Chapter 80: The Second Dumbledore
Cyrus greedily breathed the moist air inside the Chamber of Secrets.
To be honest, the smell here is not that pleasant. The air smells like it has been rotten for a thousand years. But for Cyrus now, it's the smell of life itself!
He "enjoyed" it for almost a minute, during which he did nothing, not even conjuring up a suitable piece of clothing for himself. But soon, he woke up from his intoxication.
Those who have traveled a hundred miles didn't celebrate at ninety and a half and now is not the time to celebrate for him.
He looked at the floating transparent panel in front of him. This was the thing he had seen after his soul transmigrated into the diary.
A new perk, huh?
{New Perk Added: Diary Entry (Only usable after the Host's death)}
After my death?
Does that mean it will trap my soul in the diary after I die...?
No, I don't wanna go through all this process once again, and who knows if Harry or Dumbledore will destroy the diary before a future little wizard finds it!
Cyrus shuddered. He has finally been resurrected, and he has a lot of things to experience. He doesn't want to think about dying right now!
'Let's think about this perk after I have managed to escape this place.' He thought.
He conjured a piece of clothing for himself, which was exactly the same as what Riddle wore in his memory fifty years ago, and then took out the Marauder's Map from Ginny's pocket.
On the map, the name Minerva McGonagall walked to the door of the bathroom, stayed briefly, and then left in a hurry.
Cyrus imagined the stern female professor's panicked expression after seeing the words on the wall. She panicked and helplessly spread the news to the ears of all professors and students, and then prepared to close the school.
Maybe she'd even try to contact Dumbledore?
But no matter what, Dumbledore's name has not yet appeared in the castle.
When he thought of Dumbledore, Cyrus had a bad feeling in his heart. The old man put too much pressure on him, and Cyrus was always worried that something would happen.
Fortunately, you can't go wrong with the Marauder's Map.
"I remember that in the original book, Dumbledore returned to the castle during the time when Harry went to the Chamber of Secrets. Maybe I still have time to get the Invisibility Cloak."
The power of Harry's Invisibility Cloak seems to be a little worse than the other two Deathly Hallows, but it is still a treasure. What worries Cyrus even more is the legend - a person who possesses three Deathly Hallows is equivalent to controlling death.
The only person who possesses these three treasures at the same time is Harry Potter in the original book. In fact, he did come back from the dead and returned to reality from the King's Cross Station of the soul.
'What if I also collected three Deathly Hallows?'
What a coincidence, Cyrus happened to know the location of these three sacred artifacts and also knew how to obtain them.
Without much hesitation, he immediately turned around and spoke in Parseltongue to the statue of Slytherin: "Speak to me, Slytherin - the greatest of the four houses at Hogwarts."
Slytherin's huge stone face moved, and its mouth opened wider and wider, eventually forming a huge black hole.
Something moved in the statue's mouth. Something rustled upwards from the depths of the statue.
A huge basilisk, with a green body and a bright light unique to poisonous snakes, with a body as thick as an oak tree trunk. It stretched its upper body high into the air, and its big flat head wandered randomly between the stone pillars as if it was drunk.
Finally, the basilisk slowly swam in front of Cyrus, waiting for his order.
"Your size is a bit too big. It's better to be smaller." Cyrus pressed his wand against the basilisk's body and cast a superb shrinking spell. The huge basilisk immediately turned into a small snake only one finger thick under his magic power, and then followed his arm and hid in Cyrus' sleeve.
Then Cyrus left the chamber. While walking in the corridor, McGonagall's voice, amplified many times by magic, began to echo in the castle:
"All students return to their respective house dormitories immediately. All teachers return to the staff lounge. Please act immediately."
The students crowded out, and Cyrus disappeared into the crowd, cast a disillusionment charm, and followed everyone towards the tower in the corner of the seventh floor. The students were panic-stricken and uneasy.
"Fred, George, do you know what happened?" Lee Jordan pushed aside the crowd, as if he was being carried forward by the waves.
"What else could it be?" The twins shook their shoulders at the same time.
Cyrus followed them into the Gryffindor tower, where Percy and a prefect began to count people, mainly the girls. But the further he counted, the paler his face became.
Ginny was gone.
Cyrus walked into the men's dormitory with ease, found Harry Potter's bed, and quickly obtained the Invisibility Cloak. It's so easy that it almost feels a bit dreamy. He immediately put on his invisibility cloak and left the tower.
The sky began to get dark. Cyrus passed by the mirror on the fourth floor, passed through the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor, walked out of the castle gate, and picked a few mandrake leaves as he passed by the greenhouse. Finally, he arrived near the Whomping Willow.
From here one could see the castle and the Black Lake, and the castle seems to be glowing under the golden sunset.
But this fire will soon dim and disappear, and eventually, everything will be shrouded in darkness.
Cyrus slowly walked in front of the Whomping Willow and touched the scar with his wand before the Whomping Willow found him. The irritable willow tree immediately fell silent.
In this way, Cyrus, wearing the invisibility cloak, leaned on the tree trunk, looking down at the traces of traffic on the Marauder's Map with the last remaining fire of dusk.
He saw teachers separating in the staff room and going to their own offices or houses.
Professor McGonagall took the three Weasleys to her office in the Gryffindor lounge. The Head Master's office was still empty, and Dumbledore's name had not yet appeared anywhere.
Dumbledore wasn't back yet, but Harry and Ron were already taking action.
They found Lockhart, and the three of them stayed in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom for a long time. Finally, Lockhart was forced to follow them to the bathroom.
Then, their traces disappeared from the Marauder's Map.
Almost half an hour later, Dumbledore's name appeared in Professor McGonagall's office together with Molly Weasley and Arthur Weasley.
Cyrus stood up suddenly, breathing a little faster.
Dumbledore appears, just like in the original novel, he appears in the school, and the Whomping Willow is the furthest escape route from him.
Hogwarts cannot disapparate, and Fawkes will be sent by him to help Harry. By the time Dumbledore realizes something is wrong and comes back to find him, Cyrus would have already fled.
"It's time to leave! Goodbye, Dumbledore~"
The sun has completely set.
A few not-so-bright stars shone in the dark blue sky. Cyrus grabbed the tree trunk with one hand and jumped lightly into the hidden cave under the willow tree.
He walked for a long time, and the tunnel began to slope upward. After a while, after turning a corner, a little light came in, and he immediately knew that he was about to reach the exit.
This room was a disordered mess with peeling wallpaper, stained floors, and broken furniture as if someone had smashed it. The windows were boarded up.
The Shrieking Shack, the transformation place specially prepared for Lupine at Hogwarts, has been considered a terrifying haunted house by wizards for more than ten years.
In theory, it is the safest place.
But that doesn't seem to be the case tonight—
Cyrus's face turned pale under the invisibility cloak, and he looked in horror at the white-bearded old man standing by the window with the moonlight behind him.
It's Dumbledore!
'But why is Dumbledore here? '
Cyrus hurriedly lowered his head and glanced at the Marauder's Map again. On the map, Dumbledore's name was still glaring in Professor McGonagall's office!
There are two Dumbledores..?
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