My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 284, Section 281: The Suspect

The Duel Club event went very smoothly.

Lynn divided the young wizards into groups according to their grade level and restricted the magic they could use. Older students who knew the Disarm Charm could only use it and other defensive spells, while students who didn't know the Disarm Charm used the Knockback Charm instead. As long as the spell hit the opponent, the student would win the duel.

Even with thousands of people, the event proceeded smoothly until the end of tonight's duel club session.

The duel between Professor Lockhart and Professor Snape became a hot topic of discussion among students in the days leading up to the Christmas break. In fact, since no one had been attacked for nearly a month, the topic of the Chamber of Secrets and the Slytherin successor was overshadowed by the Dueling Club.

Meanwhile, because Lynn defeated Snape in front of almost the entire school, the young wizards in Defense Against the Dark Arts class became very motivated to learn. They even gradually got used to the fact that Lynn assigned far more homework than other professors. It would be big news if the homework for Defense Against the Dark Arts class could be finished in just two hours.

Harry and Ron are excited that the Polyjuice Potion they hid in Myrtle's bathroom will be ready to be brewed on Christmas Day. They haven't forgotten their plan to find the Slytherin successor.

The day before Christmas, Hermione found "Lynn".

"Hermione, why is the button I created with Transfiguration so ugly?" Umaru asked Hermione, sitting cross-legged on the grass where they had flight class, holding a dusty gray button in her hand.

Hermione found out less than a month after school started that Lynn was actually Umaru in disguise. Lynn had told her this herself, so Umaru could unabashedly drop her disguise and show her true self in front of her.

"What do you imagine the buttons to look like when you transform?" Hermione asked.

"It's white, and it has delicate patterns on it, just like the patterns on the buttons on the clothes Lynn bought me!" Umaru said dejectedly. "But the buttons I conjured up are nothing like the ones I imagined."

Hermione patiently taught her, "That's because you're not confident enough in using Transfiguration. After you imagine what you want to transform into, wave your wand and chant the spell. You must firmly believe that it will become what you imagine under your spell."

Hermione has tutored Umaru on magic quite a few times, and she's very familiar with her questions.

Umaru is typically imaginative, but because she fantasizes about so many things, she has trouble concentrating and lacks willpower. If she could focus her attention, her magical abilities would definitely be far superior to those of a normal first-year student.

After discussing their studies, Hermione and Umaru started talking about their Christmas plans.

"I'm not staying at school for Christmas. Lynn said that Kira is too lonely spending Christmas alone at home, so I should go home and keep him company. After Christmas, Kira can take me directly back to Hogwarts."

Hermione was quite pleased with Lynn's actions; he never treated Kira as a servant but genuinely considered him family.

"Where will Lynn be spending Christmas?" Hermione asked casually.

Little Burst immediately became alert: "You can't trick me into telling Hermione where he is. If I reveal where he is, my plan to have him buy me a game console this summer will definitely be ruined."

Hermione ruffled her hair like Lynn did, and said irritably, "Fine, you can just keep staring at your game console, I won't ask anymore."

Umaru chuckled twice, then asked, "So, Hermione, are you going home for Christmas? If you are, we can go back together."

Hermione shook her head: "I have other things to do at school, so I won't be going back."

They chatted on the grass for an afternoon, and then Umaru prepared to leave. She had to take a train for another day the next day, and she wanted to surprise Kira when she got home.

After saying goodbye to Umaru, Hermione headed towards the Gryffindor common room. Her steps were light, and she seemed to be in a very good mood. However, compared to when she came out, she had an extra strand of white hair in her hand.

On Christmas Day, a snowy morning, Lynn finally received a reply from old John.

The envelope was thick and filled with parchment, all containing a person's personal information from birth to the present, covering everything very comprehensively.

Lynn read through the documents one by one with utmost care, not missing a single page, until he finally came across a summary written by one of Old John's men.

"According to the data, after the Roll family went to the United States, they maintained close ties with the United States and quickly established themselves by relying on the latter's influence in the American magical world. Even though the family has declined to this day, if Roll wants to continue to develop in the United States, he still needs to rely on the family's connections and relationships. At the same time, we have not found any trace of the family's descendants left behind in Europe."

Lynn stared at the document in deep thought. After a long silence, he continued reading. Old John then reported to him on Mrs. Rowe's recent acquisition of seats on the Board of Trustees.

According to a tip from John's mole within the pure-blood family, some Hogwarts board members have begun to contact Mrs. Rolle privately. The mole speculates that Mrs. Rolle may have already secured a seat on the board of directors.

Since then, she has remained silent, showing no intention of acquiring other board seats. Recently, there have been rumors that she plans to convene a meeting of the twelve board members and invite Dumbledore to hold a Hogwarts board meeting. The specific purpose of the meeting is currently unknown.

Lynn squinted his eyes instinctively after seeing the message.

If his guess is correct, then these people will start putting pressure on Dumbledore. It's just a matter of whether Dumbledore can keep his word and ensure that no one can interfere with anything at Hogwarts unless he agrees.

The information Old John sent to Lynn was very important. Through it, he could basically verify his suspicions. He couldn't confirm whether the murderer was him or her yet, but at least he had a suspect.

After reading the documents, he didn't put them away. Instead, he used magic to set them on fire, burning all the parchment.

Now that we have a suspect, things will be much easier.

Thinking this, Lynn's lips curled into a subtle smile.

If you are a reader who is very familiar with the original work, you can basically guess who the murderer is by this point.

With double monthly votes for the last two days, I'm shamelessly asking everyone for a month's vote.

(End of this chapter)