The Ancient Wizards of Hogwarts

Chapter 119 Harley\u003eLu Bu

The day after the year-end party, the Hogwarts Express arrived at the station on time in the early morning. In the dazzling sunshine, students boarded the train one after another and embarked on their journey home.

Bai Zi and Setsuna finally no longer had to accept tutoring from Professor McGonagall this time. They followed Ash on the train home as they wished, and successfully occupied the seats next to Ash, while the three little ones sat opposite them.

Harry looked out the window at the castle fading away and whispered:

"Time flies so fast, we have to separate again so soon."

Although it was just a short separation during the holidays, Harley still couldn't shake off the deep reluctance in her heart.

Hermione gently closed the book on her lap and whispered:

"Anyway, Surrey is not far from London. Can't you come and play with me anytime?"

Cassandra's tone was also a little helpless:

"You have been at school for a whole year, and you haven't even been home for Christmas and Easter. Do you want to stay at Hogwarts for the rest of your life?"

"It's not impossible." Harley thought for a moment, her expression very serious.

Cassandra and Hermione rolled their eyes at the same time, not knowing what to say to her.

Bang bang!

Just then, someone knocked on the cubicle door.

The person coming was none other than their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin.

Ash opened the door, looking a little confused:

"Professor, what's the matter?"

Lu Ping first gave a gentle smile to the people in the car, and then asked:

"Mr. Black, I want to talk to you alone, is that okay?"

"certainly."

Ash nodded lightly, closed the door as he walked out of the compartment, and followed Lupine to the back of the car. Unlike the current trains that generally have two locomotives, the Hogwarts Express has only one locomotive.

So when Lupine opened the rear door of the car, howling wind immediately poured into the car.

Lupine took out two packages of chocolates from his pocket, opened one of the packages and stuffed the chocolates into his mouth, then handed the remaining package to Ash:

"Want a piece?"

"Thanks."

Ash didn't refuse, took the chocolate, opened the package, pushed out a small piece, and took a bite.

Lupine chewed the chocolate in his mouth, and after a while he asked:

"Mr. Black, how much do you know about Voldemort?"

Ash raised an eyebrow and looked at Lupine in surprise.

Lu Ping looked at his clothes and asked doubtfully:

"Is there something on my face?"

Ash didn't hide it:

"No, I'm just surprised that you dared to call Voldemort by his first name."

For the vast majority of wizards, they will only call them 'Mysterious Man' or 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. At most, they will call him 'The Dark Lord'. There are really no wizards who dare to call Voldemort by his name. There are very few.

Lu Ping laughed dumbly and said calmly:

"That's because Voldemort once placed a spell on this name. Anyone who speaks this name will cause a magical disturbance, and Voldemort and the Death Eaters can track the location of the person who speaks this name. But this spell has long since expired. There is no danger in speaking his name."

Ash shrugged:

"But even so, there are still many wizards who dare not call him by his first name."

"That's because they were afraid, and even still are afraid of Voldemort."

Lupine explained softly, his tone unusually calm.

At the same time, he was answering Ash's question: The reason why he dared to call him by his name was because he was not afraid.

Lu Ping did not continue this topic and asked instead:

"Do you think Voldemort is still alive?"

Normally, this is clearly not an appropriate topic to discuss with students, and it would be a mistake to even mention it. But Lupine didn't seem to have any concerns as a professor at this time. He seemed to treat Ash as an adult, and his expression was extremely serious when he asked.

Ash did not answer directly, but asked:

"Professor Lupin, do you know Professor Quirrell?"

"certainly."

Lupine nodded slightly, "He is your first-year Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. According to Hogwarts' public statement, Quirrell was bitten to death by a three-headed dog while stealing the Sorcerer's Stone. But I happen to know some inside information. , knowing that all this is related to Voldemort, I guess this is not unfamiliar to you at all? After all, you are also a witness to this incident."

Ash's expression remained unchanged, but there was a thoughtful expression on his face. The question he just asked was to test Lupine to see how much inside information he knew, and then answer Lupine's question based on the inside information he knew. Lupine also knew this very well, so he did not hold back and pointed out the strangeness in Quirrell very clearly.

