As the castle drew closer, Harry tugged at the Cloak to make sure all four of his and Ron's feet were properly hidden in the cloak, and pushed open the castle gates. They cautiously walked through the foyer, up the marble steps, and then held their breath as they walked through the dark hallway. A few minutes later, they managed to make their way to the hallway of the second floor, standing at the door of Professor McGonagall's office - they couldn't believe that their infiltration had gone so smoothly that it had left them all feeling unreal.

"Ron." Harry's tone sounded weird. "Do you think something is wrong......

"If you want to say that you don't see a single guard on the road." Ron swallowed hard and said slowly. "Professors aside, I don't think Snape will be looking for a chance to be lazy at this time—he would love to catch a few unlucky people hanging out in the castle."

"yes, and even Peeves didn't play pranks on the halls and stairs......" Harry's brow furrowed, the unusual silence of the castle making his heart uneasy. He took off the cloak of invisibility and hid it in his robes, then made eye contact with Ron and knocked on the office door.

'Knock Knock~'

"Professor McGonagall, Professor McGonagall! I'm Harry! I have important news for you! ”

'Knock knock! ’

………… No response.

It's the middle of the night, and Professor McGonagall isn't in her office? Or is it ...... She's also out on patrol at this time? Harry couldn't help but have a look of embarrassment on his face, it was impossible for him and Ron to look for Professor McGonagall throughout the castle in the Invisibility Cloak...... It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. But if you deliberately make a big move, God knows if it will be regarded as a new round of attacks, and now everyone's nerves are very tense, and they really can't withstand too much turmoil.

Just as Harry and Ron were embarrassed outside the door, a milky figure slowly sprang up from downstairs, chubby face with shock and nervousness.

"Potter? Why didn't you go back to sleep, you can't wander around the castle like you used to. ”

The Fat Friar spoke eagerly, and from time to time he looked into the dark corners around him, as if something might jump out of it at any moment. "I can't help you guys this time, you have to go back to the break room right away."

"But we have important news for Professor McGonagall, do you know where she is?"

The fat friar was stunned for a moment, and the expression on his face became extremely strange - "Don't you know yet? ”

The two looked at each other in surprise. "Know what?"

"Professor McGonagall should have informed the whole school ten minutes in advance." The fat friar wiped the non-existent sweat from his face with his sleeve and whispered. She announced that all the students were on standby in their respective house lounges, that all the teachers would assemble in the staff lounge, and that the castle was now guarded only by the ghosts - the situation was serious, I heard that the guards of the hunting grounds had been captured, and Dumbledore had stepped down, so you should be sent home early tomorrow morning, Hogwarts probably ...... Hey, what are you guys going to do? Go back to the lounge, do you hear me! ”

He exclaimed loudly, and just as he mentioned Dumbledore's resignation, Harry and Ron suddenly turned around and ran as fast as they could in the corridor on the second floor, and the fat friar hurried after him, but after turning a corner, he could no longer find Harry and them.

"They're going to shut down Hogwarts!" Creeping down the stairs, Ron's face was earthy. "I can't believe it's only been one night! Which brings us to what to do later! ”

"There's no time to think about the future, Ron." Harry said, his eyes searching. "Professor McGonagall has everyone gather in the staff lounge, we may be able to go to the door and listen to it, and then tell them what we have found—maybe Brandy and Padma will bring some good news back from the Forbidden Forest!"

The two men slipped to the door of the faculty lounge, and the fat friar was right, the gap under the door of the common room was full of shadows, and from there came the sound of noisy footsteps and Professor McGonagall's solemn voice.

“…… We have to restart the Hogwarts Express tomorrow, we can't delay it any longer, and we have to send all the students away tomorrow, tomorrow! That's the end of Hogwarts! ”

With a long cry, Professor Flitwick couldn't help but cry.

"Just hold on a little longer...... After a few weeks, the mandrake will be fully ripe! Professor Sprout was trying to make a final save, "Once the petrified students recover, we will know what monster attacked them, and we have so many wizards that we will definitely be able to defeat it!" ”

"But we don't have time......"

Professor McGonagall sighed, "Just now, Lucius Malfoy came and spread the news of Dumbledore's expulsion throughout the castle through Peeves...... I can almost foresee the school panic tomorrow morning, and if we don't close it under pressure, the yelling letters from the parents will bring the castle down! We can't gamble with Hogwarts' millennia of fame and credibility......"

