Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 163 Heir, Lockhart, Hedwig

At least one thing, Tom Riddle was right - Toby did feel distressed because he was sorted into Slytherin House, and even suffered psychological torture because of it.

Even more than Slytherin. Slytherin is just a path chosen by Toby himself, and the reason why he is so obsessed with the pursuit of ancient magic also comes from his desire to prove that blood theory is useless.

He didn't understand why a Muggle-born person would be sorted into Slytherin, where blood was supreme.

Toby could often feel the vague repulsion from the black walnut wand, which seemed to prove that the idea of ​​being more Slytherin than Slytherin was wrong, at least not completely correct.

Toby wants to find out the real reason from Tom Riddle.

However, after tormenting it for a long time, the notebook still refused to let go. It even gave up talking to Toby. No matter what Toby wrote, no line of words appeared.

"Yeah?" Al held up a small shovel and asked Toby if he wanted to continue the interrogation.

"No, stop first."

Toby said, throwing the notebook into the coffin, and then he sat on the chair behind the desk and thought silently.

Now it seems that the plan to force the notebook to answer truthfully has completely failed. Although Toby still has many methods that cannot be used, it is difficult to guarantee that the notebook will not be destroyed.

Perhaps Toby shouldn't have been so anxious at the beginning. He should have allowed the notebook to stay with Luna and secretly observed what the notebook's plan was.

But this really goes against what a professor should do - frame students.

And Toby has already thought of a better goal.

Myrtle once mentioned that an uninvited guest secretly visited the abandoned bathroom before school started. This coincided with one of the places mentioned in the notebook. It was difficult not to make Toby doubt the other party's motives and whether it was related to

What is the connection between this notebook?

After all, this Tom Riddle notebook couldn't have been conjured out of thin air.

Toby asked Al to come over and he whispered something.

Gradually, Al showed a malicious smile.

It didn't like the arrogant man who dominated the list from the beginning.

——

On the other side, after Professor Heimer left Hagrid's cabin, Harry and the three of them quickly said goodbye and left. They found a place by the black lake, sat down, and discussed in low voices the scene they had just seen.

"As soon as Professor Hemmer woke up, he went to Hagrid and asked him to take him to the chicken pen." Harry said, "Do you feel that something is wrong with this?"

"Needless to say." Ron clicked his tongue: "When I first saw Professor Heimer, I felt something was wrong with him. Why did he wrap himself up so tightly? To be honest, he shouldn't

Have you really become a mummy? Do you still remember the Pharaoh mask?"

He asked with his eyes the only person who had clearly seen the entire passage during the last confinement.

"Of course I remember." Hermione said worriedly: "But I think it might have something to do with the magic circle on the professor's body, which looks much more dangerous than the Pharaoh's mask. After all, who would do that kind of experiment on themselves?

ah"

She has not forgotten the shocking scene at that time - dense magic circles were engraved on Professor Heimer's upper body, and they all emitted an ominous black light. This gave Hermione nightmares for several days, and each time the ending was different.

It was Professor Hemmer who turned into a monster and killed both her and Harry.

Seeing that the topic was getting more and more biased, Harry quickly stopped them and said, "We'll talk about Professor Highmore later. I'm referring to the monster, the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. After all, Professor Highmore is the only

Witnesses."

Ron looked at him doubtfully: "Did I hear you correctly? What kind of monster would be associated with a rooster? Is it your favorite food?"

Hermione was stunned for a moment. She suddenly reached out and slapped her forehead: "Cock-quick, come with me to the library, I think I know!"

"What do you know?!" Ron shouted behind her, but Hermione ran so fast that there was no time to stop, so the two of them had to follow her in confusion.

The three of them quickly walked into the library under Mrs. Pince's dissatisfied gaze. Hermione searched in front of the tall bookshelves, picked up a copy of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", and found a table with Harry and Ron to sit at.

Come down and turn the pages of the book quickly.

"look!"

Hermione suppressed her excitement and said, "Look at this."

