Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle

Melvin hesitated for a moment, then decided to pretend: "So what kind of room can help me?"

"There are two types of magical rooms in the Room of Requirement. One is completely fake. Everything inside is imaginary and magically fabricated. It only exists inside the room and has no objective entity. It follows Gamp's Law of Transfiguration and cannot be taken out of the room. The other is half-real. The interior of the room is fake, but the items provided are real. Some of these items were stored here by former teachers and students, and some were collected and stored here by the house-elves who clean and organize."

Melvin now understood: "So what I need is the once prohibited item."

Dumbledore nodded, a smile on his face.

Melvin narrowed his eyes at him. "Decades later, these things have been confiscated. The students who trusted you were truly wrong."

"..."

Dumbledore's smile faltered, and he seemed a little ashamed.

Melvin stopped attacking the principal's conscience and turned to face the wall, imagining the scene he needed:

The secret room where many prohibited items are stored is hidden enough to avoid being discovered...

After walking back and forth three times, as he took the last step, a circle of dust ripples appeared on the surface of the rough stone brick wall, as if ripples were spreading, and a smooth, ordinary, dark-colored wooden door quietly appeared.

"Let's go into the secret room and look for those dangerous and terrifying treasures."

Ignoring Dumbledore's nervous mutterings, Melvin grasped the knob and twisted it without any resistance.

With a little force, he pushed the door open and walked in.

The interior of the room is more spacious than one would imagine. Rather than being an inconspicuous secret storage room, it is more like a warehouse with invisible boundaries.

The dome had a glass skylight, its surface caked with stains and dust, congealing into a substance almost like sludge, blocking out all external light. The gemstones inlaid in the dome and its pillars emitted a dim glow, blending with the faint light emitted by the unidentified objects piled around it. Instead of illuminating the room, it distorted and dispersed the focus of the pupils, further dimming the vision.

Fortunately, there was no mold or moss, and the only smell in the air was the old, stained parchment, which was barely acceptable.

【Fluorescent flash】

A soft silver light lit up, illuminating the room.

What caught the eye was a mountain of debris. Old and worn furniture was stacked up and fitted together to form a frame. Metal utensils, armor, and magical items of various shapes served as the main structure, and old and yellowed parchment books filled the gaps, forming endless hills of debris.

"The Great Wizards of the Seventeenth Century," the Golden Snitch and Quaffle, a round table from Carpenter's Furniture Store in 1774, a worm-eaten oak cauldron, a dusty knight statue...

There were indeed some objects that exuded a cursed aura, but the magic was very weak, like a lamp that had run out of fuel and could be extinguished by a breeze.

Melvin looked at the junk and said with some disappointment: "I don't think there is anything in here that can help me."

"Treasure hunting adventures require plenty of patience..."

Dumbledore walked into the room first, stepped over several piles of debris, and walked around like a maze to an inconspicuous corner. These messy things were almost piled up into an alley.

He pointed to a dark mass and said, "Look at this."

It was a strange-shaped square object, at least several dozen feet high. If placed in an ordinary classroom, it would almost reach the ceiling. It was supported by a base underneath, like a wardrobe, but not as thick.

Only after looking closely did I realize it was a mirror.

The frames on both sides were covered with dust and their original appearance could not be seen. The faint golden color could be distinguished as brass. The middle part of the mirror seemed to have been simply wiped, revealing a line of cursive inscriptions on the top.

"Eris Stella..."

Melvin read two words and then immediately realized it, reciting it in reverse and whispering, "I do not show you your face, but the deepest desires of your heart."

Looking towards the center of the mirror, his face was not reflected, but an equally dim room. He leaned on the sofa and pressed the remote control. In front of him was not an ultra-thin LCD TV, but a huge CRT TV.

A thick silver snake was curled up next to the sofa, with horns growing on its forehead.

Melvin had an expression that said, "As expected." Those distant memories deep in his soul were his secrets, invisible to the Sorting Hat and the Mirror of Erised.

