A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts Chapter 574: The Castle of Chaos

"What's the matter?" Ron asked in a low voice, unconsciously reaching into his pocket, where Harry knew his wand was hidden.

"Let's talk outside," Harry said almost in a whisper. Ron and Hermione got up and hurried across the common room, and as they passed Neville he stood up and asked, "Huh—" But Harry walked away quickly, still undecided, it wasn't a critical moment, and at last It's best not to involve other people...

The three of them pushed open the door of the lounge and walked some distance away.

"Are they moving, Umbridge and Avery?" Ron asked impatiently.

Harry spread out the somewhat crumpled Marauder's Map, and Ron and Hermione immediately gathered around, "It's hard to say, look here." Harry pointed to a small dot, "It's Umbridge, she is Heading towards the tower of the principal's office, I don't know if she knows the password, but..."

"Hey, we're on the eighth floor! As long as we turn around a few stairs and corridors, we might be able to catch her early." Ron said excitedly.

"Great idea," said Harry, "but there is a problem, and we have to part."

"Why?" Ron looked at Harry puzzledly, then at Hermione, hoping for an explanation.

"Umbridge's movement may be a sign, a sign that the operation is beginning. But she is not all, look!" She pointed her finger on the map, "Avery is in the auditorium, he did nothing , this is not normal."

"Where's the Order of the Phoenix?" Ron asked.

"Two are guarding the auditorium, two are guarding the front and rear gates of the school, and the remaining two... There, Alastor and Tonks are patrolling the school wall."

"Are they preventing Death Eaters from breaking into the school?" Ron said in surprise.

"It's possible," Harry said, looking down at the map, "Did you see Malfoy?"

"Probably in the Slytherin common room, I'll look for... oh no," Hermione groaned, "he's out, walking up. Just this time! Will he..." She asked anxiously.

"I don't know." Harry said, "So we have to act separately. You take a map and keep an eye on Avery on the way. Since Umbridge moved, he must also move. But fortunately There's Frank and Alice, and other professors in-"

"What about you?"

"I don't need a map, the destination is clear." Harry said briefly, "I just want to make sure that no one sneaks into the headmaster's office. It's best if it's just a false alarm, so don't alarm others .”

Ron and Hermione nodded silently, and Harry walked up different stairs with them, and through two doors, he knew he was close to the headmaster's office, he had been there, facing the huge stone beast statue lying in the doorway The memory was still fresh, and Harry hoped it would do its job.

There is a stone monster standing in the middle of the empty corridor, and there is no one else. Harry didn't know if Umbridge had broken in, but she couldn't have left in such a short time, when suddenly the monster jumped away, the automatic spiral staircase snaked down, and a person appeared in front of Harry. Harry slowed down and looked at the man coming out of the headmaster's office in disbelief.

It's Snape!

"Potter," he coldly blocked Harry's way, "what are you doing here?"

"I, uh, Snape, Professor, I'm looking for Headmaster Dumbledore, I saw Umbridge coming, she's going to break into the headmaster's office!"

"It's nonsense, I just came out of it just now, the door is locked, and the headmaster is not there." Snape said indifferently.

"But—" Harry opened his mouth, not sure if what Snape said was true or not, he looked back at the corridor when he came, but no one appeared. Was he running so fast that Umbridge didn't make it in time? Can he stop her by walking back?

Or is he just too sensitive and Umbridge is just in a hurry to go to the toilet, which is why he runs so fast? Thinking about it this way, doubts that I didn't notice before emerged one by one. The Order of the Phoenix did not guard Umbridge, but scattered most of them around the school and the castle...

Harry subconsciously moved his legs to leave, but he suddenly stopped and looked at Snape scrutinizingly.

"What's the password? I want to go in and see," he said.

Snape's thin lips twisted into a mocking smile, Harry felt very embarrassed, he knew that Snape must be laughing at himself in his heart, but what if, what if Umbridge preceded him One step, hiding in the principal's office? She locked the door, so Snape couldn't get in? Or did the two of them collude?

