The Strange Killer

As night deepened, the lights throughout the castle gradually went out. England enjoyed a rare period of good weather; the night was free of torrential rain and dark clouds, and the starlight illuminated the earth, casting a mysterious veil over Hogwarts.

In an open area near the playground, the professors hastily erected a makeshift, open-air chicken coop, with Hagrid residing in a small cabin nearby. To ensure his safety, there were no secret passages leading to the water pipes nearby. And if the Basilisk were to swagger across the ground, Professor Flitwick's Defensive Spell would activate instantly.

The rooster army, provided by the generous Mr. Wallop, is currently huddled and sleeping by the wall. Although it is an open-air environment, Professor Sprout has placed several pots of Warmblood Vines by the wall, which generate heat continuously.

Inside the cabin, Hagrid came out carrying a lantern. He craned his neck to look into the chicken coop enclosed by the stone wall, and only after confirming that there was nothing amiss did he return to the warm interior.

Soon after, Hagrid's low, muffled snoring came from inside the house.

The stars in the night sky shone even brighter, and a cool night breeze swept across the entire castle. By the stone wall, a rooster with its head tucked into its neck, perhaps feeling a bit cold, shook its head slightly.

In an instant, without any warning, a sharp wound appeared in its throat. The rooster tried to flap its wings before it died, but for some reason, it didn't even have the strength to lift its wings.

On the empty wooden roof, the air rippled slightly.

Inside the chicken coop, as the first victim (the injured chicken) fell, it was like a chain reaction; one sleeping rooster after another collapsed, as if an invisible blade was constantly slicing open their throats.

Just as the prisoner was about to attack the next victim, something unexpected happened.

A faint glow appeared on the plaque that read "Donated to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by Wallop Farm," and an activated Binding Charm instantly enveloped the surrounding area.

The previously empty wooden rooftop began to ripple with transparent air, and Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall suddenly removed the Invisibility Cloak covering them.

The two powerful wizards extended their wands, and the Disillusionment Charm and Patronus Charm poured forth from their tips.

However, the Disillusionment Charm did not work, and no outlines appeared in the field.

Professor McGonagall's three silver cats darted to the stone wall, their bodies gleaming with silver light, but nothing happened except to startle the chickens.

"Invisibility Cloak?" Professor Flitwick frowned, then waved his wand, and a gust of wind arose. But apart from blowing up a pile of feathers, he saw nothing.

At the castle gate, several other professors who had been hiding also quickly arrived at the scene.

"Didn't you catch anyone, Minerva?" Professor Sprout asked.

"They ran away..." Professor McGonagall's expression was rather grim.

This time, they followed Sean's idea. After borrowing Harry's Invisibility Cloak, the appropriately sized Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall hid in Newt's Suitcase before quietly climbing onto the roof of the wooden house.

Among the chickens, Newt, who had some knowledge of alchemy, made a few temporary arrangements. He turned several nameplates into temporary Magical Item, so that if a rooster wearing a nameplate was attacked, the Binding Charm on it would activate automatically.

In the plan, once the Binding Charm was activated, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick would immediately coordinate their attack. To prevent the heir in the castle from noticing anything amiss, Sean even suggested that they find trusted Head Girl/Boy to drink Polyjuice Potion and impersonate them, hoping to deceive the heir behind the scenes.

But what the professors didn't expect was that the murderer could also become invisible, and was not trapped by the two people's spell.

With a gloomy expression, Snape stepped forward, picked up a recently dead rooster, examined it, and then took out his wand and chanted a few spells.

"Simply a slit in the throat with a sharp weapon, no poisoning or Dark Arts," he said coldly.

Everyone looked at Professor McGonagall, waiting for her to make a decision.

"We need to think of other ways. That invisible guy is not easy to deal with, and our failure this time has exposed our purpose," Professor McGonagall said with a headache. "Tonight should be fine. Let's leave someone behind to keep Hagrid."

The professors looked at each other, and all of them shivered as the cold night wind blew across their necks.

"Didn't catch them?" In Professor McGonagall's office, Sean's mouth dropped open in surprise.

His plan should be pretty sound. Only a handful of people know about Harry's Invisibility Cloak, and he even used Polyjuice Potion to guard against potential traitors within the castle—a policy that Snape was quite reluctant to provide.

Professor McGonagall nodded and then told Sean everything that had happened the night before.

After listening, Sean rested his chin on his hand.

The opponent still attacked, which means there's no traitor within the castle, or rather, the traitor doesn't exist at the professor level. An invisible enemy, but Disillusionment Charm and other methods are ineffective?

Sean couldn't quite understand. The world of magic was wondrous, but he had never heard of any creature unaffected by spells. That trigger-based Binding Charm should have hit...

Unless the other party is ridiculously fast... but that couldn't be a wizard, and there are no creatures in Magical Creatures that can become invisible and are extremely fast...

How could any creature be unaffected by the curse...? Sean's brows furrowed deeply.

Professor McGonagall did not disturb his thoughts. Although Sean's plan had not succeeded, in her eyes, the young wizard had already proven his intelligence.

And the way he thinks really Albus ... Professor McGonagall's eyes flickered behind her glasses.

Meanwhile, Sean, still racking his brains, had already placed his suspicions on some mysterious force. He even wondered if some Sin had resurfaced prematurely; otherwise, how could the spell not work? The other party wasn't a ghost...

Wait! Sean's eyes suddenly widened.

Ghost, oh yeah, how could I forget about that guy?

Noticing the change in his expression, Professor McGonagall asked softly, "Sean, have you discovered something?"

Sean looked up. "Professor, can ghosts be affected by spells?"

"A ghost? Of course not," Professor McGonagall said, somewhat puzzled. "You suspect the killer is a ghost? But ghosts can't be invisible, and they can only have a very small impact on the real world, like splashing a little water—cutting a creature's neck is something a ghost can't do... wait!"

Suddenly, Professor McGonagall's eyes widened as well.