My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 62. Returning to the Castle (Seeking Recommendations)

I don't know why.

Dumbledore never asked him any questions from beginning to end.

Lynn was not at ease; the more the old bee acted this way, the more uneasy he felt.

He gave Lynn a strange feeling, like... like I don't need to ask anything, and you don't need to say anything either, because I already know all the answers.

Lynn had no idea what Dumbledore knew; what he needed to figure out most right now was how to withstand Professor McGonagall's wrath.

Dumbledore dropped him off at the entrance of the Great Hall and then left, as he still had to deal with the Death Eater's corpse, the unconscious Hagrid, and the centaurs.

Lynn hesitated for a moment, circling the door twice. Before he could make up his mind to go in, the auditorium doors were opened from the inside.

The Gryffindor lioness stared at him angrily, her face dark, the fury in her eyes seeming enough to set him on fire.

Lynn was caught off guard and startled, then looked at him awkwardly and decisively replied from the bottom of her heart.

"Professor McGonagall, I was wrong. I will never do it again."

"Belok, I always thought you were a smart man, but you made such a stupid mistake today!" Professor McGonagall was clearly very disappointed in Lynn and decided to punish him.

"Slytherin will lose 20 points for this, and you'll face a month of confinement!"

Such a punishment was already quite lenient for Lynn's behavior. He immediately expressed his willingness to humbly accept the professor's criticism, work hard to correct his mistakes, and strive not to repeat them in the future.

Losing 20 points isn't much. There's still some time before the end of the semester, and with Lynn and Snape's teamwork in Potions class, those 20 points can be easily made up in a month.

As for the month-long confinement, even if Professor Fawkes' life is no longer in danger, given his current condition, it is certainly impossible for him to continue serving as a professor at Hogwarts.

Therefore, Lynn would have a lot of free time, and as long as he wasn't put in solitary confinement by Filch, such punishment wouldn't really be considered punishment for him.

Sleeping bags were everywhere in the auditorium.

It was nearly midnight, and the professors were still searching the castle for the dark wizard who had attacked the students.

They dared not let the young wizards leave the Great Hall until they could ensure their safety.

In less than a semester, two students have already been attacked, both by black magic.

Most importantly, the parents of these two students are very influential figures in the wizarding world. Once the news gets out, the negative impact will put Hogwarts in a very passive position.

Lynn carefully moved among the little wizards who were curled up in their sleeping bags and fast asleep.

He quickly found Cedric and Ian, as neither of them was asleep yet.

"You're finally back, Lynn!" Cedric exclaimed, sounding quite excited.

Lynn gestured for him to be quiet, then crawled into a sleeping bag next to them.

"What happened in the auditorium after I left?" The warm sleeping bag began to warm Lynn's body, which had been soaked by the rain and was cold.

"Cedric said in a low voice."

"Not long after you left, the Gryffindor prefects came back to report that not only had they not found any trace of the murderer, but Professor Fox had also disappeared."

Everyone was in an uproar. Now everyone believed that Professor Fox was the murderer. Even those who were skeptical before believed it. They discussed it all night, listing evidence that Professor Fox was a dark wizard.

They said Professor Fawkes had fled to avoid punishment, while others said he had completed his research on the Dark Arts and no longer needed test subjects, so there was no need for him to continue teaching at Hogwarts. Some Slytherin students even complained about Professor Dumbledore, saying he shouldn't have recruited such a dangerous person to be a professor at Hogwarts, especially as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor…”

Lynn listened silently. The young wizards at Hogwarts despised Professor Fawkes, and similarly, Professor Fawkes no longer needed them. His revenge had been successful, and even if he hadn't been injured, he probably wouldn't have chosen to stay at Hogwarts.

As for who the perpetrator of the student attack was...

Lynn actually had a suspicion in her heart that she didn't want to think about.

Because, to him, both of the people who were attacked were connected to him, and in very bad ways.

Such a coincidence is a bit too much.

But Lynn didn't want to think about it anymore. He had already done enough tonight. He was exhausted and needed rest the most.

Early the next morning.

Early in the morning, while the students were having breakfast, Dumbledore arrived at the Great Hall.

He stood on the high platform of the Great Hall and announced to all the young wizards that Hogwarts was now under lockdown because the murderer had been caught.

The hall instantly became lively, with someone shouting a question to Dumbledore.

"Professor, did you capture that dark wizard Fox? Has he already been sent to Azkaban?"

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head.

"First of all, Adrian Fox is still your professor, no matter what. You should call him Professor Fox instead of his name, so I think Slytherin should lose 5 points for that."

The Slytherin boy looked rather displeased. He seemed resentful, but dared not contradict their highly respected headmaster.

"I know you have many prejudices against your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but you shouldn't let your prejudices influence your judgments."

"Dumbledore solemnly announced."

"Your Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Adrian Fawkes captured the dark wizard who was hiding in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts and caused these two attacks last night. They fought a fierce battle, which Professor Fawkes ultimately won. However, he was also in critical condition. If it weren't for a young wizard who had always believed in him coming to his aid, he might have left this world forever."

Professor Fawkes has been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for treatment, and the dark wizard is dead. I have also notified the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, and they will come today to take away the dark wizard's body.

Slytherin also awards 100 points in gratitude to the young wizard for saving a professor's life.

All the young wizards present were stunned by the news brought by Dumbledore.

After a long silence, enthusiastic applause broke out in the Great Hall, starting with Gryffindor.

Someone shouted.

"Thank you, Professor Fox!"

Countless people then echoed his sentiments.

"Thank you, Professor Fox!"

Their thunderous applause and heartfelt thanks were as if they weren't the ones who had cursed and told Professor Fawkes to get out of Hogwarts yesterday.

Standing in the corner of the Great Hall, Snape couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth. For him, getting 100 points for free from Slytherin was as exciting as winning the lottery for five million Galleons.

Although Dumbledore did not reveal the identity of the young wizard who helped Professor Fawkes, many people knew yesterday that Lynn had secretly run away, and the 100 points were even added to Slytherin's name, which almost explicitly indicated that the young wizard was Lynn.

The young wizards looked at Lynn with eager eyes, and many of them tried to talk to him, asking him what had happened last night.

Lynn smiled modestly and said that she hadn't done anything at all.

But in reality, his heart had sunk to the bottom.

Because he didn't understand why Dumbledore would lie!

(End of this chapter)