Chapter 62. Back to the Castle
For some reason, Dumbledore hadn't asked him a single question from beginning to end.
Lynn wasn't at ease; the more the old bee acted this way, the more uneasy he felt.
Dumbledore gave Lynn a strange feeling, like…like, "I won't ask anything, and you shouldn't say anything either, because I already know all the answers."
Lynn didn't know what Dumbledore knew; what he needed to figure out most right now was how to withstand Professor McGonagall's wrath.
Dumbledore dropped him off at the Great Hall's door and left; he still had to deal with the Death Eater's corpse, the still-unconscious Hagrid, and the centaurs.
Lynn hesitated, circling the door twice. Before he could decide to go in, the Great Hall's doors were opened from the inside.
The Gryffindor lioness, her face dark, glared at him angrily, her eyes blazing with fury.
Lynn was startled, then looked at her sheepishly and decisively replied from the heart.
"Professor McGonagall, I was wrong, I will never do it again."
"Bellok, I always thought you were a smart man, but you made such a foolish mistake today!" Professor McGonagall was clearly very disappointed in Lynn and decided on his punishment.
"Slytherin will lose 20 points for this, and you will face a month of confinement!"
This punishment was already quite lenient for Lynn's behavior.
He immediately expressed his humility in accepting the professor's criticism, and promised to correct his mistake and strive not to repeat it in the future.
Losing 20 points wasn't much. There was still some time before the end of the term, and with Lynn and Snape's teamwork in Potions class, those 20 points could easily be made up in a month.
As for the month of confinement, even if Professor Fawkes was no longer in mortal danger, given his current condition, he certainly couldn't continue to be a professor at Hogwarts.
So Lynn would have a lot of free time; as long as he wasn't put in solitary confinement by Filch, such punishment was practically nothing to him.
Sleeping bags were everywhere in the Great Hall.
It was nearly midnight, and the professors were still searching the castle for the dark wizards who had attacked the students.
They dared not let the young wizards leave the Great Hall until they could ensure their safety.
In less than a semester, two students had already been attacked, both by dark magic.
Most importantly, the parents of these two students were very influential figures in the wizarding world; if the news got out, the negative impact would put Hogwarts in a very passive position.
Lynn carefully moved among the young wizards huddled in their sleeping bags, fast asleep.
He quickly found Cedric and Ian, as they were both still awake.
"You're finally back, Lynn!" Cedric said excitedly.
Lynn gestured for him to be quiet, then crawled into a sleeping bag next to them.
"What happened in the Great Hall after I left?" The warm sleeping bag began to warm Lynn's body, which had been soaked and cold from the rain.
"Not long after you left, a Gryffindor prefect returned to report that not only had they failed to find the murderer, but Professor Fawkes was also missing. Everyone was in an uproar.
Now everyone believes Professor Fawkes is the murderer, even those who were previously skeptical are now convinced.
They discussed it all night, listing evidence that Professor Fawkes was a dark wizard.
They said Professor Fawkes fled to escape punishment, others said he had completed his dark magic research and no longer needed his test subjects, so there was no need for him to stay at Hogwarts.
Some Slytherin students even complained about Professor Dumbledore, saying he shouldn't have recruited such a dangerous person to be a professor at Hogwarts, especially as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor..."
Lynn listened silently. The young wizards at Hogwarts disliked Professor Fawkes, and similarly, Professor Fawkes no longer needed them.
His revenge was successful, and even without being injured, he probably wouldn't have chosen to stay at Hogwarts.
As for who the murderer who attacked the students was...
Lynn harbored a suspicion he didn't want to dwell on.
Both men who had been attacked were connected to him, and to him, in very unpleasant ways.
The coincidence seemed far too much.
But Lynn didn't want to think about it anymore. Too much had happened that night; he was exhausted and needed rest.
Early the next morning, while the students were having breakfast, Dumbledore arrived at the Great Hall.
Standing on the platform, he announced to all the young wizards that Hogwarts was now under lockdown because the murderer had been caught.
The Great Hall instantly buzzed with excitement as someone shouted to Dumbledore,
"Professor, did you catch Fawkes, the dark wizard? Has he been sent to Azkaban?"
Dumbledore smiled and shook his head.
"First of all, Adrian Fawkes is still your professor, and you should call him Professor Fawkes instead of by his name.
So I think Slytherin should lose 5 points for that."
The Slytherin boy looked rather displeased; he seemed resentful but dared not contradict their highly respected headmaster.
"I know you have many prejudices against your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but you shouldn't let your prejudices influence your judgment,"
Dumbledore solemnly announced.
"Your Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Adrian Fawkes captured the Dark Wizard hiding in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts last night, the one responsible for these two attacks.
A fierce battle ensued, ending in Professor Fawkes' victory. However, he was also critically injured.
Had it not been for a young wizard who had always believed in him arriving to help him, he might have perished.
Professor Fawkes has now been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for treatment, while the Dark Wizard is dead.
I have also notified the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic; they will come today to collect the Dark Wizard's body.
Also, to thank that young wizard for saving a professor's life, Slytherin receives 100 points."
All the young wizards present were stunned by Dumbledore's news.
After a long silence, enthusiastic applause erupted in the Great Hall, starting with Gryffindor.
Someone shouted,
"Thank you, Professor Fawkes!"
Countless others echoed his sentiment.
"Thank you, Professor Fawkes!"
Their resounding applause and heartfelt thanks were as if they weren't the ones who had cursed Professor Fawkes to be kicked out of Hogwarts yesterday.
Snape, standing in a corner of the Great Hall, couldn't help but smirk. For him, Slytherin getting 100 points for free was like winning the lottery for five million Galleons.
Although Dumbledore hadn't revealed the identity of the young wizard who helped Professor Fawkes, many people knew that Lynn had secretly run away yesterday, and that the 100 points had been awarded to a Slytherin—it was practically a blatant indication that the young wizard was Lynn
The young wizards looked at Lynn with eager eyes, and many tried to approach him to ask what had happened last night.
Lynn smiled modestly, saying he hadn't done anything, but in reality, his heart had sunk to the bottom.
Because he couldn't understand why Dumbledore would lie!
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(End of Chapter)