Only a few people really know about this, only Ash and Harley among the students. Even among the professors at Hogwarts, only the Iron Triangle of Hogwarts, namely Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape, knew the inside story.

As an outsider, Lu Ping could understand so clearly that someone must have made a final call.

Ash himself did not leak the secret, and the most Harry would tell Cassandra and Hermione about it, and they would not leak it.

Therefore, the person who leaked the secret could only be the professor.

Among the three professors who may have leaked secrets, Professor McGonagall can be excluded first.

She had neither a reason nor a motive to leak the secret to Lupine.

To put it mildly, both Dumbledore and Snape have their own selfish motives and plans. Among all the professors at Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall is undoubtedly the purest educator.

That's why Professor McGonagall forced Baizi and Setsuna to stay with her during the summer vacation last year, because her sense of responsibility as a teacher made her worried about the two werewolf girls being exposed to society alone. She kept them around because she was afraid that they would learn bad things.

Well, although Ash has no doubts that Bai Zi and Setsuna will learn bad things if they follow him, he still thinks that Professor McGonagall is a pure and excellent teacher.

Since Professor McGonagall will not leak the secret, it can only be Dumbledore and Snape.

As a founding member of the Order of the Phoenix, Lupine was trusted by Dumbledore. Of course, perhaps Dumbledore had doubted him, but the misunderstanding had long since been resolved. Lupine was still Dumbledore's most trusted person. Dumbledore's invitation to him to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was the best proof.

So the answer is obvious, the person who told Lupine about Voldemort was Snape!

Although according to common sense, it is very likely that Dumbledore informed Lupin of this matter, Ash is more inclined to Snape. Because Dumbledore might tell Lupine part of the truth, but at least he would not betray Ash so decisively, but would selectively conceal some details.

The only one who could tell the information about Ash being at the scene without hesitation was Snape, an old bat. After all, Ash was not Harley, and Snape had no reason to keep his secret.

What's more, Ash had long suspected that Snape and Lupine were secretly colluding and secretly investigating Voldemort's affairs. It is not surprising that Snape told him the truth about Quirrell's affair in order to gain Lupine's trust.

Ash wanted to understand all this, and his answer was very simple:

"Since you already know, I might as well say it straight. Voldemort is still alive, and his purpose of possessing Quirrell is to steal the Philosopher's Stone and restore his body. Unfortunately, although Quirrell's plot was foiled, Voldemort took advantage of the opportunity. He fled and his whereabouts are still unknown.”

Lupine nodded thoughtfully. In fact, he already had a certain understanding of what Ash said in advance. But he still hopes to hear different people describe what happened at that time, which will allow him to analyze it from different perspectives.

Lupine asked gently:

"Can you tell me in detail what happened?"

Ash did not answer directly, but asked:

"Is this a mission given to you by Dumbledore?"

"You can think so."

Lu Ping smiled and nodded, neither denying nor admitting.

Ash thought for two seconds, organized what happened at that time into his thoughts, and spoke slowly:

"At first, Harley discovered that something was wrong. Perhaps because of the prophecy, she seemed to be able to sense Quirrell's thoughts in the dark, or in other words, Quirrell's past experiences and memories. For example, Quirrell once attacked a solitary in the Forbidden Forest. Horned beast, Harley has been dreaming about the same scene for several days..."

Ash looked up to see Lupin's expression, which seemed a little surprised.

Apparently no one told him this.

Dumbledore didn't, and neither did Snape.

And this just confirms Ash's original guess that Snape did not tell Lupine the whole truth. But he had indeed begun some cooperation with Snape, and it was no coincidence that he was riding the same train with them, otherwise Lupine could have just used Floo powder to go to London.

After all, floo powder is not expensive, a spoonful only costs two kilos. For Lu Ping, who was once homeless, it was indeed possible that he could not even afford two coins at that time. But now he has been the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts for more than half a year, and his monthly salary is more than one hundred galleons, so even Floo fans can't afford it.

