Chapter 189: The Speculation Comes True
Success.
And it was wandless magic, something William hadn't yet mastered, typically used in emergencies.
'This is the White Card with a very low success rate? What a joke!'
William tried to savor that magical feeling from just now, but it was nowhere to be found—the moment the lock silently opened, that power vanished completely.
"It almost makes me want to tear up another card just to try it again."
William muttered under his breath, then quietly opened the door. He slid his wand along the door, maintaining control over the spells on it, and slipped inside on light feet. No matter how stupid he was, he wouldn't perform an experiment in front of this open door; that would be idiotic.
'The door can't be closed. If it closes, the magic will activate, and even picking the lock from the inside would be no simple task.' Following his pre-arranged plan, William took out a small piece of wood wrapped in magical adhesive tape from his pocket and wedged it between the door and the doorframe.
This magical adhesive tape, also called magic power tape by some, was generally used to repair magical items, but its effects weren't that great. However, because of the principle behind how it worked, when used to block a door, it would trick the door into thinking it was properly locked—a little trick from Azkaban.
'There isn't much time. Although this part of the dungeons is usually deserted, I still need to be quick.'
While urging himself on, William began to quickly check the room for any light- or sound-sensitive traps. After all, the long holiday was different from a normal day; if it were him, he would have placed more traps inside as well.
'There aren't any?'
After a full sweep, William frowned in confusion—did Professor Snape think his protective magic was so superb, or that his defensive measures were so brilliant that he wouldn't be able to find them?
Although time was tight, he patiently checked the room one more time.
The result was the same as before: nothing.
'Fine then,' William shook his head and raised his wand. A bright white ball of light flew from its tip, lighting up the surroundings.
He had enchanted the piece of wood at the doorway with sound-proofing and light-blocking spells. Although this carried the risk of being caught by someone from outside, it also prevented the possibility of an alarm trap inside, which he might not be able to deal with instantly, giving away his position.
'It's too dark. This place has practically no natural light.'
William scanned his surroundings, looking for the darkest spot—most people had a habit of hiding things either in the place with the least light or behind the brightest spot.
Unfortunately, while the ball of light made some areas sparkle, it was merely the reflection from glass jars.
Yes, glass jars. Inside Professor Snape's office were many shelves, and on those shelves were large glass jars, each containing various kinds of specimens steeped in liquid.
'The entrails of a fire salamander?'
'Is that a porcupine?'
...
Most of them were potion ingredients, and quite rare ones at that. The small remaining portion—William guessed they were still ingredients, just ones that a Potioneer of his level had never even encountered...
'This is ridiculous. Even if they are for potions, having them all displayed like this is pretty creepy.'
William couldn't help but recall the stack of jars from the beginning of "The Deer and the Cauldron" which he had once read, and he chuckled softly.
'There wouldn't actually be a secret door that opens by moving a jar, like in a traditional wuxia story, would there?'
William waved his wand, and the jars he pointed at all floated up about a centimeter.
'No problem here. Next batch.'
He quickly pointed his wand at the other jars.
On the tenth try, it got stuck—one jar wouldn't float up. The pull of the spell wasn't strong enough.
'No way, is there really a secret chamber? I've barely even started!'
William glanced at the yet-to-be-searched desk and bedroom, a corner of his mouth twitching into a grin.
So the jars in the office were just to hide a mechanism? Placing potion specimens in the jars made people feel disgusted while also not seeming out of place—an expert like William could tell they were potion ingredients at a glance.
He couldn't help but cover his face with his hand. To think he was wondering how to crack the mechanism in the bedroom, and this was it?
Losing interest, he used magic to blow the dust back onto the jars he had moved before, then walked over to the immovable potion specimen.
A Bowtruckle specimen. It was practically worthless, and the dissection was ugly. Almost no one would want to touch something like that.
He twisted the glass jar, and a section of the wall swung backward, revealing a passageway.
'So cliché.'
Shaking his head, William went inside. There couldn't be any other mechanism at the entrance. If the magical fluctuations were too strong, what was the point of building a secret chamber? It would be blatantly telling people something was wrong here.
'Professor Snape really needs to improve his trap-setting skills—Holy crap!'
It was no wonder he was so shocked; the very first thing he saw was frightening enough.
A huge photograph, almost as tall as a person, was placed there. The person in the photo was smiling gently, looking very shy. Those green eyes were fixed intently on William, which was incredibly unnerving.
But the problem wasn't the photograph itself, but the person in it. It was Harry Potter!
You've got to be kidding me!
Why would a photo of Harry Potter be in Professor Snape's secret chamber!
Everyone in Hogwarts knew that the students Professor Snape hated most were from Gryffindor—and if you had to pick the one he hated most from Gryffindor, it would definitely be Harry Potter!
William had personally read through Professor Snape's disciplinary records. Thanks to the information Filch had given him, he had a clear understanding of how Harry's father used to bully Professor Snape, and in turn, how Professor Snape bullied other students.
'The cycle of campus bullying never ends, really—' Shaking his head, William approached Harry's photo. Although the photo could move, it wasn't like a portrait with the ability to communicate, so he could look at it without worry.
'Was this... torn? Or was it cut by something like a blade or magic?'
William examined the photo up close, trying to determine where the marks had come from.
If the repairing magic applied to it hadn't been strong enough, this photograph would have been torn to shreds long ago.
'Couldn't take it out on the real person, so he used a photograph to vent?'
Or was there some other reason?
William wasn't sure, but he quickly moved past the photograph and began inspecting the rows of bookshelves.
The newest section had obvious gaps. After confirming there was no trap magic or anything similar on them, William pulled out a book to look at.
His speculation was correct—it was a ledger. The donations received and expenses incurred by Slytherin in 1982 were all there, recorded with absolute clarity, entry by entry.
'Found it. This is it.'
'If those rule-breaking incidents were recorded, they should appear in the appendix.'
'Next, I need to find the content I need and copy it quickly.' As he thought, William took out his tools—a few Quick-Quotes Quills and some parchment.
If Professor Snape found out about today's events, he would absolutely draw his wand and duel him. And no one would dare to stop him.
'I need to double-check everything and see if I've left any traces.'
William gripped his wand tightly—if someone suddenly came in, he would have to launch a surprise attack followed by a Memory Charm, or drop everything and run for his life.
PS: Why is it always midnight by the time I finish writing??? I have to make up for it tomorrow... Despair...
(end of chapter)