Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Water Margin

Chapter 91 Salazar Awaits the Year

Chapter 92 Salazar waits for a thousand years

Harry was secretly surprised to discover that the person in the painting was alive.

It should be noted that this manuscript paper passed through the hands of Dumbledore and the four heads of the house, as well as more than a dozen house-elves, yet none of them found any clues. This shows that the person depicted in the painting must have been an extraordinary and extravagant figure in life.

Harry thought to himself: This painting acts like a dead object in front of others, but now it's blinking at me. Could it be that it's trying to point out where that Voldemort's bird book is?

His mind raced, and he went straight to the painting, pretending to examine it, but secretly he used the same cunning tricks as Shi Qian, the flea on the drum.

With a flick of his sleeve, he slipped the copied drawing paper into his robes as he walked away. The wall remained empty, completely unnoticed by anyone.

Harry hid the drawing paper, went straight to Dumbledore, and bowed deeply. "Professor, you are wise. I have thoroughly searched this place, and there is probably not a single dark magic item left."

Dumbledore frowned. "Are you sure, Harry?"

"Oh dear, how could the professor not trust me?"

Upon hearing Harry's words, Dumbledore had no choice but to return home.

He had only taken a few steps when a figure suddenly darted out from the Slytherin crowd, shouting in a voice as sharp as tearing silk, "Wait a moment, Professor Dumbledore!"

Everyone looked closely and saw that the person who had shouted was none other than Draco, whose cheeks were red and swollen.

Draco, under the intense gaze of hundreds of eyes, couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. Thinking of tonight's events, he gritted his teeth, raised the Griffin's robe, and said:

"Professor Dumbledore, that fellow who trespassed into the Slytherin common room hasn't been caught yet!"

His shout seemed to awaken the Slytherin students from a dream, and they all became noisy.

"That's right, that sneaky guy hasn't been caught yet!"

"We have to break his wand!"

"I strongly demand that Slytherin students also be allowed to inspect Gryffindor House!"

"Shut up, all of you!" Snape roared, "Seven dark magic items and three dark magic creatures were found in our possession, and you still have the nerve to yell here!"

"Don't you know what it means to be ashamed?!"

After being scolded by him, everyone fell silent and dared not utter a sound, becoming as cold as cicadas in winter.

Snape played the bad cop to scold, while Dumbledore played the good cop to mediate; it was a perfect example of one singing and the other harmonizing.

He took the Griffin robe from Draco's hand and laughed, "Severus, don't take your anger out on innocent people."

"Mr. Malfoy is right. Let's investigate now to find out who broke into the Slytherin common room."

McGonagall cast a levitation spell, causing the Gryphon Dean's robe to unfurl. Several professors scrutinized him for a moment, then Sprout said decisively:

"This should be a strong male student."

"And at least fourth grade."

The remaining professors nodded in agreement.

Upon seeing this, Draco hurriedly said, "It's also possible that the younger students are just more robust. I dare say this robe would fit Potter perfectly!"

The conversation abruptly shifted, heading straight for Harry.

Although Flitwick didn't know whether Draco was right or wrong, he wanted to protect him, so he spoke up:

"Yes, even a second-year wizard can fit into this robe, so no one can say for sure who its owner is. Maybe it's some Hufflepuff student who's deliberately using this Gryffindor robe to mislead people."

Sprout's expression darkened slightly. "Felius, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh? Pomona, I mean there are many possibilities—of course, it could also be a Ravenclaw student."

McGonagall knew all along that the investigation into Slytherin tonight was part of Harry and Dumbledore's secret plan. Although she didn't know the details of their scheme, she knew she had to help Harry avoid this trouble.

She pondered for a moment and said, "If there's only one robe, it seems unlikely that it will be easy to find the student who broke in illegally."

"Since we can't find out anything in a short time, let's stop here for now." Snape waved his wand, took back the robe, and said impatiently, "We don't have time to waste the whole night here."

Draco saw that all the professors were defending Harry, and they were just trying to smooth things over. But he knew perfectly well that these people had been working with that Scarface all along.

In an instant, every one of the 36,000 pores on his body seemed to be filled with ice from a well, blasting out cold air; his head was covered with a hundred or so platinum hairs, each one standing upright like a steel needle, pointing sharply to the sky.

This doesn't match what Senior Tom said!

Why are all four deans targeting me?

