Want to have another one?

Chapter 49: How About Having Another One?

Charles woke up to find the sky already bright, someone having tucked him in.

Last night, "Steve Rogers" had appeared in his likeness. Dumbledore would definitely investigate, and it seemed the Headmaster had found his way here.

Eleanor was pretending to sleep, her eyes slightly narrowed. Seeing Charles wake up, she whispered in his ear, "Dumbledore is outside."

The two quickly coordinated their stories. After Charles got dressed, he stumbled out of the bedroom in a daze.

Dumbledore had been waiting outside. Seeing them emerge, he warmly and kindly asked Eleanor if she felt unwell, as if afraid the fifty thousand Galleons might escape.

After confirming Eleanor was fine, Dumbledore asked her, "Is anything missing from your potion shelf?"

Eleanor immediately went to check, then frowned and said, "A bottle of Draught of Living Death and a bottle of Polyjuice Potion are gone."

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

Eleanor's face flushed, and she said indignantly to the Headmaster, "Professor, what do you mean 'we went to sleep'? If this gets out, my reputation will be ruined!"

"Hmph, if this rumor spreads outside, I'll transfer to Beauxbatons!"

Dumbledore repeatedly assured them that no such gossip would appear at Hogwarts.

Charles pinched his chin and said to Dumbledore, "Last night, I was asking Eleanor sister for advice on Potions. You know Professor Snape always ignores us, with a face like we stole his wife, so I had to ask Eleanor sister."

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

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

Dumbledore nodded and said, "That's right. I found traces of Draught of Living Death in the teapot in my study. There's also something I must tell you: the person who did this also used Charles's hair and Polyjuice Potion to transform into his appearance."

"Ah?!" Charles exclaimed in surprise, "Did that person do anything bad while disguised as me?!"

Dumbledore paused for a moment and replied, "I discovered that person. They didn't do anything bad."

"Charles, do you feel any discomfort anywhere?"

Charles patted himself all over, pretending to examine his body, then shook his head and replied, "I don't feel uncomfortable anywhere."

Dumbledore looked relieved. The mysterious person could steal potions and Charles's hair, and could naturally kill them both with a wand. If a murder case occurred at Hogwarts, it would be a big problem.

"Don't talk about this matter," Dumbledore told them. "I'm worried that person has an accomplice at Hogwarts. If they find out, it might be detrimental to you."

Eleanor frowned and asked, "Who is that person? An accomplice of the Dark Lord?"

Dumbledore shook his head slightly and replied, "Probably not. They are a very ancient wizarding organization. They must have existed when I was still a student."

"You don't need to worry either. They didn't show much malice. They only came this time to find a clue to something."

"They didn't find it, so they probably won't come again."

Charles put on a surprised expression. It seemed his bluff last night had some effect, especially mentioning the barn, which made Dumbledore not suspect him.

As for whether his suggestion for Dumbledore to read Advanced Dark Magic Revealed last night had any effect, he didn't know. In any case, he had already given the clue about Voldemort's Horcruxes; whether Dumbledore could find them was his business.

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

In Dumbledore's view, the person last night took advantage of Eleanor's frequent solitude to steal potions, so he needed to remind her to be careful.

Eleanor replied earnestly, "I will be careful."

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

Dumbledore couldn't find any more clues here. Before leaving, he looked at Charles and said to him, "Professor Flitwick is organizing a dueling club after Christmas. You can participate if you're interested."

Eleanor happily confirmed it several times, while Charles looked bewildered, not understanding why Dumbledore would suddenly organize such an event. Was it an opportunity for him to beat up Malfoy?

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

Just as Charles was about to say something to Eleanor, he found her looking at him with a mischievous grin.

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

Charles nodded.

A strange smile appeared on Eleanor's face. "Perfect. I want to see what it's like to be a boy, and you want to be a girl, right?"

Charles was instantly stunned and wanted to run, but he couldn't.

At the same time, the Slytherin students were also stunned. They were gathered around the House hourglasses in the entrance hall.

The hourglass for Slytherin House, which originally had many green gems at the bottom, now had some gray stones. No one understood what had happened.

Finally, someone found the reason in the school rules.

"Negative points?!" The seventh-year prefect of Slytherin drew his wand. "We've been deducted to negative points?!"

"Who did this! I'll kill him!"

The other Slytherin students also drew their wands, shouting threats.

The surrounding onlookers from other Houses let out cheerful laughter.

At this moment, Filch slowly walked over and posted a notice on the bulletin board in the entrance hall.

The notice detailed Draco Malfoy's transgressions, with points deducted for each offense. The most serious offense was the destruction of House property, which directly reduced Slytherin's House points to negative.

The fury of the Slytherin students was instantly ignited. Since Malfoy wasn't here, they began searching the castle everywhere. Even Peeves joined their ranks.

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

Just moments ago, Dumbledore had left the laboratory and come here, informing the elder Malfoy with a dark expression of his expulsion from the Hogwarts Board of Directors.

Professor Sprout, who had accompanied him, handed the elder Malfoy a bill for the magical plants in the greenhouse that young Malfoy had destroyed. All losses were calculated in Silver Sickles, then doubled and converted to Galleons.

Lucius turned to his wife and asked with his eyes, "Should we just have another one?"