Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 101 Night Visit to the Library

"What, you borrowed the invisibility cloak and went to the restricted section of the library to have a look..."

"Shh-"

McGuffin pointed to Ron, who was sleeping, and made a whispering gesture.

Harry glanced at Ron and said in a low voice, "Why are you going to the restricted section of the library?"

out of a special feeling in Harry's heart

—Actually, he wanted to go alone in Hogwarts tonight, just like his father used to use the Invisibility Cloak.

McGuffin replied half-truthfully, "Professor Quirrell assigned me a paper on ancient magic knowledge of no less than 16 inches after the confinement ended..."

"16 inches...so much..."

Harry felt guilty.

Most of Harry and the others knew about McGuffin's tragic experience in the past two weeks.

He had to go to the Forbidden Forest every afternoon with Professor Quirrell as punishment.

"Looks like Professor Quirrell is pissed off by that big McGuffin..." thought Harry.

Especially yesterday Hagrid complained about Professor Quirrell's irresponsibility in front of Harry and Ron - leaving McGuffin alone in the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

This made Harry feel slightly guilty, after all, it was because McGuffin and Hermione threw that big dung egg because they saved him on the Quidditch pitch.

Now it has instead resulted in McGuffin being punished.

Out of this thought, Harry agreed.

At McGuffin's suggestion, instead of carrying a lamp, they used fluorescent spells to illuminate the road, and they came to the Hogwarts library together wearing invisibility cloaks.

The library at night is eerie, with thousands of books lined up quietly on the shelves.

It's so dark here that you can't even see the clear dividing line between the road and the bookshelves.

After the two almost hit a long table.

McGuffin had to recite the fluorescent spell, and follow the ancient magic method of casting spells, and strengthen the casting effect in accordance with his will and ideas in his heart.

"Fluorescent flashes!"

Harry was surprised to see the fluorescent spell cast by McGuffin. Like a firefly, the light flew out from the tip of the wand, and finally stayed in McGuffin's hand, forming a fist-sized, blue fluorescent sphere.

Through the translucent invisibility cloak, the road ahead was illuminated for the two of them.

They came to the forbidden book area at the back of the library, which was separated from the normal book area by a bronze chain.

The atmosphere here is quite different.

As soon as Harry entered it, the quiet and peaceful atmosphere disappeared.

I don't know if it's an illusion, or it's true... He felt that every book here was whispering in his ears, and in the darkness, small and treacherous voices continued to spread.

"Pick it up, pick it up..."

As if bewitching the two of them.

"What do you want to look up? Harry... I want to look for ancient magic and more eccentric magic, preferably some kind of unknown curse... If you are not busy, can you help me?"

Even though McGuffin had deliberately lowered his voice, he could still hear it clearly in this empty and silent library, which startled Harry.

When he heard what McGuffin said, Harry reacted
——What on earth should I be doing here... By the way, Nick Flamel and his Philosopher's Stone?

Although they were barely aware of Nick Flamel and his Sorcerer's Stone with the reminder of Lee Jordan and the "Alchemy Book", Harry still wanted to know more about the Sorcerer's Stone, which could be regarded as satisfying his curiosity. By the way, if Snape really wanted to steal the stone, he would have grounds to expel Snape, and even if it was bad, he could give this guy a probationary sentence.

Thinking of the possible punishment for Snape, Harry bit his lip and smirked.

McGuffin watched Harry stand still, laughing constantly, and did not answer his question.

I can't help but feel that this silly boy is hopeless.

Shaking his head, he completely gave up any hope that Harry would help him find the book.

"As long as he doesn't make trouble for me and attract Filch... and let me find the blood curse from these books smoothly..."

Wearing an invisibility cloak, the two carefully searched for the book they wanted among the bookshelves.

Books in the Restricted Section are really weird and weird

—The vast majority of the spines barely bear any titles.

The spine of some books is covered by a cloud of dark red blood, which looks very dangerous; some books are rusty metal books, and the rust marks cover the surface of the leather, so it is impossible to tell what kind of book it is; McGuffin had no intention of touching it.

However, what looks very dangerous at a glance is not the most untouchable thing here.

"What we have to beware of are books that look very interesting and attractive on the outside, but do not show any threat at all. These books often happen to embody the greatest malice of book wizards... They often cast such a book with evil magic in order to murder those who read it."

