Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 380 I Don't Want to Be an Undercover Agent Anymore
Midnight, in the basement of a shop in Flip-Up Alley.

The candles burned slowly, and the cheap books in the room were quickly and superficially flipped through; the young professor used these pirated prints to pass the time.

The workshop was quiet, with only the occasional sound of pages turning. The huge printing press was upstairs, while consumables such as paper and ink were hidden in the basement. Simple anti-theft measures were in place, with peepholes in every door and window to monitor the magical fluctuations in each area.

The few gaps in the viewpoint only allow a mouse to pass through.

Tonight's guest happens to be a mouse.

The rustling sounds grew louder as they approached, like the scratching of mouse paws on the ground. The candlelight in the corridor flickered slightly, stirred by the air currents created by the rapid passage.

The mouse's footsteps stopped in front of the door. It was late at night, and the entire Overturned Alley was quiet. Only this room in workshop number 17B had its light on, so he didn't have to worry about going to the wrong door.

The mouse that came to keep the appointment did not knock on the door immediately. Instead, it straightened its spine and stood up. The small mouse's outline quickly expanded and enlarged, like a fast-forward shot of a tree growing, transforming into a short, fat, middle-aged male wizard.

With a soft "thump-thump," the insect's tail knocked open the basement door.

The workshop in Flip Lane is not decorated. This basement is like an office or a storage room. The shelves are piled with cheap pirated prints. There are no doors or windows. Behind the desk, you can see the young professor who has not been seen for a long time.

He was dressed in a gray-black cloak and robe, flipping through a travel guide in his hand.

Insect Tail walked into the basement and was exposed to the candlelight. His face was slightly pale, and the obesity he had developed from being lazy and gluttonous had become much thinner. There were dark bruises under his eyelids, which could not hide his exhaustion.

Compared to when he left Azkaban, his baldness was more severe, and his face showed obvious wrinkles, making him look as if he had aged several years in a short period of time.

"Professor Levent, I've come to keep my appointment."

"Insect Tail," he said respectfully, his breathing low and his round eyes avoiding Melvin's gaze.

The improved Ouroboros mark allows Melvin to summon the serpent tail with the slightest thought, even across vast distances. Considering his limited mobility while near Voldemort, the meeting was arranged for late at night.

"Long time no see, how was your trip to Albania?"

Just in case, Melvin used another dimension to sense the situation and confirmed that there was no other face behind the insect tail's head before raising his hand in greeting:
"I've found you a new helper, Ms. Umbridge. Although she's not very popular, I have to admit she's quite talented in some areas."

Wormtail opened his mouth and forced a smile: "It really helped a lot. We smuggled ourselves back to Britain from Albania without registering with the Ministry of Magic. The reason we were able to enter the country smoothly was because Umbridge knew about the loopholes in the Ministry of Magic's checks and because the Quidditch World Cup kept them busy."

He went along with Melvin's words, trying to lighten the mood.

Umbridge did help in some ways, but she also got into some trouble. If she hadn't gotten involved with the Albanian black wizard, they wouldn't have had to go through such a time-consuming and exhausting detour on their way back.

"Tell me about your experiences in Albania. Was the search for the Black King arduous?"

Melvin poured him a glass of butterbeer, chilled, perfect for a secret rendezvous on a summer night: "It seems there's been a bit of an unexpected situation; there are two more companions than expected."

"It was extremely difficult. Albania is much larger than I expected, with endless forests teeming with troublesome snakes, insects, and mosquitoes..."

While holding a butterbeer, Wormtail recounted his story with a sigh: "In the first few months, I explored hundreds of snake nests, but I didn't see any trace of the Black King. I was almost bitten by a poisonous snake and left to languish forever in the Albanian forest."

Recalling those difficult months, Chongweiba almost burst into tears, feigning a couple of sobs.

Melvin completely ignored his performance, only wanting to hear news related to Voldemort.

"Once, we stopped at a local tavern to resupply, and happened to run into a dark wizard chasing Umbridge and Jorkins. I initially thought they were from the Ministry of Magic and planned to hide to avoid trouble, but I saw your mark on her arm and rescued her, along with a witch named Bertha Jorkins. Later, we met the Dark Lord..."

"..."