The TV in the mirror was playing The Simpsons, and the picture quality was pretty good. He squinted his eyes and stared at it carefully for a while, waiting for Dumbledore to come in front of him before looking away.

"What did you see?"

"Personal privacy, sorry for not telling."

Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, then reacted, smiled and shook his head: "Okay."

"What did the principal see in the mirror?"

"I'm sorry, but I'll keep it a secret for now." Dumbledore stared at the mirror for a moment, then spoke to himself. "I found this during the school cleanup before term started. This mirror is magical and too large to be easily moved using Transfiguration. I plan to move it after the students leave for Christmas break and use it as a classroom teaching aid. Perhaps I can put it to good use."

"..."

Tutoring Potter, huh?

Melvin glanced at the inscription above and looked up.

The sight came into view of the towering dusty statues of knights, the dull metal armor, and the ornaments placed on top.

Things like lances, helmets, crowns, etc.

Chapter 26 The Raven Living in the Crown

The illumination spell emitted a silver-like glow. Melvin raised his head slightly, but did not find the shadow of the sapphire crown he remembered. Instead, he saw a bunch of dusty ornaments.

Confirming once again that the crown in his memory was in this room, Melvin took two steps to make room and continued his search.

The piles of old items here are numerous and messy, and the hills stacked and embedded in each other are too unsightly. Metal armor and knight statues seem to be embedded in the pile of debris, and the dust on the surface almost obscures their original appearance. In addition, the room is dimly lit, so you need to walk closer and observe carefully to see the outline of the accessories and guess whether it is a crown or a mask.

In addition, there are indeed crown-like ornaments on the armor and statues, and you need to carefully identify whether there is the Ravenclaw eagle wing logo.

Melvin stopped to observe for a moment, then moved towards other piles of debris.

Dumbledore was staring at the reflection inside the Mirror of Erised. He looked away with a hint of reluctance, not knowing why Melvin was behaving strangely, but he followed slowly.

In fact, he really liked the style of the pair of wool socks in the mirror. The color and pattern were very beautiful, especially when Ariana wore them.

"You seem to be looking for something. Do you have a target?" Dumbledore asked.

"Just take a look. Like you said, be patient..."

Melvin carefully searched the nearby junk pile for ornaments, leaving a trail of footprints on the dusty floor. "Sir, have you searched this warehouse carefully? There might be something unexpected hidden inside."

"I come here occasionally when I can't sleep, but I prefer to go to the tower to admire the moon, or go to the kitchen downstairs to have a cup of hot cocoa." Dumbledore looked around and didn't find anything unusual, so he kept his attention on Melvin.

"It's really hard to count the things that have been hidden by the teachers and students of Hogwarts for nearly a thousand years."

"..."

Dumbledore nodded slightly, somewhat curious but not asking further questions, showing plenty of patience.

After walking like this for about ten minutes, he saw Melvin stop in front of a pile of junk. This pile of junk didn't look special, just like any other pile of stuff in the room: old wooden furniture, yellowed old books, a damaged peephole, a slightly twitching Quaffle...

But as he approached the pile of debris, a strange feeling came over him.

His intuition, accumulated from nearly a hundred years of magic and talent, was warning him.

Melvin stopped at a dusty metal armor and looked up at the raised lance and the crown beside it. "I've always wondered, Ravenclaw's name stems from raven, so why is her symbol an eagle?"

Dumbledore followed his gaze, his eyes widening slightly.

It was a dusty crown, with an eagle's wings spread out. A gem was set in its belly, shimmering with a misty blue light. The words engraved on the side were blurred, but Dumbledore knew what it said without having to read it:

"Extraordinary wisdom is mankind's most precious treasure."

The crown lay quietly on top of the armor's head.

Dumbledore put away his usual calm and gentle appearance, as if he had sensed some unusual magic, his expression became serious and steady. He approached the crown cautiously and casually waved a whirlwind to sweep away the dust.

