From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

As the old professor uttered those words, the office door opened again, and Professor McGonagall walked in. Her expression was changing rapidly, leaving William momentarily unsure whether the vice-principal was worried about the basilisk or about the choice of a new professor.

But in the end, Professor McGonagall didn't say anything and just stood there silently.

Did Dumbledore give any instructions?

This idea popped into William's mind, but the professors who arrived later quickly took up most of the office.

The last one to enter was Professor Lockhart, who was wearing a green robe and looked so sleepy that it was obvious from a distance.

"Oh, what happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"

“You’ve come at the perfect time,” Dumbledore said, his face beaming with joy. “We’ve found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.”

"The entrance to the secret chamber!" Lockhart exclaimed. "Where is it?"

“A place no one has ever thought of,” Dumbledore replied cheerfully, then turned to Professor McGonagall, “Minerva, please take a few professors and prefects and guard the Gryffindor common room.”

"Severus, please take a few professors and guard the Slytherin common room."

“Felius,” Dumbledore said, looking at Professor Flitwick, “I’m leaving the Ravenclaw common room in your care.”

“Professor William,” the headmaster turned his gaze to William, making William, who had been waiting to sightsee, puzzled, “I’m asking you and Professor Sprout to guard the Hufflepuff lounge together. That’s the most dangerous place, and the next attack is very likely to be there, so we need to increase the security.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you, Professor William,” Professor Sprout said to William with a smile. “I’ve been worried about not having enough manpower.”

-

Although he couldn't go to the secret room in person, William wasn't discouraged—while it was a bit of a shame he couldn't get involved in the final step of the decryption, protecting the students was of paramount importance.

Besides, each dean's professors are from their own college, and considering Adams is here, William is indeed a little worried…

“William!”

Adams greeted William with a cheerful smile and brought over a plate of candy. "New flavor, with mint, it's really refreshing!"

When Dumbledore called the professor over, he didn't call everyone, leaving enough security personnel. Adams was the kind of person who knew nothing, just needed to give the signal on night watch—"By the way, why did you come over? Isn't it your turn to be on night watch tonight?"

"No, Dumbledore said to strengthen the defenses, so he assigned me here. Is there any supper?"

William didn't stand on ceremony and immediately asked for food—after spending half the night reasoning and nervously running to the principal's office, his stomach had been protesting for a long time.

"No way, eating while on night duty won't trigger the alarm, and there aren't any sprites working in the kitchen right now." Adams shook his head. "But having you here makes things easier for me. I'll go prepare something, something with both meat and vegetables?"

“I think I could eat a whole chicken,” William replied with a laugh.

"Okay, but that'll have to wait," Adams said, dashing off to the kitchen next to the lounge to prepare a late-night snack.

-

Lockhart felt this panicked for the first time...

Even when he was studying at this school, and someone revealed that the mountain of greeting cards he had given himself was actually a gift from him, his heart had never raced so fast.

'Or, let's run away!'

Such a thought emerged in his mind, and quickly grew larger and larger.

But can they really escape?

Leading the procession was Dumbledore!

Damn it, William went to guard the common room, while Dumbledore dragged him toward the place he least wanted to go!

'Please don't be, please don't be!'

Such thoughts raced through his mind, but to no avail.

Dumbledore was finally close to his goal.

The headmaster of Hogwarts, a recipient of the Order of Merlin, first class, president of the International Confederation of Wizards, and the first white wizard in the wizarding world, led a group of wizards to a place where someone of his status should absolutely not go.

Lockhart could even clearly tell which people in the line were hesitating—they obviously recognized it as the school's girls' restroom.

But once Dumbledore led the way inside, the wizards who followed, no matter how many ideas they had, had no intention of stopping.

"This is it!"

Dumbledore's relaxed voice rang out.

What are you doing?!

"You scoundrel, pervert, shameless, disgusting bastard who sneaks into the women's restroom in the middle of the night! You maggots, get back—ah!"

A ghost suddenly appeared, hurling insults, but after letting out a scream, it rammed its head against the wall without saying a word, trying to escape the scene.

"Feel sorry,"

As Dumbledore's voice rang out, Myrtle felt herself bump into something soft, like a feather cushion.

"Can you tell us where the sound you heard came from?"

Dumbledore's gentle voice reached her ears, leaving Myrtle momentarily speechless.

"there."

She pointed and said, "It's been too long, I don't remember clearly—but it should be over there."

As she pointed, Lockhart's head seemed to be petrified, freezing completely.

