From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"It's her."

Lockhart felt a little nervous—the Slytherin treasure was hidden under layers of protection…

'Exhaust the basilisk...'

Although the plan was to create a big news story, the thought of attacking someone still made him somewhat hesitant.

"We need to create a coincidence so the child doesn't die, thus avoiding alerting the Ministry of Magic..."

He had been eyeing this target for several days, fabricating a purge plan to clean up those who shouldn't have been there—not only was the other person mixed-race, but they also managed to get the lowest score in the exam despite cheating and having participated in a competition in their first year!

Such a disgrace to wizards should obediently leave Hogwarts!

Moreover, this girl likes to wander around aimlessly, which makes it even easier to take action.

'The water on the ground, reflected off her skin, will prevent her from dying instantly. After the curse takes effect, she can quickly write a declaration or something…'

Lockhart carefully reviewed the plan, waiting for the best opportunity.

The child took a long time to enter, which made Lockhart anxious—the control magic he had learned from that notebook was no longer able to control the snake.

Finally, the child appeared.

But the plan changed—a ghost appeared and started talking to the person who came in last place.

'Damn it, we have to kill that ghost, otherwise what if he goes to Professor William and gets greedy?'

He instinctively issued the attack command.

The giant snake crawled out of the secret passage and flashed to the vicinity of the two with a speed that surprised Lockhart.

In the blink of an eye, the two 'people' who were still talking were frozen in place.

A feeling of fear suddenly welled up, but it was immediately overwhelmed by ecstasy.

"It's mine!"

An overwhelming joy welled up in Lockhart's heart, "Such powerful strength is mine!"

"Slytherin's treasure is mine!"

"They're all mine! I will become a legend, and my name will be greater than Dumbledore's!"

"My book will allow you to immerse yourself in the entire magical world, and my Merlin Medal is coming!"

Barely enough sanity remained, he carried out the rest of his plan, waving his wand and casting magic on the wall.

The secret room has been opened.

Be wary of those who oppose your heir.

As the wand was waved, crimson characters were etched one by one onto the wall.

Chapter 199 Dumbledore's Warning

When the student rushed to William's office to report, William was studying the curse.

A sixth-grade student stumbled into the office, panting heavily. "Professor William... oh dear, something's happened... someone's been attacked by dark magic..."

"Dark magic?"

William's expression immediately turned serious behind the table. His course focused on this very topic, and he knew very well what black magic meant.

Most black magic has one thing in common: the wounds it causes are extremely difficult to heal or simply impossible to heal.

Although the situation was urgent, William resisted the urge to run over immediately.

"What kind of wound? What form of dark magic? What grade is the caster in?"

As he spoke, William quickly opened his drawer and pulled out the first-aid medicine he had prepared in his spare time—these things were very delicate and wouldn't last even a week if left in a bag and shaken around all day.

“I don’t know, Professor,” the child shook his head, “they were petrified, right at the kitchen doorway, like statues, but that posture wasn’t a petrification spell at all, it was more like—”

He carefully chose his words, saying, "Like a sculpture, completely devoid of any signs of life."

"sculpture?"

William thought for a moment, but the description made it impossible for him to find the exact curse.

"Never mind, let's go to the scene first."

-

When William arrived at the scene, the area around the kitchen was already packed with students.

The kitchen was near the Hufflepuff lounge, where Hufflepuff students occupied most of the space.

"Students, please make way. I need to assess the situation," William said from behind. Amplified by magic, the students quickly cleared a path for him.

Without bothering with formalities, William rushed towards the center of the crowd.

The situation was worse than he had imagined—a man and a ghost were leaning against the wall, stiff and lifeless, like sculptures eroded by the wind for hundreds of years, giving off a sense of decay that even stone had died.

Without a doubt, this was no ordinary petrification spell, but dark magic.

'It wasn't made by a student, at least not by an ordinary student.'

William made a quick judgment and then pulled out his dragon-skin gloves from his pocket—not anything fancy, but enough to handle the situation.

Two pairs are about right; any more would affect flexibility.

He quickly cleaned the gloves with a spell and then put them on.

"Keep quiet!" William turned to look at all the students, then carefully observed the students leaning against the wall.

He was small in stature, with a terrified expression on his face and wide eyes, as if he had seen something horrifying—

What scared her like that?

William was curious. He vividly remembered how this child could get the lowest score on an open-book exam. 'I remember the first time we met, she said she wanted to grill that giant squid from Black Lake. What could scare a foodie of her caliber like that?'

He observed the way Selma had fallen and tried to straighten her up—'Her head is tilted upwards, she must be seeing something very high…'

But this speculation is basically useless; Selma looks like a first-year student. Aside from house-elves, no one in the school is shorter than her…

'But with just that look in his eyes, he was cursed before he even had a chance to change his expression?'

