The Biggest Scandal in History

Chapter 71 The Biggest Scandal in History

It's 11 p.m. now.

The empty dormitory room was occupied by Avada alone, with Christmas presents neatly arranged beside him—mostly various kinds of books. Now everyone knew that he spent all his time buried in research.

To his surprise, Baron's Christmas gift was also a bottle of intelligence-enhancing potion, but a deluxe version specially concocted by a potion master using high-grade ingredients. According to Baron's letter, this stuff was several times more effective than ordinary intelligence-enhancing potions, lasted longer, and had virtually no side effects, making it a dream potion for Avada, who was currently facing research difficulties.

Harry even gave him a gift—a bag of Snitch-shaped chocolates. Nobody knows where he got them from.

Voldemort didn't send any gifts, but he did send a letter to commend his loyalty and encourage himself to continue his efforts...

"So close yet so far."

A wave of weightlessness and chill washed over him, and Avada's vision went completely black. He pulled out the broom he had prepared beforehand, mounted it, and used his magical senses to orient himself, quickly and accurately landing back in the forbidden section. After casting an illusion charm on himself, just like before, he continued to weave between the bookshelves.

"This holiday I've turned into an owl, sleeping during the day and living in the forbidden book section at night!"

"Plenty of energy potions, jet lag is no problem!"

Avada drew his wand, spotted a book with a decent title, and after fiddling with it for a while to turn off all the random stuff on it, he pulled it off the shelf.

"The 'Detailed Explanation of Advanced Sealing Techniques' primarily explores various unorthodox and restrictive spells, many of which target living beings, permanently trapping them in one place... Holy crap! Blood Cursed Orcs?!"

"Oh, it was just a brief mention, it scared me to death."

"The table of contents doesn't seem to mention anything about the origin of the soul. I wonder how widespread that three-tiered theory of the soul is in high-level academic circles. If it's limited to a small circle, I probably wouldn't be able to find a single reliable book even if I searched the entire forbidden book section..."

While muttering to himself, Avada sat down on the ground, leaning against the bookshelf and flipping through the book with undivided attention. He remembered that there was something called the Hand of Glory in the original work, which could emit light that only the holder could see. He had gone to the library to collect some information about it, and after some research, he had replicated the magic in it, all for this day.

Anyway, he came here to find ideas, so flipping through the books more often is definitely a good idea.

……

Harry stood in the darkness and silence, feeling a surge of excitement, so much so that his breathing became rapid and involuntary. He had to take careful, deep breaths so as not to make any obvious noise.

Once he puts on this invisibility cloak, the entire Hogwarts will be completely open to him; he can go anywhere, anywhere... Filch will never know.

Where are you going?

Oh, and go to the restricted section of the library. He can read to his heart's content until he finds out who Nicolas Flamel really is.

He wrapped the Invisibility Cloak tightly around himself and walked forward. The library was pitch black and eerily dark at night. Harry clutched a lantern tightly in his hand, guiding it as he walked past rows of bookshelves, occasionally lifting the Invisibility Cloak slightly to let a sliver of light shine through. This way, the light would only illuminate what he wanted to see, preventing the lantern from appearing to float in mid-air and creating a chilling illusion…

The restricted area was at the back of the library. Harry carefully stepped over the rope separating these books from the rest of the collection, held up his lamp, and tried to read the titles. However, he couldn't make heads or tails of them. The peeling, faded gold lettering spelled out words Harry couldn't understand. Some books had no titles at all. One book had a dark stain on it, like blood, which looked so gruesome that it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

Moreover, he always felt that there were faint whispers coming from the books, as if the books knew that there was someone who shouldn't be there—this might be his hallucination, or it might not be.

Suddenly, he saw a vast expanse of shadow, a shadow so deep that even his lantern couldn't illuminate it. What chilled him even more was that in the center of that shadow, a book floated in mid-air, open, its pages occasionally turning with a crisp, but barely audible rustling sound…

He abruptly covered his mouth to stop himself from exclaiming, and instinctively tried to back away.

However, driven by some inexplicable thought, he stopped retreating and began to slowly approach the strange book.

What kind of book can float in mid-air?

"Could it be that this book contains information about Nicolas Flamel, and it knew I was coming, so it's been waiting for me here all along, just like my magic wand..."

Thinking this, he crept closer, then reached out a hand from his invisibility cloak, intending to take the book...

Holy crap!!

……

Avada was so terrified he almost lost his mind.

Who would understand? He was engrossed in reading, completely absorbed, when suddenly a hand appeared silently in front of him!

When he was startled and looked up following the hand, he was horrified to find a Thestral had appeared beside him at some unknown time!

That chaotic, incomprehensible magical structure, which astonished him that it could even run, what else could it be but a Thestral...?

Wait, this isn't quite the same as the Thestral. Its structure is slightly more regular, and its overall construction is somewhat different. But the key difference is that the cluster of spiritual energy beneath this magical structure gives him a strangely familiar feeling. And when he exclaimed "Holy crap!", that thing was startled and flew several meters away—that's not how a Thestral behaves…

"Harry?"

"...Ken?"

Both of them froze for a moment, then Harry lifted his Invisibility Cloak and Avada Kedavra removed his Disillusionment Charm. The two of them slumped to the ground, staring at each other from several meters apart.

Why is Ken here? And how can he become invisible? Does he also have an invisibility cloak?

This was Harry's idea.

"Why is this kid here again?! Didn't I give him a book with detailed information about Nicolas Flamel?! Why?!"

This is Avada's idea.

However, his anger quickly subsided. His magical senses revealed a vast, ethereal psychic energy, as magnificent as a star, that had appeared out of nowhere not far behind Harry, enveloped in a Disillusionment Charm structure. Within that grand, golden radiance, a hint of surprise, confusion, and bewilderment lingered…

Dumbledore, Dumbledore.

Dumbledore saw him. He saw him silently appear in the forbidden section, skillfully wielding the Illusion Charm, which should have been strictly controlled, possessing magic similar to the Hand of Glory, and holding a dangerous forbidden book in his hand...

Why is Dumbledore here?!

Oh, right, he was the one who gave Harry the Invisibility Cloak. And in the original story, he did indeed secretly watch Harry and knew what Ron would see in the mirror…

So, what do we do now?

To begin the performance? Or to reveal the truth?

How should we play our cards? How many cards should we reveal?

And there's Harry right next to him!

(End of this chapter)