Harry didn't know Umbridge's goal, but he knew that Umbridge was sent by Voldemort, and Voldemort must have an ulterior secret.

He ignored Snape, and walked quickly to the stone beast, "Iced lemon juice? Hard pear candy, uh - licorice wand, blowing super bubble gum... I'm with your master , can you open the door?" he said angrily.

The monster was motionless.

Snape looked at him mockingly, and Harry stared into his deep black eyes, undecided. He'd been yelling at Snape a long time ago, as usual, but Hermione had inadvertently reminded him this morning that no one had ever seen the whole story.

This made him think: since he can get a part of the information from other populations, and rack his brains with Ron and Hermione in private, trying to piece together the complete truth; it is possible that Snape is doing the same matter.

The premise of all this is that both he and Snape were only partially disclosed by Headmaster Dumbledore, but they saw another clue...

Professor Hemp's reply letter also affected Harry's judgment. If the questions in that letter, as Ron said, "the answer is quite obvious", it is "love" - ​​Harry thought of this At that time, his breathing was almost stagnant—that Snape reined in the precipice and was willing to be an undercover agent, and it barely made sense. Everything can be explained with a kind of explanation that made Harry uncomfortable:

Snape was a bad guy, it was in his bones. Both his preference for Slytherin and his undisguised hatred for Harry are only strong proofs of this conclusion. The only difference is that he is deeply in love with one person——Lily. Lily's death made him abandon his old master and completely fall for Dumbledore...

But if Snape and Dumbledore were on the same side, why didn't they care about such a big matter? Harry wondered angrily, didn't he know that Voldemort was scheming and plotting outside? Harry stared at Snape, furious. The strong and complex emotions in his heart kept churning, making him almost unable to think, and Occlumency couldn't help him. Suddenly, a flame of inspiration ignited the fog in his mind.

Voldemort...

Yeah, Voldemort is back, if—Harry felt out of breath. He thought with a shudder that he seemed to know where Snape had gotten his Death Eater information, not as a guest with his Death Eater friends, not as a side note, but—he was one of them.

After more than ten years of peaceful life, the boy once again put on the coat of Death Eater... and became an undercover agent again!

Could it be so?

If Snape was undercover, then Harry would have nothing to worry about, even Umbridge was just a ridiculous tool for spreading false news. Suddenly it dawned on him. But what if not? Harry looked at Snape hesitantly, he had already turned and left, Harry gritted his teeth and chased after Snape, blocking in front of Snape.

Snape looked down at Harry with blank eyes and expressionless face.

Harry couldn't read his mind at all.

"Potter, do you want me to deduct points for you? In my opinion, twenty points—"

"You know what's in the principal's office, right? Silverware made by goblins, Pensieves, all kinds of precious books, even information about Voldemort, and his soul—"

"Shut up, Potter," Snape interrupted loudly.

"I didn't mean to say it," Harry said calmly, wondering inwardly how he reacted so quickly. "But you don't seem surprised, you know it, don't you?" He stared into Snape's face, "Then you should know its importance, we've destroyed several things, like diaries, like that A snake, and a ring... but maybe one or two are still there. Headmaster Dumbledore wants to crack its secret, and it's currently hidden in the headmaster's office. If Voldemort regains it..."

"The snake? What snake?" Snape asked abruptly.

"Don't you know? Before Voldemort was resurrected, there was a big snake around him, and then he died. It was one of them." Harry said.

"One of... one of..." Snape murmured, staring suddenly at Harry with horror in his empty, indifferent eyes.

Harry can't understand this look, it contains too many emotions, shock, suspicion, understanding and fear... It may be more complicated than the sum of all their emotions from the first meeting until now, Black eyes staring at green eyes, Harry suddenly lost the courage to meet Snape's gaze, but he stubbornly refused to look away.

