My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 291, Chapter 288: Hogwarts in Turmoil

"Don't be nervous, Harry. You yourself don't really know whether you did it or not. All we need to do now is help you verify the truth."

As Lynn spoke, he reached out his hand to Harry.

Give me your wand.

Harry swallowed hard and obediently handed his wand to Lynn.

Lynn took his wand and then used the Pre-Flashback Charm in front of Professor McGonagall and Harry.

"Grinning and slurping, a little evil curse?"

Harry quickly explained, "That's what I used when I dueled Malfoy yesterday."

"Duplicate it to make two?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, but then thought it best not to lie: "I did it so I could easily reference Hermione's homework."

Lynn raised an eyebrow at him: "Which subject's homework?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts professor! I absolutely only borrowed from this! I really didn't plagiarize!"

"Okay, I won't make you rewrite your homework."

Lynn waved his hand, returning the wand to Harry, and turned to Professor McGonagall, saying, "I'm going to the school hospital to check on Professor Snape's injuries. Harry is certain he wasn't the murderer."

Professor McGonagall frowned. She didn't believe Harry was the murderer either, but she still had to voice her suspicions.

"Is it possible that Harry was cursed by someone else's Imperius Curse?"

Lynn shook his head, looking at the conspicuous lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry Potter's forehead: "There is a powerful magic that has always protected Harry; the Imperius Curse shouldn't be able to control him."

"Then why did Snape want us to capture Harry?"

Harry chimed in timidly, "Maybe he just doesn't like me."

Lynn tapped him on the head and said in front of Professor McGonagall, "Professor of Argumentation, Gryffindor loses 5 points."

"Professor Snape may not get along with you normally, but he won't act recklessly in this kind of situation."

If you really didn't do it, then it's only possible that someone impersonated you to attack him. Snape couldn't be sure if that person was you at the time. His main purpose in having us capture you at the end wasn't to catch the murderer, but to protect you.

Harry looked incredulous.

Would Snape want to protect him?

This was the funniest joke he'd heard all year.

"Professor McGonagall, you'd better take Harry to the Great Hall at lunchtime to announce that he has been proven not to be the murderer, otherwise he'll have a very difficult time until the murderer is caught."

Professor McGonagall nodded: "I will."

Compared to Professor McGonagall, Lynn's current demeanor is more like that of an acting headmaster of Hogwarts. However, no one is dwelling on these details right now. With Dumbledore absent, it doesn't matter who it is as long as they have the ability to take charge.

After leaving Professor McGonagall's office, Lynn walked all the way to the university hospital.

Snape is currently lying in a hospital bed. Lynn was only allowed to visit him after repeatedly assuring Madam Pomfrey that he would not be disturbed.

"His condition is very bad right now, especially since he was found too late and has lost too much blood. Even if he drinks a whole bottle of blood-replenishing potion, it won't replenish the lost blood in a short time. If Snape had been found any later, he might have even died from blood loss."

Lynn did not go directly into the ward, but first learned about Snape's current condition from Mrs. Pomfrey.

"Where are his main wounds located?"

"The penetrating wound in his waist was the most severe, affecting his internal organs as well. It was like he'd been punched hard in the back; all his internal organs were injured. I heard he was still able to speak before he was brought here? I really can't believe how he managed to hold on for so long," Mrs. Pomfrey said, her face filled with lingering fear.

"Are there any signs of a curse on his back?"

"No, there are no signs of him being affected by the spell. He didn't seem to be fighting any wizards at all; it was more like he was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a giant."

After getting the gist of the situation from Mrs. Pomfrey, Lynn entered the ward where Snape was.

Snape's face looked paler than ever before, completely devoid of color. If it weren't for the faint sound of his breathing, Lynn would have even wondered if Snape had actually died.

He pulled back the blanket covering Snape, revealing his upper body wrapped in bandages, with traces of blood seeping through them.

The wound was too deep; Madam Pomfrey's medicine couldn't heal it completely immediately, and further treatment was needed.

Lynn silently pulled the blanket back over herself.

Looking at Snape's pale face, he muttered to himself softly.

"Don't worry, Professor, I'll get revenge for you."

The atmosphere in the castle suddenly turned panicked.

Because this time the attacker was not a student, but a professor, who was also the Slytherin Headmaster Snape, whom the students feared most.

Everyone knows Snape wasn't from a Muggle family, and now even he's been attacked. This means that no one in the school, whether pure-blood or not, student or professor, is safe.

The successor who opened the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin seemed to have gone mad after a long period of silence, and began to attack anyone in Hogwarts indiscriminately!

On this day, countless owls took flight from the castle.

The young wizards from the wizarding families decided to tell their parents what had happened at school. Since such a serious incident had occurred, they knew they could only find out what to do next by contacting their parents.

Some people questioned Professor McGonagall, asking why Professor Dumbledore didn't step in to take charge when such a big thing happened.

Thus, Dumbledore's absence from the school could no longer be concealed, which further exacerbated the students' unease.

Amidst this restless atmosphere pervading Hogwarts, Lynn's owl delivered a belated letter to him.

When he received the letter, he was preparing to teach his students, but after reading the contents of the letter, Lynn immediately changed his destination.

With five minutes to go before class, he hastily stuffed the letter into his pocket and then practically jogged to the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room.

He grabbed a Hufflepuff student and asked urgently.

"Have you seen the fat monk?"

The student was startled by him, but then realized what was happening.

"The fat monk seems to be on the second floor of the castle now."

Lynn turned and ran upstairs, finally finding the fat monk at a corner.

The portly monk looked at the "Professor Lockhart" blocking his way with a puzzled expression and asked, "What do you need?"

Lynn calmed his breathing, then looked at him seriously and asked.

"I would like to ask you, monk, is the kind of magic you are researching that can resurrect ghosts called a Horcrux?"

(End of this chapter)