My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 388, Section 385: Ron's Attack

Ron was attacked in the afternoon.

No one saw who attacked him or how he was attacked.

However, a young wizard who went to the Great Hall for a meal discovered him lying with his eyes closed in a remote corner of the fourth-floor corridor.

When Harry and Hermione arrived at the school infirmary, Ron had already woken up.

He lay pale on the hospital bed, with Percy, Ginny, and the Weasley twins standing beside him; all the Weasley siblings had come.

In addition, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were also in this school infirmary when this happened.

Outside, Mrs. Pomfrey looked very unhappy. She didn't want so many people to enter the ward and disturb the patient's rest, but there were some things she needed to clarify.

When Harry and Hermione entered, the infirmary was already full of people.

Dumbledore is asking Ron some questions.

His face was grave, and his gaze serious as he asked, "Are you sure the person who attacked you was Blake?"

Ron seemed not to have recovered from the fear; his face and lips were as white as paper, and he spoke in a trembling voice.

"I'm sure! I saw his picture in the Daily Prophet, it's him! He used a spell on me and then interrogated me! He said if I dared to lie, he'd use the Cruciatus Curse on me!"

"What did he ask you? A question about Harry?"

Professor McGonagall also frowned and asked the question.

"No." Ron's expression was terrified. "He...he asked me where my mouse was, and why Scabbers had disappeared!"

"Banban? Why would he ask about Banban?"

The Weasley siblings exclaimed in surprise, and Harry and Hermione looked completely bewildered.

"Why would Blake care where a mouse goes?" Professor McGonagall also expressed her confusion.

In the ward, only Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged. He knew perfectly well why Black would be interested in a mouse.

"What was your answer to him?"

"I told him that Banban had gotten lost. He seemed very angry and asked me when it happened. I told him it had been more than a month. He looked extremely angry and cast a spell on me, and then I passed out."

After hearing Ron's story, the others were still completely confused. They had no idea why Black had only asked Ron about the whereabouts of a pet mouse when he caught him, but hadn't mentioned anything about Harry.

"I understand." Dumbledore nodded and instructed Percy, "The disciplinary committee should increase patrols on campus recently, and report any incidents to the professors immediately."

Percy solemnly replied, "Understood!"

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall then left the ward, and not long after, Harry and his friends were also kicked out by Madam Pomfrey, who sternly warned them not to disturb the patient's rest.

Dumbledore returned to his office and sat quietly for a moment before giving instructions to a portrait on the wall depicting someone dozing off.

"Phineas, I need to trouble you to go to Lynn's place and bring him here. I have something to say to him."

The old man, who seemed to have a rather irritable temper, muttered a couple of dissatisfaction words and then disappeared from his own portrait frame.

About ten minutes later, Lynn pushed open the door and walked into the principal's office.

"You need to speak with my professor?"

As Lynn spoke, he sat down quite naturally opposite Dumbledore, casually pulled the plate full of cookies on the table closer to him, and then popped a cookie into his mouth.

Dumbledore looked at Lynn, who was crunching on a biscuit, with a hint of helplessness.

He knew, of course, that Lynn wasn't short of those two cookies; rather, he'd gotten into the habit of taking them every time he came.

"Ron was attacked by Blake today."

Lynn nodded: "I heard about it. I heard it happened near the corridor on the fourth floor. He probably already knows that Peter isn't at Hogwarts."

"Lynn can't be allowed to continue wandering outside. Although this also confirms that he escaped from Azkaban only to catch Peter and not Harry, revenge can blind a person."

Lynn understood what Dumbledore meant.

"You mean that after learning that Peter has escaped from Hogwarts, he is likely to do something unwise?"

"Hmm, that's certainly possible. After learning that Peter has disappeared from Hogwarts, no one can guarantee that Black won't react excessively. Even if he wasn't guilty before, he might be guilty later."

Dumbledore said seriously.

"I think it's time to catch Black and tell Harry the truth. Harry seems to know something too; he hasn't been doing well lately."

Lynn thought for a moment. Now that Peter had made contact with the opportunist, and Old John had achieved his goal of taking control of Hogwarts, it was indeed time to catch that unruly dog.

"This is no difficult task, Professor. Give me a week, and I will bring Blake here with him tied up. You can decide whether to recruit him as our lackey or kill him and cook him for dog meat hotpot."

Dumbledore chuckled, knowing Lynn was joking, and shook his head.

"Black was wronged, which is the best thing for Harry, since he's still an outsider in the Weasleys no matter what."

But Black is Harry's godfather, acknowledged by his parents, and is arguably the closest person to Harry besides Petunia. Then he and Black can finally have their own home.

Lynn just pursed his lips at this.

"Judging from Black's rumored behavior, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who can take care of others. And to let him reunite with Harry so easily, and then have us help him deal with Peter, would be too lenient on him."

"Don't go too far."

Lynn then stuffed another cookie into her mouth.

"Don't worry, Professor, I know what I'm doing. You'll definitely see Harry and his godfather embracing and crying their hearts out in the office, a heartwarming scene of them recognizing each other with tears in their eyes."

Dumbledore smiled helplessly as he watched Lynn's departing figure.

Since Tom's matter was completely resolved, he has basically been living a life of retirement.

He didn't need to oversee most of the operations at Hogwarts.

With Lynn around, he doesn't need to worry about things Lynn can handle, and it's useless to come to him for things Lynn can't handle.

Therefore, Dumbledore is now in a state of complete decentralization, letting Lynn do whatever he wants within the school. At most, he will offer some suggestions when appropriate and endorse Lynn when needed.

At least from what he sees now, Hogwarts is developing in a positive direction.

(End of this chapter)