Chapter 417
Snake-faced Baby
Chapter 417 Snake-faced Baby
"Professor Abigail resigned?"
Upon hearing the news, the three students were obviously shocked.
Harry asked unwillingly, "Why did the professor resign suddenly? I didn't hear any news before the holiday!"
Michael stroked his chin and said, "No... Come to think of it, Professor Abigail did have some farewell intentions at the dinner on the last day."
"I heard that she returned home because of family matters." Ryan Troka didn't want to be disliked by future students before he even started working, so he hurriedly explained.
"So that's how it is." Wade patted Harry on the shoulder and said comfortingly, "Get used to it sooner! We just can't have a long-term Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
Ryan Trocca glanced at Vader and thought: Could it be that this student has also heard the rumors about the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship?
However, he felt that he had not done anything bad and only planned to be a professor for half a year, so he did not take the curse seriously.
Ryan Trocca said, "I heard that Professor Abigail's teaching level is very good. I came to the bookstore to buy a set of textbooks she selected for you and continue the course next semester. Would you like to help me find the textbooks? And tell me about your learning progress."
"Of course, of course, leave it to us!" Harry said quickly.
The professor had just saved him from getting into trouble, so Harry naturally wished he could be of some help.
Wade and Michael looked at each other and walked towards the bookshelf.
The textbooks for the different grades were not the same, but Wade had read all of them and quickly found all the books.
Michael went to the street and randomly found a few students from other grades to help the new professor understand everyone's level.
"Well, next semester we should study vampires and werewolves? And Boggarts..."
Ryan Trocca's face flashed with an unnatural look, and he said, "They are all dangerous creatures. We need to learn their weaknesses and coping strategies... Of course, this also includes culture and history. For example... Do you know who the earliest vampire was? There is a not-so-interesting story behind this..."
Ryan Trocca talked eloquently, and the students around him became quiet without them noticing, listening attentively.
This was a man with a strong scholarly air, profound knowledge, elegant manners, and modest and gentle speech. He quickly won everyone's love.
"Although Professor Abigail is good, the new professor is also good, right? He certainly won't beat anyone up anyway."
Michael whispered privately, looking very pleased with the professor.
Harry pursed his lips.
Although he was grateful for Professor Troka's help and knew in his heart that this professor looked more like a "professor", he was unwilling to say it out loud as it would make him feel like a traitor.
Wade tilted his head and looked at the witch who had just walked out of the bookstore after buying two books.
Although she looks like an ordinary middle-aged woman, but...
[Sarah Abigail].
The other person had the same name as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor he resigned from.
And the two guys next to him...
……
Abigail came out of the store with a book and saw Baird's half-smile facing her.
"Put that expression away!" Abigail said coldly.
"Even if you feel hurt, don't get angry at me." Baird said sarcastically, "You even changed the appearance of your patronus because of those students, but so what? When the new professors come, they will just as love and support you, and forget about you in the blink of an eye."
Abigail looked at him with the same mocking expression and asked, "Have you ever cared about anyone, Baird?"
Baird's face turned cold.
"If you've ever..."
Abigail continued, "You will understand that even if you are separated, you will still hope that the other person is doing well - this is what normal people think."
Watching Abigail leave in triumph, Baird was so angry that his face turned blue. He grabbed Ilari, who was peeping inside from the window, and dragged the disgraceful guy away.
"Wait! Wait! Let me take another look! Can I say a word to him? Just one word!"
Ilari struggled, and during the tug of war, he accidentally hit the arm of a wizard who was holding a child nearby.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and the other glared at him fiercely. Ilari shuddered and became quiet in an instant.
Baird sensed something was wrong, looked at the wizard in black robes warily, and asked in a low voice: "What's wrong?"
"Something weird..."
Ilari said in a low voice with a pale face: "The thing that guy is holding... doesn't seem to be a person!"
Baird frowned: "Isn't the one in the swaddle a child?"
"You didn't see the face of that thing..." Ilari pondered for a while and said, "I seem to have heard of similar witchcraft before... That thing... seems to be a Kumantong!"
"Gumantong..." Baird recalled.
It was said to be a kind of Southeast Asian witchcraft, also called "raising ghosts". He had heard of it but didn't understand it.
Watching the black-robed wizard walking towards Knockturn Alley, Baird snorted coldly: "This sales conference really attracted all kinds of ghosts! Let's go, it has nothing to do with us!"
"Is he coming for Weed Grey as well?" Ilari asked worriedly, "What if he takes little Weed away? We don't understand the witchcraft in Southeast Asia."
Baird disagreed: "We don't have a chance, how can they who just came from foreign countries do it? Do you know how many Aurors are guarding this street today?"
"I don't know...how many are there?" Ilari asked simply.
Baird choked and said, "Anyway, don't ask any more questions. Let's go! If we stay any longer, we'll be watched!"
……
After entering Knockturn Alley, the black-robed wizard stopped by the wall for a while. With the help of the reflection, he found that the wizards he met by chance didn't seem to be suspicious, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
An old wizard with a black and gray face and whose appearance could not be seen clearly came closer. Seeing the unfriendly look of the black-robed wizard, she grinned, revealing a mouth full of broken and black teeth.
The homeless old wizard said in a hoarse voice: "Want to buy anything? They are all top-quality goods."
He opened the cloak and saw a dozen shrunken human heads hanging inside the cloak. Some were cursing in a low voice, some were staring at the black-robed wizard with sticky evil eyes, and some were trying to open their mouths wide to bite the head next to them.
Without saying a word, the black-robed wizard drew out his wand and swung it vigorously. A deep crack instantly appeared on the dirty ground, running along the old wizard's toes.
He was startled, took a step back and accidentally fell. Suddenly, cheers came from the cloak, and several mouths bit him without hesitation.
