The Professor's Mission

"This matter can only be entrusted to you for covert exploration.

If I were to act directly, although I could deal with the Basilisk, it would alert the snake in the grass, and the mastermind would definitely hide. That way, we would never be able to catch him."

"Of course, before that, I will first confirm the Basilisk's situation and ensure it cannot appear and harm anyone for now."

Li Wei's words echoed faintly in their ears.

When the three of them, Hermione, Ron, and Harry, walked out of Li Wei's office, their eyes were completely different!

After all, they were the only ones Li Wei trusted to uncover the mastermind!

At the same time, Hermione and Ron now wore a pair of slender, non-prescription glasses on the bridge of their noses—the Basilisk's gaze could kill anyone who met its eyes directly, but with lenses to buffer it, the lethal effect would turn into petrification.

"Mate, you really dared to speak. For a moment there, I thought we were going to be kicked out like Hagrid."

Ron let out a long sigh and patted Harry's shoulder.

"You're being too disrespectful to the Professor, Harry! Just like Senior Jiamer said, before you scold others, you should use your brain to think properly!"

Hermione left without waiting for his response, her face flushed with anger.

Although the task assigned by the Professor was important, she really didn't want to work with these two idiots today!

"Hey, Hermione!" Ron looked at Hermione, who didn't look back, and scratched his head. "Why is she so angry this time?"

"So her name is Jiamer."

Harry stared at Hermione's retreating figure and said dazedly.

"What are you talking about? Mate, why do you seem so out of it?"

Ron's face loomed large in Harry's vision at some point!

His nose was almost touching Harry's, and he was curiously examining Harry's expression from below.

"Did the Basilisk's voice have some effect on you? Or is using Parseltongue very tiring—oh, right, what does it feel like when you speak in the snake's language? Tell me!"

"I—I'm fine!"

Harry pushed him away flusteredly, and the two walked towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Parseltongue. I didn't feel anything when I spoke it. In fact, I felt like I was speaking normally. If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known my voice had changed at that moment."

Before leaving completely, Harry couldn't help but turn his head again, casting one last glance at Li Wei's office.

"That Professor is a bit strange, isn't he? But for now, I think his actions are well-intentioned."

Ron noticed his movement and said leisurely, with his hands behind his head.

"Yeah."

Harry nodded, but his mind was on the blonde figure who had scolded him.

If his mother hadn't died, would she have corrected him so sternly when he made a mistake, just like now?

The house-elf Barton appeared in the owlery.

With him, who was skilled in Apparition, as an assistant, both concealment and efficiency far surpassed owls. Li Wei actually didn't use this creature much on a daily basis.

Even when dark wizards were rampant, Barton, as Li Wei's trusted companion, had played a significant role.

He never expected that now, in the safe Hogwarts, he would have lost one of his functions.

Thinking of this, Barton felt a little dejected—why did people always maliciously misinterpret someone as pure as his master?

"Tap, tap, tap."

A pebble suddenly hit the ground not far from Barton.

He turned his head and looked in the direction the pebble came from—in the corner of his vision, a thin, shriveled hand flashed by.

It looked like a house-elf's hand.

Barton thought of the house-elves working in the kitchen, feeling a bit confused.

After all, with their personalities, they wouldn't do something like this.

This is rather unusual. Barton first put the letter Li Wei gave him into the letter-tube at the owl's leg, and then began to deal with the matter at hand.

"Tap, tap, tap."

Just then, another pebble was gently tossed over, as if someone was waiting around the corner, hoping to attract Barton's attention in this way.

"Come out. If you want to talk to me normally, I'll give you three seconds to think."

Barton didn't rush forward but cautiously took a step back.

"3... 2... 1..."

As Barton counted to one, a sharp whisper suddenly came from around the corner.

"Don't, don't go, Dobby means no harm."

A house-elf, dressed in something that resembled an old pillowcase, emerged from the corner.

"Dobby?"

Barton cautiously eyed the 'unusual' house-elf before him, subtly clenching one hand.

"You're not a house-elf in Hogwarts castle, are you? Who is your master?"

"Don't--don't be nervous--Dobby means no harm--Dobby's master is--"

The house-elf, Dobby, was cut off mid-sentence as he suddenly went mad.

He slammed his head hard against the stone wall before continuing to speak to Barton:

"Lucius Malfoy."

"The Malfoy family?" Barton's face showed clear disgust. "As their servant, what are you doing here?"

"Dobby wants to protect Harry Potter, Dobby heard--what Harry Potter and your master said, Hogwarts castle is very dangerous now!

There's a conspiracy! Something terrible will happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year! Dobby's master put an evil thing in Hogwarts."

After Dobby finished speaking, he let out another comical sob and frantically banged his head against the wall again.

Barton looked at him with pity, a flicker of unbearable pain in his eyes.

"Stop talking. You're using physical punishment to circumvent the constraints of the master-servant contract, aren't you?"

Dobby suddenly looked up, his forehead bleeding, and stared at Barton in surprise, looking foolish and pathetic.

"I'll speak next. You just nod or shake your head."

Barton looked at the dazed Dobby and sighed.

If he hadn't met Li Wei, his situation probably wouldn't have been much better than Dobby's in front of him.

It was Li Wei who taught him what freedom was, what equality was, and what the power of knowledge was.

It was all of this that had made Barton who he was today.

"The dangerous thing you mentioned, is it related to the Chamber of Secrets incident?"

Dobby froze for a moment and nodded repeatedly.

"If it's about this matter, Mr. Potter already knows about it, and my master is also preparing to intervene. You don't have to worry anymore."

"Really?" Dobby's eyes widened. "That's a Basilisk! Can your master really kill it?!"

"Yes--my name is Barton. Dobby, do you want to come with me to see my master? He can definitely handle the information you've brought better."

"No--no--as long as Harry Potter is safe, Dobby will be at peace--thank you--thank you, Barton. Dobby has to leave now."

Before leaving, he suddenly looked at Barton with some reluctance.

"Dobby. Can I come find you again next time? Barton, you are very free. Dobby envies you--Dobby also longs for freedom."

Dobby looked at Barton, his small hands twisting together nervously as he waited for his response.

"As long as my master doesn't call for me, you can find me in the house-elf kitchen during meal times."