Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 159 An unexpected gain
The young wizards tilted their heads back and stared blankly at the coiled giant snake. The magical animal that was originally so dangerous was now completely asleep.

Melvin took out the emerald from the box. There was a tiny hole in the gem, which was almost invisible to the naked eye. But when it approached the basilisk, the majestic power of space enveloped the snake's body, and a suction force out of nowhere swallowed the basilisk. The giant snake like a hill quickly shrank and was soon absorbed into the gem of the snake cave.

"Professor, where are we going to hide the gem? Inside the Slytherin statue?" Hermione watched the professor's actions.

"Logically, I shouldn't reveal it to you, but the secret room will be sealed soon." Melvin smiled. "It's not safe in its original location. Let's hide it somewhere more hidden."

He controlled the emerald to rise into the air, into the suspended clouds, and then it was embedded in the ceiling. The luster of the emerald blended into the green clouds, like stars hidden in the clouds, vague and looming.

Hermione noticed that the location was very special, as it was exactly the direction the Slytherin statue was looking at, as if the stone carving was guiding the Serpent Cave Gems.

"There are only four of us who know the location of the basilisk, remember to keep it a secret." Melvin said with a smile.

Harry looked at the faint green light, still a little dazed. Such a powerful basilisk fell into a deep sleep with just one sentence, without any struggle and unwilling to delay.

"Let's go, the adventure is over."

Melvin patted Harry on the shoulder, carrying his fedora, and walked outside first.

The three students hurriedly followed the professor. Before the stone door closed, they turned back at the same time and glanced at the dim secret room. They suddenly realized that this room was not as gloomy as they had imagined. The green light was not weird, but rather had an indescribable solemnity.

Melvin led the little wizards out of the pipe, left the girls' bathroom, and walked up the stairs.

The Christmas dinner had ended very late, and by the time they got to the secret room, which took another hour, it was already early morning. The corridors and stairs were quiet, and the portraits in the frames, sleeping with their eyes closed, always reminded them of the basilisk.

"Professor, why doesn't the basilisk wait until tomorrow to fall asleep?" Harry subconsciously lowered his voice, "It hasn't eaten enough..."

"It's complicated to explain, because Slytherin once left such an order, and it is also the will of the current headmaster. If the basilisk wants to continue to stay in the school, it must obey this will."

Melvin shook the fedora gently, interrupting the snake's movements. Yurm twisted and turned, trying to poke his head out of the hat, as if treating it as some kind of game. He kept trying, and the fedora became heavier.

He had no choice but to crumple the brim of his hat into a ball, blocking the exit and letting Yurm be quiet for a while.

"Is it waiting for Slytherin?" asked Harry.

"Whatever it's waiting for, it's probably never going to get it."

"..."

Harry opened his mouth, suddenly feeling sad.

Hermione silently watched the professor's back, wondering what kind of answer Harry would get from the basilisk and what role the professor played in the whole incident.

Only Ron looked sad; he was worried about Scabbers.

They finally parted at the stairs. The students continued to go upstairs, and Melvin went back to his office.

"Oh, by the way, the entrance to the secret room will be renovated tomorrow. Don't come here again." Melvin remembered this and turned back to remind him.

"Got it, goodnight professor."

"..."

The office was quiet. There were a few more letters on the desk. They were replies to Christmas gifts. Wright and his family lived relatively close to each other, so they received the gifts and greeting cards in the morning and the replies that evening.

Wright was getting impatient during this period because the renovation in Romania had been completed, and the sales of small-scale mirrors were not very high, so they could only show some outdated Quidditch games. The British side had not yet been rolled out, and Melvin's arrangements and plans could not be implemented, which made him wait very painfully.

So he often wrote to urge and inquire about Melvin's progress in promoting the small shadow mirror.

Melvin knew that Wright had ideas about the animal world, and he also wanted to promote it as soon as possible. However, Britain was the center of the wizarding world after all, and the situation here was different from that in Romania, so he could only take it slowly.

Wright kept chattering in his letters, Old Tom and Old Will were urging for new programs, and even some viewers wrote in, saying that there were no films showing during the Christmas holidays, and the pub owners and audiences were disappointed.

He did not reply immediately, but read the letters one by one, sorted them out, and kept some of them separately in his space pocket.

