bookbashuk Chapter 49 Principal's Office Joint Review
Chapter 49 Principal's Office Joint Review
As Ryan listened to these words, he felt increasingly uneasy, as if he had seen something similar in history books.
The King of Han was actually myself!
But Dumbledore is a legitimate heir in line to the throne.
Wait a minute, isn't Dumbledore and Grindelwald's struggle for power akin to the Jingnan Campaign...?
In a sense, they are two very close people who are engaged in a decisive battle over the fate of the world...
Countless nonsensical thoughts surged through his mind.
Before Dumbledore could continue his charade, the two heard the sound of the spiral staircase rising, followed by another knock on the headmaster's office door.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks the principal isn't asleep tonight and wants to have a chat with you," Ryan said. It really is true that "the principal is also awake."
Seeing that Dumbledore made no move to get up, he had no choice but to get up and go to the door to open it.
As he stood up, he accidentally bumped into a piece of silverware on Dumbledore's table whose purpose was unknown.
The small silver object fell to the ground with a loud thud, making it sound as if a violent conflict had occurred inside the house.
"Albus?" Startled by the noise, Professor McGonagall pushed open the door and entered. She was wearing a black wizard's robe and her face was ashen.
Filch lagged half a body length behind her, his face showing the lingering fear of surviving a close call and the joy of capturing a formidable foe, but no concern whatsoever about the loud noise that had just occurred in the principal's office.
Behind Professor McGonagall and Filch, Lane saw a long line of familiar faces.
He glanced at the people and the silverware that hadn't been picked up yet, slightly taken aback: Was today a lucky day to signal someone by smashing a cup? He himself had no idea that he had a group of executioners lying in ambush outside the principal's office!
He looked at them one by one: Vio, Percy, George, Fred, Harry, Malfoy, Hermione...
Except for the last one, Ron, who had nothing to do with him, the rest were all capable members of the Adventurers' Club!
Is this a case of the principal's office staging a coup?
Ryan's thoughts were jumping around a lot tonight.
"What just happened, Albus?" Professor McGonagall walked in.
"Mr. Lane bumped into a piece of silver when he got up; it's nothing serious." Dumbledore waved his hand, sending the silver back to its original position.
"And you, Minerva, what brings you and a group of students tonight?"
Professor McGonagall erupted on the spot: "Merlin! Can you imagine! Two fifth-year students leading a nighttime outing! One of them is a Gryffindor prefect!"
Percy lowered his head, wishing he could disappear into the floor. Unfortunately, the principal's office floor was covered with a subtly luxurious carpet, without any cracks.
"And George and Fred! They actually attacked the staff! They even used dung bombs on Mr. Filch, the castle caretaker!"
Behind her and Filch, George and Fred were beaming with joy, showing no sign of worry.
"Especially, four of them are first-years!" Professor McGonagall's tone was almost a roar, but her words remained clear: "First-years going out at night! And because of some so-called wizard duel!!! I've never heard of anything like this before!!!"
Ron was still glaring menacingly at Malfoy, his lips moving constantly as if he were hurling the most vicious curse at the Malfoy family.
The other three first-year wizards didn't dare utter a sound in front of the furious Professor McGonagall.
"And you, of course, Mr. Vio Selwyn." Professor McGonagall's tone softened slightly, because when she arrived on the fourth floor, she found that the young wizards had not yet been torn to pieces by Cerberus, and Vio was... training the dog.
The three-headed dog lay on its back on the ground, its three heads and four paws all looking very happy, and it didn't seem to mind the little wizard who was petting it.
Even with Vio's cooperation, she didn't have to lift a finger to lock the three-headed dog back up.
Because of this, Professor McGonagall said, "Although it is wrong for you, as a fifth-year student, to lead the young wizards on a nighttime outing, violating school rules, given that you tamed the three-headed dog and protected the young wizards, I think we will give you a fair judgment."
Vio bowed deeply in apology, his tone sincere: "Professor, I'm very sorry that some personal grudges caused this mess. I will definitely reflect on my actions and accept the school's punishment."
