to contain the basilisk and is hidden in the secret room. The small one is left for Yurm and can be set in your ring."

Dumbledore shook his ring finger, indicating his ring.

As if hearing his own name, the fedora shook slightly twice, and a small white head popped out, with its tongue moving.

"I'm a little touched."

This principal is really thoughtful.

Melvin sighed, closed the wooden box, and put the two gems into his inner pocket.

This suit has no pockets on the sides, only a small shallow pocket on the chest, which can only hold a handkerchief, not a baby snake, so he brought a hat with him today, which served as Yurm's temporary snake den.

With this gem, things will be more convenient in the future and he can free up some money in his pocket.

……

Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, sipping her spoon and savoring her strawberry shortcake.

A sweet taste filled my mouth and I squinted my eyes in satisfaction.

First eat the strawberries on top, then slowly savor the cream, and finally the soft cake. The little witch has her own set of procedures for eating cake. Just as she swallowed the last bite of cake, she found two figures sitting next to her. They were Qiu Zhang and Marietta from Ravenclaw with blue and copper ties.

"Hermione..."

Marietta put down a piece of blueberry cake. "Each college has a different flavor of cake. Try this!"

"Well……"

Hermione took the cake, feeling a little distressed as her stomach was already a little full.

Fortunately, they didn't stare at Hermione as she ate the cake. Instead, they talked about tonight's banquet, the different flavors of food on each college's long table, the gifts that came out of the lottery envelopes, the riddle Professor Lewynter left at the door of the common room, and the holiday homework assigned by the professor...

The area immediately became lively with chatter.

Girls are like this. Once you become friends, you will always have endless topics to talk about.

In a group of boys not far away, Ron was watching Neville opening a lottery envelope and firecrackers. With a bang, blue smoke dispersed, revealing a navy hat and several little white mice. The little white mice ran around, attracting Mrs. Norris to chase them.

Ron's brows were furrowed, a worried look on his face. "Harry, Scabbers's going to be okay, right?"

"..."

Harry was gesturing at the turkey with his fork, hesitating about how to start. He caught sight of Qiu Zhang out of the corner of his eye and gradually became fascinated. He tilted his head slightly, staring at him with a silly smile on his face.

Ginny didn't even raise her head as she tore into the roasted chicken leg viciously, looking even more ferocious than her brother.

After the turkey was the Christmas pudding. Someone found some medicinal herbs in the pudding and was not annoyed even though it scratched his teeth. Instead, he showed off to others with a smile.

The banquet lasted until late at night. After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they were having fun. Dumbledore led them in singing some of his favorite Christmas carols, and finally announced the end of the party reluctantly.

……

"Professor Lewynter, we have something very important to tell you." Ron said seriously.

Melvin walked out of the hall, a fedora in hand, and was stopped by the iron triangle of second years. The leader was neither Harry nor Hermione. His two tutoring students stood on both sides, one step behind, and Ron stood in the main seat.

Melvin was about to go back to the office to deal with the snake cave, and he was a little confused when he heard this.

The basilisk issue was resolved ahead of time, and Lockhart is now in the hospital. What else do they have to do? Make Polyjuice Potion?

"Professor, we want to go back to the secret room and ask for your help."

"Give me a good reason."

"Scabbers is missing!" Ron said worriedly, "Scabbers is a mouse, my pet. He's been with me for several years. I take him with me wherever I go..."

Hermione, annoyed by the man's rambling, explained, "Ron woke up to find it missing. At first, we thought it was in the infirmary, but Ms. Pomfrey said there couldn't be rats in the ward. I suspect it fell into the Chamber of Secrets." Scabbers, Peter Pettigrew's Animagus avatar.

Melvin was stunned for a moment, thinking back to the mouse. He remembered that Scabbers was supposed to stay until next year, when a black dog came looking for him. How could he have disappeared now? Perhaps no one had discovered his identity yet? Was it the butterfly effect he had caused?
"How could that be?" Melvin frowned.

"Yeah, how could that be!"

The professor's comfort made Ron feel better. "There's candy in the ward that Seamus and the others sent. Even if Scabbers is extremely hungry and leaves to look for food, he won't go too far. He's been with us for ten years and won't leave us. We shouldn't be able to find him!"

"So you suspect it fell into the secret room?" Melvin raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Ok!"

The three of them nodded heavily.

"You should know that this is against school rules, but it's vacation time now, and considering your sincere feelings..." Melvin said in a long tone, his eyes sweeping over the three people, "This is just this once. Regardless of the results, you are not allowed to go to the secret room again."

It wasn't that he was willing to play along with the kid, his main purpose in returning to the Chamber of Secrets was to place the Emerald Serpent Cave in place and use Harry's Parseltongue to put the Basilisk back into hibernation.

As for the mouse Scabbers, he sincerely hoped to find him back, as he needed Peter's help with something.

"Long live the Professor!" Harry and Ron cheered.

Hermione couldn't help but smile.