'It's over, Dumbledore found out, and he found out just once!'

He wanted to take out his wand, but the wizards surrounding him made his hand hesitate—and the target he was prepared to deal with simply didn't give him the courage to take out his wand.

Lockhart even felt his knees going weak, and he might kneel down in the next second.

"Alright, everyone, spread out and start looking for any special markings, signs, or anything else that's different."

As the heavenly music began, his previously bent knees suddenly regained their strength—Dumbledore didn't know everything!

Chapter 204 Panic, Professor Lockhart the Great

'Hiding the entrance to the secret room is no longer feasible.'

Despite being in danger, Lockhart's mind raced. 'I must ensure that no one can doubt me.'

This wasn't too difficult—he hadn't been suspected so far, and if he was the first to discover the entrance to the secret room, no one would associate Professor Lockhart with it.

'It's just a bit of a shame, those secrets, and the hidden Slytherin items,' Lockhart quickly calculated his losses, 'I could have gotten the Order of Merlin, now I'll only get a headline at best—'

'That's decided then. Sell that secret room; no one will discover its connection to Professor Lockhart!'

Once he made up his mind, Lockhart immediately accelerated his search.

He knew the location of the secret room very well. If someone else found it first, wouldn't he lose all the headlines?

With that thought in mind, he quickly approached the real entrance to the secret chamber. Yes, that's it, it's that pipe!

"I've found it!"

Just as all the professors were searching, Professor Lockhart's cheerful, barely suppressed voice rang out.

"Let me see!" The old professor's wooden leg made a pleasant thud as he ran over to Lockhart's location in a few quick steps.

Where Lockhart was pointing, on the side of a bronze dragon head, was carved a small snake.

Are you sure it's not just decoration?

The old professor looked at the little snake with suspicion, and was about to take out his wand to test it when Dumbledore, who had rushed over, stopped him.

“I’ll do the testing,” Dumbledore said with a smile.

But soon, Dumbledore's smile also faded.

“Albus,” the old professor said eagerly, “you can open it, can’t you?”

“I’m sorry, Sylvanas,” Dumbledore shook his head, “my answer is I’m afraid not.”

"Without a doubt, it is the entrance to the secret chamber, but it is not impenetrable. Moreover, this was not the entrance that was originally built. (Note)"

Dumbledore pressed his hand against the small snake and shook his head.

"But it has been completed for hundreds of years. Over the years, the magic used to guard the castle has also been applied to this entrance. It was cleverly linked to the castle's protective magic when it was built. Over the years, with the addition of protective magic applied by successive generations, trying to remove this magic is equivalent to destroying half of the castle's defenses."

As the headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore would obviously not do something like demolishing the house just to kill a rat.

Everyone understood this, and Lockhart began to feel a pang of heartache—although Dumbledore was determined to find this entrance today, what if he didn't? If he couldn't even open it, wouldn't he be able to continue searching for that secret much sooner?

"So, the only way is to crack it normally?"

The old professor's cheerful mood was somewhat diminished.

“I’m afraid so, Silvanos,” Dumbledore nodded, “but I think it won’t be long before I find the right way.”

The old professor immediately perked up again.

"Albus, don't try to fool an old man who's about to retire," the old professor said, feigning pitifulness.

“At most a month,” Dumbledore said, pressing the little snake, “or perhaps less.”

-

"At most one month?"

The diary contains the following words: "Dumbledore is being modest, at most twenty days."

"Twenty days?"

Lockhart shook his head. "What's the difference?"

His plan to explore the secret room has fallen through. The bathroom is now heavily guarded by the school professors. Forget about sneaking in to open the secret room for research, he can't even use the restroom!

"Are there any other hidden secrets? Like Hufflepuff's or Gryffindor's?"

Without a hint of worry, he wrote in his diary, "The secret room is gone, we need to find a bigger story."

"Yes, there is," a line appeared on the diary, written in a cursive style never before seen, quite playful.

"I'm afraid you won't have the luck to investigate, Professor Lockhart."

Lockhart found the new font quite uncomfortable, and he frowned—since his new plan was implemented, this somewhat subdued notebook hadn't been as sarcastic as before, but what was going on today?

Explain yourself! What do you mean?

"What I mean is, with the Chamber of Secrets lost, the fact that Professor Lockhart is Slytherin's successor is probably gone. Forget about secrets, it's probably time to explore Azkaban—perhaps the great Professor Lockhart could write an Azkaban legend?"

The diary's mockery returned, irritating Lockhart.