McGuffin persuaded Harry not to touch the book with a silver and black cover from the bottom of the bookshelf, "...these books are often the most dangerous..."

"Then what kind of books are we looking for? I see that all the books here are equally weird and weird!"

"For example... this book..."

McGuffin tried to draw out one of the books according to his own understanding, and gave Harry examples of which books were 'safer'.

On the cover of the book is a figure of an old witch standing in front of a steaming cauldron where a green solution is brewed.

The witch's eyes had been gouged out, and the black holes were bleeding along the panel. She covered her cheeks and opened her hollow mouth. The tongue inside was cut off, and her whole face was full of horror, as if she was screaming.

"Is this no threat?"

Harry really couldn't believe the 'safety' of this book.

Under his choking gaze, McGuffin 'courageously' flipped through the book.

"Ha! "Power Potion"... You see, I'm not wrong!... It just looks a little scary... It's just a book like this..."

McGuffin inserted the book containing [Compound Potion] (a potion capable of transforming others) back into its original position on the bookshelf.

Although the knowledge in the book is practical, McGuffin doesn't need it right now. He needs to focus his attention on finding books that may be related to the blood curse.

If the covers of the books in the Restricted Books Area were already creepy enough, the contents inside were even more bloody and cruel, truly revealing the wild and dark side of the wizarding world before or now.

For example, the contents of the book that McGuffin was flipping through now, compared with "Powerful Potion" just now, the previous book was almost at the level of a fairy tale book.

Although McGuffin was just chatting and glanced at the contents of the "Malicious Metamorphosis".

But just a short paragraph of text and illustrations above, he can also feel the viciousness and cruelty of the magic recorded in it.

Just like there is a vivid and vivid illustration on this page - a portrait of a dog with a human body and a dog's head.

But the dog's face showed a human expression, which was an unbelievable fear. Through this illustration, McGuffin's back felt chills, and he felt the penetrating chill.

There is a short text in the chapter "Malicious Transformation", in which the wizards at that time, in order to pursue stronger power, longer life span, and distinguish themselves from Muggles, wanted Muggles to be afraid of themselves and performed Transfiguration, but they did not expect to turn themselves into a half-dog, half-human existence.

Although he was able to obtain unimaginably powerful magic power, he gradually lost his mind, lost his qualifications as a human being, and became a "god" buried in the desert.

McGuffin got goosebumps all over his body when he saw this, and continued to look...

In the middle world, wizards wanted to rule the world, and began to create a species that could replace Muggles as servants, and put the heads of cows, sheep, pigs, horses, and dogs on the heads of Muggles through malicious deformation.

This is the main source of common demons or aliens in those Muggle legends at that time. Of course, with the progress of the times, people have reduced such dangerous spellcasting.

No wonder Hogwarts now classifies these books as Restricted, which is purely a sign of the darkest side of the wizarding world.

McGuffin shook his head, it seemed that he didn't want this book either.

He put down the book and picked up "Medieval Witchcraft and Poison" again, which described how the old witch used the blood of hundreds of Muggle virgins as a material for casting spells like a vampire in order to restore her youth, and finally even stretched out her poisonous hand to the young witch...

While watching, McGuffin noticed that Harry was tugging on his sleeve in horror.

——A burst of fine footsteps gradually sounded, approaching the two of them from far to near.

Echoed in the empty and silent library.

McGuffin turned off the light source, feeling agitated in his heart.

"What's going on? Could it be Filch?...It doesn't sound like footsteps, but it looks a bit like..."

Through the faint light leaking from the bookshelf, they knew that the other party had come nearby.

The two of them prayed secretly, but for different reasons.

Harry didn't want to be caught, and McGuffin because he already knew who it was.

——The choking smell of garlic that permeates the air,
Who else but Quirrell.

"What book does he come here to look for at this time? No, no! To be correct, he is a professor, and all books in the restricted area can be viewed and borrowed in name. What exactly does he want to do here?"

McGuffin was full of doubts.

Through the gap between the book and the shelf, they can see.

Quirrell held a lamp and slowly patrolled the aisle of the bookshelves, looking for something.

McGuffin pulled Harry, and moved back and forth cautiously, trying to slip through the passage on the other side near the wall.

At the most dangerous time, they were only separated from Quirrell by a bookshelf.

At that time, every time McGuffin took a breath, he spit it out gently, and then sucked it back little by little, for fear of attracting this guy's attention.

Finally, the two safely bypassed the guy and could slip out.

