Hogwarts Is About to Be Destroyed

Late at night, Li Wei quietly returned to his office.

His two assistants were still awake.

Seeing Li Wei return safely, Jiamer rushed forward to greet him, while Qiao Weili secretly breathed a sigh of relief. During the time they waited, Jiamer had already drunk three vials of tranquilizers.

Sometimes Qiao Weili couldn't help but wonder if Jiamer's curse had actually healed.

Otherwise, even though a new month had begun, why was the other person still so concerned about the Professor?

But when he recalled the indifferent look Jiamer had given him at the beginning of the month, the curse was clearly still in effect. He truly didn't understand.

"Professor, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. It was all a misunderstanding, and it's resolved now."

Back in the familiar office, Li Wei's nerves completely relaxed.

He looked at the huge floor-to-ceiling window. It was raining outside, and the scenery looked exceptionally gloomy.

But at this moment, he felt a sense of peace and beauty amidst the gloom. Li Wei walked forward subconsciously, suddenly feeling that a sofa was missing here.

So, he moved the central table and chairs slightly to the right, and then transfigured a large red leather sofa, facing the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Ah..."

He slumped down, sinking into the leather sofa with a slight creak. His eyes stared blankly out the window.

In the rainy weather, an autumn wind blew. A fallen leaf danced up and down in the darkness, eventually being blown by the wind to a high point beyond his field of vision.

"Professor, are you very tired?"

"What happened today? Can you tell us about it?"

Qiao Weili and Jiamer had appeared behind him at some point.

"Mmm... a lot happened today, but I don't have the energy to talk about it right now.

You've been worried all night, you must be tired too. Go back and rest. We can talk about anything tomorrow.

Today, I want to be alone and quiet."

Li Wei's voice sounded lazy and listless.

But to his two assistants, it sounded exceptionally 'jarring'.

They exchanged a silent glance, seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes. This was the first time they had seen the Professor so lacking in fighting spirit.

What exactly had happened?

"Professor..." Jiamer spoke first, his voice extremely soft, "Can we just stay here quietly?"

Qiao Weili followed up:

"We won't make any noise. Please let us spend this time with you."

"What is this for?"

The sound of the leather sofa creaking could be heard again. Li Wei turned his head and glanced at his two assistants behind him.

He suddenly felt a bit soft-hearted.

Over the years, hadn't he owed more than just himself?

Both assistants had followed him since they were about twelve years old. They studied magic every day without complaint, and even often helped him with trivial matters.

"They really are cast from the same mold."

Li Wei suddenly chuckled and said to them:

"Qiao Weili, Jiamer, since you don't want to sleep, come and keep me company."

The two assistants readily agreed, sitting respectfully on either side of Li Wei. They knew that the Professor's unusual behavior must mean he was troubled by something. As long as the Professor didn't speak, the greatest help they could offer was their presence.

Li Wei slumped back onto the sofa.

His arms were spread wide, and he focused on watching the raindrops constantly hitting the window and slowly streaming down.

But during this time, the upright figures of his two assistants kept naturally catching his eye. Li Wei looked at their backs, and his previously weary spirit suddenly felt much lighter.

Suddenly, he pushed himself up from the sofa and gently placed his hands on the heads of his assistants.

"I have found my path, so from now on, you don't need to force yourselves to cooperate with me anymore. You should find your own paths too."

"Professor, what does this mean? Are you leaving us?"

Visible panic flickered in their eyes.

"No, of course not."

Looking at them, Li Wei showed a rare gentleness on his face.

"You are the most important people to me. We will never be separated."

The next day, the sun rose as usual.

The holidays ended, and the Little Wizards resumed their classes amidst the surging undercurrents.

From the morning onwards, legends of the Chamber of Secrets began to circulate among the four houses.

As the time for class approached, almost all the Little Wizards knew about it—unease quickly spread.

Except for the students of Slytherin House, who began to become arrogant, looking down on others as they walked.

The other students either had a new pair of glasses on their faces or kept mirrors with them—though they didn't know what good that would do.

In fact, apart from Hermione and a few others, even Malfoy didn't know that what was locked in the Chamber of Secrets was a Basilisk.

The students only knew that a place called the Chamber of Secrets might have been opened, something terrible was likely to appear at night, and if you didn't have any tools that allowed you to see through walls, you might be targeted by 'it'.

This was the initial version devised by Cedric and Hermione.

But it quickly turned into various versions among the Little Wizards, with all sorts of rumors circulating.

Absurd rumors spread through the Great Hall like the flu, and the Little Wizards began to exchange protective charms, which eased their fear considerably through this interaction.

When Snape walked into the classroom, they were still engrossed in discussing these things, enjoying themselves.

"Put away all those ridiculous things of yours!"

"Ah!"

Unsure which witch screamed in fright, the students frantically put away what they were holding, their fear even greater than facing the ghost of the Chamber of Secrets.

They had always known how strict Snape was.

But today, something seemed different.

Normally, if Snape found irrelevant items in class, he would definitely say something like—

"I thought at least a sliver of reason remained in your barren minds, enough to distinguish between myths and reality. Clearly, I overestimated your intelligence once again."

To their surprise, Snape merely watched them frantically tidying up calmly?

One Little Wizard, who was faster at tidying up, looked up in a panic and met Snape's gaze. He froze.

His expression was as horrified as if he had seen a Mandrake doing the tap dance.

Professor Snape, who was always cold, was actually smiling?

Could it be true what those people said this morning, that Hogwarts was really going to be destroyed?!

"."

Just then, Snape noticed a student looking at him and quickly put away his smile.

"Cough!"

He coughed heavily, resuming his stern expression.

However, in his mind, he couldn't help but recall what Li Wei had said to him yesterday—"Snape, you're actually not that annoying."

No, this was during class.

He couldn't smile now.