To prevent the identification from being made, William turned to look at another victim.

'The fat monk…'

He couldn't help but raise his hand, trying to rub his temples, but then realized he was wearing gloves and had to give up—the black magic that still worked on ghosts was extremely difficult, and although he possessed such magic, he was definitely not as skilled as the murderer.

'So fast that even the ghost didn't have time to react,' he stared at the fat monk who was petrified in his talking posture and speculated. 'No, more than that, it should be an instant-cast spell that attacked a ghost and a student in an instant. It was so fast that the student didn't even have time to utter a word. Its power was so great that it could still cause such a terrifying effect after penetrating a ghost.'

'This is terrible. If I were to face him head-on, even if I went first, I wouldn't be able to win. Without tearing up the cards, I'd need a sneak attack and a lot of luck to finish him off.'

William quickly assessed his own and the spellcaster's combat capabilities.

Therefore, the most effective solution at present is definitely not to handle this matter ourselves, but to wait for Dumbledore to arrive.

"Attention all students," William raised his voice again, threatening the students, "Students from all houses, under the guidance of your prefects, return to the common room immediately. If anyone is still wandering around in the corridor within fifteen minutes, I guarantee he will be placed in solitary confinement until the end of the academic year."

"Back to the common room? No need. Be wary of those who are enemies of the Heir! Haha, Slytherins don't worry about that!"

Laughter and joking came from the group of students, which made William turn his gaze to see who was having so much fun.

Slytherin robes—yes, William nodded, it wasn't a Gryffindor deception.

"Slytherin, deduct 20 points for violating school rules regarding emergency assembly. If you say anything more, you'll be cleaning toilets at the hospital for a month."

William announced it casually.

The authority built up over a semester of confinement and exams took effect—this time, there were no troublemakers.

Seeing that the professor was serious, the students immediately dispersed. Only the Hufflepuffs, who were closest to the lounge, were still a little worried and lingered, unwilling to leave—the lounge was only a minute away, and they wanted to see what their own students were up to.

"Professor, what's wrong with Selma?"

The child who had invited William to dinner during the holidays moved a little closer and asked softly.

"It's a very serious dark magic spell that can't be dispelled immediately. The antidote is difficult to prepare, but if the ingredients are plentiful, I can make it." Since he'd eaten their food, and it was a serious matter, William couldn't continue being stern. He only revealed what he could, at least to reassure the children.

However, it goes without saying that there is no special potion available and the only way to remove the curse is with a powerful antidote. But there's no need for him to keep making up lies now. After William investigated for a while, the other professors arrived.

Why is it so slow?

William asked the student who brought him over in a low voice, "Who did you notify first?"

"You and Professor Lockhart, Professor."

While the conversation was going on, Lockhart had already shouted loudly in the crowd, "Professor William, you're here! How is it? I was writing a manuscript and almost didn't hear the student's warning. If someone hadn't walked past my window, I wouldn't have known what happened!"

'A deadline looms...' William said without any reaction, taking a few steps to greet the approaching professors. He addressed Professor McGonagall, who was at the head of the group:

"The situation is very serious. I can't handle this dark magic. It's more powerful than any dark magic I've ever used with my best effort. I dare not use any of my antidote spells, as that would cause a magical mutation..."

"Where are the students?"

Professor McGonagall's expression was more serious than usual.

"To get them back to the common room, a prefect was watching them. Except for Hufflepuff, who was closest, the other houses have already left."

William responded quickly to the professor's question.

“That’s good,” Professor McGonagall said with a sigh of relief. “Let me take a look.”

She began to examine the two petrified victims, her expression one of intense focus.

Taking this opportunity, William began to answer Professor Lockhart's question, "I don't know how to calculate it either, Professor Lockhart. You should try it; I've never heard of such a curse before..."

“Unheard of… Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would say such a thing…” Professor Snape’s mocking tone made William instantly understand why he had such a bad reputation among the students.

'Damn, I never felt this way before, but this time…' He even had the urge to pull out his wand and start a duel.

But William forced himself to hold back—he was well aware of his own limitations and knew he couldn't win.

Tearing up a card in a fit of anger is completely irrational; William would rather use that thing on the murderer.

But he still had to vent his anger. Although he couldn't break the curse, he was certain that Snape couldn't either.

“I’ll bet three of my secret potion recipes that if Professor Snape can break the curse today, I’ll offer them to you with both hands.” William spread his hands. “The power of that curse is simply beyond the capabilities of any human!”

“Three prescriptions? Although I will lift the curse no matter what, if our… Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is willing to be generous… that would be nice.”

Professor Snape spoke in his characteristically slow and deliberate tone, taking a few steps forward to begin examining the curse.