My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 225, Section 222: Cause and Effect

"Now I finally understand why the upperclassmen didn't recommend us using the toilets in the first-floor washroom. Behilde, that ghost is so annoying."

"Waaah, you came in here yourselves, and now you're complaining that I'm annoying? You're always like this."

"Don't say that to her, Lisa. She's already very upset."

"But I've never seen such a crybaby ghost before. Do you remember the ghost of my great-grandfather that I told you about? Although he always likes to nag us younger generations, he knows when to speak and when not to. Unlike this one, we're in the bathroom right now."

"Waaaaah"

"Alright, Lisa, stop talking about her."

Lynn leaned against the wall in front of the bathroom door, silently listening to the conversation between the two girls inside.

It's the early morning of September 2nd. Last night, Lynn was tormented by Mommy Myrtle's crying in the washroom all night. Just as dawn was breaking, two first-grade girls, seemingly on their way to flight class, came to the first-floor washroom to use the toilet.

He had to leave the bathroom to avoid being labeled a pervert.

However, he also heard the two girls talking inside the washroom, and he guessed that they would never come to this washroom on the first floor again after this.

Lynn leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and dozed off for a while. Normally, not sleeping all night wouldn't have made him feel tired, but Mommy Peach was so noisy yesterday. She actually cried all night, which disturbed Lynn's mind and made him not only unable to rest but also bothered by the noise all night.

"There are no lights here yet. Are you done, Behildr? Watch your step."

"Wait, Lisa, I'll use a spell, it's too dark here. The glow will flicker."

"Oh! I remember you said your parents were Muggles? We haven't even had a single Charms class yet and you already know the Wand Illumination Charm?"

"This is nothing special. Not only me, but I think many of the new students at Ravenclaw have already learned it on their own before the start of the semester."

"Yes, after all, we are an academy known for its wisdom, and there are many intelligent people here."

Two Ravenclaw girls came out of the bathroom chatting. One of them, with light blonde hair and a sickly pale face, was holding a wand with a glowing tip.

"Our first lesson is flying, how awesome! I've only ever played with toy brooms at home," Lisa said excitedly to Behild beside her.

Behildr did not respond to her companion's words. She held up her glowing wand and stared wide-eyed at the adult male who had been leaning against the wall and pretending to sleep.

"Professor Lockhart." She recognized the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, whom Headmaster Dumbledore had introduced to her at the opening banquet the night before.

Lynn heard the shout and opened his eyes in surprise. He saw two little girls looking at him strangely, one of them holding a glowing magic wand.

The ample light source rendered his illusion spell ineffective.

Lynn cursed his bad luck inwardly, but fortunately he was using Lockhart's appearance; if he had used his original appearance, it would have been much more troublesome.

He yawned and replied, "Hello."

"Professor, what are you doing here?"

Lynn made up an excuse: "Today is my first class as a professor. I didn't sleep well last night, so I just leaned against here to rest for a while. You guys go ahead and teach, I have other things to do too."

He didn't want to spend too much time with the two girls, lest his other self run into him here.

But just as he turned to leave, the little girl named Behirde called him back, looking somewhat hesitant.

"Professor, I read some of your books before the semester started, and I felt that your insights into dark magic creatures were very unique. Could you tell me what the essence of dark magic is?"

Lynn's expression froze for a moment. He turned around and looked carefully at the girl who seemed a little shy, with her long, light golden hair styled into two small braids. His expression became quite peculiar.

"The essence of dark magic is the evil thoughts of the wizard when using magic. I do have some things to do right now. If you want to know more specifics, come to the classroom before my next class and ask me." He said this earnestly to the Ravenclaw girl, then turned and left in a hurry.

Behild's companion, Lisa, tilted her head and watched Lynn's departing figure, saying in confusion, "Professor Lockhart seems very busy."

Behirde seemed to be a die-hard fan of Lockhart, the conman from before. She explained on behalf of her idol, "It's his first time as a professor, so of course he'll be busy on his first day. Let's go now, and I'll continue to ask him questions during the next defense class."

The two little girls turned and walked out of the castle.

"Why would you ask the professor that question? The nature of black magic sounds very profound."

"Because I'm curious whether using black magic automatically makes someone a bad person."

Lynn hadn't actually left. He cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself again at a corner of the corridor today, concealing his form.

The invisibility effect achieved by the Disappearance Charm is indeed somewhat inconvenient. Even if Lynn practices this spell to the same level of proficiency as his Divine Strike, it will still fail under strong light.

He should have purchased an invisibility cloak made of Invisibility Beast fur from Diagon Alley before time travel. Although it wouldn't last long and would eventually become ineffective, it would still be much more powerful than the Disillusionment Charm, and since its duration was short, he could simply buy a few more to use as replacements.

Unfortunately, Lynn can no longer buy things from Diagon Alley, and she doesn't know who to send the Invisibility Cloak to when she finally buys it.

The matter of invisibility was secondary; of course, Lynn, the first-year Ravenclaw girl, still remembered her.

A week later, during Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the girl would arrive at the classroom early and continue asking the same question to another boy.

Lynn never forgot this incident. At the time, he thought that someone was impersonating him, or that the real Lockhart's memories had returned and he had appeared at Hogwarts.

Unexpectedly, the person who answered her question was indeed himself, only from the future.

After using the Disillusionment Charm on himself again, Lynn returned to the bathroom.

He didn't actually need to be constantly vigilant and watch for anyone coming in. Three weeks later, when he opened the entrance to the secret room, he specifically asked Mommy Kristen Stewart. Before that, she hadn't seen anyone open the secret room, which meant that the person who sneaked into the secret room entered after Mommy Kristen Stewart left the washroom.

