The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 635 Returning to Hogwarts

As summer vacation approaches, Hogwarts is exceptionally busy. Students bustle about in the corridors and rooms, and when someone stops, it's usually because a book has been knocked over.

Even though one subject no longer has a final exam, most students are still quite rushed—after all, they haven't had a proper class schedule for a period of time this semester.

Only one figure stood out from the crowd: Miss Lora, a red-haired Ravenclaw student, looked around cautiously as she walked carefully through each corner.

Of course, this is Loila.

She had considered using Apparition to return to her office—but upon closer inspection, it might be awkward if she ran into someone like Miss Nagini—because Roy still hadn't figured out how to apologize to her.

After all, he would never leave the UMNO party no matter what—especially now that they need him so much.

And she didn't come back this time to go to the office or anything—she came back to find an opportunity to give Luna the lantern for finding the Horcruxes—

This is a very important thing!

Loila pursed her lips, then lowered her head to avoid the students walking towards her. These students had taken her classes before, and even if they didn't know Loila, she didn't want them to notice anything.

Loila walked cautiously toward the Ravenclaw common room—she intended to check it out first, though she didn't think she would run into Luna there.

Luna has always been a girl who appears and disappears mysteriously — I have to say, Loira has really missed her since she last saw Luna —

Soon, Loila arrived at the door of the Ravenclaw common room. Looking at the locked eagle-headed door, Loila glanced left and right to make sure no one was there before gently waving her wand.

Loila no longer needs to answer riddles. As the "master" of 80% of Hogwarts, controlling the door to a common room is a piece of cake.

With a flick of Loila's wand, the Eaglehead Gate opened naturally.

"Hmm."

Loila cautiously peeked out and looked inside.

The lounge was quite crowded, but unusually quiet—everyone seemed to be studying—which was understandable given that final exams were approaching.

Loila pursed her lips, not seeing Luna among the students studying.

Is it not here?

Loila blinked and looked around carefully again, but she didn't see Luna's familiar silver-gold hair.

This looks a bit troublesome — Loila thought for a moment, then mustered her courage and walked up to a student who was studying.

"Um—excuse me," Loila said softly, then tapped the table with her hand.

Well!

My occupational hazard from when I was a teacher has kicked in again—sure enough, the student whose desk was banged on looked up somewhat unhappily, then looked at Loila in front of him with a puzzled expression.

Who are you?

"Ah—um—I—I'm looking for Miss Lovegood," Loila asked softly, tapping her fingers.

"Miss Lovegood?" The student paused, then asked, "You mean Luna?"

"Uh-huh!"

"She should be...by the Black Lake right now, right?" the student said, shaking his head. "Or maybe at the Astronomical Tower?"

"The clock tower is hard to say either—" She mentioned three places at once, making Luo Yili purse her lips in surprise.

So even Luna's classmates didn't know where she went?

"Sorry," the student shrugged helplessly, "Nobody knows where she's going."

"She appears and disappears like a ghost—you might find her on the doorframe in the end."

,

Luna isn't a mouse or a cat or anything—how did she end up on the doorframe?

Upon hearing this, Loila shook her head speechlessly, then slowly walked out of the lounge.

Perhaps I should just hand the thing over to Mr. Lovegood?

No, no—using an owl or something wouldn't be safe—this is a magic array tool for finding Horcruxes, and Voldemort's soul is inside.

If something goes wrong, it will be terrible — Luo Yili gripped the lantern in her hand tightly, deciding to go and search those three places again.

If all else fails, how about checking the top of the door frame?

With this in mind, Loila boldly wandered through Hogwarts. She also discovered that the students were unlikely to recognize her—the only ones who would recognize her were probably the professors.

If Professor McGonagall and the others saw her, it would indeed be bad—but they all seemed quite busy right now, and apart from Professor Snape walking by quickly, Loila didn't see any other professors.

But just as Loila breathed a slight sigh of relief, she suddenly heard a call.

"Lola?!"

That's—Miss Granger's voice?! Loila shuddered and turned around, only to see a surprised Hermione, and Harry and Ron standing beside her.

"It feels like ages." Hermione slowly walked to Loila's side and subconsciously took Loila's arm. Seeing Loila's slightly uncomfortable expression, Hermione pursed her lips and said, "Have you been very busy lately?"

"Ah—yes—yes." Loila pursed her lips somewhat awkwardly. She didn't dare to talk too much with Miss Granger; she was just too perceptive.

However, it was clear that Hermione, who hadn't seen Lola for a long time, still had a lot to say.

"You haven't been to any of the Pinecone Party gatherings lately," Hermione said, lowering her voice. "Is it because Professor Hamilton is missing?"

"No—no." Actually, it's for this reason—

Loila blinked, trying to find an excuse: "I'm just—I'm just a little busy—"

"This seems to be the first time we've met this semester," Harry said slowly. He and Ron leaned against a pillar at the school gate, looking thoughtfully at Loira on either side.

"Ah—after all, Hogwarts—Hogwarts is huge—" Roy chuckled awkwardly, then changed the subject, saying, "Have you—have you seen Luna?"

"Luna?" The three exchanged glances.

"Luna should be by the Black Lake right now, right?" Hermione gave an answer, without any further explanation.

"Probably." Harry and Ron both nodded to each other.

"Wait—wait a minute." Hermione seemed to notice something and looked at the lantern in Loyra's hand.

"Why do you carry a lantern during the day?" She shook her head and said, "And—and it's always lit?"

"Hmm?" Luo Yi looked down at the magic array prop in his hand. The lantern was indeed lit, and—the light was pointing at Mr. Potter at this moment.

What's going on here?

Loila pursed her lips. Logically speaking, it should only activate automatically when it's near a Horcrux, right?

Does Mr. Potter possess a Horcrux?

Loila subconsciously suspected that the lantern was broken, but after thinking about it, she realized that it was also possible that Mr. Potter was holding a Horcrux at this moment.

After all, he wasn't some kind of savior like Dumbledore described.

Thinking of this, Loila quickly hid the lantern behind her back: "N-nothing—I'll be leaving now."

With that, she quickly left to avoid being discovered by the three of them—and she didn't want to get involved with Dumbledore's affairs for the time being.

Watching her retreating figure, Harry, Harry, and the others exchanged glances and then shrugged simultaneously.