Hogwarts: A little lion in the skin of the Eagle School

"What?"

Hermione was clearly surprised to hear John's words.

"I've been to Umbridge's office before."

"Her office had a lot of cat-themed dishes, like those portraits."

"Those cats seem to be able to enter and exit other paintings; they can basically move freely between them, except for some that are not in the same world as the paintings."

He discovered this mechanism about the world within the painting when he was in first grade.

I remember that he and his friends hid a portrait, but that portrait could also use the world within the painting to seek help from other portraits in the real world.

The world depicted in the painting is like an open, miniature garden.

Within the same miniature garden, different figures in the portraits can visit each other and appear in other portraits.

Different miniature gardens cannot visit each other.

If you want a portrait to enter a miniature space, you need the portraits' consent; otherwise, they can drive your portrait away and destroy it.

Most of the paintings at Hogwarts belong to a small garden, and access is relatively easy.

That's why after Umbridge arrived, many more cats suddenly appeared in the portraits in the castle.

It must have been that after she took office, she specially made a cat plate that could connect with the world of paintings in the castle, and then let those cat paintings enter every corner of the castle to monitor everything at Hogwarts.

"No wonder Umbridge always seemed to know so much about everything; it turns out she'd been monitoring the entire school all along..."

Fortunately, Umbridge can no longer cause any trouble, otherwise who knows how much it would affect them.

However, since those cat portraits are still there, they might inadvertently be overheard about something important.

So we still need to be careful.

Why are you only telling me now?

"They're not taking Umbridge seriously at all..."

Listening to Hermione's complaints, John scratched his head awkwardly and said...

"Details determine success or failure. The less threatening and less noticed something is, the more likely it is to become the key to victory or defeat. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, I understand, please stop reading..."

John quickly begged for mercy, but Hermione's stern expression made it seem like she was about to give him a lesson on safety hazards right there and then.

Seeing this, Hermione snorted and took John's hand again.

Hermione always manages to spot potential dangers before anyone else does, so she often can't help but nag John about all sorts of safety tips.

John was so caught up in this that he almost lost all sense of caution, thinking that he wouldn't care unless Hermione said anything.

They've been spoiled rotten.

......

The following morning.

John, who had no classes, went to Dumbledore's office alone.

"Come on in, have a seat."

Dumbledore wasn't surprised by John's arrival; he simply pointed to the chair opposite his desk.

Right now, he's examining the locket and the Ravenclaw tiara.

There was also a black leather diary with a hole punched in the middle.

"Is this the Horcrux that Harry destroyed?"

John looked at the diary and asked.

"That's right, when Harry was in his second year, someone slipped this diary into Ginny's luggage."

"Then Ginny was bewitched by Voldemort's soul and became his puppet, leading to a series of actions."

John was taken aback upon hearing Dumbledore's account.

"Can Voldemort's soul within a Horcrux really bewitch people?"

This was the first time he had heard about this.

He only knew that many heinous incidents seemed to have occurred back then, but he never imagined that it was caused by Voldemort's Horcruxes.

"Of course, if the host's will is weak or immature, and happens to be living with the Horcrux for a long time, they may be bewitched."

As Dumbledore spoke, he pushed the locket in front of John.

"Each Horcrux seems to be under a different curse or protection. This pendant box, for example, amplifies the wearer's negative emotions, stirs up the wearer's inner demons, and eventually devours them."

"I'm still researching the Ravenclaw crown, but it's related to this. It's about how wearing the crown subtly alters the wearer's perception, making them unknowingly become what it wants them to be."

John subconsciously touched his chest. A demon in his heart? He just happened to have one.

Fortunately, I can't touch it myself, otherwise I might really have been tempted to put it on and see what happens.

"Although I haven't figured out the exact number of Voldemort's Horcruxes, after you brought back Ravenclaw's crown yesterday, another thing that Voldemort might have turned into a Horcrux came to mind—Hufflepuff's Cup."

"Like Ravenclaw's tiara, it is a relic of one of the four founders of Hogwarts."

"Voldemort was probably consciously choosing things that were... worthy of his status, to make Horcruxes."

"...After all, I don't think he would just randomly find a broken crucible or a second-hand teapot and stuff soul fragments into it."

Hearing Dumbledore's teasing remark, John couldn't help but laugh and said, "If he really did that, we'd be in a difficult position."

"really..."

"Anyway, as long as it is a well-known object, we can follow the clues and trace its circulation, and we can always find some traces."

Dumbledore shrugged indifferently, but then immediately looked at John.

"Alright, let's get down to business, John."

"Before I examine you, I want to test whether your other soul can truly sense the Horcrux."

John naturally cooperated.

After all, he was also very curious to know just how far this ability could be utilized.

"You can go out now."

"oh."

John left the office as instructed.

After standing outside for a while, the office door opened again, and Dumbledore was still sitting at his desk.

"Come on, John, try to find the Horcruxes I've hidden in my office."

Dumbledore said to John, who was standing at the door.

John nodded, and was about to close his eyes to feel it.

Suddenly two very clear signs appeared in his senses.

This surprised John.

It's not because the perception speed is ridiculously fast.

Rather, it was because before he even began the search, his other soul had already started searching for him.

Does this prove...?

His other soul is capable of perceiving what he hears and sees, and then proactively offering help.

Because when he first entered the office, the three Horcruxes were right in front of him, but his soul didn't guide him to find them.

Now that Dumbledore has just given the order, it has responded immediately.

In addition, it was after he talked to Hermione about Horcruxes yesterday that it helped him find them.

Therefore, it may possess autonomous consciousness and be able to distinguish between friend and foe.

However, it doesn't seem to be able to read the thoughts in my head.

I just tried mentally cursing it several times, but it didn't react at all...