novelraw Chapter 121 The Sneaky Professor Hamilton
Chapter 121 The Sneaky Professor Hamilton
Chapter 121 The Sneaky Professor Hamilton (Part 1)
Late at night, the office of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts was brightly lit.
It was already past midnight, but Loila Hamilton remained firmly seated in her chair, dressed neatly.
The reason is simple: today is the last day of the Christmas holiday, and tomorrow, the young wizards will gradually return to school to begin the new semester.
This seemed to be no big deal to Loila, a professor whose classes consisted mainly of playing back memories—provided she hadn't lost Mr. Riddle.
But now—Loira took a deep breath, pursed her lips, and then waved her wand to put away the wizard chess set on the table.
Ah, yes, this is a Christmas gift from Dumbledore, which she was planning to win before starting her search tonight—but it seems to be taking a little too long.
Loila glanced at the alarm clock, which was pointing to 1 a.m., took a deep breath, and felt that she should leave.
It's all Dumbledore's fault—he set that Wizard's Chess game so difficult—Royla probably played seven or eight games before finally winning one.
However, considering that the gift I gave him was even more—more impressive—I'll leave him alone for now.
Loila carefully waved her wand, catching the hat and scarf that flew from the coat rack, and also picking up a bracelet from the table.
These were birthday gifts from Mr. Lupin, Mr. Lovegood, and Luna—though they were all very ordinary things, Roy felt that wearing them when going out late at night would make her feel much more at ease.
(The gift-giving scene can be found in the free bonus chapter at the end of the volume; it will be briefly mentioned here to avoid slowing down the pace too much.)
Hogwarts at night is not safe! There are ghosts here—these talking, wandering creatures are like walking Dumbledore to Royla.
"Clatter".
Loila carefully closed the office door and put on her silver mask. Although her long silver hair was loose because she wasn't wearing a hood, it was so late that there shouldn't be anyone there, right?
During the day, Loila had been thinking about how to find Mr. Riddle. She planned to go to the student lounge first—because she had the notebook cover, Loila only needed to wave her wand lightly at the lounge door to find out if the person inside had taken the diary.
Wouldn't that immediately improve efficiency?
Anyway, it's much better than running around the school with a notebook, isn't it?
However—after walking for a while, Loila discovered the first problem she faced.
That means she doesn't know the way.
You can't blame her, right? Hogwarts is so big—and the student dormitories aren't even all together.
While chatting with Luna by the Black Lake, Royla learned the location of the Ravenclaw common room, which seemed to be on the Astronomy Tower.
Where is the Astronomy Tower? Loila had never known that Hogwarts had an Astronomy Tower—well, it should exist, after all, Durmstrang has one.
However, the astronomical tower here didn't hold as many memories as Durmstrang's, so Loira didn't know how to get there—
Then came the Gryffindor common room. Loira knew it was behind a painting—good, good! Hogwarts probably had thousands of paintings; how would she know which one was behind? After thinking it over, Loira only vaguely remembered the Slytherin common room. She remembered it was very close to the Potions classroom. Maybe she should go there first. After all, Loira knew where the Potions classroom was—it was right next to Professor Snape's office, right?
Loila suddenly felt a little scared—going to such a thrilling place on the first night? Maybe we should go to the Hufflepuff lounge instead?
It is said that next to the kitchen, in a huge wooden barrel—
But where is the kitchen?
Loila stood awkwardly pacing back and forth in the corridor, only to realize that in the six months since she became a professor at Hogwarts, she only knew the locations of the Great Hall, the Library, the Headmaster's Office, Snape, and her own office.
It's definitely not because I have no sense of direction—it's probably because Hogwarts' layout is too complicated, right? Besides, there's the central staircase that keeps changing positions! Loila patted her face, and one of her pointed ears peeked out from her hair.
I can't let my mind wander anymore! I have to make some progress tonight, no matter what, because Luna and Mr. Lupin—I didn't even have time to come back last night—
Mr. Riddle is waiting for him! He's a friend of his too—right? Right!
After much deliberation, Loyla decided to first check the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Although it was dangerous, at least she would know where it was. Loyla didn't want to wander around the castle like a headless fly, in case she encountered the elusive Dumbledore—the Ghost.
"Pat-pat-pat-"
Loila carefully took her first steps and slowly walked to the stairwell leading to the basement. To the right was Professor Snape's office and the Potions classroom—so to the left should be Slytherin's common room, right?
With a soft "snap!", Loila flicked her wand and caught the statue she had just bumped.
Thankfully, she didn't knock it over. Loila looked around anxiously, and only after making sure no one else was attracted did she carefully lift the statue back up.
Dumbledore, really—why put so many of these useless things around? Last time I even accidentally knocked over the statue outside Professor Snape's office. Loira cautiously peeked out from the stairwell towards Snape's office; nothing seemed amiss.
Then she glanced to her left—she couldn't see anything clearly in the dim candlelight—but vaguely, she seemed to see only a wall.
Something's a bit suspicious—Loila doesn't think a path would be designed to lead to a dead end. Clearly, there's something on that wall.
As Loila approached, the tip of her staff glowed faintly, confirming her suspicions. There was a magic array on the wall, a password-protected magic array similar to the one in the principal's office, only this one was less powerful—Loila figured it out after just a few glances.
"Snake eyes."
As she spoke, a loud "boom" echoed down the corridor, startling Loila. Her pointed ears twitched restlessly, and she quickly looked behind her.
Whatever you do, don't let Professor Snape hear you! This place is very close to his office!
"Clatter".
Whether it was her imagination or not, she happened to hear the sound of a door opening behind her!
"It's over! It's over!" Looking at the slowly opening stone door before her, Loila wished she could use a spell to speed it up! "Move faster—you damned door!" *Click-click*
The sound of footsteps behind them seemed to confirm that Loy's guess was correct; Professor Snape had definitely heard them!
Fortunately, the stone door finally opened at this moment, and Loila quickly reached out and pushed the door open to go inside.
As Loila's boots clicked on the carpet in the lounge, the stone door behind her closed smoothly and quickly, much faster than it had opened.
It seems—it seems safe?
Loila breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had arrived at a safe house, before she began to look around the Slytherin common room.
The Slytherin common room was a little damp, and there weren't any students around late at night—that was great!
But there's a huge piece of glass here!
Loila looked at the glass facade with some curiosity and walked to the side—what's outside?
Why is it so dark?
"Clatter".
"Ugh!" A tentacle suddenly appeared on the glass, startling Loila so much that she quickly took a few steps back and then plopped down on the sofa.
This is—this is Slytherin!
Loila recognized the owner of those tentacles—the Slytherin who had turned into an octopus! Are you a pervert?! Stealing girls' boots is one thing, but observing your juniors through the glass?!
And isn't that the Black Lake outside this glass window? Loira suddenly thought of something unpleasant. When she fought with Slytherins at the Black Lake, surely no student was there in the common room to see it?
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