Melvin's mind flashed back to the witch's face. He had seen her a few times at the Ministry of Magic and heard that she had been a good student in her youth, but her mind had been messed up by Crouch's Oblivion Curse.

"The Dark Lord also has a python by his side, a servant he found in the forest named Nagini, and that snake..."

The insect's slightly high-pitched voice echoed in the room, as if sensing his panic. The candlelight flickered occasionally: "It's very strange. Its venom is extremely deadly. Just a small bite can render a person helpless. Moreover, its skin is tough, and ordinary spells have no effect on it."

Wormtail still remembers the scene. They had just escaped the pursuit of the local Albanian black wizards, but felt that they were being watched by some terrible being. They were cautious and dared not stop as they walked out, but they encountered the black wizards again before dawn.

It turned out they had been following them all along, planning to launch an attack when they lowered their guard. Their plan succeeded, but their operation failed.

The insect tail said in a trembling voice, "...At that time, more than a dozen black wizards rushed towards us. When we were all desperate and wanted to give up resisting, that snake came out. Every part of its body was a deadly weapon. Its fangs could kill anyone it touched, and its binding force could suffocate people. It quickly killed all the black wizards."

The insect's tail paused for a moment, lowered its head, and took a sip of butterbeer. The shrill screams traveled thousands of miles back to its ears.

He still remembered the horrific scene of the wizard being attacked and killed by the python. The bones in his body were twisted and broken by the enormous force. Every time the snake exerted force, blood would gush from their mouths and noses, and their cries of agony would gradually weaken.

"It's been two whole months, and Umbridge and I still can't figure out what kind of magical snake it is."

Melvin's eyes narrowed slightly. If Nagini committed a bloody crime in Albania, did it mean that Voldemort's soul had been torn apart again, and that he now had the conditions to create a Horcrux?

Is Nagini now a servant controlled by Parseltongue, or a Horcrux inlaid with a fragment of his soul?

He leaned back in his swivel chair and said quietly, "That's not a magical creature, but a blood cursed orc."

"A Blood Curse Orc?" Wormtail was taken aback.

Melvin explained softly, "In the beginning, she was human, even a natural Animagus, capable of transforming into a snake. But this was not a gift, but a blood curse inherited from her mother. As she grew up, she gradually lost her human form and eventually became a python permanently."

"Is she still the same person she used to be?" Insect Tail felt a chill run down his spine and swallowed hard.

"The old Nagini is dead. The python's body is a pure beast, without a soul... or Tom's soul."

Melvin spoke his last sentence very softly. Wormtail didn't hear it clearly, but didn't press for details. He continued, "I told the Dark Lord Umbridge that he was a companion I had found. Perhaps because of the shortage of manpower, he didn't ask too many questions..."

"He was too weak to travel long distances, so we had to stay in Albania for a while and make him a temporary body using Nagini's venom and unicorn blood."

Melvin's mind flashed an image of a deformed infant, a snake-faced baby in swaddling clothes, ugly and ferocious.

"Now we're back in Britain, temporarily staying at Riddle House in Little Hangleton, where the Dark Lord seems quite familiar with the place."

Wormtail looked wary: "I dared not ask too much. Umbridge asked a couple of probing questions and was punished with the Cruciatus Curse. She almost became Nagini's prey."

“Wait…” Melvin interrupted, “Where is Miss Joggins?”

“Oh, Miss Jockins, Miss Jockins is very special too…”

Wormtail suddenly remembered the witch: "Umbridge said she was a fool in the Ministry of Magic, a cannon fodder who was tricked into coming, but the Dark Lord found her condition strange. Jorkins was not born a fool, but her mind was messed up by the Oblivion Charm."

As expected of the most powerful dark wizard in history, Voldemort, despite losing his body, still possessed profound mastery of dark magic. No one in the entire Ministry of Magic had discovered the reason for Jorkins's mental instability, but Voldemort revealed it in just a few words.

Melvin raised an eyebrow: "Given Voldemort's character, didn't he try to torture Jorgins with the Cruciatus Curse to uncover the secret hidden by the Obliteration Curse?"

Wormtail glanced at Melvin and thought he was indeed a ruthless character like Voldemort. Voldemort had thought the same thing: "That was the Dark Lord's original plan, but the information Umbridge revealed made him abandon the idea."

"Tell me more about it?"

