As soon as he finished speaking, Percy realized that he had said something wrong.

"After all, Professor Snape might be the heir of Slytherin." He stammered, forcing himself to come up with an excuse, "Since you're back safely, that's good."

Harry thanked him and walked over to Ron and the others.

"You're finally back. What does Professor Dumbledore want to see you about?" Hermione put down the book and moved to sit closer.

"To take care of some final arrangements," Harry replied.

Hermione and Ron stared in horror.

"Professor Dumbledore was murdered?" Ron grunted dryly and almost swallowed his tongue.

Hermione didn't say anything, but her expression said the same thing.

Harry shook his head. "No, I told him what I should do if he had to leave the castle and couldn't find Tom."

"Shouldn't that be the professors' business?" Ron breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head.

Hermione glared at him in disapproval: "That's You-Know-Who!"

"He will definitely attack Harry."

Ron clenched his fists and nodded: "But Professor Dumbledore will definitely be able to deal with him."

"Maybe tonight," Harry consoled them. "Lockhart is leaving the castle tomorrow, and Tom won't be able to help himself."

Ron sounded confused.

Where is this?

If the goal is not to deal with the mysterious man, why is it related to Lockhart? It is a good thing that the boastful man wants to leave the castle, but why can't the mysterious man hold back?

Do they actually have a complicated relationship in private?

Hermione thought.

In the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office.

Lockhart sat at the table in panic, holding the quill in his hand, stiffly raised, unable to put it down. "Is this really necessary?"

A voice that only he could hear responded to him.

"No, I certainly don't want to leave like this."

"But, do we really want to do this?"

"Of course, of course I am more important. I am Gilderoy Lockhart, the wizard with the most charming smile..."

"Yes, you are right, Hogwarts needs me to save it."

"You won't lie to me, will you?"

Lockhart took a deep breath, picked up his pen and wrote down the content he had prepared long ago on the paper.

It was scribbled, less than twenty words.

He took out his wand and tapped the parchment: "Make a double copy."

The parchment squirmed, but the copy was not successful.

He didn't give up and clicked again.

The spell failed completely, setting the parchment ablaze.

He hurriedly extinguished the flame with a book beside him, sighed, and rewrote the sentence twice before sending the letter via Floo - this was something he had specially applied for from the Ministry of Magic, as as a well-known writer he needed to keep in touch with reporters frequently.

One to the Daily Prophet's top editor, Rita Skeeter.

One was sent to the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

His every move was under Dumbledore's surveillance, and the contents of the letter were also seen by all the professors.

"Come quickly tomorrow morning. Someone has been murdered in Hogwarts."

Professor McGonagall turned blue with anger.

Do you really want to harm students’ lives?

How dare he!

She wanted to rush in right now and give Lockhart a good beating to cleanse his dirty brain.

They waited patiently at the door.

Early the next morning.

Led by their dean, the young wizards walked carefully to the auditorium and were safe all the way.

Wait until all students are seated.

The deans did not return to the teachers' seats, but sat at the end of the long table, near the door, holding their wands tightly in their hands.

"Why do all the professors look so tired?" Ron looked over at Professor McGonagall, whose skin was yellow and had dark circles under her eyes. He then looked at Professor Flitwick, who was sitting at the Ravenclaw table. He was in the same haggard state as at the beginning of the school year.

"I waited all night last night." Harry cut the lamb chops, squinted his eyes, and looked towards the teachers' seats. There, Dumbledore was there, and the other professors were there too, except for one person, their culprit, Professor Lockhart.

"Waiting for whom?" Ron pulled his head back.

"Our dear Tom," said Harry succinctly, "but it seems he didn't come."

Flutter——

The owls flap their wings but are not affected and still deliver the goods to your door on time.

But there are a lot of owls today.

A brown owl landed in front of Harry, dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet, and held out one of its legs, and Harry counted out five Knuts to it.

The most eye-catching front-page headline.

"A murder occurred at Hogwarts. Is the headmaster negligent?"

The accompanying picture is a picture of Hogwarts Castle shrouded in dark clouds, and a photo taken from somewhere of Dumbledore with a frown and an unhappy expression.

"Murder?" Hermione glanced over and rolled her eyes. "How could a student be killed at Hogwarts? These people only believe what they hear."

"oh……"

"Rita Skeeter?"

"What an irresponsible journalist."

Harry glanced at the content. "According to a reliable professor in the castle, I received news..."

He looked up at the faculty seats. The deans would not do such a thing, so who could it be?

But there was not even a single professor in sight. A swarm of owls surrounded the teachers' seats, hooting and howling, and dropping red letters in front of Dumbledore.

With a hiss, they burned.

Dumbledore waved his wand, trying to deal with them all as he had done in the past few days.

But there were too many of them, and someone cast a protective spell, and eventually some fish were caught.

"Dumbledore, how dare you! Students are dying, and you still have the nerve to stay in Hogwarts..." The roar stopped abruptly, and Dumbledore snapped his fingers, and it disappeared.

But the words have been spoken, and the most crucial information has been revealed.

The students rioted, and their worst fears came true.

The basilisk is one of the most dangerous creatures of the dark arts. No matter how lucky one is, not everyone can be petrified. Finally... someone died.

They looked around, poked their heads in, and nodded.

Dumbledore cast a "Loudspeaker" spell on himself: "Don't worry, no students at Hogwarts were killed, and the petrified students are still in the school infirmary."

The young wizards had almost finished counting the classmates in their own academy, and indeed there were no missing people.

No one was killed after Marcus Flint.

But that letter...

With a bang—the door of the auditorium was pushed open heavily.

Cornelius Fudge walked in menacingly, leading a team of Aurors.

"Dumbledore, because of your negligence, students have been killed. Come with me to London now." Fudge raised his head, finally showing some of the style that the Minister of Magic should have. "Hogwarts will now be temporarily taken over by Rufus Scrimgeour, the Head of the Auror Office."

"The Aurors will clear Hogwarts of anything dangerous."

"Oh, of course, and Rubeus Hagrid, the man who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago, the one you sheltered and became the keeper of the key, has to come with us too."

There was silence in the auditorium.

Dumbledore hadn't replied yet.

Da da da——

Weak, hurried, and panicked footsteps came from outside the auditorium.