Harry looked over quickly, and Ron read in a low voice a passage pointed to by Hermione: [In our country, there are many terrible beasts and monsters wandering, and the most bizarre and lethal among them is the basilisk, also known as the basilisk.

King Snake. This kind of snake can become very large and usually live for hundreds of years. It is hatched from an egg by a toad. The way the basilisk kills people is very amazing. In addition to its deadly fangs, its

Staring can also cause death. Anyone caught by its gaze will die immediately. Spiders will run away when they see the basilisk, because the basilisk is the deadly enemy of spiders, and the basilisk will kill the basilisk as long as it hears the crow of the rooster.

It will run for its life in a hurry, because the rooster's crow is also fatal to it.】

Harry and Ron heard Hermione say excitedly: "The basilisk, I think this is the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. Maybe Professor Hemmer went to the chicken coop to check because he knew this - and spiders, you remember in

Those spiders at the place where Mrs. Norris was injured, they are all running for their lives, and the basilisk is their natural nemesis - this all corresponds!"

Harry and Ron exchanged a look, and then Ron said hesitantly: "I don't want to hit you, but if the basilisk's gaze is fatal, then why is Professor Hemmer not dead? And, most importantly,

Why didn't Professor Hemmer tell us about this? There seems to be no reason for him to hide it from the students, or any other professor, including President Dumbledore."

Hermione calmed down little by little.

Yes, Ron was right. If Professor Heimer really knew about the existence of the basilisk, he was not killed in the basilisk's attack.

"Maybe it's because he hasn't had time to tell us yet." Hermione said with a sense of luck: "Go back to the common room and take a look. It might be published in the college magazine."

They hurried back to the Gryffindor common room and read over and over again along the huge pages of the house magazine.

However, there was not even a single mention of the basilisk in it.

At this moment, not only Hermione, but also Harry and Ron had bad thoughts in their hearts.

They didn't understand why Professor Heimer didn't tell the story.

What's even more unclear is how Professor Heimer managed to only be hurt by petrification instead of dying.

Moreover, was Professor Heimer really just lucky enough to wake up?

"Maybe you will think that I am crazy." Ron said dryly: "But why do I think that Professor Heimer is the mysterious murderer? Don't you think this is very reasonable - he first petrified

Injure himself, so that when he wakes up, he won't be suspected by others."

"Professor Highmore is the heir of Slytherin. I'm sorry, Harry, it seems you lost the election."

"No, it can't be like this." Harry didn't believe this statement from the bottom of his heart. How could it be Professor Heimer? He was the only Slytherin who was different, and even changed Harry's impression of Slytherin House.

At the very least, not all of them are simply annoying and prejudiced ghosts.

"Go find Principal Dumbledore." Hermione suggested calmly: "That's all we can do now."

Hermione was right. If Professor Highmore was the real murderer, Harry couldn't think of anyone who could stop him - probably only Dumbledore.

They hurriedly left the common room, but when they came to the corridor, they suddenly discovered that no one knew where the principal's office was, nor did they know who had been taken to see the principal.

"How about writing a letter?" Ron suddenly thought of this method.

So, with the Fat Lady complaining, they crawled back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry hurried back to the dormitory, took out the parchment and quill, but hesitated not knowing how to write.

"Let's just write about the basilisk first." Hermione knew the reason for Harry's hesitation: "As for Professor Highmore, it would be terrible if we make a mistake. Professor Highmore will be suspected for no reason. But we can

What do you think about the mention that Professor Heimer inspired us?"

Harry thought this method was the right one. After writing the letter, they went to the Owlery together and asked Hedwig to deliver the letter to Dumbledore.

The three of them stood on the terrace together, watching helplessly as Hedwig flew further and further away. It didn't look like she was flying to the principal's office.

"It seems that the principal is not in school." Ron clapped his hands and said, "Go back. I hope we can get a reply from the principal soon."

