Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 300: Alchemy Frog
The rainy night passed by amidst the pitter-patter of raindrops.

As lunchtime approached, Sheehan saw Harry and Ron returning in the Great Hall.

"I thought the weekend would only bring good news... I didn't expect I'd also have to help Filch polish the silverware in the trophy room,"

Ron held a brand new wand, but instead of being happy, his face showed disappointment.

"No magic allowed—it has to be wiped by hand!"

"I'm willing to switch with you anytime,"

Harry responded listlessly.
"I've done plenty of scrubbing and cleaning in the Dursleys' house. But replying to Lockhart's admirers... that would be a nightmare..."

Sheen listened quietly as usual while they spoke.

As planned, Harry is about to hear the Basilisk's voice. It is at this time that he will understand Parseltongue and gradually realize that he is a Parseltongue speaker.

"Your new invention?"

Hermione, holding a toad-like object, asked Sheehan curiously.

This is an alchemical creation gleaming with a metallic sheen, wearing large glasses, like an aviator.

"Ah."

Sheen responded.

Considering that Sheehan is the one... Hermione felt that she wouldn't be surprised by anything he invented. Her only question was—what was the purpose of this little thing?
Sheen took out the plan map, and the Alchemy Frog displayed a special mark on it.

These markings are a characteristic that distinguishes a planned map from a live map.

The escape room wasn't marked on the Marauder's Map, which is why Ginny could suddenly appear and disappear from the map.

So Sheen created an alchemical artifact and named it Alchemy Frog.

It can replace living beings to test the effectiveness of the magic refraction mirror. Considering that the alchemical frog might be an "inanimate object," Sheen also prepared some small beetles in it as backup.

Once Harry discovers his Parseltongue, Sheehan will be able to gain access to the Chamber of Secrets by questioning him.

Of course, the Alchemy Frog's uses don't stop there.

It carries many things on its body:
For example, a button used as a map for location and message sending; a paper airplane leading to the principal's office; or some cookies that are enough to make a big commotion.

The Alchemy Frog is the last safeguard in Sheen's plan.

If things get out of control, all seven alchemical frogs will activate their final safety precautions:

Hold off the Basilisk and summon Dumbledore.

As for why there are seven, it's because there are seven paper airplanes in total.

I hope it won't come to that...

The afternoon passed by in the blink of an eye, and it was already five minutes to eight.

In Hope Cottage, Harry reluctantly dragged his feet out of the warm house and walked down the third-floor corridor toward Lockhart's office.

He gritted his teeth and knocked on the door.

The door opened immediately, and Lockhart looked at him with a broad smile.

Unbeknownst to him, a black cat was lurking in the shadows of a corner.

"Oh, the little rascal is here! Come in, Harry, come in."

Lockhart said.

The office walls were covered with countless framed pictures of Lockhart, illuminated by numerous candles.

Some of the photos even had his signature, and there was a large stack of photos on the table.

"You can write it in an envelope!"

Lockhart said this to Harry as if it were a huge discount.
"The first letter is to Ms. Gladys Gugion, God bless her—one of my ardent admirers."

Time crawled by like a snail. Harry let Lockhart ramble on and on, only occasionally responding with a "uh," "ah," or "yes."

The black cat trembled its whiskers behind an object.

As the candle burned shorter and shorter, the black cat's ears twitched. He heard a sound—a sound completely different from the crackling of the dying candle or the chatter of the two people in the room.

The black cat turned around and saw Harry looking startled. A large blotch of lilac ink had appeared before the street name of Veronica Smythley's address on the letter.

"what?"

Harry said loudly.

"I know!"

Lockhart said,

"Six consecutive months at the top of the bestseller list! An unprecedented record!"

"no,"

Harry said frantically,

"That voice!" "I'm sorry,"

Lockhart asked, puzzled.

"what sound?"

"That—that voice said—didn't you hear it?"

Lockhart stared at Harry in astonishment.

“What are you talking about, Harry? You might be a little sleepy, right? Good heavens—look at the time! We’ve been here for almost four hours! I can’t believe it—time flies, doesn’t it?”

Harry didn't answer. He listened intently for the sound, but it never came again until he left the office and until someone emerged from the corner.

"You heard that too, Harry?"

A reassuring voice appeared.

"Sheen, what are you doing here—"

Harry asked in surprise, then he said eagerly,

"You heard it too?"

Sheen nodded.

"Oh my god, you must know..."

Harry tried to imitate the sounds, thinking he was speaking English, but it was just a series of hissing sounds like his tongue pressing against his chin.

He was so engrossed in the sound that he was completely unaware that he was spitting out his tongue.

"How much did you hear?"

Sheen asked.

"Hiss-"

Harry said.

"Hmm, how do we say 'open'?"

Sheen guided him.

"His-"

Harry repeated it, puzzled.

"Okay, I understand. Here, take this."

Sheen wrote it down and placed an alchemical frog in Harry's hand.

"By the way, Harry, what you just said wasn't English, but more like... Parseltongue."

Harry was left alone in the corridor. He carefully recalled what he had just said, and cold sweat broke out on his brow in the blink of an eye.

……

The girls' washroom on the second floor.

Sheen found the special entrance.

"Hiss (open) —"

He imitated it.

The next moment, the faucet emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly.

Then, the pool began to move. The pool slowly disappeared from sight, revealing a very thick water pipe, large enough for a person to crawl inside.

The five alchemical frogs hopped and skipped inside.

The rainy night was still damp and windy.

Sheen and the others stood there, gazing at the image of the basilisk, lost in thought.

While ensuring the safety of Hogwarts, he must complete his plan as much as possible—to subdue, rather than kill, the Basilisk on his own, and to develop the Basilisk Cookie.

Predictably, no professor would agree to his dangerous and outlandish plan.

Killing the basilisk wasn't too difficult; a rooster biscuit would suffice. But subduing it, especially right under Tom's nose, was dangerous enough.

Voldemort, his soul shattered, went mad, but seventeen-year-old Tom Riddle remained the brooding, ambitious heir to Slytherin.

"What are you doing?"

When Myrtle curiously opened the threshold, she only saw Sheen touching the round, shiny head of the Alchemist Frog.

The magic refraction mirror is feasible, which means that the day when Sheen will face the basilisk is just around the corner.

　Lu has adjusted some details of the outline today, so readers will be able to find two chapters tomorrow morning.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)