Chapter 123, 121. There's a problem.
Lynn's back was pressed against the door, looking at Yelena Shaik warily.
"How did you get in?"
The witch closed the book in her hand and casually put it back on Lynn's desk.
"How did I get in?
I just found a Slytherin boy, asked him for the password to your house's common room, and then he kindly told me which room was yours, and that's how I got in."
Lynn's brows furrowed, his hand already on the doorknob.
"Entering someone's room without permission, is that the manners of a Scottish wizard?"
"It was indeed my fault, and I apologize, but since I couldn't find you at Hogwarts, I could only wait for you to return to your room.
I just wanted to talk to you. I haven't touched anything here; even the books are my own."
Shaik tried to show her sincerity.
But Lynn had already subtly gripped the wand hidden in his sleeve.
He didn't relax at all; this woman's words seemed to be imbued with magic, and the longer he talked to her, the less he unconsciously lowered his guard.
Shaik opened her empty hands.
"You see, I didn't even bring a wand."
She once again tried to gain Lynn's trust.
The ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger. Lynn felt as if an invisible force was subtly altering his thoughts, gradually lowering his guard against the witch.
Something was wrong!
He didn't hesitate any longer.
He pulled down the doorknob he had been holding, quickly turned around, pushed open the door, and left his dormitory.
He walked out of the Slytherin common room without stopping, hurried up to the third floor, and stood before the stone golem.
"I need to see Professor Dumbledore,"
the stone golem replied in a muffled voice, a slit opening in the middle of its body resembling a mouth.
"Professor Dumbledore isn't here."
Hearing the expected result, Lynn didn't linger. He immediately turned and continued towards the office of another professor in the castle.
Lynn knocked on Snape's office door.
His voice came quickly from inside.
"Come in."
Lynn pushed open the door and went in.
Snape was sitting by the cauldron, constantly adding potion-making ingredients.
"Snake fang powder,"
Snape instructed before Lynn could explain his purpose.
Snape always did this when making potions; Lynn had no choice but to take the ingredients he requested from the shelf and hand them to him.
Snape took the fang powder, uncorked it, and gently tapped it twice into the cauldron.
"Don't speak, wait five minutes."
After instructing Lynn, he slowly stirred the potion in the cauldron clockwise with a stirring stick.
Although Lynn was in a hurry, not knowing what the witch might do in his room while he was away, he also knew that it was best to listen to Snape and not disturb him at times like this.
Five minutes later, Snape stopped stirring the potion, put the lid on the cauldron, and breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up and glared at Lynn.
"Speak, what's the matter so late? If I find out it's something as trivial as a slug falling on you, you can prepare to come to my place every night for the rest of the semester to process materials,"
Lynn said seriously.
"Professor, a Scottish witch has broken into my room, and I suspect she intends to use bewitching magic on me!"
Snape's face immediately darkened.
"A Scottish witch?"
He clearly hadn't known about this beforehand, but he understood the seriousness of the situation.
He glanced at the potion still simmering in the cauldron, his lips twitching with a pang of regret, but ultimately decided to abandon the potion and follow Lynn to the Slytherin's dormitory.
Lynn's dormitory was already empty, but it looked very messy, clearly having been ransacked while he was away.
Lynn silently clenched his fists.
Fortunately, he had moved some important things to the Room of Requirement long ago; what remained in the dormitory were only some unimportant dark magic documents.
Snape walked around Lynn's dormitory, verifying whether Lynn was lying.
"Bring Horner here."
After confirming Lynn's authenticity, Snape said coldly.
Lynn immediately turned and called Charles Horner, the Slytherin prefect.
"Now gather all the Slytherin students in the common room. I have something to ask you."
Soon, almost all the Slytherin boys were gathered in the common room.
It was only a little past eight o'clock in the evening, and Hogwarts' curfew hadn't started yet, but the young wizards had already returned to their dormitories and weren't going out.
Snape coldly surveyed the chattering boys present.
"Has anyone seen a witch enter the Slytherin common room tonight?"
The crowd was silent; no one responded to Snape. Clearly, no one had seen Shayk enter.
Snape, his eyes sharp as a hawk's, fixed on the Slytherin wizards and changed the subject.
"Did anyone tell anyone the password to the Slytherin common room today?"
The common room remained silent.
Then, Snape suddenly fixed his gaze on a young wizard who was trembling slightly.
"Wilson, do you have something to say?"
The fourth-year wizard, Wilson, avoided Snape's eyes, his gaze darting away.
"Professor, it was that witch who threatened me. I didn't really want to say..."
"No need for explanations. Now you can start thinking about how you're going to clean the castle's common toilets by yourself for the next two months."
Snape's voice was now chillingly cold.
With that, he turned and left the Slytherin common room.
He walked quickly, and Lynn could only jog to keep up.
"What should we do now, Professor?"
"Dumbledore isn't at Hogwarts right now; we need to inform McGonagall first."
They quickly found Professor McGonagall, and Snape told her what had happened, while Lynn explained the whole situation.
Professor McGonagall looked quite astonished after hearing their explanation.
"I know about Shayk. She came to Hogwarts to seek help; logically, she shouldn't have done something like this."
"But it's already happened," Snape said grimly. He had been preoccupied with Quirrell's situation, and before he could even finish worrying about it, trouble had broken out at Hogwarts again.
Professor McGonagall nodded.
"Regardless, we still need to find Yelena Shaik as soon as possible to ensure the students' safety."
However, just as they got up, preparing to mobilize the professors to search the school for the Sufi witch,
Dumbledore returned.
He brought back another person, the Sufi witch who had fled to escape punishment—Yelena Shaik.
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(End of Chapter)