All he could suppress was despair. He had calculated every factor and every moment, thinking he could escape with everyone, but he never expected that the three-headed dog would actually enjoy the feeling of ice cubes going down its throat!
Vio, stuck to the three-headed dog, couldn't escape. Meanwhile, the others, seeing a three-headed dog wagging its tail for the first time, gathered around it in amazement, touching its head in wonder...
Filch, who had quietly slipped away, brought in Professor McGonagall, who had been awakened by the noise, and they were all captured.
After listening to Professor McGonagall's account, Dumbledore said, "Minerva, please sit down. I think we need to ask more questions before making a judgment."
He beckoned, and a chair appeared in front of Professor McGonagall. He then said to Ryan, "Ryan, you sit down too. As the acting professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts present here, I think you should participate."
"And of course, you too, Argus," he said to Filch, which made the impatient Filch restrain his urge to intensify the young wizard's power.
After the group sat down, he looked at the gang that had broken the rules that night: "So, who can explain what happened tonight?"
After Dumbledore finished speaking, George and Fred took a step back in unison and stood at the back of the line, protecting Harry and Ron in front of them.
Ryan noticed their self-righteous little tricks and thought to himself that they would definitely be dragged out by Dumbledore.
If Dumbledore were truly senile, he would have started recording the message long ago and then shipped it to Nurmengard!
Sure enough, after the Weasley twins stepped back, Dumbledore said, "Oh, the two Weasleys seem to have volunteered. Let's hear what they have to say."
Amidst the gloating glances of the crowd, George and Fred, with grim faces, recounted the events of the evening, still too afraid to lie to Dumbledore.
Fortunately, the incident stemmed from Malfoy's challenge, and Vio stood up for Ron because of his rude remarks; these people were merely accomplices.
In a state of unease, the two ended their conversation.
"Mr. Percy, Mr. Vio, as upperclassmen, I imagine you both have your own thoughts on tonight's events." It seemed Dumbledore was going to call on them one by one; after George and Fred had finished speaking, he asked Vio for their opinions.
After Percy finished speaking, Vio specifically asked about the three-headed dog at the end of his story, raising his previous doubts: why was there a three-headed dog moving freely inside the castle, posing a great threat to the young wizard's personal safety?
A free-moving Cerberus... Ryan frowned. He was there when Hagrid brought the Cerberus into the castle, and he clearly remembered that the Cerberus's range of movement was restricted by magical chains in that room.
Did someone enter beforehand and unlock the magic chains?
Ryan mentally sifted through the suspects. He didn't suspect Ron, whom Vio had just mentioned, who had entered the room early, because Ron's exam paper, which required washing one's eyes after seeing it, left a deep impression on him.
Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore also felt there was a problem, but they didn't answer directly. They hadn't seen it for themselves, so they couldn't draw a conclusion immediately.
Subsequently, Malfoy, as one of the parties involved in the incident, stepped forward to report. It must be said that even though he had made friends in the Adventurers' Club other than the "second generation of Death Eaters," he still found it difficult to change the habits he had developed during his eleven years as Malfoy.
His narrative only achieves 70% accuracy in terms of the events after all emotional words and phrases have been removed.
Percy, George, and Fred all belong to the Adventurers' Club.
Therefore, out of consideration for the Weasley family's reputation, no one mentioned that Ron had broken down because of a Galleon. No one wanted this story to spread and give outsiders a stereotype of the Weasley family's poverty.
Ron himself couldn't even speak clearly anymore, let alone mention this matter.
"Mr. Ron Weasley, what's your opinion?" Dumbledore finally asked Ron.
At this point, Ron stammered and couldn't utter a word for a long time, a far cry from the charisma he displayed when he brutally attacked Percy.
This performance seemed normal to the other three Weasleys; their brother had always been like this, messing up when he should have and acting erratically when he shouldn't have.
Tonight's massive damage to Percy was an inappropriate move.