A ruined Hogwarts

The slightly cold night breeze blew through the open window, taking away the stuffy air in the room. The bright blue curtains swayed in the wind, and the bright moonlight quietly slipped in from the window.

Owen, dressed as Lockhart, sat leisurely behind the desk, his brilliant blond hair shining under the light, and his bright green robe looked gorgeous, but paired with his calm and indifferent expression, it did not appear frivolous. On the contrary, he has the air of a handsome and noble young man.

He was holding a quill in one hand, his blue eyes roughly scanning the student's homework in his hand, quickly writing a few strokes on it, then throwing it aside smoothly, and continued to correct the next piece, faster and faster.

That lazy Peter Pettigrew had accumulated homework from three classes and seven grades that he had yet to correct. Owen, who had taken over the mess, could only finish the work conscientiously. He is serious and professional about his performance.

After spending an hour solving the homework problem, Owen picked up the thermos bottle on the table, held his nose and took a sip of the shoe polish-flavored polyjuice potion, then made himself a cup of high-end black tea to clear his mouth, and then stood up. I stretched myself and did some general cleaning again.

He waved the wand gracefully and gently, and the colorful clothes piled up in the cabinet floated lightly. They were cleaned while floating in mid-air, and were ironed flat by the iron. Finally, they fell into his arms. He flew back to the cabinet, hung it neatly, and obediently raised his sleeves to smooth out his wrinkles.

The snacks hidden in the corners by Peter Pettigrew all flew out, and Owen waved his wand and sent them back to the kitchen for processing. The messy items were neatly arranged, several large rolled-up photos of Lockhart were stacked in the corner, and the books on the bookshelf were neatly arranged from high to low.

In the blink of an eye, the office became clean and tidy, and even the air became fresh. The fire in the fireplace burned brightly, keeping the place warm without feeling stuffy.

Satisfied, Owen sat back on the soft and comfortable high-backed chair and played with the tan wand in his hand. This cherry wood wand has good toughness. The core of the wand is made of dragon nerves. It doesn't fit well with Owen and is very disobedient, but it can still be controlled.

At this time, there was a knock on the door. Owen glanced at the locked door and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Gilderoy." Professor Flitwick's voice sounded outside the door, "We have to have a meeting to discuss how to solve the problem of emotional contagion. I remember you said last semester that you could solve it, I'm afraid we have to discuss it carefully, you know, we can't let it develop any longer..."

Owen was silent for a moment, why is this scene so familiar?

No one wants to harm him, right?

He laughed and shook his head, but still involuntarily increased his vigilance. After being prepared, he came to the door and opened it cautiously, showing a shining smile to the short professor outside: "Okay, Filius , Your vision is always so good. You can definitely leave this kind of thing to me!"

Flitwick was dazzled by the dazzling white teeth, and the corner of his mouth twitched. He nodded a little tiredly and led the way. Having worked with Lockhart for more than half a year, who doesn’t know how much he weighs? It's just that as a colleague, I have to give him some face.

Owen glanced left and right, then followed Professor Flitwick, and the two of them came to a small conference room on the second floor, where several people were already sitting in twos and threes.

"Hi, good evening. I feel relieved to see that everyone is still so energetic." Owen said exaggeratedly, with a classic Lockhart smile on his face, beaming as if he was filming a toothpaste commercial.

The low discussion in the conference room was awkward for a moment. The professors glanced here in unison. Some people ignored him, some sighed secretly, and some nodded slightly at him.

Professor Flitwick covered his forehead and sat on the chair next to Professor Sprout. Owen sat next to Professor Snape with a smile. He raised his hand and patted the other person's shoulder familiarly. Looking at his gloomy face that seemed to be dripping, he said, "You look good, Severus." Si.”

Professor Snape's upper lip curled up in disgust, he raised his hand and slapped away Owen's paw on his shoulder, glaring at him as if he wanted to murder someone violently.

A premonition of danger flashed across people's backs. Owen pretended not to notice it and straightened his upper body. He greeted the professors with joy and was immersed in role-playing. It wasn't until Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall walked in that he calmed down and sat there with his eyes, nose, nose and heart obediently.

Dumbledore glanced at Owen with a smile, his sharp blue eyes seemed to be able to see through everything. He sat down at the table, with his fingers crossed on the table, his face kind and gentle, and his every move looked the same as last year.

Professor Snape squinted at him for a moment, then looked away, staring blankly at the portrait on the wall, as if trying to stare it out of the flowers. The girl holding a water bottle in the portrait was so frightened that she accidentally broke the water bottle in her hand and hid behind the frame.

