From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

The three looked at each other, all feeling that attending the death anniversary celebration was clearly an abrupt decision.

“No need…we’re just going to take a look around, we’ll be back at the banquet soon…” Harry hardened his heart and led his two friends down the stairs leading to the underground classroom.

During this time, Ivy had specially prepared a 4th-circle prophecy spell, Biological Locator, for Peter Pettigrew.

The Biolocation spell can last up to an hour, during which time the caster can continuously sense the creature the spell is targeting, as long as the distance between the two does not exceed 1000 feet.

The target creature can be a large group of species, such as a unicorn, in which case it will target the individual closest to the caster.

It could also be a specific target that the spellcaster is familiar with, defined as having seen it at least once within a 30-foot radius.

However, it is worth noting that if there is a stream of water at least 10 feet wide blocking the straight path between the target and the caster, the spell's targeting effect will be lost.

The only body of water in Hogwarts that can disable Bio-Locator is the Black Lake. Therefore, if the spell fails, Ivy will need to cast Bio-Locator again on the other side of the Black Lake.

Ivy plans to use Peter Pettigrew to find Voldemort.

Although Voldemort's Horcruxes are gradually decreasing, as long as his true form continues to hide in the Black Forest, he cannot be considered completely eradicated.

Ivy is not one to give his opponents a chance. He not only wants to destroy all of Voldemort's Horcruxes, but also plans to use his soul and body to create a magical artifact.

He even chose the design, calling it the "Scratched Mouth Head".

A broken-mouthed skull is a pale skull that can move and speak freely after being created using dark magic. It retains the magical knowledge of its owner and thus becomes a very valuable research partner.

This is something Ivy found in a dark magic tome called "The Book of the Dead," which could also be translated as "The Book of the Dead." The pages seem to be made of human skin, bound together with sharpened bones, and the binding thread is the hair of the dead. The text is written with some kind of foul-smelling blood as ink.

It looked incredibly evil, and Ivy only turned one page before deciding to use Scholar's Touch to finish reading it. However, the knowledge hidden within the book was indeed quite interesting.

A skull crafted using dark magic will gain the ability to move freely, but it remains subject to its creator. Although it retains all its magical knowledge from its previous life, the shattered skull has no relation to the brain that once housed it. Its consciousness is constituted by its master's dark magic, so there is absolutely no need to worry about it betraying them.

However, the Book of the Dead also states that for some unknown reason, all the chattering heads are extremely talkative, stubborn, and annoyingly chattering, which is why they are called "Chatterboxes".

Besides the mutilated skull, the Book of the Dead also records another very interesting dark magic creation—the Crouching Hand.

In short, the raw material for the Crouching Hand is a human hand, whether it is a hand sewn together from several different fingers, a skeletal hand with only bones left after the flesh has been removed, or a blood-soaked hand that has just been cut off, all can be used to make this dark magic creation.

Ivy thinks this thing looks like the "little thing" that appears in the gothic movie "The Addams Family" and its spin-off series "Wednesday," a reptile that walks on the ground using its five fingers.

It can help turn pages, hand things over, and paint nails. If its owner uses magic to grant it the ability to fly, it looks like a magician's hand that will never disappear.

However, since Ivy already possessed the convenient spell of Mage's Hand, there was no need to create something similar. Conversely, the garbled head, possessing all of its original owner's knowledge, proved far more useful. Ivy's creation, the "Scroll of Domination of Monsters," had already fully demonstrated the value of what was in Voldemort's mind, and that was only one-seventh of his soul.

The chattering head, possessing all the knowledge of Voldemort's main soul, would be a good helper.

As Ivy mentally made arrangements for Voldemort's funeral, she put a tender lamb chop into her mouth.

The food at the Halloween dinner was far more exquisite than the regular meals at Hogwarts. Although Ivy usually ate the special meals provided by house-elves, it didn't stop him from praising the delicious taste of the festive dishes.

The table shook, and the pumpkin juice in the glass spilled out.

Ivy turned his head and looked around; he felt as if the entire castle had shaken.

boom.

A muffled thud was heard, and it wasn't Ivy's imagination.

Then came the third tone, the fourth tone...

The muffled thuds seemed to occur at the same frequency, and all the teachers and students in the auditorium felt them.

Dumbledore, who was in the main seat, stood up, but swayed with the ground and couldn't get his words out.

The students began to panic. Some screamed and stood up, only to be so frightened by the sudden shaking that they collapsed to the ground.

Someone crawled under the table, only to be hit all over the head by food falling from the table.

"Quiet!" Dumbledore's voice echoed through the Great Hall. "Everyone stay where you are!"

Fortunately, the thud and vibration stopped abruptly right after he finished speaking.

“The secret chamber…the heir…” Ivy heard people whispering.

"Prefects of each house, count the number of people in your house and tell me who didn't attend the Halloween dinner!" Dumbledore gave his order.

Before the magistrates could take any action, Snape scoffed and said, "Potter and his two henchmen, obvious."

“It cannot be proven that they are involved in this matter.” Professor McGonagall was clearly unhappy, whether because of Snape’s words or because three Gryffindors had indeed missed the dinner party.

“The sound seems to be coming from underground…we should go and take a look,” Professor Flitwick suggested.

“Alright. Prefect, lead the students back to the common room. The house-elves will bring the leftovers there.” Dumbledore gave another order. “Minerva, Severus, you two go down there and take a look. Pomona, Philius, you’re in charge here.”