Snape made a terrible wheezing and clucking sound from his throat, as if he was going to eat people. Harry took a step back in fright, trying not to turn around and run away. He even admired his courage, and he didn't know how long it took, but the complex and terrifying emotions deep in the opposite eyes were hidden and became elusive.

Snape looked at him, gritting his teeth.

Harry gripped his wand nervously.

Boom! A distant, muffled bang interrupted their gaze, and Harry looked out the window, and the sound was not coming from this side, and he ran to the other side, his face pressed against the edge of the corridor window, squinting his eyes and trying to see On the edge of the dark Forbidden Forest in the distance, a flame shot into the sky.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but Harry had an absurd idea, a big hole was blown into the school wall... Then there were a few more red sparks in the sky, hanging in the air, Harry's heart tightened, it was a phoenix The warning signal of the society!

Snape also stood at the window, his black eyes staring straight ahead. Except for the red sparks, the initial flame disappeared, replaced by billowing black smoke, climbing straight up into the sky, they heard a faint cry, and then a green light shot into the black smoke, twisting into a huge skull pattern , flashing a palpitating green awn.

"Dark Mark." Harry said word by word. He stared at the huge skull rising into the sky. Not only was it not covered by the billowing smoke, but it became clearer, and it complemented the red sparks emitted by members of the Order of the Phoenix. squirming.

Death Eaters attacking? Harry thought incredulously, unable to accept it for a while. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Witchcraft with Dumbledore, Professor Haip and other professors, the safest place in the world, is like an iron wall, how dare Voldemort! Isn't he afraid of being beaten to death? Even if there is a Horcrux, it would be too stupid...

There was a buzzing noise in the castle, and Harry knew that other people had heard it too and were probably asking each other what was going on.

"Potter, go back to the lounge." Snape said coldly.

Harry ignored him, he knew that the wall of Hogwarts was broken, Voldemort would never do anything in vain, the danger had already happened! His face was pressed against the window, his glasses were embedded in his skin, and his nose hurt, but he could see something vague. There seemed to be some kind of creature where the wall broke. Was it a Death Eater? But he wasn't sure if it was the reflection of the green Dark Mark.

"Potter, I say - go back!" Snape yelled angrily, as he strode up with his wand raised to drag Harry away from the window - "Stay!" cried Harry Dao, his heart seemed to be immersed in ice water suddenly, and his body trembled. He could see clearly that a group of creatures were pouring in from the opening, not black-robed Death Eaters, but some pale, strange humanoid creatures with phosphorescent bodies that flickered on and off, like dancing clusters. of will-o'-the-wisps.

"Inferi." Snape inhaled, his hands hanging in mid-air.

The noise in the castle was getting louder, accompanied by screams and panicked footsteps, Harry jumped up, remembering what Moody had said to him a few days ago, that there might be riots in the school...he Leaving Snape behind, he ran outside.

A riot really happened, Harry thought as he ran.

A large number of ghost corpses rushed into the school, is it a hundred or a thousand, or more? There can't be only Yin corpses, he imagined a large number of death eaters, dark wizards, werewolves, vampires, and dementors swarming up...

The more he thought about it, the colder he became. He didn't know what happened to the members of the Order of the Phoenix who were guarding outside. Did they fight or retreat? He was extremely anxious. The only good news was that it was almost dark, and most of the students were staying in the castle. There was no danger for the time being, but it was not impossible for an exception to happen. In case some students wandered around the edge of the Forbidden Forest... Harry With a thrill in his heart, he thought of Luna, she had a centaur friend named Firenze, she and Ginny would occasionally go to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, in case...he didn't dare to think about it.

And Hagrid, Harry stopped in horror, the broken wall was not too far from Hagrid's cabin. Hagrid would definitely go out and check when he heard the sound, toothy. Unless he's not home, with little Gramp.

He prayed in his heart, hoping that Hagrid would come up with a whim and insist on being with Grapp, even if it was his birthday, so that he could be with him in the future...