The old wizard rolled over and wailed, tearing the human heads off his body with force, and hit them one by one with a bone stick, making the heads scream continuously.
The black-robed wizard gave him a cold look, carefully moved the swaddling clothes to his chest, covered it with his cloak, walked quickly past the old wizard, and walked into Borgin and Burke's.
The screaming of the head stopped, and several pairs of eyes stared in that direction.
"Darkness...darkness..."
They whispered:
"What an evil darkness..."
"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding..."
The bell on the counter rang and Mr. Borgin, hunchbacked, came out quickly.
"Welcome, sir - what can I do for you?"
He spoke in a slick tone, his eyes quickly scanning the black-robed wizard, pausing to focus on the bulge on his chest.
—A child? Or a corpse?
Running a shop like this in Knockturn Alley that has stood for hundreds of years, Mr. Borgin has naturally seen all kinds of dark wizards and dangerous dark magic items.
He was not interested in the black-robed wizard's identity or secrets; he just wanted to know how much income he could bring him.
The black-robed wizard placed a heavy purse on the counter. With a thud, the purse opened and a large pile of golden Galleons appeared.
Mr. Borgin's eyes widened, and the smile on his face became more sincere and brilliant: "What do you want to buy? My honorable sir."
"I have a lot of things to buy," the black-robed wizard said in a low voice. He took out a roll of parchment from his pocket and placed it on the counter. He asked, "Can you get everything on it?"
Mr Borgin put on a pair of pince-nez and looked carefully.
"Poison hemlock, datura, wolfsbane, phoenix tail feathers, unicorn horn, troll heart..."
He smiled and said, "Except for the sphinx feathers and the wendigo claws, which will take a few days to get, I can give you the rest now."
"Very good." The black-robed wizard poured a pile of Galleons on the table and said, "I don't have much time. Please prepare as soon as possible."
"Okay, okay! I'll be right there!"
Mr Borgin trotted into the back house and the shop fell into silence.
A few minutes later, the black-robed wizard came out of Borgin and Burke's carrying a box.
The old wizard at the door had disappeared, and there were a few sneaky guys in the distance. This was a unique "scenery" that would never disappear in Knockturn Alley, but the black-robed wizard ignored them.
At this moment, a thin, sharp sound came from his chest -
"Snake venom... go to Bagwell's store to buy it."
"Yes, master." The black-robed wizard lowered his head and said softly.
He looked around, saw the sign of Bagwell's shop not far away, and walked over.
As he walked, the collar of his cloak opened and closed, vaguely revealing a very strange baby inside.
He looked red, as if he had no skin or hair, and his body was covered with a layer of fine scales. On his head was a strange snake face with glowing red eyes.
He peeked at the cold and vast world outside through the gap, his eyes were evil and violent, and it seemed that there was a very scary soul in his young body.
The cold wind blew, blowing up the snowflakes on the roof. The black-robed wizard quickly pulled up his cloak to prevent the baby inside from getting cold, while also covering up the strange face.
……
"Ding--"
The elevator made a crisp sound and the iron-barred door opened with a bang.
"Department of Mysteries."
A cold female voice said.
"Over here, please follow me."
A wizard with a wooden face led the way, followed by several other wizards with extraordinary aura. Leading the way was the lion-like Auror Chief Scrimgeour, followed closely by Kingsley Shacklebolt.
The group walked quickly through an empty corridor and finally stopped in front of a plain black door.
"Bode, is this the Department of Mysteries?" an Auror at the back asked curiously.
"Yes, this is it." The wizard replied with a wooden face.
He opened the door and everyone walked in.
Inside was a huge round room with black walls and a black floor. There were twelve identical black doors on the walls, and candles with blue flames in the middle of the doors.
As soon as everyone came in, the candles lit up automatically, but the room was still extremely dark, as if all the light had been swallowed up by the floor and walls.
Bode identified the direction, then walked straight to one of the black doors, pushed it open, and bright light came out from inside.
Scrimgeour and the others all walked over, and the younger Aurors at the back of the team craned their necks to see the scene inside in advance.
This is a square room with a table in it and a huge glass tank in the middle filled with dark green liquid. There are some white things floating slowly in it, like a group of jellyfish.
"Is this the Brain Room?" asked Scrimgeour.
"Yes," Bode replied.
"Those are...are human brains?"
the young Auror asked in horror, before covering his mouth at Scrimgeour's stern gaze.
"You said this place was broken into..." Kingsley asked, "Did you lose something? Or did the intruder do something here?"
Bode slowly raised his head and looked at Kingsley. After a long moment, he said, "We don't know."
Kingsley was stunned: "What do you mean?"
"There's no fixed number of brains here," Bode said. "Sometimes there's a sudden increase, and sometimes there's only one or two, so we don't know how many there are or if any have been stolen."
"We have no idea what the intruder did here - the Brain Hall is one of the most mysterious places in the Department of Mysteries, because thoughts are elusive and intangible."
“Well, let’s get to work,” Scrimgeour interrupted. “Try to find as many signs of the intruder as you can… but don’t go near the tank.”
"Yes!"
Several Aurors responded and began to investigate.
They were all people with unique skills and abilities in their respective fields, and they quickly detected subtle traces of magic and a few remaining footprints, which they all recorded one by one.
Kingsley used his wand to guide a very thin wisp of green mist into the crystal bottle and preserved it.
"An experienced guy." He heard his colleague mutter: "Almost all the valuable clues have been destroyed. Only..."
They looked toward the tank together.
There were only more traces left near the water tank, probably because the intruder did not want to cause any serious damage to the brain inside.
The traces extended into the inside of the water tank, but Scrimgeour did not allow them to approach the water tank to investigate. Bode, the Silent Man, was always standing by and watching, as if they were the thieves.
(End of this chapter)