My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 31. Rumors and Gossip

"What is the Cruciatus Curse? You're still a first-year student and haven't learned about it yet. When you're in fourth year, your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor will tell you that it's one of the three most dangerous unforgivable curses in the magical world, and it's the most powerful form of dark magic."

Who at Hogwarts knows Dark Magic? The students certainly don't, and most of the professors have lived and worked there for years; everyone knows them well. But there's one professor, a newcomer with formidable abilities, and most importantly—he has a criminal record!

Betty kept repeating her reasoning to Lynn, which was almost tantamount to revealing to him who the murderer was.

Lynn's expression had returned to calm as he looked at Betty.

"Does everyone believe that Professor Fox is the culprit behind this?"

Betty's eyes widened, and she spread her hands, saying, "Is there anyone else who might be a suspect?"

"But what's the motive? Why would Professor Fox attack Hubert?" Lynn asked.

"Everyone in the magical world knows what he's researching. Maybe this morning his dark magic experiment needed a test subject, and poor Hubert just happened to appear in front of him at that moment."

Lynn had lost his appetite for lunch. He stood up and said to Betty before leaving.

"Everything needs to be based on evidence. Until someone sees Professor Fox committing evil or finds conclusive evidence, your words are just baseless rumors."

Betty felt a little wronged, and she looked at Lynn's back with confusion.

"Why are you taking his side? He's just a murderer, a prisoner who served time in Azkaban!"

Lynn left the auditorium without paying any attention to Betty.

He knew that even though Betty had once helped him teach Hubert a lesson, the two men were still on the same page.

They were both from pure-blood families. Perhaps Betty was more cultured than Hubert, but their fundamental interests and vision were aligned.

Voldemort's followers were mostly pure-blood wizards, because Voldemort's ultimate goal could bring them enormous benefits.

Aside from the Weasleys and Longbottoms, the other pure-blood families are practically synonymous with Death Eaters.

Professor Fox, having killed five Death Eaters, indirectly incurred the wrath of all pure-blood wizards.

Even though Voldemort has been out of power for many years, the interest groups have not disbanded.

They may not have much grudge against those pure-blood families who died at the hands of Professor Fox without any direct relatives, but they don't mind creating this situation where everyone kicks them while they're down.

Lynn was now certain that within three days, students' parents would put pressure on Hogwarts, and would also ask the Daily Prophet to follow up and report on the matter, and then have the Ministry of Magic thoroughly investigate the matter, with the ultimate goal of expelling Professor Fawkes from Hogwarts.

Of course, it would be best to make him go to the palace a second time.

Actually, there are only two questions now.

The first question is, who exactly attacked Hubert?

Lynn never believed that Professor Fox was behind it, not to mention that he trusted the professor's character.

No sane person in Professor Fox's situation would do such a thing.

There are no cameras in Hogwarts, so the murderer won't be easy to catch.

Even Lynn wasn't sure who the person who attacked Hubert was after.

Was it to teach Hubert a lesson? Or to frame Professor Fox? Or for something else entirely?

The second question is, why did Professor Snape deliberately spread the news that Hubert had been attacked by dark magic?

The kind of nonsense a professor accidentally let slip might fool a child, but Lynn certainly wouldn't believe it.

Snape definitely said it on purpose.

So what was his motivation?

Does he also have a grudge against Professor Fox?

Lynn suddenly paused, realizing what he was thinking.

He remembered that Snape was a Death Eater before his betrayal, so maybe the two of them really had a grudge!

……

Another herbal medicine class in the afternoon.

He also saw Mark and Michelle during class.

They both had some lumps on their bodies, indicating that they had already received treatment from Mrs. Pomfrey.

The two of them saw Lynn at the same time, but they only made eye contact with him for a moment before looking away in fright.

Lynn had no interest in paying attention to them; he was carefully tending to the white daisies he had planted in the previous class, wearing dragon-skin gloves.

"Be careful not to damage their skin. If white dictamnus is injured during its early stages, its effectiveness as an adult will be greatly reduced..."

Lynn was listening attentively to Professor Sprout's lecture.

He wasn't worried about Professor Fox, because even if he were, it wouldn't make a difference.

Professor Fox is an adult male wizard; he certainly has his own ideas and methods. If Lynn needs to worry about something like this, then there's no need for her to follow him and study black magic.

Since Lynn started receiving praise and extra credit from his professors in every class, he has become more low-key in class and rarely raises his hand to answer questions anymore.

His outstanding performance was purely for his own benefit, not for Slytherin's.

However, he remained active in Potions class. Lynn was determined to fight that heartless, wifeless Snape to the bitter end; he refused to believe that Snape wouldn't compliment people.

Snape seemed to be working in cahoots with Lynn. Although he never praised Lynn, he always took the opportunity to give Slytherin points, openly showing favoritism towards his own house.

After his afternoon classes ended, Lynn returned to his dormitory where he lived alone. After practicing his evil spells for more than an hour, he put away his wand and went to the Great Hall for dinner.

The auditorium was very lively today.

Because the rumors spread so quickly, all the young wizards at Hogwarts knew about the attack that morning, and...

The prime suspect.

"I knew it! Luckily, my dad warned me to stay away from him before I went back to school, otherwise, I might have been the one lying in the hallway this morning!"

"I wonder if Professor Dumbledore knows about this. He'll definitely discover that old man's true colors because of it and expel him from the school!"

"Hmph, it can't be as simple as just being expelled from school! You know, using the Unforgivable Curse on a human is against wizarding law! He'll be locked up back in Azkaban, spending the rest of his life with those disgusting Dementors!"

Lynn could only stay at the Slytherin table for a short while before he couldn't stand it anymore.

He frowned, grabbed some bread from the table, and left the auditorium.

The rumors spread too quickly, and these young wizards basically had no judgment of their own, believing whatever they heard from others.

Now, not only the pure-blooded wizards of Slytherin, but also the other three houses believe that Professor Fawkes was responsible for the attack!

(End of this chapter)