"Where do you think the principal went?" On the way back, Harry was still wondering: "Is his choice to leave at this time related to Professor Heimer?"

Neither Ron nor Hermione could answer.

——

At the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, Lockhart received a mysterious letter with a package.

"Let me see which enthusiastic reader sent this - no signature? How come there is no signature?"

Lockhart turned the envelope over and over several times, but both names and addresses were blank.

"It seems that he is a reader who likes mysterious atmosphere."

Lockhart gladly accepted the other party's kindness, which was not too unusual among letters from book fans, and it was also a treatment that another author in the same castle had never enjoyed.

[Dear Mr. Lockhart, I am a reader who cannot be named, but I really like your books, but I can’t get your autographed photo. Don’t ask me why, it’s also inconvenient.

Revealed. In short, I sent you a gift. I hope you can write your reply to me on the gift. I think I will feel those words in the dark.]

Facing the curious gazes of the portraits on the wall, Lockhart opened the package and saw the notebook with a black cover inside.

“Aha—as a top-selling author, I shouldn’t let my readers down, right?”

The portraits nodded approvingly, and some of them looked proud.

Lockhart took out a quill, opened the notebook, dipped in some ink, and wrote on the blank page: "Dear reader, I hope you can feel these words with your heart, because I received a gift from you.

Already."

Just as Lockhart was thinking about how to continue writing, he suddenly saw the handwriting disappearing little by little, and another line of vague words emerged: [Who are you?]

Lockhart was startled, and he watched helplessly as the line of text disappeared.

Now it seems that I have gone beyond the scope of replying to book fans.

Lockhart tried to continue writing: "Is it you, my crazy book lover. If it is convenient, can you tell me your name?"

Then, the answer from the notebook appeared.

[Don’t think you can fool me in this way - Tom Riddle - I know this name will scare you, remember this name well, one day, you will pay the price for it -]

With a "pop" sound, the notebook was closed forcefully.

A thin layer of sweat appeared on Lockhart's forehead, and he suddenly became panicked.

"Merlin"

Lockhart quickly put the notebook in his arms. He looked around and found a mirror. He looked at the expression on his face in the mirror and tried to show his confident smile.

After adjusting for a while, he returned to his cheerful look and walked out of the office pretending to be nonchalant and walked to the corridor.

"Um?"

Lockhart stared at a piece of armor in the corner of the corridor in confusion. Was that originally placed here?

He turned back three times and stared at the armor for a while. When he came to the stairs, he quickened his pace and hurried to the abandoned bathroom on the second floor. Then he casually opened a cubicle and threw his notebook into it, like

It was as if he was getting rid of some unpredictable trouble, and then he left in a hurry.

——

This was a dark room with the curtains drawn. Dumbledore was sitting on an uncomfortable chair. He looked helplessly at the suspicious owner of the room opposite.

"Alastor, I told you, I'm not kidding."

Moody's hideous face was revealed, and he hummed and said: "Oh, really? But I have never heard that you would make such a request to me - let me help one of your students

Azkaban? I remember that you hated Dementors, which makes it hard for me to imagine what made you change your mind."

"This has nothing to do with my views on dementors." Dumbledore said, but Moody suddenly became alert at this moment. He quietly came to the window, holding the wand in his hand, as if he was ready to take action at any time.

Look.

"Owl" he suddenly shouted: "Damn it, those people found me after all! Don't tell me you are with them, Albus -"

"Don't be nervous." Dumbledore walked to Moody. He also saw the flying owl: "If I read correctly, it is just the pet of another student of mine. If you let it in, there will be no harm.

Yes."

After Hedwig was allowed to enter the room, she was looked at all over by Moody's magic eyes and hid in the corner shivering.

Dumbledore opened the letter, saw the contents inside, and frowned a little bit.

"What, are you in trouble?" Moody asked, his magic eyes still staring closely at Hedwig.

A flame ignited from Dumbledore's hand, igniting the letter and illuminating his obscure face.

"It's always been like this." He said calmly.