Harry was overwhelmed by the thoughts in his head, the Marauder's Map was on Ron and Hermione, and he had no way of confirming the safety of these people. Fear kept welling up in his heart, and he heard a familiar voice, "Harry!" Hermione and Ron ran up the spiral staircase, panting.

Harry found himself subconsciously running to the door of the Gryffindor lounge, and then, the portrait of the Fat Lady was pushed away from it.

Neville stepped out, wand raised. He hurriedly asked: "What happened? I heard voices, and those human-shaped things..." He shivered, Fred, George, Lee Jordan, Seamus and some People blocked the door, Qiqi looked at Harry.

"Those are Inferi—" Harry gasped.

"It's really an Inferi? Hey, I've only seen it in books!" Fred exclaimed, looking quite happy, "You-Know-Who did it? So what are you waiting for, it's time for us to show our talents It's time."

His words received a murmur of approval.

Unhappily, Harry found himself caught in a difficult choice. He didn't know whether he should let them take risks together. This is not training. No matter how hard the training is, it will not be life-threatening. Now it is a real battle, not one-on-one, but full of tricks. Maybe the Death Eaters are hiding in the In the corpse, waiting to take a cold breath to read the deadly spell.

If someone dies, he will definitely feel guilty for the rest of his life.

"Where's Ginny? Where's Luna? Are there any students outside?" Harry was at a loss for words, he needed some time to weigh.

"I'm here, Harry!" said Ginny's voice, and Harry raised an arm when he saw the crowd. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nobody's out. We saw Luna trying to open a door when we came back," said Ron.

"What door?" As soon as the words came out, Harry regretted it.

"I don't know." Ron shrugged, "I'm too busy to ask—"

"How are you doing over there?" Harry asked, "Did that Avery do anything?"

Hermione and Ron had weird expressions.

"He didn't move. We saw someone staring at him, so we went to find Malfoy. We stopped him halfway, but he had nothing to do with the commotion. Instead, we were ridiculed... Or is it a reminder?" Min said quickly, "Anyway, we know that someone is going to break into Professor Haipu's office—"

"Who is it?" Harry asked hurriedly.

"Crabbe and Goyle," Ron shrugged, "when we arrived, we found them entangled in vines and passed out at the door. The professor wasn't inside, and neither was Warren... we had a moment I didn't know what to do, but I heard movement outside, so I left them and hurried back."

"It's the professor's defense," Hermione added.

After asking the question, Harry looked around, all eyes fell on him, and he had to make a decision.

"Harry, give an order. We have all learned the Light and Flame Curse. I remember you said that this magic can restrain dark creatures very well." Neville said slowly, "We have to do something."

"I, alas—" Harry suddenly thought of something, and took out a small bottle from his pocket, "Okay, divide this up, each of you takes a sip—"

"What's this?" Neville asked.

"Felix Elixir." Harry said excitedly, his blood throbbing in his veins, are they going to fight together, as Sirius said, to become a real warrior? At this moment, a great roar came from afar, piercing the dark night sky and the commotion in the castle, and drilled into their ears.

"It's Hagrid!" Hermione said in horror, and they all rushed to the window, "and Grapp, oh my God!"

"Who is Glop, Hagrid's friend? Oh, oh——" Fred stared into the dark night, and when he saw the huge figure next to Hagrid, he was too shocked to speak.

Compared to the unknown giant, Hagrid is like a dwarf, and the pale corpses surrounding them, reflecting the dark green light and phosphorescence of the Dark Mark, are like a giant. A dwarf who only jumps up and down.

"Infernal corpses shouldn't be able to hurt giants," Ron looked into the distance anxiously, "their nails are like tickling, and Grapp will smash them into small pancakes with one punch."

"No, and Dementors, Hagrid and Grapp can't handle that," Hermione moaned.

Harry tried to calm himself down. He tried to use the Patronus Charm, but it was too far away and he didn't know if it would work. What he needs to do most now is to support Hagrid as soon as possible. With that, he stretched out his wand, "Firebolts are coming!"