It is:

Enraged at being beaten for no reason, he sought out the professor to seek justice.

Unexpectedly, he made many excuses and turned out to be a member of Harry's faction.

Without further ado, the group left the Slytherin common room. Harry hurried a few steps and whispered to Dumbledore:

"The professor must send that house-elf to search the castle again. That scoundrel Draco must have moved his nest and hidden Voldemort's things outside the Slytherin common room."

Dumbledore nodded and sighed, "Let's do it your way."

"Harry, this is getting stranger and stranger. This doesn't seem like something a second-year wizard could do on his own. I'm afraid it's..."

He suppressed the evil thought and then summoned a house-elf to whisper to him.

Upon receiving the order, the sorcerer hurriedly nodded. With a wave of his hand, he summoned three or five of his kind, snapped his fingers, and they all vanished to search for the castle.

As the saying goes, "A play must be performed to perfection, and a sword dance must leave no flaws." Dumbledore has already declared that he will search all four houses. If he has searched Slytherin, how can he possibly overlook the Gryphon, Badger, and Hound houses?

So Dumbledore led the rest of the group to the Ravenclaw common room.

By this time, Harry was already distracted, only thinking about the mystery of the man in the copybook, and had no time to search with the others anymore.

He made up a random excuse and turned to head straight for the Gryffindor common room.

After giving the fat lady the password, the doors were opened wide, and Ron and Hermione, who were standing by the hearth, jumped up at the same time.

"How's it going, Harry? Did you find any of the Dark Arts artifacts from Mystic?"

"When can we send that white-haired brat to Azkaban?"

The two were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, constantly urging him on. Harry shook his head and said:

"That cunning scoundrel! I've turned this Slytherin common room upside down and searched the beds five times over, but I haven't found a single trace!"

"How is this possible?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Where else could it be if not in the Slytherin common room?"

Ron was also puzzled. "They couldn't have hidden that thing outside the common room while we were sneaking out to find Professor Dumbledore, could they?"

Harry immediately beckoned the two closer, leaned down and whispered in their ears, "Big sister and brother, don't be impatient. Although I haven't found any flaws in Voldemort's scheme, I have stumbled upon something strange."

"But this is not the place to talk. You two, please come with me."

The three headed straight for the boys' dormitory. Harry pushed open the door to his own bedroom and saw Nashville and Neville tidying up their luggage, with trunks and baskets scattered all over the bed and floor.

Before Seamus and Neville could speak, Harry pulled out some Galleons from his waist, tossed them into their arms, and bowed deeply, saying, "Brothers, please don't refuse. I have an important matter that I need you two to handle."

These two, who lived in the same room as Harry and often received gifts from him, could hardly say no when he asked them for a favor.

Seamus immediately put down what he was doing and said, "Don't be so formal, Harry. We're roommates."

Neville opened his mouth, wanting to say something grand and righteous. But after thinking for a long time, he couldn't utter a single word, only managing to squeeze out:

"Me too!"

Harry said, "You two should immediately inform everyone that Professor Dumbledore is leading a group of house-elves to inspect the four houses."

"They've already searched Slytherin; they'll probably be patrolling my Gryffindor territory soon."

Upon hearing this, the two nodded vigorously. Immediately, they rolled up their sleeves and rushed out the door as if their tails were on fire.

Once the two men were out of sight, Harry pulled the door latch shut, took out the manuscript and drawing paper from his robes, and spread them out on the bed.

Harry cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and said seriously, "Hey sir, do you have something important to discuss with me?"

Ron exclaimed in surprise, "Are the people in this painting alive?"

He took out his wand from his robe and poked at the paper, but nothing happened.

Hermione leaned closer to examine it, then hesitated and said, "Is this a manuscript? It's from the Middle Ages, isn't it?"

Just then, the person in the painting suddenly spoke up: "I thought you would be a Slytherin student, Mr. Harry Potter."

Upon hearing him state his name, Harry asked curiously, "Do you recognize me?"

"Ah, of course, my students often talk about you."

"Especially that Draco Malfoy guy, he seems just as stupid as Barrow—by the way, the way you talk is quite interesting."

Hermione, upon hearing him mention "in my house" and the name that sounded like "Barrow the Blood," was immediately jolted to her feet, exclaiming in horror:

"You, you're Salazar Slytherin?!"

