Black American Comics: Start with a Snap

Chapter 163 The Mystery of Ashes
"I smell a burnt smell in the pipe."

In the infirmary's personal room, Suze sat next to Rocket Raccoon with a serious expression, speaking word by word.

The Hogwarts Infirmary should strictly be called the School Infirmary. It is located on the upper floors of the Pendulum Courtyard and is where the school doctor, Madam Poppy Pomfrey, works. It is also another 'home' for Quidditch players.

Ordinary students would not come here. A simple cold or fever would not require the help of the school doctor. Only during Quidditch matches and some unlucky students taking Charms or Potions classes would come here.

After solving the problem of the basilisk, Suze rushed directly to the school hospital to find Rocket Raccoon. When he arrived here, he found that Flitwick, the headmaster of Ravenclaw who had not appeared, was already here.

It seems that he was also very worried about his students, so after hearing about what happened, he came here to look after the situation.

After making sure that the little girl was out of danger, Suze pulled Rocket Raccoon into a separate compartment to discuss what he had just discovered in the pipe.

"Burnt." Rocket licked his teeth. "Are you sure?"

"It's very clear, and it's definitely not an ordinary flame. You didn't see the body of the snake monster. Its entire body has been burned." Su Ze said seriously.

"Where are the other professors?" Rocket asked.

"I was shoveling the basilisk's ashes. It was such a big pile, like a mountain. I found an excuse and ran away." Su Ze answered truthfully.

"I mean, don't the other professors have any opinions on this?" Rocket took a deep breath and asked again speechlessly.

"Oh." Su Ze thought for a moment and continued, "They were also surprised. No one knew what happened, and I can guarantee that this part definitely did not happen in the novel."

Hearing this, Rocket Raccoon nodded thoughtfully. "That is to say, this matter is related to what we are investigating."

"It's very likely." Su Ze turned his head to look at the half-open door, and seeing that no one was approaching, he continued, "This is too weird. The basilisk was fighting with me five minutes ago, but then it was burned. Add to that Hagrid's nightmare, and I think there are some hidden threats in Hogwarts."

"Do you suspect someone cast a spell on the snake in advance?" Rocket Raccoon guessed.

"No, I suspect someone set a fire in Hogwarts." Suze looked Rocket Raccoon straight in the eye. "The pungent smell of smoke coming from that pipe is very strong, but I don't know the exact location."

"It's possible that the house elves burned the rice. Okay, okay, I know what you want to do." Rocket Raccoon sighed. "I'll find a way to start with the pipes."

Speaking of this, Rocket Raccoon thought of something and looked at Su Ze strangely.

"But if we investigate this matter openly, won't it arouse other people's suspicion? Those professors are very wary of us, especially the one who doesn't wash his hair."

Suze knew who Rocket was talking about, but he just smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry, the professors are now focused on finding Slytherin's successor and will not disturb us. Besides, I am also a professor, and my goal is also to find Slytherin's successor. There is no conflict."

Rocket Raccoon grinned at this. "You already know who the so-called Heir of Slytherin is, right?"

Su Ze did not give a clear answer, but raised his eyebrows slightly.

Seeing Su Ze's answer, Rocket Raccoon nodded. "Then I'll go get ready. I'll go explore the pipeline you mentioned tonight."

In order to prevent Rocket Raccoon from worrying too much, Su Ze concealed the fact that he had been attacked by someone. Su Ze knew without hesitation who the guy who hid among the students and cast a confusion spell on him was.

There are not many students who are qualified to inherit Slytherin. If someone hadn't taken the position in advance, Harry Potter might have been the successor this time.

But now, there is only one master of the Basilisk and the successor of Slytherin, or a fragment of its soul - young Voldemort.

Voldemort created a lot of Horcruxes in Hogwarts back then, each of which contained fragments of his soul. One of the Horcruxes is now in Hogwarts.

Before school started, Draco Malfoy's father Lucius secretly slipped a Horcrux notebook containing a fragment of Voldemort's soul into Ginny's textbooks.

No one knew the origin of this thing in advance. Lucius just thought it was an ordinary cursed black magic item. If he knew that this was the Dark Lord's Horcrux, he would never do this.

However, in order to avoid the recent crackdown on dark magic items by the Ministry of Magic, Lucius needs to get rid of all the dark magic items in his hands as soon as possible. His unintentional actions also give Voldemort's soul an opportunity to take advantage of.

He couldn't control the powerful wizard Voldemort, but he was more than capable of taking the soul of a first-year girl at Hogwarts.