After waiting a few seconds, a streamlined broom ripped through the air, whizzed from the bedroom across the lounge, past the open door with the portrait of the Fat Lady, and fell into Harry's hands.

"Oh, by the way, I also have a broomstick, the Nimbus 2000, which has excellent performance." Ron said blankly. "You're not being advertised," said Fred gruffly, and then he asked, "Can you lend me your broom, George and I have it on the team." George was on the sidelines. Keep nodding.

"You stay and the organizers maintain order," said Harry.

"Hagrid is our friend too, Harry," said Fred.

Harry stared, "Then call more people, don't let one or two come over." After he finished speaking, he raised his wand, and the glass shattered in front of his eyes. Harry glanced back at Ron and Hermione, who understood what he meant, 'Protect them. ’ He turned and jumped off the castle. The others looked down through the windows. Harry descended more than ten feet, and then climbed rapidly, turning into a vague shadow. He exerted the performance of the Firebolt to the extreme.

"Hoo-God-Guard-Guard-"

A silver stag appeared, glowing all over, jumping continuously in mid-air, and rushed towards the direction of Hagrid's cabin together with Harry.

The light emitted by the patron saint formed a straight trajectory, illuminating the open space below, "Hiss~" the people left behind breathed in unison, the grass was full of corpses, and the castle was about to be surrounded.

"The entrance must be guarded, and they must not be allowed in." Neville said firmly, with fear on his face.

"We know the short cut," said Fred, pointing to him and George.

"I have a suggestion, can you pass Mrs. Hooch's office? It may be a little detour, but I remember there is a room next to the old broomstick." George said, "Hermione, what are you doing? "

Hermione was tapping a piece of parchment with her wand, "Oh, well, I just informed the members of the frontline lookout station and the Rune Club."

"Cool," said Fred. A dozen Gryffindor students kept walking through the secret passages of the castle. They saw students walking around and prefects loudly maintaining order. They met acquaintances on the way, and after knowing their purpose, they joined the team without saying a word.

When they showed up in the broom storage room, their number had reached more than thirty.

"The door is locked," said Ron. "Alahoo is open," he read, and the door did not budge. He frowned and used the cutting spell, and the surface of the door shimmered to annihilate the spell, "Mrs. Hooch really did her job—"

"Get out of the way, Ron!" Hermione yelled, and she taped six or seven small wooden signs to the door~IndoMTL.com~ Everyone stepped back, "Bang!"

"Great." Fred said happily, and a group of people poured into the collection room to pick brooms, "Look what I found, sweeping the whole series, Comet 140, even the old antique Oak Arrow 79, Moon Dream and There are silver arrows... Nimbus 1000, Nimbus 1001, Nimbus 1500, Nimbus 1700, this is Nimbus 2000? Mrs. Hooch hid it really well!"

"It's a pity that there is no Nimbus 2001." George said greedily. The students picked up brooms, and even Hermione swept Seven Star 5 with one.

"So, uh—" Hermione said, "we need to send some people to support Harry, and the rest go to the front door, back door, and other exits. The professors are there, so it's best to send a few people out Flying around the castle on a broomstick, sounding a warning..."

"Where is our trump card? Professor Haipu's lighting technique is very suitable for this occasion. And Principal Dumbledore, he won't fall asleep, right? Has anyone thought about this problem..." asked Red cheerfully.

Yeah, where are they now?

Hermione and Harry on the broom were both thinking about it.

Everyone's time is a line, and you can only see things from your own perspective, especially when you are in it. But if a historian analyzes it after the fact, today is a very important and confusing day.

The entire British wizarding world is like a boiling cauldron, and the beginning of this series of events is neither the sudden attack on the Ministry of Magic, nor the appearance of Felix Hemp at the gate of the burning Sword Castle, nor is it the beginning of Dumbledore. Lido gets a distress call from her own brother -- a little bit before all of that.

It all started when Voldemort walked into the Pig's Head Bar and started killing.