Professor McGonagall went straight to the point: "We have to find the source of emotional contagion as soon as possible. What happened today is a very dangerous signal. It makes us understand that this phenomenon may not be an accident, but... man-made. Maybe someone is trying to use It serves some ulterior purpose."

"This is not a wizarding disease...I wonder if it has something to do with the heir?" Madam Pomfrey sighed sadly. If this continues, the school will close down.

Professor Trelawney had countless chains and beads hanging around her neck. Her wide-eyed eyes were staring nervously at the crystal ball in her hand through her big glasses, and she was muttering: "Disaster! I saw a huge disaster." The omen is hanging over the castle...it's getting worse!"

The professors expressed their opinions and argued with each other for a long time, but Dumbledore remained silent with his eyes closed.

"Albus, what do you think?" Professor McGonagall frowned and looked at Dumbledore with a solemn expression.

As the principal, Dumbledore has been busy with things outside the school during this time, and has shown a careless and inactive attitude towards the crisis in the school. This makes Professor McGonagall displeased. In her opinion, no matter what Dumbledore's plan is, the safety of the students must be the top priority.

The lives of the students were being threatened. It would be fine if Dumbledore could do nothing, but he stood by and watched. This cannot be hidden from her eyes.

Dumbledore now always gave her a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling, which made her feel a little conflicted and depressed.

"Be patient, Minerva. I'm thinking of a solution, and it won't take long." Dumbledore smiled kindly at her, with deep wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. He leaned back on the chair, clasped his hands in front of him, and the golden stars on his loose blue robe shone brightly.

Owen blinked. This Dumbledore's behavior was completely different from what he had seen in the principal's office before... In short, it was a very Dumbledore, exactly like the real one.

No wonder he can hide this from Professor McGonagall, who has been with Dumbledore for decades. This guy is also a good actor.

The other party looked at Owen with awareness and winked mischievously at him, making people feel as if Dumbledore was really back. He said with a half-smile: "Gilderoy, you must have a good idea, right?"

Owen's eyebrows twitched, okay, this look... is indeed a fake.

He coughed lightly and said without embarrassment: "Oh, of course this is a trivial matter to me. But isn't it an extremely trivial problem? I have never taken it to heart, that is. I haven’t thought about how to solve it... Of course, as long as you give me some time, this matter won’t be difficult for me!”

"Put it on me!" Owen patted his chest and said, successfully making the professors look away with dark faces.

Lockhart's credibility at Hogwarts has almost hit rock bottom.

"Okay, then it's up to you, Gilderoy." Dumbledore did not let him go, and nodded seriously.

Owen resisted the urge to roll his eyes and smiled a smile worthy of winning the most charming smile award.

He did have an idea to solve the problem of emotional contagion, but he couldn't say it carelessly on this occasion. He had to be on guard against Voldemort getting wind of it. After all, Peter Pettigrew was unlikely to actively try to crack this phenomenon that might be of great help to his master.

In the following time, Professor Flitwick proposed two spells that might be helpful in detecting the source. The professors actively studied and supplemented them, as if it had become an academic seminar.

Professor Sprout proposed to use flower pots to plant some calming herbs in the castle. Professor Babling from the ancient rune class volunteered to help refine a special alchemy item for exploration and gave it to Filch. , Professor Snape promised to brew some potions that could quickly calm down the crowd...

Owen listened with a smile, occasionally interjecting some unsatisfactory opinions. Until the meeting was over, he quickly returned to his office with cheerful steps.

First he locked the door and then cleaned the lounge behind the office. He sat on the bedside and looked out the window at the black velvet night sky and fell into deep thought.

Although the problem of emotional contagion occurs without warning every time, since it is caused by the wall space and requires him to collect it, it will definitely not be traceable.

Irving has long suspected that to solve this problem, he may have to find a way to be selected as the source of an emotional contagion event. When a person is experiencing severe mood swings, this person is likely to become the source of infection, be the most directly affected, and most likely to sense the cause of everything.

Of course, it is difficult for little wizards to remain calm and rational amid such strong emotions. In this state, it is enough to indulge your mood, let alone carefully sense and analyze your current situation.

Although the professors at the school can do it, they have made no progress after studying it for so long. Perhaps it is because as adults, they rarely can't control their emotions like children, so they have never been selected to become the source of infection. . The same goes for Irving.

However, it is not that the professors have never tried to recite spells such as the Joy Spell on themselves, but it has no effect. Maybe it's because the intense emotions triggered by the spell don't qualify?

Owen sighed softly. He had actually thought of a solution a long time ago, but he was always good at controlling his emotions and did not like to let his emotions overflow. Besides, seeing that the students were so happy, he was also happy to touch a fish. Maybe he would be solved by a professor at some point?

But now we can no longer delay, lest Voldemort will play more tricks.