The sapphire revealed its original luster and was crystal clear, but the center was a little dark, as deep as the bottom of a black lake.

Dumbledore looked at it carefully for a moment, then cast several spells in succession:

[Original shape appears]

【Evil test】

"..."

After confirming again and again that there was no vicious curse or poison on it, Dumbledore carefully took off the crown and placed it in a wooden box inlaid with silver wire. Only then did he begin to consider how to explain it to Melvin beside him.

"I should thank you, Melvin, on behalf of Ms. Rowena Ravenclaw, on behalf of all Hogwarts..."

"Let me guess, you don't feel like explaining your gratitude?"

“That’s what I originally thought…”

Dumbledore's blue eyes flickered, and he quickly made up his mind: "But you are the one who found the crown that has been missing for a thousand years. If I hide the truth from you, I will not be able to sleep tonight."

A relieved smile appeared on his face, and he winked at Melvin. "Please be considerate of the centenarian's sleep quality. In order to meet the goddess of luck again in the future, you should at least reveal some information... That's what I think."

"I'm happy to listen."

"This story begins a long time ago. Let me think..."

Dumbledore chose his words carefully. "The four founders of Hogwarts achieved extraordinary accomplishments in various fields of magic. After the school was established, they synthesized their understanding of magic and created several extraordinary artifacts for posterity. These include the Hufflepuff cup, the Ravenclaw diadem, and even more artifacts left by Slytherin. However, most of these have been lost to history."

"What about Gryffindor?"

"..."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, as if he found it difficult to speak. "Gryffindor commissioned the Goblin King Ragnark I to forge a sword, a symbol of indomitable courage. It remains at Hogwarts to this day, and only those with courage can wield it."

"This isn't right."

Melvin knew of the sword's existence, of course. He was just curious about something else: "The goblins claim that all goblin-forged objects belong to the Goblin Kingdom. Given their greedy nature, would they let the sword stay in Hogwarts?"

"Gryffindor has the right to use the sword for twenty years."

"What about twenty years from now?"

"Twenty years later the Goblin King sent his subjects to try and get the sword back, but they failed."

"Your stories about the past are really well-written and concise..." Melvin savored the omitted parts and thought it was very Gryffindor.

"The four founders each left behind a treasure, and then what?"

"Gryffindor's sword has always been kept at Hogwarts, Ravenclaw's diadem was lost long ago, and the other two founders' treasures have been passed down to their descendants. Many changes have occurred over the past thousand years, but overall it was relatively stable until fifty years ago..."

Dumbledore stared at the wooden box in his hand with a profound look: "This story is too complicated, Melvin, don't think that I, an old fellow, am too long-winded. Let's start with the Hufflepuff cup.

"This golden cup was collected by the witch Hepzibah Smith, the last direct descendant of Helga Hufflepuff. In the winter of 1950, poor Hepzibah was poisoned to death at home. The Ministry of Magic Aurors quickly solved the case and found that the murderer was her house-elf.

"The elf named Hokey, who was as old as she was and had dim eyesight, slipped a rare and deadly poison into her cocoa as icing sugar. The court of inquiry found him guilty and imprisoned him for life in Azkaban.

"At the same time, Hepzibah's relatives discovered that her two most precious treasures were missing: Hufflepuff's gold cup and a locket left by Slytherin... Why Slytherin's locket ended up in Hepzibah's hands is another story, and I'll tell you someday.

"Back to the mysterious disappearance of the two treasures. Everyone was puzzled, including me, so I visited Hao Qi in prison and got a vague memory from her, which led to another person, an old acquaintance of mine.

"He is a wizard obsessed with the pursuit of dark magic power. He worships Slytherin to the extreme and his soul is completely corrupted. I have sufficient reason to believe that he murdered Hepzibah in order to obtain Slytherin's relics and framed the innocent elf.