At this time, McGuffin realized that he was still holding the book "Medieval Witchcraft and Curse" after being reminded by Harry.

There was no other way, and the two quietly put it in the bookshelf in the restricted area closest to them.

It's just that McGuffin vaguely felt that the smell of garlic that was ubiquitous in the air suddenly became much weaker, and gradually he couldn't smell the smell.

And the light of Quirrell's lamp did not know when it stopped leaking from the gap in the bookshelf.

He had a feeling—Quirrell had found what he wanted, and it was gone.

But where did he go—?
McGuffin suppressed the idea of ​​dying to see it.

At this moment, Filch walked slowly into the library with his old oil lamp.

Mrs. Norris, who was following behind, seemed to smell the smell of garlic that hadn't completely disappeared.

It purred and let out a piercing, piercing scream.

——like some kind of metal and glass stuck in the cat's throat.

"Mrs. Norris, have you smelled something?... Is it some Hogwarts kid?... Is it a bad habit to wander around the restricted section of the library in the middle of the night?"

Filch looked around with the old oil lamp, the dim light on it could only illuminate half of his blurred face, and the multiplied "giant" shadow stretched its teeth and claws on the wall bookshelf, looking even more terrifying.

Harry's heart seemed to be stuck in his throat, and he couldn't take it anymore, dragging McGuffin and slipping past Filch.

"Who, who is where?"

Footsteps sounded out of nowhere beside Filch.

— which seemed to irritate him.

Holding the oil lamp, Filch stretched his arms as far as possible, circling around him.

He seemed to want to catch something in the air.

The oil lamp was not very bright, but now it was shaking from side to side, and the shadows of various things reflected by the light were constantly swaying, and everything reflected was extremely strange.

In the confusion, Filch seemed to have discovered something, and led Mrs. Norris to chase.

In his line of sight, there is a faint promise——

Two pairs of feet.

"Foot, foot, foot!"

McGuffin rolled his big tongue on purpose, reminding Harry who was only rushing forward.

——I don't know what happened, the invisibility cloak leaked, and it didn't cover their two pairs of feet at all.

Although under the reminder of McGuffin, Harry immediately corrected this mistake and covered the whole body with the invisibility cloak again.

But it was too late, and Filch followed them closely, and started chasing them around the Hogwarts corridors.

What made them even more frightened was that a sticky, familiar voice sounded not far away.

"Filch, what happened?"

"Professor Snape, as you said, there are people wandering around in the middle of the night...Thanks to Mrs. Norris's good nose...these brats must be nearby..."

Filch's indignant voice came from around the corner of the corridor.

"This group of brats... you mean a group of young wizards? Not just one?" Snape pressed, feeling a little strange.

"Yes, Professor Snape, I don't know what spell they cast, but it must have been a mess... At the beginning they ran out of the restricted area, but I clearly saw the feet of the two little wizards running back and forth on the ground... This..."

"The Restricted Section? How could they come out of nowhere..." Snape muttered to himself, then reacted and said immediately, "They must not be far from there...Look around, Filch!"

Chased by Snape and Filch, McGuffin and the others were trapped in a narrow corridor on the fifth floor of Hogwarts.

On the other hand, Filch and Snape came face to face from the corridor, there was no way to avoid it, no way to hide.

Harry couldn't stop sweating and trembling beside him.

He can't imagine which outcome is worse
——After being caught, he was fired, or the only gift his father left him (the Invisibility Cloak) was confiscated by Snape and Filch.

Thinking of this, his heart ached like it was about to be pulled out of his chest.

At this time, McGuffin finally discovered that this was the place where the Mirror of Erised was stored.

——The abandoned classroom?

"Why does it feel like a predestined rush? I clearly paid attention to changing the original plot..."

A shuddering chill jolted the McGuffin awake.

"What the hell is going on here? How could it be such a coincidence... But the important thing now is to avoid this catastrophe..."

He searched carefully, and sure enough, he found a door opened a gap on the left side of the corridor, just enough to allow the little wizard to pass sideways.

Harry and McGuffin edged cautiously through the door.

Thankfully, during this process, the cloak of invisibility did not reveal a certain part of their bodies as before.

After the footsteps of Snape and Filch gradually disappeared, Harry relaxed, took a deep breath, and began to check the situation in the house.

MacGuffin is looking for the mirror that can reflect the wish
—Mirror of Erised.

(End of this chapter)