The Hairy Heart of the Warlock

Harry and Ron returned to the entrance of the common room looking utterly lost.

The Fat Lady's portrait had wandered off somewhere, so no one could open the door for them. The two of them could only lean against the entrance and speak in extremely hushed voices.

"Hey, Harry, do you think what she said was true?"

"What?"

"That thing! Can someone really study magic day after day for seven whole years? The professor's experience sounds kind of like a story to me—blimey, I've got goosebumps all over."

"What exactly are you talking about, Ron? Don't scare me in the middle of the night!"

Harry could not help glancing down the pitch-black corridor, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Have you heard the stories in it? Oh, you grew up in the Muggle world, so you probably haven't.

"That book is pretty famous in the wizarding world. My mum used to read it to us as a bedtime story."

"What are you trying to say? What does Professor Li Wei have to do with fairy tales?"

"The Hairy Heart of the Warlock! Harry, Professor Li Wei might very well be the warlock from that story!"

"The Hairy Heart of the Warlock?"

For some reason, the title alone made Harry's heart skip a beat.

Faced with Harry's question, Ron put on an expression like he was about to eat a child and began recounting the tale in a ghostly voice.

"Once upon a time, there was a wizard who was solitary and arrogant.

"When all his friends fell in love, he looked down on them, believing that love had made them stupid.

"So he swore to remain single for the rest of his life. To keep himself from ever being moved by anyone else, he used the Dark Arts to place his heart in the cellar of his castle, locking it away in a large box.

"Many years passed like that, and he became colder and crueler. Not even the deaths of his parents could make him feel grief.

"But one day—he fell in love with a girl.

"The girl told the warlock, 'Let me see your heart. If it is smooth and bright, I will agree to marry you.'

"So the warlock took the girl to the cellar. But the moment he opened the box, she let out a shrill scream!

"His heart had spent too long in that cold cellar. It could not hear beautiful music, feel the love of family, or receive the caress of a lover. It had shriveled up, and was even covered in long black hair!

"The girl begged the warlock to put his heart back into his body, and so he did.

"She said she would make that heart feel love again.

"But the warlock's heart had already become completely vicious, brutal, and dark.

"It took control of his body and caused the warlock to lose his mind.

"When the warlock heard the warm beat of the girl's heart and felt her smooth, delicate skin, he did something insane!

"He drove a dagger through the girl's chest, dug out her bright red, smooth heart, and tried to use magic to replace his hairy heart. But under his heart's control, he could not do it no matter what.

"In the end, the warlock cut open his own chest with a knife, dug out his own heart, and died miserably."

"Don't you think the warlock in that story sounds a lot like Professor Li Wei?

"It's just that one pursued magic, while the other pursued love.

"Merlin's pants! No wonder I thought something was off about Professor Li Wei from the first time I saw him! He's a cold-blooded monster without a heart!"

"H-how could that be? It's just a story, isn't it?"

Ron's words frightened Harry as well. If that were true, then once this monster had learned all the magic in the world and returned to Hogwarts, would that not be the same as the warlock putting his heart back into his body?

Had Professor Li Wei really opened the Chamber of Secrets and released the Basilisk?

Was he going to use the Basilisk to kill everyone at Hogwarts?!

"Didn't everyone think the legend of the Chamber of Secrets was just a story too? And what happened?"

Ron nearly jumped to his feet. He slapped his hands together excitedly.

"It all fits! Every bit of it! When Professor Li Wei was a student at Hogwarts, he shut away his own heart in order to learn magic.

"But after leaving Hogwarts, he wanted to find his heart again, so he came back to Hogwarts!

"But his heart had already grown hair! Putting it back into his body would only make him go completely mad!"

By this point, Ron's teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

"We have to tell Hermione right away. She can't keep going to Professor Li Wei's study group. It's too dangerous!"

Harry's face was equally full of terror. Just as he was about to speak, a plump voice suddenly sounded behind them.

"Who's talking out here?"

"Ahhh!!!"

Harry and Ron had been completely unprepared for the voice, and they screamed at the same time.

"Eek!!!"

The Fat Lady's portrait screamed as well.

Then she saw Harry and Ron, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"You two little troublemakers! How dare you scare me! Do you still want to get back in?"

"Sorry! Sorry! We didn't mean to!"

Harry and Ron apologized repeatedly, their heads turning anxiously toward the corridor from time to time. Their screams had been so loud that Filch must have heard them!

They had to get back to their dormitory before Filch arrived!

Fortunately, the Fat Lady seemed to be in a good mood after returning from visiting a friend. She did not hold it against them and merely huffed.

"Don't let it happen again! What's the password?"

"Banana Fritters."

When the door finally opened, the two boys, who had been waiting desperately, hurried inside. Before leaving, Harry turned back for another look at the dark corridor. Filch was nowhere to be seen, and neither was his faithful pet, Mrs. Norris. Oh, Mrs. Norris had already been petrified.

Thinking of Filch's terrified reaction when he saw Professor Li Wei that evening, along with the story Ron had just told, Harry's heart began pounding violently again.

For some reason, he had a feeling that for quite some time to come, Filch probably would not patrol the corridors as diligently as before.

That night, Harry had a nightmare.

He dreamed that he had entered Li Wei's office. No one else was there; it was just the two of them.

Professor Li Wei stood with his back to Harry before a huge yellow chest, saying something in that same unchanging, emotionless tone, but Harry could not hear him clearly.

Just as Harry instinctively wanted to move closer, Professor Li Wei suddenly turned around. Harry saw in horror that there was a hollow in his chest, pitch-black inside, with nothing there at all!

"Password, Potter, password."

Professor Li Wei's mouth did not move, yet the voice still rang out—from the hollow in his chest!

Harry wanted to run, but discovered that he could not move.

At that moment, the huge yellow chest began to shake violently. Its chains fell away with a clatter, and the lid burst open!

There was no heart inside, only a huge snake, bright green all over. It slowly raised its head and fixed Harry with those deadly yellow eyes!

"Waaah!!!"

Harry shot upright from his bed, his heart hammering wildly in his chest as though it were about to leap out!

He instinctively clutched the bedsheets, but his gaze drifted toward the window. The sky was already bright, and sunlight streamed through the window onto the dormitory floor, looking wonderfully warm.

His roommate Seamus muttered unhappily, turned over, and continued sleeping. The others had not even been awakened by him at all.

Everything seemed so peaceful and harmonious.

Yet none of it could dispel the chill inside Harry.