"It's nothing more than indulgence." Owen slowly closed his eyes. Although it is difficult for people to have strong emotions without reason, malice can also be regarded as a kind of emotion. For him, he only needs to let go of the restraints in his heart, and then mobilize some of the emotions buried in the Black Demon Guard, allowing them to boil unbridled.

It's just that in this state, it's difficult to control yourself from doing something terrible. It's not suitable for being in an environment with other people present, and it's easy to threaten each other's lives...

Owen's closed eyes opened instantly, and a terrifying dark vortex appeared in his black and white eyes, as if everything was being sucked into the bottomless abyss. He slowly clenched his fists and stared at the ceiling expressionlessly. A faint black mist quietly spread from his body, and the surrounding temperature became colder.

Before being selected, I don’t know how long I will maintain this state...

Owen's clenched fists were trembling slightly, and endless terrifying thoughts came to him, making him feel inexplicably excited.

While waiting like this, the time became extremely long. He just sat quietly by the bed, the ticking sound of the clock's hands seemed to coincide with his heartbeat, and the night sky outside the window gradually became deeper, and then the sky turned white, and the sun slowly rose. .

There was the chatter of the little wizards outside, as well as the sound of rustling footsteps, accompanied by a few shouts and screams of laughter from time to time. This was the students rushing to the auditorium for breakfast. Today is Sunday and there are no classes.

Owen closed his eyes tightly and seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, but his brows wrinkled irritably, and he finally resisted the urge to rush out.

In this persistence that lasted for a long time, he didn't know how long it took, and he suddenly felt that the evil thoughts in his heart surged, and the roar of the mountains and the tsunami seemed to wipe out all his reason. He took out his wand and waved it hard. Amidst a loud explosion, the room seemed to have been bombed, and it was a mess.

Owen raised his hand to wipe the dust from his face, grinned lowly, and his open eyes flashed with an extremely dangerous light. Fortunately, his reason was not defeated, and his tired brain was still running rapidly, carefully searching for clues in the storm of malice.

It seemed that nothing was found, but something was wrong. He was indeed affected by an inexplicable influence. No, it should be said that that influence is still continuing, like a feather that keeps stirring up his mood...

The feeling was everywhere, like the wind. Maybe it was the wind, the wind blowing from a distant place... No, it was some kind of slight sound, like the sound of the breeze. When he paid attention to distinguish it carefully , and discerned an inexplicable melody... coming from that direction!

Owen suddenly turned his head and looked somewhere above his head. He quickly left the bedroom, picked up a hooded black cloak and put it on his body, hiding his face. Then he recited the Disillusionment Curse to himself, silently. Mantra and breath masking charm.

Although his mind was in a mess, he still clearly understood that he should disguise himself. He was not sure whether the source had been found by Voldemort...

After walking out of the office and walking up the empty stairs, he carefully identified the faint voice in his mind and approached the direction from which it came. He climbed to the sixth floor, walked through the empty corridors, and finally stood in front of the statue of Boris the Fool, a statue of a wizard with a blank expression and gloves on his hands backwards.

Owen looked at a door to the left of the statue. He knew that inside was the prefects' washroom. He could hear a strange melody more clearly, like a hollow echo from the end of the world, or like the sound of wind blowing through small holes.

He pushed open the door of the prefect's bathroom and walked in the shower room made of snow-white marble. The luxurious chandelier above his head looked like blooming crystal flowers, and the snow-white linen curtains were blown by the wind.

He passed by a row of golden faucets inlaid with gems beside the bath, and a boy suddenly walked out from a door on the opposite side, still wearing a bathrobe, with a relaxed and lazy expression.

Owen recognized this as a prefect from Ravenclaw. He leaned against the wall silently, waiting for the boy to pass by. But in the blink of an eye, the boy's expression became ferocious, and he looked around with red eyes, like a bull in madness.

"Oh, I forgot it was contagious." Irving said with a deadpan expression as he knocked the guy out, then added a "Forget It".

He calmly raised his feet and continued to approach the source of the sound, finally stopping next to a portrait of a blond mermaid and looking up at a delicate and beautiful white flute hanging by the window. The flute is carved with exquisite and weird patterns, making it a beautiful work of art.

Owen closed his eyes slightly and clearly heard the hollow sound coming from the flute. The music seemed to be played by the wind, which was constantly stirring up violent waves in his mind.

"Oh, I found you." Owen's voice was a little hoarse.

He grabbed the flute, and the white flute became illusory in his hands and disappeared in the blink of an eye. At the same time, the turbulent emotions in his heart suddenly became calm.

Owen took his hand back, made sure there was nothing of note around him, and then left the place without looking back, returning to his office.