The reason why he took the same train as the students returning to London was probably because he was waiting to meet Ash and the others here. On the one hand, he wanted to learn more details about the time from Ash, but on the other hand, he probably also wanted to protect Harley.

After all, Harry can get the best protection whether at the Dursleys or at Hogwarts, but it is only on the way back and forth that he is most dangerous and needs the most protection - at least that's what Lupin thinks. .

"Thanks."

Lupine listened quietly to Ash's words, patted his shoulder lightly, and joked in a joking tone, "You should go back first. I think Harley and the others don't want me to take up too much of your time."

Ash followed Lupine's gaze and saw through the glass the black-haired girl standing in the corridor of the carriage. That was Harley. It was obvious that Harley was waiting for them.

"Okay, Professor."

Ash nodded politely, opened the door and left.

It seemed that Lupine knew less than he thought.

Neither Snape nor Dumbledore told Lupine the truth about his identity, so Lupine treated him like an ordinary student. I have to say that Lupine is really miserable, both Snape and Dumbledore only use him as a tool.

And Lupine himself probably didn't know anything about it, he just didn't want to get into it.

This is no wonder why Lupine always misses that time in the past even though he cannot agree with the evil deeds of James and Sirius. After all, there was probably no happier experience in Lupine's life than that.

Sirius aside, at least James truly regarded him as a friend.

Ash put away his thoughts, met the girl walking towards him, and gently ruffled her hair.

Lupine smiled and nodded to Harry, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he closed the door and blew the cold wind alone.

Lupine came back to his senses, stared at the scenery left behind by the train, and took out another piece of chocolate from his pocket.

To be fair, he was willing to believe Snape, but it was impossible to say that he didn't have any doubts about Snape. The biggest doubt is why Snape didn't go to Dumbledore, but asked him to cooperate?

Moreover, Dumbledore never told him about Quirrell.

But the information learned from Ash today can basically confirm that Snape did not lie to him.

There may be some concealment of details, but there are no errors or omissions in general information.

Voldemort is still alive, and Harley will be in danger at any time.

So he had to do something, at least what he could do.

"Click!"

Lupine chewed the chocolate and thought about his former friends.

Both James and Pettigrew died that day, but Sirius was the only survivor.

Although he didn't want to believe that his friend would do such a thing, the truth was right in front of him and he couldn't help but not believe it.

And if Sirius is really Voldemort's loyal subordinate, does he know anything? Even if Voldemort wouldn't tell him about the Horcruxes, he should at least know some of Voldemort's secrets, right?

But it is unrealistic to go to Azkaban to ask Sirius. As the most restrictive prison in the UK and even the world, visits to Azkaban Prison are strictly restricted. Only important officials from the Ministry of Magic can do this. right.

Lupine is obviously not among them.

Unless, using Polyjuice Potion.

Click!

Lupine bit into another corner of chocolate, his expression moving slightly.

Lupine murmured softly:

"Maybe it's not impossible."

Snape was a master in this area, and it was not difficult for him to prepare Polyjuice Potion, except that it was a little difficult to get the hair of senior officials of the Ministry of Magic.

Of course, he may not really go to this point.

As long as he could find some clues in the clues provided by Snape.

——

"Horcruxes are not that easy to find."

Ash, who returned to the carriage, had basically figured out the purpose of Lupine and Snape, but he was not very optimistic about it.

Three of Voldemort's six Horcruxes were in his hands, and the diary had been destroyed, leaving only Gaunt's ring and Hufflepuff's gold cup.

The former is in the old Gaunt house, and no one in the wizarding world knows the relationship between Voldemort and the Gaunt family. Only Dumbledore may make a correct guess based on Voldemort's middle name, but Snape and Lupine cannot.

Even if they wanted to look for it, they could only look for Hufflepuff's golden cup.

But the gold cup is in Bellatrix's vault. They can't steal it from the vault, right?

Even if they want to steal it, they must first come to the conclusion that the golden cup = Horcrux and that the golden cup is in Bellatrix's vault.

In the absence of reference, trying to draw such a conclusion is tantamount to wishful thinking.

And the efforts of Lupine and Snape were in vain.