Upon hearing the shout, Harry and Ron stared wide-eyed, their eyes wide like copper bells; Ron was so startled that his wrist went limp and he dropped his wand.

Ron stammered, "Salazar Slytherin?"

Salazar glanced at Ron, sized him up for a moment, and said, "You're not bad. I didn't expect Godric's disciple to recognize me."

"By the way, young man, you have very pure blood. Why don't you come to my academy?"

Upon hearing Slytherin's words, Ron felt as if a drum had been struck in his heart, pounding and roaring; his mouth felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't utter a single word.

It should be known that Gryffindor and Slytherin have a long-standing feud that began hundreds of years ago, and the enmity between generations of students is difficult to resolve.

When the two meet, it's like a giant mountain insect encountering a dragon in a deep pool, or a six-winged angel bumping into a demon king of hell—a truly endless battle of words.

Even so, apart from the first generation of students, how many people have actually seen these four giants in person?

Seeing Salazar in the painting staring at him intently, Ron felt uneasy and stammered:

"Uh... I... well... because my parents won't allow it..."

"Your parents won't allow it? What are their names?"

When Ron saw that Salazar was questioning his family history again, he was afraid that the man was going to use some kind of dark magic to curse his parents, so he dared not talk to him.

Just as he was about to make up some excuse, he heard Harry slap the bed and shout, "So you're saying I'm destined to be with the old man! The secret chamber is none other than mine to inherit!"

"You inherited my Chamber of Secrets?" Salazar glanced at Harry a few times. "Your blood isn't pure either. How did you open the Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry felt uncomfortable listening to his talk about bloodlines.

Ron noticed something amiss and quickly pressed down on the hilt of the ring knife, saying to Salazar, "It's the Mystic. A fragment of his soul might be in Harry's forehead."

Who is the mysterious person?

Seeing that Salazar knew nothing about the matter, Ron and Hermione exchanged bewildered glances.

He doesn't even know who the mysterious person is?

What was he trying to achieve by giving Harry a wink?

Seeing that Salazar spoke politely and did not seem to have much prejudice against Harry, who was half-blood, Hermione mustered her courage and said:

"Let me tell you, Mr. Slytherin."

She exhaled a breath of stale air, calmed her mind, and mentally prepared her account before recounting in detail Voldemort's origins, his misdeeds that turned the wizarding world upside down.

After saying that, Hermione's fingers knotted together, and she said nervously, "That's all I know."

Salazar remained expressionless, exchanging glances with the others. "What are you all doing, not saying a word?"

Ron paused, stunned. "Hermione already told you, didn't she?"

"Who's Hermione—oh…" Salazar looked slightly disgusted. "I have a… Muggle wizard with me?"

Upon hearing these vile words and seeing his contemptuous expression, Harry's twenty-eight teeth clenched together, and an inexplicable anger surged from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

With a "whoosh," the scarred man drew his knife and slashed at the drawing paper.

"Hey! You scoundrel, you're just pretending not to see my older sister with your donkey eyes!"

"Harry!"

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm tightly, gritting her teeth as she said, "He probably didn't pretend not to see me on purpose, but rather this drawing is enchanted, making him unable to see wizards like me."

Salazar saw the knife raised halfway in the air, then suddenly stop, and said, "Did that Miss Hermione guess that I can't see... Muggle wizards?"

Ron frowned. "Wait, if you can only see pure-blood wizards, then why can you see Harry?"

"Didn't you just say he wasn't of pure blood?"

"Of course, of course, little redhead. That's how it should be, but Harry is a rather special case."

Seeing Harry's murderous aura and Hermione's magical isolation, Ron knew that the burden of getting the information out of her fell on his own shoulders.

He quickly asked, "Why is Harry special? Is it because he survived the Killing Curse? Or is it because he's a savior?"

"Savior? No, I've heard of far too many saviors in my life. Anyone dares to call themselves a savior."

Seeing his dismissive tone, Ron couldn't help but say, "Harry isn't just any savior! And he didn't just call himself one!"

Salazar nodded casually. "Yes, I've met some memorable saviors too."

"One was Otto I, who established a complete empire. The other was Zhao Kuangyin, who ended a turbulent era in the East."

"But you are different from them, Mr. Harry Potter."

"I have been waiting for you for almost a thousand years..."

"You're finally back."

(End of this chapter)