My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 215, Section 212: The Meeting of Old and New Tom

Lynn tidied up the lecture notes on the podium, picked up the cage containing the little elves, and sent these little elves, which were used as classroom props, back to Hagrid's hut.

"Thank you, Hagrid. How much would it cost to rent these little guys?"

Hagrid waved his hand: "No need to pay Lockhart, they were all given to me for free by the wizards of Cornwall. These little things are not very pleasing to the eye, and those people are wondering what to do with them. Perhaps releasing them back into the Forbidden Forest would be a good choice."

Lynn shrugged. He and Hagrid had different opinions on this. Although the Forbidden Forest was large, it had long been divided into territories by various creatures. If these little elves were released in, they would definitely not follow the rules of the Forbidden Forest, and a large portion of them would probably die.

He had no sympathy for them. These little elves were not exactly benevolent creatures to begin with; they were naturally mischievous and unlike fairies or house-elves, they did not have independent thoughts or consciousness. If they were put into the Forbidden Forest, they would do as they pleased and die.

"By the way, Lockhart, what were you rushing off to in the first-floor corridor of the castle last time? I called you for ages, but you didn't hear me."

Lynn looked up and recalled, "Sorry Hagrid, you know I had just finished teaching my students and I've been very busy this week. I guess I was teaching a sixth-grade class on the first floor at the time, and I was in a rush so I didn't notice."

"Yes, being a professor is very busy." Lynn could hear the envy in Hagrid's voice. "Especially since Defense Against the Dark Arts is a course that every young wizard has to take from first to seventh year. You can only teach a maximum of two houses per class, and there are four houses and seven years in total, so you have to teach at least fourteen classes a week."

"It's definitely not easy, but isn't that what a professor does every day?"

Lynn took the cup of hot tea from Hagrid and chatted casually, "I heard that Professor Sylvanas Kettleburn, who teaches the Magical Creatures Department, submitted his retirement application to Dumbledore this year. I estimate that the position will be vacant next year. I think with your abilities, you could try to get the position. Dumbledore will most likely agree."

"Oh! You and I were thinking the same thing about Lockhart!" Hagrid said excitedly. "I've already prepared my report. There shouldn't be any problem with Dumbledore; it just depends on whether the Board of Governors will approve it."

"There shouldn't be any problems," Lynn said with a smile.

If things go smoothly with John, he will probably have secured all the seats on the board of trustees by the end of this semester. At that point, Hagrid's professorship application will be a piece of cake for him.

Lynn didn't talk to Hagrid for long. He had a first-year defense class to teach, so after finishing his tea, he left Hagrid's hut.

The break between classes at Hogwarts is quite long. Lynn had a cup of hot tea with Hagrid, and when he arrived at the classroom where first-year students were having their classes, there was only one student there.

She was a first-year Ravenclaw girl, and Lynn vaguely remembered her; her name was Basild Fontana.

The girl was clearly not in good health; her face was unnaturally pale. In the last class, which was also his first class with the first-year wizards, Lynn called on her to answer a question, and she even seemed like she might faint at any moment.

However, Ravenclaw's students, especially the little witches, are very studious. When Lynn arrived at the classroom, he saw Behilde sitting in her seat, engrossed in reading a magic book.

Lynn saw the title of the book, "Black Magic: A Guide to Self-Defense." It wasn't on this year's defense class reading list, so it was clear that the little girl had bought it herself out of interest.

"May I ask you another question, Professor?" Seeing Lynn enter the classroom, Behirde put down her textbook and said, looking somewhat shy.

Lynn smiled. "Of course, but why use the word 'continue'? I don't recall you asking me any questions before, right?"

Behirde tugged at the little braid hanging down her shoulder and whispered, "I ran into you once before in front of the girls' restroom on the first floor. I asked you what the essence of black magic is. You seemed very busy and told me that the essence of black magic is the evil thoughts of the wizard when using magic, and then you left in a hurry and told me to come back to you next time."

Lynn frowned as he carefully recalled his experiences over the past few days. Although he had been very busy, he hadn't been so busy that he would forget something so memorable.

He searched every corner of his mind, but he couldn't recall when he had ever met Behirde.

The girl had no reason to lie about this; her account of her answer at the time sounded like her own words.

Lynn's theories on dark magic were all taught to him by Professor Fox, whose research on dark magic placed the most emphasis on the emotions of wizards when casting spells. Lynn inevitably followed this idea of ​​his.

This idea is not accepted by most wizards in the magical world because dark magic is a taboo. Few people except dark wizards would study it. Therefore, the idea that the essence of dark magic is the evil thoughts of wizards when using magic is something only Lynn himself can say in the entire Hogwarts.

Do you remember when that was?

Behirde remembers it clearly: "It was on the morning of the second day of school."

Lynn was certain he hadn't met with Behirde at the time, because Umaru had complained to him on the first night of school.

He said he couldn't control his habits and that his impersonation was unconvincing, which made Ian and Cedric suspicious. So that morning, he reverted to his original identity and practiced spells with Ian and the others by the Black Lake, without ever going through any restrooms.

This matter was strange, and Lynn couldn't figure it out even after thinking about it for a long time.

"Professor," a slightly shy Behild interrupted his thoughts, "Could you continue answering my questions?"

Lynn put that matter aside for the moment and began to help the little girl answer her questions.

"This is actually a question without an answer, Miss Fontana. Every wizard who has studied dark magic has their own answer in their heart. My philosophy is inherited from my former Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship. Dark magic is called dark magic because when wizards use magic, their essence is to harm others. If your heart is filled with the desire to hurt or kill, then even a simple cleansing spell is dark magic."

