He Was the One Who Picked That Lock for Me

Scott stood at the top of the stairs, calmly watching the farce unfolding in the common room below.

Eddie whispered from the side, "Even though Roger looks pathetic, for some reason, I don't feel like sympathizing with him at all."

"He shouldn't have played those kinds of games with Miss Turpin in the first place," Milton said in his usual tone. "Love should be something romantic and beautiful; we shouldn't treat love as a game or make jokes about such things."

Scott didn't offer an opinion like his two roommates. He only felt that Lisa Turpin's words still had holes and inconsistencies, while Roger seemed like a fool, talking to her for so long without ever getting to the point.

However, he had no intention of going down to help; Lisa Turpin didn't look like someone easy to communicate with, and he always avoided such troublesome matters.

Therefore, everything would have to depend on Roger himself.

Fortunately, Roger wasn't a complete idiot. The sudden "public execution" had been too much of a shock, and his desperate desire to prove his innocence had made him somewhat impatient.

Now, he seemed to have suddenly regained his senses and asked Turpin again, "Lisa, tell me. Since you had this misunderstanding, why didn't you come and confront me at the time?"

He stared into Turpin's eyes. "Why, now that I've already had two other girlfriends, have you suddenly decided to do something like this?"

"Listen to him, 'already had two other girlfriends'—that is truly asking for a beating," Eddie muttered again to Scott and Milton.

Of course, among the students present, there were quite a few boys muttering just like him.

Scott ignored Eddie's mutterings, which were mixed with envy. He noticed that Lisa Turpin had lowered her head again. She was avoiding Roger's gaze and putting on an air of refusing to communicate.

"I don't think you were thinking like this last school year, Lisa." Roger seemed afraid of scaring her, his tone becoming much gentler. "Did someone say something to you that changed your mind?"

Lisa Turpin only shook her head, seemingly unwilling to respond to this question.

Roger looked at her helplessly. "Fine, you don't want to say. Then can you tell me where you got the Dark Magic object you used to curse the Flying Broomstick?"

Lisa Turpin kept her head down, her messy hair covering her face. She seemed prepared to use silence to the end to resist Roger's questioning.

Roger ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He stood up, paced back and forth a few times, then stopped in front of Turpin and spoke again: "You don't want to say, is that it, Lisa? Then tell me, when you went into our dormitory to curse my unlucky Flying Broomstick, who helped you pick the lock?"

As Roger asked his questions one by one, the common room became quiet once again.

Ravenclaw was never short of smart people. Most students had already sensed from Roger's questions that this incident was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Consequently, they all withdrew their expressions of watching a show and became serious.

However, Lisa Turpin still didn't make a sound. She crouched on the floor, curled into a ball, and kept shaking her head, looking exceptionally pitiful.

Roger looked down at the tears dripping onto the carpet at her feet, unsure for a moment whether he should continue asking.

He turned around, spread his hands in a helpless gesture, and looked up at Professor Flitwick and the others at the top of the stairs.

Professor Flitwick had been silent for quite a while.

He had looked somewhat dazed while Roger and Turpin were talking, as if everything happening before him was a great shock.

If Professor Flitwick were a more rational person, he would quickly understand that now that it was impossible to hide things for Lisa Turpin, making the right decision was actually quite easy.

Because there were no other choices left.

And Professor Flitwick was a clever wizard; it was impossible for him not to realize this. But he was still struggling.

But this was also the respectable side of this professor, Scott thought. Although he couldn't do it himself, it didn't stop him from appreciating the kindness of others.

However, when Roger turned to look over, Professor Flitwick seemed to have finally emerged from his struggle and made up his mind.

And once he had made up his mind, Professor Flitwick began to act decisively.

He walked down the stairs and came to a stop in front of Lisa Turpin.

"Miss Turpin." Professor Flitwick's voice was low, not at all as shrill as usual.

Hearing Professor Flitwick's voice, Turpin couldn't help but tremble, but she still didn't look up.

Professor Flitwick paced on the spot. "Whether it is possessing Dark Magic objects or secretly attaching malicious curses to a classmate's Flying Broomstick, these are all actions that violate the law."

He said with heartache, "You should be glad you still have a chance, Miss Turpin. Roger didn't even want to expose you at first; he felt you were too young, and you should thank him for that."

"Now, all the Ravenclaw students are here." Professor Flitwick looked at the other students. "Can anyone tell me, if the Department of Magical Law Enforcement learns of this, what kind of punishment will they impose on Miss Turpin for what she has done?"

"I know, Professor."

A seventh-year boy stood up and said in a very calm and rational voice, "Since Miss Turpin's actions did not cause substantial harm to the victim, the most likely outcome is about three months of imprisonment in Azkaban, as well as a fine of 200 Galleons."

At this moment, Lisa Turpin suddenly raised her head, looking at the seventh-year boy in disbelief.

The boy reached up to adjust the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and said to Turpin, "Of course, if you can voluntarily increase the fine to 1,000 Galleons, there is also a high possibility of avoiding Azkaban."

"Thank you for your answer, Mr. Brown." Professor Flitwick nodded at him, signaling for him to sit down.

Before sitting down, Brown said to Turpin, "My name is William Brown. By the way, the 1,000 Galleon plan for freedom I mentioned has one prerequisite—hiring me as your defense attorney."

"No..."

Lisa Turpin finally felt afraid.

She screamed, "No, I will not be locked in Azkaban!"

Brown shrugged his shoulders and sat down, not responding to Turpin's shouting.

At this time, Professor Flitwick said to Turpin, "I said you still have a chance, Miss Turpin. Please remember, if you can prove that you were not the one playing the primary role during the course of this incident, there is still a turning point."

"I... I..."

Turpin's face turned pale, and she subconsciously turned her head to look at the corner of the common room, her gaze locking onto Jacob.

"It was Jacob! He was the one who helped me pick the lock!" she answered loudly.