Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1526: Hiding

As soon as Professor McGonagall finished speaking, Harry immediately said, “Can we leave, Professor?”

“We should leave!” Evan followed.

None of them wanted to see, or be interrogated by, Rufus Scrimgeour tonight.

“Yes, you may,” said Professor McGonagall. “And quickly.”

“I’ll come find you in a bit,” said Sirius Black, striding over to the door and holding it open for them.

“By the way, Professor, it’s best not to tell the Minister what Dumbledore went out with us to do tonight. The fewer people who know about the evil god, the better,” said Evan at last, and then he and Harry sped down the spiral staircase and off along the deserted corridor.

Just like before, there was nobody in the corridor, not even Filch, Mrs. Norris or Peeves.

The phoenix’s lament had faded away, and Hogwarts had fallen into a deathly silence.

This thousand-year-old castle had never been as quiet as it was now, and everything was immersed in the overwhelming grief brought by Dumbledore’s death.

“Are we going back? Back to the common room?” Harry whispered, his mood very low.

“Let’s go to the hospital wing first. Hermione, Elaine, Ron and the others should still be waiting there.” said Evan. “Also, I need to find a place to hide the Twin Serpent Staff.”

“Hide it?” Harry said in surprise. “We’re hiding that magic Staff in Hogwarts? I remember you said it’s very important.”

“It’s precisely because it’s so important that we have to hide it. We can’t carry the caduceus with us all the time, and we definitely can’t let Voldemort get it,” said Evan. “If it’s confirmed that Dumbledore can’t come back in the future, we will need it.”

Dumbledore had left Hogwarts, and if he were to return, it would be back here.

That meant, by this time next year, Evan and the others would need to return to Hogwarts to confirm news about Dumbledore.

So hiding the Twin Serpent Staff nearby at Hogwarts was the most appropriate choice.

If they needed to use it at that time, they could retrieve it directly.

Because the magic on it was so powerful, ordinary people couldn’t even touch the Twin Serpent Staff. The only one Evan needed to guard against was Voldemort.

Although he couldn’t be sure whether Voldemort knew how to obtain the mark required to use the Staff, there was no doubt the Twin Serpent Staff would be of great help to Voldemort’s dark plans.

To create the evil god’s dimension or summon the monsters from the void, the Staff was necessary.

With Evan’s understanding of Voldemort, he would not let go of this power.

“Evan, where are you planning to hide it?” Harry asked. It was a question Hermione, Elaine, and Ron were all eager to know as well.

Five minutes later, Evan, holding the Twin Serpent Staff, led them toward the second floor.

He had thought it through. Although Hogwarts Castle was very large, there weren’t actually that many good places to hide things.

The Room of Requirement could no longer be used. Now the only safest place left was Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets.

Voldemort knew where it was. He was the first wizard in a thousand years to enter the Chamber, but he did not know the secret hidden inside Salazar Slytherin’s statue.

Evan planned to place the Twin Serpent Staff there, right at the entrance to the Secret Treasure of the Four Founders of Hogwarts.

Aside from Harry, only Voldemort could access that place, but Evan was certain he wouldn’t think to crawl into the statue’s mouth to check.

Unless someone told him, Voldemort would never suspect that a secret lay hidden in what he believed to be merely the Basilisk’s lair.

The Basilisk was already dead. Even if Voldemort returned to Hogwarts, he would have no reason to come back here.

After placing the caduceus inside the statue next to the young Salazar Slytherin, Evan made a replica.   

He planned to use this fake to deceive others, making it look like he was taking the Staff out of the school.

“What do you think? Does it look like the real Twin Serpent Staff?”

Inside the Chamber, Hermione examined the Staff Evan had made using Transfiguration and said, “The shape is identical, but I still feel like something’s missing.”

“It’s the magic. There’s nothing we can do about it. But anyone who hasn’t had close contact with the real Twin Serpent Staff wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” said Evan.

“I don’t quite understand. I just heard Harry talk about your adventure with Dumbledore in Azkaban tonight. If this Staff wrapped with two snakes is really so powerful, why don’t we use it to deal with You-Know-Who? No matter how dangerous he is, he can’t be worse than that despicable Herpo the Foul, right?” Ron asked, his face pale. He had been like this since he entered the Chamber and saw the huge skeleton of the Basilisk. Here were his darkest memories.

“Because the Twin Serpent Staff’s power is far too great. If possible, I hope I will never use it,” Evan replied.

Moreover, he had only acquired half of the staff’s mark, just enough to use some basic functions. He was nowhere near the level of Salazar Slytherin, who could imbue magic into the staff.

He could use it to open space and travel to the evil god’s realm, but that was likely the limit of his current ability.

“Too powerful?!” Ron murmured, “If we fully master the Staff, wouldn’t we be more powerful than You-Know-Who?!”

“I suppose we would,” Evan replied.

When Evan and the other five went back, the common room was still crowded with people even though it was late.

No one had gone to sleep. Everyone was still discussing the night’s events in hushed, excited tones.

Malfoy letting the Death Eaters into the school, the actions of the D.A. and the Order of the Phoenix, the recent battle, and the details of how Evan killed Greyback — these were all things that could be talked about for a long time, but the most discussed were the news of Dumbledore’s death and the fact that Hogwarts was about to close.

Although the school had not officially announced it, the students’ guesses were more or less accurate.

Evan and the others did not participate, and no one came to ask them.

Unlike the previous incidents, the atmosphere in the castle was particularly depressing.

After all, Dumbledore was dead. Later that night, someone even claimed to have seen Fawkes, the phoenix, flying away from Hogwarts, leaving forever.

The next day, Sirius informed them of the discussion that had taken place between Professor McGonagall and Rufus Scrimgeour the previous night.

Scrimgeour had more or less agreed with the professors’ suggestions, and a funeral for Dumbledore would be held at Hogwarts in a few days.

As for closing the school, he didn’t give a definite answer. He said he would consult with the Board of Governors, which was a bit unexpected. Sirius actually admired Scrimgeour’s attitude and courage. He had told Evan that Scrimgeour was a real Auror and worthy of respect.

If Fudge was still Minister for Magic, he would have been scared to death!

But courage alone wouldn’t be enough to solve the current crisis. Dumbledore was gone, and the Ministry would be the next to fall. Scrimgeour seemed to realize this. He took all the captured Death Eaters and werewolves with him when he left, but he wasn’t happy about it at all. The Ministry didn’t even have the strength to guard them properly.

In addition, Scrimgeour had wanted to meet with Evan and Harry, but was refused by both Professor McGonagall and Sirius!

That was the state of things for now. Everything revolved around preparing for Dumbledore’s funeral.

Sirius then asked for more details about the evil god and shared what he had been doing over the past year.

He recruited members for the Order of the Phoenix in France, Italy, and Athens, and fought against the evil organization called “Raven’s Claw” together with wizards from several nearby countries. There is a lot of evidence that this ancient and mysterious extremist organization is involved with Voldemort.

They had been searching ancient relics from the old Wizarding world, clearly looking for something.

Sirius inferred that the clues they were looking for should be related to the evil god, or more precisely, to Herpo the Foul. They were searching for some kind of information.

Indeed, the ancient relics that “Raven’s Claw” had entered were all from that era.

Many of those ancient magical relics contained information indicating that the wizards in that area had been crazy about worshipping some kind of monstrous entity.

Sirius even showed Evan and the others some photographs. The twisted creature carved on a stone tablet looked extremely similar to the form the evil god had taken when Herpo the Foul transformed.

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