The address book also contains a message from Christine:

"Merry Christmas."

The magic address book is not as convenient as mobile phones and emails. There is no time stamp on it, so I don’t know when this blessing was sent.

Melvin looked at the portrait in the address book, then at the concise message below, pondered for a moment, and replied with the same blessing.

After waiting for a while, I received no reply. There was a time difference between Romania and Hogsmeade. It was one in the morning, but it was already three there.

At this moment the fedora on the table began to shake.

"Hiss..." Yurm's voice came from inside.

The young snake's tiny head emerged from the stacked hats, staring directly at the young professor, and sticking out its tongue at him.

Even though he didn't understand Parseltongue, Melvin knew it was complaining. He reached out and poked its head, saying soothingly, "I was busy in the Chamber of Secrets just now and didn't have time to play with you."

The young snake tilted its head slightly to avoid his fingers, shook its tail, and pushed back the brim of its fedora, revealing what was inside -

A mouse!

Honestly, the mouse was a truly hideous sight, stiff and old, with patches of baldness here and there, its hide dry and stiff, its limbs stained in the motions of a frightened flight, and one of its legs missing a toe.

If it weren't for the faint residual warmth, one would probably have thought it was a dead mouse.

Looking at the mouse's stiff body, Melvin could imagine its movements at that time, grabbing the pocket of Ron's wizard robe, preparing to escape alone, but happened to meet the basilisk's gaze and was instantly frozen in stone.

It must have fallen out of Ron's pocket when the wounded were being moved, and was not found until today by Yurm.

"You were in the hat the whole time, how did you find it?" Melvin was a little surprised.

"hiss……"

Yurm raised his neck with a hint of pride.

……

The next morning.

Melvin pushed open the door of the school infirmary and glanced at the medicine cabinet. There was no sign of Madam Pomfrey there, so he raised his voice slightly: "Madam Pomfrey, are you there?"

"Turn right in the corridor, it's the first clinic." A female voice came from not far away.

Melvin followed the sound, pushed open the door, and found himself in a simple and clean examination room. Several storage cabinets lined the walls, containing bottles of medicine of various sizes, bandages, gauze, and some oddly shaped medical instruments. In the middle of the room stood a crucible, its brownish-green liquid bubbling and steaming, carrying a muddy and herbal scent.

"Professor Lewynter, what can I do for you?" Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, was controlling the cauldron's heat and applying medicine to the patient in the room. "If you're not in a hurry, you can come back later."

The patient is Myrtle, who was petrified by the basilisk's gaze. Due to her transparent and illusory body, the ghost cannot apply medicine in the usual way, and the evaporated water vapor of the medicine is absorbed very slowly, so the petrification has not been lifted yet.

"Are there any extra Mandrake Herbs? I want a bottle as a backup." Melvin asked frankly.

"It's the third row of lockers, help yourself." Madam Pomfrey said without turning around.

This batch of mandrake grass was originally purchased by Professor Lewinter. It’s okay for him to want a bottle. It’s not a controlled drug and is not toxic. There’s no need to worry about the professor using it as jam to spread on bread.

"Thank you very much, ma'am!"

Melvin said goodbye to the school doctor in a very happy mood.

He certainly didn't ask for the potion to spread on his bread, but to cure the rat Scabbers. Poor Peter Pettigrew, who was petrified and left in the secret room, locked in the same room with the basilisk, must have been terrified. If Yurm hadn't found him, he would probably have turned into an ordinary skeleton on the floor of the secret room.

The young professor saved the poor mouse, so after he recovered, he should do something for himself to repay his kindness, right?

……

The cooling liquid was dripped into the mouse's eyes, causing them to spin around.

Melvin and Yulm looked at the fingerless mouse on the table. Its shrunken and stiff skin relaxed, its dry and withered hair softened a little, its chest rose and fell slightly, its heart pumped blood throughout its body, and the petrified mouse gradually came back to life.

Banban opened his eyes and saw Yurm's snake face. He was so frightened that his body trembled and he was terrified. He squeaked and tried to run away.

With its tail held down by Melvin, the mouse could only move its claws in vain. The frightened mouse turned around and tried to bite the finger, but was hit on the head by Yurm's tail, making it feel dizzy and unable to see.