The Horcrux that returned to Hogwarts immediately began to subtly influence Ginny and controlled her without anyone noticing.

Just when all the professors were suspecting that a successor had emerged from Slytherin House, no one thought that the guy who actually released the basilisk would come from Gryffindor.

"I told you that you definitely misunderstood the professor!"

In the Great Hall, Harry Potter ate the pudding in front of him while speaking righteously to the two friends in front of him. "How could Professor Su be the murderer of those chickens? You actually suspected that Professor Su hurt the Ravenclaw senior at the beginning. That's too much."

Harry and the others learned what happened inside Hogwarts at Hagrid's Hut, but Hogwarts was under martial law at that time. Due to the rampage of the basilisk, they, like other students, were forbidden to approach the castle.

Ron and Hermione, who didn't know the truth at the time, still suspected that since Suze left Hagrid's Hut in such a hurry and a student suffered an accident right after that, there must be a connection between the two.

Later, when the curfew at Hogwarts Castle was lifted, they heard the details of what had happened from Ron's twin brother, and only then did they realize what had happened.

Listening to Harry's words, Hermione lowered her head a little guiltily.

"I misunderstood Professor Su. I should have thought of it earlier. The basilisk is most afraid of the sound of chickens. As soon as Professor Su found that the chicken coop was destroyed, he immediately thought that someone might be secretly helping the basilisk."

"Although it was Professor Su and Professor McGonagall who killed the basilisk, it doesn't prove that Professor Su is definitely not a suspect."

Ron held up the drumstick and continued, "How did he know that the basilisk was released? I mean, no one knew the identity of the heir of Slytherin before that, right?"

"Idiot, that's Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History when I was in my first year. Do you think Professor Su would not do his homework beforehand before coming to Hogwarts as a professor?" Hermione said helplessly.

Hearing this, Ron made a face and stuffed the chicken leg directly into his mouth.

"Alas." Harry sighed heavily. "It would be great if Professor Su could teach us. Tell me, why can't we switch Professor Su with Professor Lockhart?"

"Yeah, Professor Su can kill the basilisk. He is definitely much better than that guy Lockhart in teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Ron muttered while chewing.

"Can you please stop talking while you eat?" Hermione frowned and stared at Ron, then continued, "Besides, weren't you just saying bad things about Professor Su? Why are you suddenly speaking up for him?"

"I just think Professor Su is better than Lockhart, to be honest." Ron shrugged.

For boys, their concept of good and evil is very simple. Although they may doubt some of Suze's actions in their hearts, Ron is more repulsed by Lockhart, the guy who is obsessed with his mother.

"By the way, the problem of the basilisk has been solved, but it seems that the heir of Slytherin has not appeared yet?" Harry suddenly thought of something and asked in a low voice.

"Well, just now I saw Professor Snape called away the Slytherin prefect. It seemed that he was going to investigate the identity of that person." Hermione blinked.

"I suspect that Malfoy is the successor to Slytherin." Harry leaned forward and told his companions his speculation seriously.

Hearing Harry's words, Hermione and Ron couldn't help but turn their heads and cast their gazes towards the long table of Slytherin College, where Malfoy was chatting and laughing with other students.

After noticing the gazes of Harry and the others, Malfoy instantly stopped smiling and glared back at them.

"See?" Harry turned his head. "It's definitely him. This guy has always been proud of being sorted into Slytherin, and he often speaks ill of his Muggle-born classmates."

Hermione knew this very well, because she was called a "mudblood" by Malfoy not long ago. For this, Harry and Ron had a big fight with Malfoy and almost used their wands. Fortunately, Professor Flitwick showed up in time.

Just then, there was a sound of a chair mopping the ground. Ron looked in the direction of the sound and saw his sister Ginny standing up, preparing to leave with a gloomy face.

"Ginny, what's wrong with you? You look so bad." Ron asked curiously.

"None of your business."

Ginny walked past Ron without even turning her head, and walked straight out of the Great Hall without even stopping.

"What's wrong with her?" Harry asked curiously.

But Ron seemed to be used to it. "I don't know, maybe someone has offended her. When she gets angry, she doesn't treat everyone well."

After saying that, Ron stopped paying attention to Ginny and focused his attention on the chicken leg in front of him.

In fact, Ginny was indeed very angry now, but the magical thing was not her, but the Horcrux Voldemort who was controlling her body.

As soon as she walked out of the Great Hall, Ginny was about to return to her dormitory, but then a dark shadow blocked her way.

When she looked up, she saw Su Ze staring at her with a smile.

"Ginny, do you mind if I chat with you about some Muggle technology?"

(End of this chapter)