A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts
Chapter 635: Encouragement for Tom Riddle - (1)

Chapter 635: Encouragement for Tom Riddle

"Could it be a snake?" Ginny asked with a trembling voice.

"No, that thing has feet," Harry said confidently. The group raised their wands in vigilance as the sound approached, then suddenly stopped. Before Harry could figure out what was happening, they heard retching.

"Ugh!"

"Is it Valen?" Hermione widened her eyes, and the group exchanged glances. Luna, curious, asked, "Did anyone invite her?" Hermione jogged over, followed closely by Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Luna.

Passing through the round iron gate, at the end of a long tunnel, Harry saw Valen with one hand against the damp wall, shaking her head vigorously. Her flat mouth made a gurgling sound, looking disoriented.

"The sniffing nose is quite sensitive, oh... It must have gone through a lot of trouble," sympathized Hermione. She crouched down, patted Valen's small shoulder, and then cast a bubble-head charm. Valen's head looked like it was covered with a glass fishbowl, and her pink snout appeared even wider, looking somewhat comical.

Valen blinked her eyes, relieved that she had narrowly escaped a smelly fate.

Hermione stretched her arm, carefully picking up Valen (making sure her wet and dirty hands didn't touch herself), and with everyone, returned to the Chamber Hall. The smell here had diminished. Hermione lifted the bubble-head charm and asked with concern, "How do you feel?" Valen hopped on the ground twice, brought her hand close to her nose, then immediately moved away in disgust.

"Oh, you stink," Hermione laughed happily. "Aguamenti." She uttered the spell, and a stream of water gushed out from the wand tip. Valen obediently cleaned her hands and feet, then rummaged in her pocket, pulled out a pair of pretty little shoes, and put them on.

Ginny and Luna approached with excitement. Ginny poked Valen's belly with her hand, "Squeak!" Valen swatted away her hand. With her shoes on, Valen walked a few steps proudly, and the sound of her footsteps echoed in the spacious chamber.

Harry, a bit nervous, asked on the side, "Valen, is the professor following us?" Ginny, about to say something, felt her throat go dry.

Valen thought for a moment and shook her head at him.

"But the professor probably knows, right?" Ron immediately said. "He could come at any time—shall we continue searching?" His last sentence was directed at everyone. Seeing Valen not objecting, Harry guessed the professor might know and could be waiting at the entrance of the Chamber.

Realizing the possibility of being caught, the group suddenly lost interest in the adventure and prepared to leave. At this moment, Harry suddenly looked up at the Slytherin statue, the one with a face like an old monkey and sparse long beard, illuminated by the white light of the hovering orb above.

"There's one more place we haven't been to," he said, feeling a peculiar attraction.

"What?" Ron asked, staring at Ginny and Luna, who were stuffing their pockets.

"Four years ago, when we were fighting the snake, the statue's mouth was open," Harry pointed to the closed-mouth statue. "I guess there's something behind it—a nest or a room."

Ron anxiously looked at Hermione, who looked at Valen, hesitated, and said, "Harry, even if it's open, the professor closed it later, which means he doesn't want anyone to go in, right, Valen?"

Valen immediately stiffened.

She looked at Harry and then at Hermione, unsure whether to tell them about the Dark Lord's evil plan. But thinking about the Dark Lord saying, "Don't mess up the laboratory," Valen puffed out her small chest, determined, and firmly stood in front of them.

Harry hesitated. He stared at the huge stone statue, feeling a strong desire.

"Is the professor forbidding us to go in?" he asked tentatively.

Valen thought for a moment, shook her head, and used her dedicated wand to write a few words in the air, "Can enter, but there may be danger." After writing, Valen felt her expression was not accurate enough, so she quickly added, "Related to the bald ugly guy."

"Who is that?" Luna asked curiously. "Anyone hit by the baldness curse?"

But Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances deeply. The statue was related to Voldemort. However, they also knew Voldemort was now locked in the seventh classroom, unaware of his surroundings.

Now the decision seemed to be in Harry's hands.

"We can go back and ask the professor," Hermione said slowly, understanding from Harry's eyes that he was tempted.

"No, the professor left the decision to me," Harry said calmly. "Valen is here, meaning he knows where we are, but he hasn't shown up until now. What does that mean? It means he also feels awkward..."

Hermione opened her mouth, forced to admit that what he said made sense.

Is that so? Valen wondered.