Peter hadn't eaten for several days and was weak. After being tossed around like this twice, he was exhausted both physically and mentally. He collapsed on the table, twitching in fear like an ordinary mouse.

But the mouse's eyes rolled around, and he realized that the snake was not a basilisk, and the wizard who gave him medicine was a young professor at the school.

"Don't be afraid, eat something." Melvin pushed a piece of cream cake over with a faint smile.

The mouse Banban smelled the sweet cream and his nose twitched. He looked at the young professor and then at the baby snake next to him. Finally, he couldn't resist the temptation and pounced on the cake and started to feast on it.

This professor seems very friendly...

An idea flashed through Peter's mind. He had been in Ron's pocket for a long time. In the Gryffindor boys' dormitory and the Weasleys' house, he had heard others talk about Professor Lewynter many times. He was a kind-hearted foreign wizard.

"Don't worry, there's still plenty of cake."

Melvin whispered soothingly, "Poor Pettigrew, he must be starving."

"Squeak..."

The mouse Banban barked twice out of habit in response, a habit he had developed as a pet over the past decade, but then his body stiffened, he reacted, and turned back with a look of fear in his eyes.

He knows his real name!?
A strong panic enveloped the mouse's heart. Without caring about the cake in its mouth, it spread its legs and tried to escape, rushing towards the shelf by the wall.

He had a glimmer of hope in his heart that if he could make use of his Animagus's size advantage, he might be able to hide in some corner, wait for the crisis to pass, and maybe even escape.

But this idea was quickly shattered.

Two slight sounds of breaking through the air rang in my ears.

Two spells were cast into the mouse's body one after another. The first was a repulsive spell, which had a slight but irresistible impact and knocked the mouse onto the chair opposite the table. The second was a revelation spell, which unexpectedly broke the Animagus that had existed for more than ten years and revealed the disguise of the mouse skin.

Yulm poked his head out and looked at the short and thin middle-aged man. His hair was gray, messy and sparse. His rat-like eyes flashed with fear and his expression was timid.

His clothes were tattered, his skin was sickly pale, and his body was slightly hunched, as if he wanted to shrink back and avoid their sight.

"Melvin Levent, professor at Hogwarts, nice to meet you..." Melvin greeted politely, pushed the unfinished cake in front of him, and poured him a glass of pumpkin juice, "Peter Pettigrew."

The young professor called out his name without reservation, and Peter was terrified:

"You...you...I..."

His voice was shrill and trembling, and he couldn't utter complete words.

"Don't worry, this is Hogwarts, it's safe here." Melvin comforted softly, showing his friendliness.

Apart from being hit by the snake's tail and being hit by two spells that revealed his disguise when he tried to escape, his other actions were indeed very friendly, as evidenced by the sweet cream cake and hot pumpkin juice.

Peter's panic eased a little: "You...how did you..."

"How did you discover your disguise?"

Melvin took the initiative and patiently explained, "The reason is rather special and cannot be disclosed for the time being. You can understand that I am very familiar with Animagus and can see the true face beneath the mouse skin."

"You know my identity?"

"Well...just pretend I saw it in the newspaper."

"..."

The young professor's preferential treatment made Peter realize the current situation and gradually relaxed his vigilance. His pair of mouse-like eyes turned, revealing a cunning look.

According to the introduction in the newspaper, Peter Pettigrew was an absolutely upright character. He actively participated in the battle with the Death Eaters during the war. He died on the way to capture the Death Eater Sirius Black. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class.

Such a professor would probably wonder why he disguised himself as the Weasley family's pet.

As long as you can fool around, there's no danger.

Peter pondered silently, took a sip of pumpkin juice, and said in a shrill voice, "Yes, the newspapers. I hid because of those reports. After You-Know-Who fell, there were still many Death Eaters active, and I was the one who got the Death Eater Black arrested. I was their enemy, so to avoid being hunted down, I disguised myself as a rat."

Peter thought this was perfect.

Only four people knew the truth of that year, and Voldemort could never reveal it. James and Lily were already dead, and as for that stupid guy Sirius, he should be in Azkaban, almost being sucked into a fool by the Dementors.

"The truth is, I don't care why you're hiding," Melvin said slowly. "I just want to do business with you."

"What?" Peter was stunned.

(End of this chapter)