"So, whether magic is evil or not is determined by the wizard himself?" Behild asked.

"That's right, magic is a subjective thing; how it works depends on you."

"Then," Behild lowered her head, "what if one uses magic to harm others in order to avenge themselves?"

She raised her head again, her emerald eyes filled with curiosity: "For example, if someone killed my mother, and I used dark magic against that person in order to avenge her, would my thoughts and emotions at that moment also be evil?"

Lynn narrowed his eyes, looked at the girl seriously, and shook his head.

"Your question has nothing to do with magic, Miss Fontana. If I were to answer you according to the nature of dark magic, then no matter what your purpose is, as long as you want to use a certain kind of magic to harm others, then it is still dark magic. But if we look at this issue according to normal human ethics, avenging one's relatives is absolutely not evil. On the contrary, countless legends throughout history have praised this matter."

Behirde looked at Lynn and smiled sweetly: "Thank you for your explanation, Professor."

"It's alright, it's my responsibility. I won't interfere in your affairs, but as your teacher, I have something to remind you."

Lynn looked directly into her eyes and said, "No matter what you do, you must act within your capabilities and find the right method. Don't end up on the wrong path when you're doing the right thing."

"I will remember your words."

This little girl clearly had her own story, but there are plenty of people with stories in this world. She didn't ask for Lynn's help, nor did she want to get involved.

It wasn't long before class started, and the classroom gradually filled up. Lynn stopped chatting with Behirde and went up to the podium.

"Alright, let's begin the lesson now."

Lynn took Behirde's earlier words about seeing him to heart.

After that, he asked a few more people, but now he has classes every day except weekends, so he basically just wanders around the castle every day. Quite a few people have seen him, so no one can provide Lynn with any valuable clues anymore.

Having no clue what to do for the time being, Lynn shifted her focus to another important matter.

He hasn't forgotten what was supposed to happen at Hogwarts this year.

Ginny Weasley, the youngest sister of the Weasleys, was seduced by Tom's diary and reopened the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, releasing the Basilisk and causing chaos throughout the castle for an entire term.

Now, thanks to Lynn's prior arrangements, the diary has fallen into his hands, and Lynn knows at least three ways to destroy the Horcrux.

This year, he originally planned to use the basilisk incident to boost his reputation, and then conveniently use the basilisk's fangs to destroy the diary.

Now that no one will open the Chamber of Secrets, no more young wizards will be harmed. If Lynn were to rush into the Chamber of Secrets, crush the Basilisk, and drag it out, the effect would certainly not be as significant as in the original story where Hogwarts was ravaged for a whole year before being killed by Harry Potter, thus gaining prestige.

But Lynn was already content with this. Although he wasn't a good person, he was now a professor at Hogwarts, and he couldn't bring himself to use the lives of the children in the castle as a bargaining chip to enhance his reputation.

"Really? Is this really a diary left behind by me after I grew up? This is terrifying! Why would such an evil thing exist in this world?" The spherical Tom said incredulously on Lynn's desk.

He and the diary usually kept in Lynn's pocket, and the two souls belonging to the same person had naturally met.

This was also Lynn's intention. He didn't actively separate Tom from the diary because he wanted to see how Tom, who seemed to have been successfully brainwashed, would react after coming into contact with the evil side of himself.

"Do you know what he's trying to do? He actually wants me to work with him from the inside to open the Chamber of Secrets hidden in Hogwarts' Lytherin, trick you into releasing the monster inside, and then have that monster kill you and all the Muggle-born wizards in this school!"

The day Lynn took Tom out of his pocket, Tom sold his diary.

Moreover, the sale was so thorough that Lynn couldn't help but feel sorry for the remnant soul of Voldemort in the diary.

The diary lying open on the table, which Tom had spent so much time with in Lynn's pocket, also made him realize that something was wrong with his own soul.

A line of text slowly appeared on the blank page:

What did you do to me?

This was Tom's first interaction with Lynn's remnant soul, and he immediately got to the heart of the matter.

"I did nothing to you. You are who you are. His future will not turn out like you; it will be better."

The words in the diary disappeared, and Tom's lingering soul remained silent for a long time before another line of text appeared.

What do you desire?

Trying to bewitch me?

Lynn instantly saw through what Tom was thinking in the diary, and he said with a sneer.

"I long for Nako, do you?"

Before Tom in the diary could reply, Tom on the table was already unhappy.

"You've changed, Lynn. You used to tell me that only the lowest-level wizards crave money and breasts, while true wizards only want knowledge."

"Cough cough cough"

Being lectured by Tom made Lynn feel like he had shot himself in the foot. He coughed twice and explained, "I was just teasing him. Anyway, he can't possibly have breasts."

I can tell you.

Before Tom could finish speaking in the diary, Lynn slammed it shut.

He believed he could still resist Tom's influence during his fifth year, but Horcruxes were quite sinister. To avoid being caught off guard, Lynn kept the diary in his pocket, refusing to give it a chance to communicate with him.

Just like Lynn taught in class, no matter what kind of enemy you are facing, if you underestimate them, it means you have already lost half the battle.

He did not believe that with his current strength, he could easily subdue the basilisk in the secret chamber.

Besides, the basilisk has many weaknesses, so it won't take much effort to prepare in advance.

Lynn had arranged with Hagrid in advance to borrow a rooster from him some time later, and he had also been deliberately practicing the Eye Disease Spell recently.

(End of this chapter)