'Poof. There seemed to be a man with weak legs slumped on a bench in the lounge.

"So, we're leaving too......" Her voice was muffled and muffled, with the occasional loud sniffling. I've lived here for thirteen years and this is my home. ”

"So the more we need your abilities at times like these, Sybil, grief doesn't solve the problem." Harry and Ron looked at each other in surprise, they seemed to hear Snape comforting? "Maybe you can try it again to make your divination a little clearer...... Honestly, with those vague words, we can't really deduce what exactly you're trying to show us. ”

"But divination is a vague thing, Severus ......" they heard the woman named Sybil screaming hysterically. When the 'field of view' is not fully opened, what I can see is extremely limited. What's in the crystal ball is changing all the time...... I used the crystal ball to divinate the guy who opened the secret room three times, but the result was completely different. The man's true identity seems to be constantly flipping with the various factors of reality - this is obviously not normal! I'm not looking into the future! ”

"Okay...... Bird cages, blood-stained daggers, medals...... Do you mean to tell us that this man is the child of a famous family that has raised owls and killed people, or are you referring to Slytherin students? Snape, as always, spoke in that caustic tone, and it was clear that he wasn't in such a good mood at the moment.

"Alright, Severus. There is no need to argue about this...... Calm down, and don't let him see the joke for a while. ”

He?

Harry and Ron looked at each other, and there were still no one in the professor who had not arrived?

Then—they felt the sound of brisk footsteps behind them, and the two of them hurriedly flashed to the side. A figure swept past them and slammed the door open.

He was still grinning on his face!

"I'm sorry - I was a little fascinated by writing a reply at night, and I overslept a little. Fortunately, the fat monk hurried over to wake me up—what was the event of our meeting here in the middle of the night? It's great, I've always felt like it's been a bit dull. ”

Lockhart didn't close the door, so Harry and Ron snuck in, and they saw inside. This man's emotional intelligence was so simple and crude that he didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were staring at him with disgust and hatred. Snape took a bad step forward.

"Looks like our savior is coming." He said, "I remember you swore the other day that 'those guys have received my warning that the Chamber of Secrets will not be opened again.'" You've been holding the Jewel for a long time, aren't you- well, now that Dumbledore isn't there, we always think it's time for you to show off your mastery. ”

Lockhart's face turned pale.

"That said, Gildero," Professor Sprout interjected, "weren't you still saying yesterday at noon that you had fully figured out the truth about the so-called Chamber of Secrets." ”

"Yes, and you told me that you already know what the monster is in there." This is Flitwick with red eyes.

"I-huh? No," Lockhart stammered, "but hasn't the heir of Slytherin been taken away by the Ministry of Magic, the big man named Rubeus Hagrid." The school has returned to order! You're worrying about nothing! ”

"Hagrid? Huh......" Snape let out a disdainful snort, "you must be joking, Gildero." You'd expect that guy with a weak head to become the heir to Slytherin? Salazar had to be blind to choose a half-blood—the Ministry of Magic was just looking for a scapegoat. ”

"Enough, Severus!" Professor McGonagall glared at him disapprovingly, then at Lockhart. "Anyway, Gildero, I have the great regret to inform you that unless the monsters in the Chamber of Secrets are completely eliminated tonight, we will have to close the school tomorrow morning...... If you do know any clues about the Chamber of Secrets, I sincerely hope you'll take the initiative to say so—if not, then unfortunately, I think your short career as a professor is coming to an end, go back and write yours, Gildero. ”

Lockhart seemed to want to jump up and celebrate when he heard that the school was going to be closed, but when he saw these colleagues with straight faces, he had to pretend to be serious. "I'm really sad...... I'll go back to the office now, and if you don't see me the next day, I'm probably fighting monsters in the back room. Good luck to me......"

With that, he left the room with a peculiar step.

"Alright," Professor McGonagall said, her nostrils flapping and snorting. "It looks like he's planning to get out of school early. Now, the branch directors are coming with me to check and reenchant the spells on the Hogwarts Express, and after the inspection is done, we will go to the house lounge and inform them that the Hogwarts Express will send them home tomorrow at noon, and by the way, see if any students are not in the dormitory. Others, resume patrolling and make sure not a single suspicious creature is allowed to roam the castle! ”

The teachers stood up and left one by one. Only Harry and Ron were left looking at each other heavily.

"In two or three hours at most, the whole school should know what we are missing."