Going upstairs to Myrtle's bathroom, Harry came to the copper faucet. Without Melvin's greeting, Harry took the initiative to go forward and spoke in Parseltongue.

"Hiss..."

The three of them were attracted by the rotating pool and didn't notice the fedora in Melvin's hand. A baby snake's head popped out. Yulm secretly looked at Harry, staring at his mouth, his black eyes seemed very curious.

Melvin felt a slight movement in his heart and touched its head, wondering if it understood.

With the experience of entering the Chamber of Secrets last time, Harry and Ron were familiar with the route. They looked at each other and jumped into the pipe, feeling eager to try.

Only Hermione lagged behind. The sewage in the pipes was too dirty. She had washed the clothes she had soiled last time several times, but they still smelled bad. She turned to look at Professor Lewynter, her eyes filled with expectation.

Melvin smiled, reached out and touched her shoulder, and a layer of transparent bubble film covered it.

The two of them then slowly entered the pipe.

Harry and Ron landed first. The underground tunnel was a place they had been to before. The first thing they saw was a spacious stone chamber with the bones of small animals on the ground. They were weathered and rotten, and would fall apart and turn into ashes at the slightest touch.

Not having time to worry about his soiled clothes, Harry raised his wand and cast a Luminescent Charm. Ron looked around cautiously, searching for Scabbers the Mouse.

They felt a mixed bag of emotions, worried about not being able to find Banban, and also worried about finding Banban's body here.

When Melvin and Hermione slid out of the pipe and Harry saw that their clothes were clean without any trace of sewage, his mood became even more complicated.

The group walked into the tunnel.

Unlike Harry and Ron who only wanted to find mice, Hermione was more concerned about the professor beside her. With a glimmer in her eyes, she asked softly:
"Professor, what is the school going to do with the Chamber of Secrets?"

"The entrance has been rerouted and hidden."

"What about the basilisk?"

"Let it fall asleep again, indefinitely."

"..."

This way of handling the matter surprised Hermione. She thought Dumbledore would never allow such a dangerous basilisk to stay in the school. Even if it was not completely killed, it would be moved away. She didn't expect that it was just sleeping.

This elusive feeling is more like Professor Levent's style.

Considering the series of hints and clues in the past few months, Hermione had more doubts in her heart, but she had no answers, so she could only continue to look at the professor and observe him quietly.

The four of them soon arrived at the door to the Chamber of Secrets. Harry hissed, opened the stone door, and looked inside.

Green clouds floated slowly, and the dim green light illuminated the scene inside. The stone pillars on the ground had been repaired, and the statue of Slytherin still stood in the depths. The floor was flat and visible at a glance.

Ron ran in and looked around, and Harry followed him.

"Will Scabbers hide here?"

“I don’t think I saw it.”

"It won't be eaten by the basilisk!" Ron's voice sounded very sad.

"Only the Basilisk knows that. Harry can speak Parseltongue, so let him ask the Basilisk." Hermione looked at the professor and tilted her head. "Is that okay?"

"I will cast a spell to block the basilisk's sight."

Melvin nodded and he also wandered among the stone pillars, looking for traces of the mouse.

Hermione's eyes flickered. She had looked up information about the basilisk, and all the books stated that the basilisk's gaze was lethal. Last time, so many students looked directly at the basilisk and nothing happened. There must be another reason, and that reason was the professor!
Harry over there was already summoning the basilisk. Hermione wanted to observe the professor carefully, but her attention was drawn to the basilisk.

It was a fifty-foot giant snake that crawled out of a deep stone cave and came in front of the people. Its bright yellow eyes were like two lanterns, and its scales were dark green and as smooth as if they were coated with oil.

When he opened his mouth, his sharp and long teeth were revealed. There was a slight sweetness in the fishy breeze. Just one sniff made him feel dizzy.

Harry gasped, then quickly suppressed a breath, feeling a subtle sense of weirdness. Not long ago, they were facing the basilisk with the determination to die, and now they entered the Chamber of Secrets to find a mouse.

The dangerous basilisk can actually communicate.

Why didn’t I think of it at that time?

Just as Harry was about to speak, he felt someone tug at his sleeve.

It was Hermione. She glanced at herself, then at the basilisk in front of her, and then at the professor behind her, indicating that there was a connection between the two.

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly understood what Hermione meant. He hesitated and said:
"Hiss..."

"Are you really a Slytherin?"

"Yes, Slytherin… my master."

"So now, are you following Professor Levent's orders?"

“Hiss…”

Ok?
Harry thought he didn't understand and asked again, but the basilisk's answer was still a meaningless hissing. Harry began to understand that the basilisk didn't know who Professor Levent was referring to?
"That guy over there, was he the one who ordered you to attack us last time?"

"No...it was the annoying student who woke me up and attacked me..."

Harry scratched his head. It seemed they were the first to attack last time. He thought about it and changed the way he asked the question: "He had been here before we entered the Chamber of Secrets, right?"

The basilisk opened its mouth and stuck out its tongue: "Yes..."

(End of this chapter)