Wormtail explained the situation in detail: "Umbridge said that the Ministry of Magic is about to restart the Goblet of Fire. Jorkins and Mr. Crouch are very close. As a marginal figure in the Ministry of Magic, he may be transferred to the Department of International Affairs at any time to participate in the Goblet of Fire competition."

Melvin realized what was happening and said thoughtfully, "Jorgins's dull and foolish appearance makes him a perfect candidate for Polyjuice Potion to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts Castle."

"..."

Just like Voldemort's approach.

Wormtail lowered her head, not daring to meet those eyes: "I suggested that Umbridge disguise herself as Joggins and sneak in, but the Dark Lord doesn't trust her loyalty and intends to let me in instead."

She disguised herself as a witch and infiltrated the Ministry of Magic, spending all her time with so many Aurors.

Upon hearing this suggestion, the mouse with the wormtail was terrified. Reluctantly, yet unable to refuse the Dark Lord, it was filled with dread.

Melvin saw his expression and a faint, mocking smile appeared on his lips: "Of course you are the most suitable candidate. After all, you were able to infiltrate the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, right under Dumbledore's nose, and successfully gain everyone's trust and obtain the most crucial intelligence."

“That…that’s because…James and Sirius…” Wormtail suddenly raised his head, stammering and unable to speak clearly, as if afraid that Melvin would also send him back to the Ministry of Magic to infiltrate.

"Because they see you as their best friend and trust that you won't hurt them."

"..."

The insect lowered its head again, and there was actually a hint of guilt on its face.

"You don't want to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic as a spy?"

"No, not at all."

"I have some information that might be helpful to you."

Melvin looked at the hopeful gleam in Wormtail's eyes and said slowly, "I recently received news that a loyal Death Eater escaped from Azkaban and has been longing to return to the Dark Lord's side all these years."

……

...Riddle's eyes flashed red as he disappeared into the winding, twisting alleyways of Knockdown Alley.
The images in the mirror ended there. The images that followed were no longer anyone's memories, but rather silhouettes from the Daily Prophet, dated decades ago, which should have been less than two years after Voldemort graduated.

"...Mrs. Hepzba Smith, a descendant of Hufflepuff, was murdered. According to the Auror investigation, the murderer was a house-elf named Hodge, a servant of the Smiths. She claimed that she put something in her mistress's cocoa tea, which was later discovered to be not sugar, but a rare and deadly poison. The verdict stated that she did not commit premeditated murder, but was simply blind due to old age."

"...News from Knockturn Alley: the antique shop owner, Karaktakusbock, has announced his retirement, handing the shop over to Mr. Borgin, another insightful pure-blood wizard."

"...The Smith family’s nephews and nieces inherited Mrs. Smith’s estate and claimed that the murderer was someone else. They also claimed that a family heirloom was missing, and that it was rumored to be a Hufflepuff relic."

As the mirror gradually dimmed, Harry stood before it, the scene from that memory still replaying in his mind: a young Riddle with a sinister smile on his face, his eyes already showing the beginnings of snake eyes, emitting a red glow when he heard the news of the Slytherin locket.

Some time ago, while staying at Grimmauld Place, Sirius took him to pay homage to Regulus and told him the story of his heroic sacrifice. He already knew the consequences of the locket.

I only learned about the story behind the locket today.

Was Mr. Burke murdered? What was the other lost treasure? Hufflepuff's Cup? Was Professor Leventhal's Cup also in Voldemort's possession? Was the strange spirit Professor Gaunt from the second year connected to Voldemort?

Why did Professor Levent show him this memory?
One question after another popped into Harry's head. He extinguished his wand, sat in the dark room, and thought for a long time without finding an answer.

"The adventure is over. You should go back to the Leaky Cauldron." Melvin suddenly pushed open the door and stood calmly in the doorway.

"Oh, here I come." Harry quickly got up, picked up the Invisibility Cloak and his wand.

He had a sense of déjà vu, like the bell ringing to signal the end of get out of class. Professor Levent was always like that—closing his book on the podium and telling them get out of class was almost over and to hurry to the auditorium to avoid getting stuck on the stairs. That's why Muggle Studies was the most popular course, and Professor Levent was the most popular professor.

"Professor, I have some more questions I'd like to ask..."

(End of this chapter)