Harry carefully examined the Slytherin statue. He had been having a good time lately, but there was always an underlying worry— he didn't know what the professor and the headmaster had planned, and how far the plan had progressed. As time passed, he became more and more anxious. Now there was a chance to find out, and the professor even tacitly approved. He didn't want to back down.

Harry walked up to the statue and spoke in Parseltongue, "Open." The door didn't budge. While speaking, he could sense Ron and Hermione standing on either side, ears perked up, and he took a deep breath, not saying anything. But when Ginny approached, he couldn't help but protest.

"Go back, Ginny."

"Now you've learned to chase people away?" Ginny snorted, speaking with a slightly sarcastic tone. "Do you guys think there's still a life-threatening situation in school?"

Harry was speechless. He could only try to speak in Parseltongue, "Open for me, Slytherin." This time, the massive stone face of Slytherin started to move. Its mouth opened wider and wider, forming a huge black hole. The light from the Lumos spell seemed unable to reach inside, but they could see something shiny and moving.

"What kind of creature is that?" Ron nervously whispered.

"Bowtruckle," Luna said with excitement.

"Luna, don't confuse things at this time," Hermione said sharply.

"No, it must be a Bowtruckle." Luna confidently said, "It looks exactly like the reference drawing I put in my paper, except for the color... no other differences."

Harry didn't want to admit that he and Luna saw the same illusion, but he still said, "I saw it too. The one with a long nose, right?"

"Yeah," Luna happily confirmed.

Hermione stared at the two of them, her expression as if they both fell under the Confundus Charm. They climbed onto the statue's knee, approached the open mouth, and carefully observed at the entrance. The line of sight did not become clearer as they got closer; it was still dark inside, but they did see some glowing and moving objects.

"I seem to have seen a colorful doe," Ginny said.

"I saw a large wolf-dog," Ron said.

Hermione pursed her lips and said, "Those are magical creatures."

"Magical... what?" Harry asked puzzled, still staring at the entrance, using his heightened senses to hear a mixture of sounds, as if various creatures were making noises.

"Magical creatures," Hermione explained, "You should remember what the professor showed in class, right?" The magical puppet and the golden eagle formed by dark golden smoke immediately appeared in Harry and Ron's minds.

"In fact, the professor has always had this idea," she said. "During my first solo lesson with him, he was very curious about the state of the Sorting Hat. It's almost a completely different form of magical life."

"So—are these—alive?" Ron asked in astonishment, pointing at various strange creatures that flashed in front of them.

"They shouldn't be considered alive—what I mean is—sigh, I'm not sure," Hermione said with some frustration. "At least last school year, the professor couldn't make them exist permanently. At the end of last semester, he combined ancient runes and memory magic to create a very realistic Hogwarts corridor."

"Just a corridor?" Harry couldn't help but ask, sounding like it wasn't a big deal.

"If the professor can create corridors, he can use the same principles to create imaginary creatures," Hermione emphasized the words 'imaginary,' casting a sideways glance at Luna. But Luna didn't pay attention; she had already walked in.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione also entered the mouth of the Salazar Slytherin statue.

Then their eyes blurred, and they found themselves in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by rows of bookshelves in dim lighting. The three held their breaths, ears alert to the surroundings.

"The library," Hermione gestured with her mouth.

Harry suddenly realized, but immediately, a new question arose: why were they in the library? Shouldn't they be inside the statue?

"Tom, Tom. You shouldn't have followed," a low, suppressed voice said. Harry felt that the voice was somewhat familiar, and Hermione frowned.

"Sir?" a timid voice spoke.

"Are you following me to find out what I'm doing?" the voice asked softly, but the coldness in the words grew stronger, "Are you interested in the content on the torn paper found in my office? Do you want to know... what a Horcrux is?"

Harry's eyes suddenly widened.

"Sir—"

"Sorry, Tom. This might be the last time I call you by your name. Fortunately, it's the holiday now. As long as I act decisively, no one will find out. Headmaster Dippet trusts me a lot, he always believes in me—"

You can access more chapters from HERE by joining my Patreon community. You'll gain exclusive early access to the COMPLETE NOVEL.

As a member of my Patreon community, here is what you'll get:

• Early access to the COMPLETE NOVEL.
• You also get access to all the novels I'm translating, you can find them here HERE.
• You Get Ad-free Chapters.
• Plus, you can Cancel your membership at any time.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.