Have Another Child?

Should We Have Another Child?

When Charles woke up, he found that it was already daylight and that someone had tucked him in.

Last night, "Steve Rogers" had appeared in his form. Dumbledore would definitely investigate, and judging by the current situation, the Headmaster had tracked it this far.

Eleanor was pretending to sleep. With her eyes slightly narrowed, she saw Charles wake and whispered into his ear, "Dumbledore is outside."

The two quickly got their stories straight. After Charles got dressed, they walked out of the bedroom in a daze.

Dumbledore had been waiting outside the whole time. When he saw them come out, he warmly and kindly asked Eleanor whether she felt unwell anywhere, as if he were afraid of losing fifty thousand Galleons.

After confirming that Eleanor was fine, Dumbledore asked her, "Are any items missing from your potion shelf?"

Eleanor immediately went over to check. Then, frowning, she said, "One bottle of Draught of Living Death and one bottle of Polyjuice Potion are missing."

Dumbledore nodded slightly, then asked them, "Did you notice anything strange before going to sleep last night?"

Blushing, Eleanor said angrily to the Headmaster, "Professor, what do you mean, 'going to sleep'? If that gets out, my reputation will be ruined!"

"Hmph. If that rumor spreads, I'll transfer to Beauxbatons!"

Dumbledore repeatedly assured her that such rumors would definitely not arise at Hogwarts.

Clutching his chin, Charles said to Dumbledore, "Last night, I was asking Big Sister Eleanor about Potions. You know how Professor Snape is always indifferent toward us, wearing a sour face as if we'd stolen his wife, so I had no choice but to ask Big Sister Eleanor."

"We were drinking tea at the time. We don't remember when we fell asleep. By the time we came to, it was already morning."

Looking at the potion shelf with the missing bottles, Eleanor said, "Could someone have stolen the Draught of Living Death I made and put it in the teapot?"

Dumbledore nodded. "That's right. I found traces of Draught of Living Death in the teapot in the study. There's one more thing I must tell you. The person who did this also used Charles's hair and Polyjuice Potion to take his appearance."

"What?!" Charles cried out in surprise. "Did that person do anything bad while looking like me?!"

Dumbledore was silent for a moment before saying, "I discovered that person. He didn't do anything bad."

"Charles, do you feel unwell anywhere?"

Charles felt himself all over, pretending to examine his body. Then he shook his head and answered, "I don't feel unwell anywhere."

Dumbledore appeared relieved. Someone capable of stealing potions and Charles's hair could just as easily have killed the two of them with a single thrust of a wand. If a murder had occurred at Hogwarts, it would have been a major problem.

"Don't tell anyone about this." Dumbledore looked at them. "I'm worried that person has accomplices at Hogwarts. If he finds out, he might harm you."

Eleanor frowned and asked, "Who was that person? An accomplice of The Dark Lord?"

Dumbledore shook his head slightly. "Probably not. They're a very ancient wizarding organization. They likely already existed when I was still a student."

"You don't need to worry, either. They haven't shown much hostility. They only came this time to look for clues about something."

"They didn't find anything. They may not come again."

Charles put on a surprised expression. It seemed that his deception last night had worked to some extent. Mentioning the barn in particular had kept Dumbledore from suspecting him.

As for whether reminding Dumbledore to look at Advanced Dark Magic Revealed last night would have any effect, he had no idea. In any case, he had already given him the clue about Voldemort's Horcrux. Whether Dumbledore could find it was his own business.

Dumbledore then said to Eleanor, "You often come here alone. I suggest that you use 'Homenum Revelio' to check before entering each time. If you find someone hiding or following you, report it to me or McGonagall immediately."

In Dumbledore's view, the person from last night had taken advantage of Eleanor's habit of being alone to come here and steal potions, so he needed to remind her to be careful.

Eleanor answered seriously, "I'll be careful."

Then she glanced at Charles and added, "I'll teach this spell to Charles."

Dumbledore had found no further clues here. Before leaving, he looked at Charles and said, "Professor Flitwick plans to organize a Dueling Club after Christmas. You may attend if you're interested."

Eleanor happily asked for confirmation several times, while Charles looked utterly confused. He couldn't understand why Dumbledore had suddenly arranged this. Could it be a chance for him to beat up Malfoy?

Dumbledore left, and the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Charles had just been about to say something to Eleanor when he noticed her looking at him with a mischievous grin.

Eleanor dragged him into the bedroom, locked the door, and whispered to Charles, "The Polyjuice Potion didn't work?"

Charles nodded.

An eerie smile appeared on Eleanor's face. "Perfect. I want to try what it feels like to become a boy. You want to become a girl too, right?"

Charles was scared stiff on the spot. He wanted to run, but he couldn't get away.

At the same time, the Slytherin students were also stunned. They were gathered around the House point hourglass in the Entrance Hall.

There had originally been quite a few green gems beneath the Slytherin House hourglass. Now they had turned into gray stones, and no one knew what had happened.

In the end, someone found the reason in the school rules.

"Negative points?!" The Slytherin seventh-year prefect drew his wand. "We actually got deducted into negative points?!"

"Who did this?! I'm going to kill him!"

The other Slytherin students also drew their wands and shouted about killing someone.

The spectators from the other Houses nearby burst into delighted laughter.

At that moment, Filch slowly approached and posted a notice on the bulletin board in the Entrance Hall.

The notice listed Draco Malfoy's crimes in detail, with points deducted for every offense. The most serious one was damaging House property, which had directly reduced Slytherin's House points to a negative number.

The Slytherin students' fury was instantly ignited. Since Malfoy wasn't there, they began searching throughout the castle. Even Peeves joined them.

Beside a construction site in Wiltshire, England, Lucius Malfoy's face was frighteningly pale.

Just now, after leaving the laboratory, Dumbledore had come here and, with a dark expression, informed Old Malfoy of the decision to remove him from the Hogwarts Board of Directors.

Professor Sprout, who had come here with him, handed Old Malfoy a bill. It listed the magical plants in the greenhouse that Little Malfoy had destroyed. All the losses were calculated in Sickles, then doubled and converted into Gold Galleons.

Lucius turned to look at his wife and asked with his eyes, Should we have another child?