Therefore, he only needs to pay special attention to the time when Myrtle is not in the bathroom.

Lynn has been staying near the restroom these days.

At the beginning of the semester, some freshman girls would come to this washroom on the first floor to use the toilet, but after two days, after the reputation of "Myrtle" spread among the freshmen, no one came here anymore.

Lynn stayed inside listening to Myrtle's almost non-stop crying for 24 hours a day, and over time he got used to it.

Even at night, he felt that the sound of Myrtle's crying had a hypnotic effect.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. On the evening of September 5th, Lynn was reading a magic book in a corner of the bathroom wall.

Of course, he wouldn't be so bored as to just sit there in a daze every day. After the first day, Lynn mastered a little trick: he used a Disillusionment Charm on the cover of the magic book to hide its appearance, and then turned the book so that the cover faced outwards and the contents faced him, making it barely possible to read the book.

Lynn's dark magic is very strong, and almost no dark wizard can compare to him, but he is still relatively lacking in some normal spells.

Of course, if he were to follow the normal learning pace of a third grader, the spells he knows would definitely be beyond the curriculum.

Lynn's comparisons were not with peers of the same age as him, but with adult wizards.

For example, the magic he lacks most right now is Apparition. During the battle in the Soviet Union, Ivanov showed him the potential of this teleportation spell. Apparition not only makes it easier for wizards to teleport long distances, but with enough skill and strong enough magic power to cast spells silently, it can even achieve the effect of flashing in battle.

However, Apparition is forbidden at Hogwarts, and this magic is extremely dangerous when first learned. Improper use can easily result in the user splitting into two parts. With no one watching, Lynn dared not practice on his own.

In addition, there is the Guardian Charm. While this charm isn't particularly outstanding in terms of combat power alone, it is specifically designed to counter Dementors.

Next year, after Sirius escapes from Azkaban and the Dementors move into Hogwarts, this magic will be extremely useful.

So Lynn plans to learn the Patronus Charm this year. The spellbook he's reading now is one he borrowed from the library through his professorship before time travel.

Lynn didn't expect to learn this advanced magic in a short time. Moreover, the Patronus Charm especially required the user to have a positive and healthy emotional state. He doubted whether he would be able to learn this spell because he used too much dark magic.

But if even someone as dark-skinned as Snape could use it, there's no reason why I couldn't learn it.

"Myrtle, Blood Man Barrow is preparing to convene the 78th Ghost Council today. Are you going? If you are, you can come with me."

A chubby, kind-looking ghost slowly floated into the bathroom.

Lynn quietly closed the book in his hand and recognized the ghost as the fat monk from Hodgepodge Academy.

Myrtle stopped crying, and said in a choked voice, "Why didn't anyone tell me beforehand?"

The portly monk explained to her helplessly, "Perhaps those people forgot, and besides, here I am, aren't I?"

No ghost wanted to come here to inform Myrtle. Her reputation wasn't good among the young wizards, and the ghosts didn't like her either, because she was too emotional and would cry at the drop of a hat. The fat monk came this time out of pity for her and to explain that he really hadn't held a memorial banquet last time, and that he hadn't just not invited her separately.

Peach Blossom Lady floated out of the washroom cubicle and followed the fat monk away.

What will be discussed at this meeting?

"I guess it's still the same issue: whether or not to remove Peeves from the Ghost identity. To be honest, I've always thought we should give Peeves a chance."

"Waaaaah, is I going to be the next one to get expelled after Mischievous Ghost's expulsion? Or have you guys already discussed this in private?"

"You're overthinking it. We haven't discussed this matter. Also, I really haven't held my anniversary banquet this year. Sir Nicholas, on the other hand, is planning to hold an anniversary party, and he will invite you, or rather, he will probably invite all the ghosts of Hogwarts this year."

As Lynn listened to their conversation gradually fade away, he didn't take the book out of his pocket again. Instead, he shrank back and hid himself even more.

Myrtle left the washroom, which meant there was now an opportunity to open the secret room.

Lynn held her breath and waited quietly.

Not long after, it suddenly became a bit noisy outside. Judging from the noise, some young wizards had finished their dinner and were preparing to return to their lounge.

"You should be thankful that Professor Sprout cured that Whomping Willow," he heard Hermione's voice.

"Alright, Hermione, Harry and I have already been scolded by Mom's yelling letter, so you don't need to nag us about it anymore. Professor McGonagall will find a way to punish us," Ron said.

Harry was also praying, "I hope Professor McGonagall doesn't send us to Filch, that would be really bad."

Their voices gradually faded away, and then suddenly a dark figure ran from the corridor into the washroom.

Lynn was startled at first and became extremely wary, but he quickly turned away awkwardly, avoiding looking at the person who entered the restroom.

It was a young girl who urgently needed to urinate; she seemed to have come to the first floor to use the restroom because she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Thank goodness Myrtle isn't here," the little girl muttered to herself, relieved. Her voice sounded familiar; Lynn thought it was Ginny, the Weasleys' little sister.

After she finished using the toilet, she left the washroom without showing any unusual behavior.

These were all just minor incidents. Time continued to pass slowly, and by 11 p.m., Madam Tao still hadn't returned.

This is normal for ghosts; they don't need to sleep or rest, and nighttime is their best time to be active. Lynn's tense state of mind has finally begun to relax a bit.

He leaned gently against the wall with his eyes closed, his breathing gradually becoming even as if he were asleep.

The restroom was quiet. Just then, a figure shrouded in darkness entered the restroom silently, like a ghost.

A gentle breeze blew by, and Lynn suddenly opened his eyes!

(End of this chapter)