Ivy winked at the Slytherin prefect who was maintaining order, then used a Disillusionment Charm to follow the three professors.

Norbert was underground, so he had to go see him no matter what. It wouldn't be good if the professors found out he was keeping a dragon in the castle.

Chapter 179 Speculation

"Monster! Monster!"

"Help! Help! Someone please save me!"

"My legs are weak, I can't run anymore..."

"My head! Watch out for my head! You're about to step on me!"

The underground classroom was filled with wandering ghosts, all of whom were guests attending the anniversary party for Nico, who had almost lost his head.

The intrusion of some giant monster threw them into chaos, causing them to completely forget that they were dead, and they ran around aimlessly in the underground spaces of Hogwarts.

“Mr. Barrow,” Snape called out to a ghost who was still maintaining his composure. He was emaciated, his clothes were stained with silver blood, and his hands were in rusty shackles.

Barrow stared blankly at the three professors.

Dumbledore asked, "What exactly happened in the underground classroom? Did you see the monster's true form?"

“I saw it,” Blood Man Barrow nodded, “but it was just a silhouette, dark and at least 10 feet tall.”

Blood Man Barrow raised his arm, drawing everyone's attention: "There was a death anniversary party going on at the time, and the ghosts were dancing on the dance floor. Suddenly, the monster burst out of the wall, rampaged through the classroom, smashed a big hole in the wall, and then left."

Looking in the direction he pointed, broken bricks and shattered tables and chairs were scattered all over the ground. There was also a huge hole in the wall of the underground classroom, and you could see that the rooms behind it had also been smashed with holes of similar size.

"Excuse me, Mr. Barrow, have you seen Potter, Granger, and Weasley?" Professor McGonagall stepped forward, her expression tense.

"Those three students Nicholas invited?" Blood Man Barrow's tone remained completely flat. "They've made ample preparations for the party; they're all wearing fur cloaks..."

"Where did they go?" Professor McGonagall interrupted his recollection rather rudely, which was unusual for her.

"..." Bloody Barrow glanced at Professor McGonagall and continued slowly, "After making Myrtle cry, he left, not even getting to see the headless hunter's good show..."

Professor McGonagall turned and walked away, with Snape and Dumbledore following behind her.

After navigating the mess and passing several broken-down underground classrooms, the professors found three fluffy little balls huddled in a corner near another staircase.

“Potter! Granger! Weasley!” Professor McGonagall stepped forward and lifted the fur cloak covered by a layer of gray, revealing the three little ones with terrified expressions.

"You've really been a long search!" Professor McGonagall's expression brightened, though it still held a hint of anger. "Are you injured?"

“No, Professor…we can explain…” Harry said softly.

“Speak, Potter. We’re all listening.” Professor Snape stood in the shadows, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

The three of them started explaining, all at once, that they had gone to a memorial service for a deceased person.

"There are hundreds of ghosts there! They are all witnesses..."

“We already know you made Myrtle cry—but what happened after that?” Snape’s dark eyes flickered in the candlelight. “Why didn’t you go to the banquet? Instead, you wandered around the underground classrooms?”

Ron and Hermione's eyes were both on Harry, because he had said he would take them to find a "talking armor," so the three of them had moved away from the underground classroom where the death anniversary party was being held.

In the end, they didn't find the armor, but were instead terrified by the giant beast that crashed through the wall.

“Because…because…” Harry knew that if he revealed the real reason, Snape would surely laugh at him, “because we were tired and wanted to go to bed early, so we went back down these stairs…”

"Not eating dinner?" Snape said, a smug smile flashing across his gaunt face. "I suppose the food the ghosts serve at their death anniversary celebrations is probably not very suitable for the living."

“We’re not hungry!” Ron shouted, but his stomach was growling louder than he was.

At this moment, all three of them began to regret not listening to Ivy and packing some food from the banquet.

Snape's smile twisted even more.

“It’s clear, Headmaster, Potter isn’t telling the whole truth,” he said. “Perhaps we should consider revoking some of his privileges until the truth comes out of his own mouth. For example, removing him from the Gryffindor Quidditch team…”

“Enough, Severus,” Professor McGonagall glared at Snape. “I see no reason to kick this kid out of the Quidditch team. It’s not like Potter crashed into the underground classroom on his broomstick. Instead of asking them what they were doing in the underground classroom, we should ask them if they saw where that beast that appeared here went!”

“We were all terrified…” Hermione said timidly. “There was a commotion in the classroom, like two giants fighting, and it was getting closer and closer… Luckily, the noise stopped quickly.”

"So, you didn't see its true form?" Dumbledore's blue eyes stared at the three of them, and they all shook their heads.

“Alright, let’s check the scene then.” Dumbledore left the door of the nearest classroom.

"...That's so strange."

Everyone who sees this scene will say the same thing.

Unlike all the previous underground classrooms, this classroom had only one hole, as if the giant beast that crashed through the wall had suddenly turned into a harmless bubble and disappeared without a trace.

"If that behemoth is so big that it has to smash through walls to move freely, where can it go?" Professor McGonagall asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

Dumbledore walked to the hole that had been smashed open by the giant beast, examined it intently for a long time, and then cast a spell to restore the wall to its original state.

He turned around with a smile and said to the two professors and three students, "It seems that some big shots have also made Hogwarts their home. Ladies and gentlemen, it's getting late. Go back to your beds and sleep. Leave this place to me."

“Albus…” Professor McGonagall looked at him suspiciously, hesitated, then shook her head and led the three second-year students back.