"Amazing magic," Hoare mused to himself, "No wonder he's one of the founders of Hogwarts."
This time, the gains were substantial. He needed to remember each one and develop them thoroughly later. With so many good things, it would be a shame not to make them available to every household!
Hoare felt a pang of regret!
"If we can go directly to where we want, why don't we just go back to the dormitory?" Ron scratched his red hair.
"Then you'd be exposed..." Hoare earnestly advised Ron not to reveal himself.
Everything that happened at Hogwarts couldn't be hidden from the headmaster. If they appeared elsewhere, they would surely be questioned, and Ron's bloodline issue would definitely be discovered.
Since they needed to see the headmaster, they naturally couldn't bring Helena along. Hoare first returned to the dormitory to leave Helena there, instructing her not to wander around, or else he'd make snake soup out of her at night.
Although Helena didn't know what snake soup was, she felt it was something terrifying. She nodded pitifully and hid under Hoare's pillow.
When Hoare turned around, he saw Harry and Ron looking like country bumpkins.
He had originally told them to wait at the door, but they insisted on coming in to take a look.
The two of them were both curious and amazed as they examined the Slytherin dormitory. After all, Gryffindor had five people to a room, and every morning was a battle.
Hoare reluctantly gave them a brief tour of the Slytherin common room before heading straight to the headmaster's office.
The three of them met with Dumbledore.
They told Headmaster Dumbledore everything except for matters concerning Helena and her master.
When they mentioned a large space beneath Hogwarts, Dumbledore remained calm. After all, this was Hogwarts, where many unknown things were quite normal.
But when Harry mentioned the many lifelike and gigantic statues inside, Dumbledore's brow furrowed as if he had thought of something, and he stood up immediately.
"Oh, my children, please have some food and wait a moment."
---
The Room of Requirement.
"I heard from Harry and Ron last time that You-Know-Who appeared at the school," George said while brewing potions, chatting with Fred, who was cutting ingredients.
"How come I didn't hear that?" Fred retorted.
"I was in a hurry to the bathroom and took a secret passage. Harry and Ron thought no one was around, and I overheard them," George continued.
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"You can't just say things like that," Fred objected. After all, if You-Know-Who really appeared at Hogwarts, they would all be in danger.
"I heard they eavesdropped on a conversation between the headmaster and Professor McGonagall, but the professor refuted it, saying You-Know-Who was dead and it couldn't be true," George said, putting down the stirring rod and adding some ingredients.
"You see, even Professor McGonagall said it wasn't true," Fred still didn't want to believe it.
"Oh, come on, Fred, we all know that if Headmaster Dumbledore is certain, then it definitely isn't fake," George poured the potion into a glass bottle.
"You go try it on Scabbers," George handed the potion to Fred, remarking, "Henry is really generous, letting us use so many materials freely. He's the most generous Slytherin I've ever met."
Fred took the potion, grumbling, "Because we paid for it, okay?"
"Where's Scabbers!? George, did you close the cage after your experiment?" Fred called out loudly for George to come over.
"I closed it, I'm sure it was closed," George frowned.
The two stood in front of a large all-glass observation box, which was Scabbers' home, but now it was empty.
---
Meanwhile, in the headmaster's office.
Dumbledore waved his hand and conjured three servings of red velvet cake, placing them in front of the three. Hoare's cup looked different in color because it had a lethal amount of honey added.
He himself went through the fireplace to find other professors. Hoare guessed that Dumbledore was probably going to check the scene.
Ron and Harry watched Hoare drink that cup of tea with toothache expressions.
Hoare drank it all in one go and then showed a satisfied smile.
"My goodness, why do you all like drinking such sweet things? Hoare, too, every time I see him drink tea, my teeth hurt," Ron couldn't help but mutter.
Harry thought Ron probably missed his brother. Recently, he kept hearing Ron mention his brother Hoare. Although Harry hadn't met Hoare yet, he had already formed an image of Hoare's appearance, habits, and preferences through Ron's descriptions.
To be honest, if he didn't know for sure that Hoare existed, Harry would have thought Ron was talking about Henry.
"Sweets are the best invention in the world; you don't understand their beauty," Hoare gave Ron a disdainful look. Back at home, Ron always looked at him with disdain when he ate desserts.
Then Hoare picked up a fork and started tasting the small cakes on the table.
Harry and Ron took a bite and said they didn't like it, asking Hoare to finish them.
Hoare was more than happy to help, polishing off the three small cakes by himself before Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape returned to the office.
"Headmaster, you can go check it out; the entrance is in the girls' bathroom on the second floor," Harry worried that the headmaster wouldn't believe him.
"We just went to check," Professor McGonagall spoke up.
Anything that happened at Hogwarts, as long as it wasn't in the Chamber of Secrets, couldn't escape the headmaster's notice.
Without Hoare and the others saying anything, Dumbledore had already learned from the portraits where they had been.
They had just followed Dumbledore to the second-floor bathroom and opened the passage.
"Do you know how dangerous that was!!!" Professor McGonagall couldn't hold back her anger, frowning at the three in front of her.
"When something like this happens, why didn't you notify a professor!" Professor McGonagall questioned, "You! You almost..." Professor McGonagall couldn't imagine such a scene.
"I, I thought we could..." Ron raised his hand to answer.
"Ha, yes, I suppose Mr. William thought the same, didn't he!" Headmaster Snape chimed in sarcastically.
Hoare almost rolled his eyes. Why did the headmaster have to express his concern in such an infuriating way?
"I suppose the three young gentlemen didn't know that below was the basilisk's lair, did they?" Dumbledore's words made the three's scalps tighten.
The three of them laughed foolishly, resolute in not revealing anything about Helena.
Hoare was so calm because he knew that Headmaster Dumbledore and the professors would never use Legilimency on them.
Legilimency wasn't a friendly spell; repeated use could harm the brain of the person it was used on. It was like forcibly extracting things from someone else's mind.
Even with Quirrell being so suspicious, Dumbledore never forced Legilimency on him.
How perverse would Dumbledore have to be to forcibly use Legilimency on a few eleven-year-olds just because of his suspicions?
As teachers, Dumbledore and Snape still had the demeanor of educators, except when Snape was dealing with Harry.
"How did you get up there?" Dumbledore, of course, knew, but he asked casually.
After all, Moaning Myrtle had seen the three of them squeezing onto a broomstick and flying up together.
Hoare and Harry exchanged a glance. They guessed right; because of the bloodline protection, the teachers couldn't enter the Slytherin room.
Hoare was secretly delighted. Didn't that mean he could have everything in that room to himself?
"Summoning Charm," Hoare said, "We summoned a broom and flew up."
"Oh, my child, that's a clever method," Dumbledore said.
"Alright, Albus, it's almost dinner time. Do you want to starve these three little grasshoppers?" Snape noticed Dumbledore had a lot of questions and suggested taking them away.
Three first-year trolls, what could they possibly ask? Snape was impatient.
Dumbledore nodded, smiling and agreeing.
Hoare touched the Philosopher's Stone in his pocket. He had thought about using the Philosopher's Stone to prove his innocence.
He couldn't mention Helena, so if he handed over the Philosopher's Stone now, wouldn't that tell the professors that he had stolen it?
Especially from the safest place, Dumbledore's common room.
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