On Friday afternoon, the large faculty lounge was empty of people other than Armostat and Professor Frivelli. They stood in the middle of a plot in the room, pointing at a chair.
"I'm certainly no match for spells of this kind, Ammosta. If you want to make things look more realistic, I think it would be best for you to consult Miller with questions!"
Professor Frivelli was twisting his neck and making a distressed face.
"You know, Professor Frivelli, Headmistress McGonagall has never been in favor of using such things to frighten students. I reckon she would be unlikely to help on this matter --"
Ammosta scratched his head in distress, pondered for a moment, and then waved his wand, subtly adjusting the rhythm of magical energy input. On the foundation of the original creation, he added two magical corridors for energy transmission. The chair in the middle between them gradually transformed; its seat curved upwards, two of its four legs transformed into arms, and two into legs. Soon, a tall man with a body covered in muscular strength and a formidable and terrifying face appeared in the faculty lounge.
Frivelli Professor did not comment on the man that Ammosta had created, but instead continued to watch patiently.
Ammosta continued to move his wand, and along with the input of magic power, the appearance of this man began to undergo a dramatic change. His once straight back began to hunch over, and his smooth skin appeared to be smeared with an excessive amount of hair agent, growing out coarse black hairs that were thick and stiff as wild boar bristles. His square face gradually transformed into a wedge shape, his white and neat teeth became irregular in shape, with canines more pointed; his eyes became more malevolent, and an aura of bloodlust emanated from every part of his body.
"Very good, Ammosta. At least, if I hadn't known beforehand... oh, there's a detail; after the werewolf transforms, his pupils also contract accordingly."
"Oh, thank you!"
Ammosta waved his wand, adjusting the subtle detail that wasn't easy to notice. He controlled the 'werewolf' to walk around the faculty dormitory, displaying defensive poses when threatened and offensive actions when hunting.
"How did you deal with that attacking werewolf back then, Ammosta?"
Frivelli Professor quickly climbed up onto a table, watching excitedly as Ammosta adjusted the movements of this 'wolfman'.
"I guess you didn't have a silver dagger with you back then?"
"You guessed it, Professor Frivelli?"
Ammosta lightly laughed and smiled, crossing his arms in front of his chest, digging through his memory for the details of a werewolf's body movements.
"It wasn't that complicated, really. There were about a dozen werewolves trying to cause trouble for me at the time. I used a combination spell, adding a magic fire similar to inferno to the metal javelins that had been turned from stones, and directly pierced their hearts. This magic completely blocked their powerful regenerative abilities. None of them lasted more than half a minute under this spell; they all turned to ashes..."
"Actually, there are many spells that could be useful for them, but some may bring me trouble... back then, I was still relatively young, and the strict prohibitions of the Magic Department still had some effect on me..."
"Ammosta..."
Professor Frivelli's mind conjured up an image of Ammosta slaughtering the group of fierce werewolves, and he shivered several times in discomfort. Before he could continue asking, the door to the faculty dormitory was suddenly flung open, and a senior Ravenclaw girl rushed in with a look of terror.
It was Percy's girlfriend, the head of Ravenclaw house, Penelope Clearwater!
Ammosta quickly waved his wand before the door could open all the way, reverting the werewolf back to its original form. He stared at the handsome brown curls of Penelope that were almost drenched in sweat, a sense of foreboding stirring in his heart.
"Miss Clearwater, perhaps you should explain why you came into the faculty lounge without knocking!"
Professor Frivelli was a well-tempered person, but seeing someone from his own college acting so disrespectfully in front of another professor still made him blush a little.
"Professor Frivelli, and Professor Brae --"
Penelope's eyes were glistening with tears, as if she had been quite frightened.
"Another student has run into trouble... hmm, it's a secret room!"
Professor Frivelli screamed in shock, almost falling off the table. Ammosta narrowed his eyes and asked in a deep voice,
"Please clarify a bit more, Miss Clearwater. What is your source of information, who was attacked, and what is the current condition of the student who was attacked?"
Penelope's body trembled as she whispered sobs, and it took Ammosta gentle words and soothing for her to calm down a little.
"--We were just in the middle of a Transfiguration lesson when Filch burst into the classroom to notify Professor McGonagall that another student had been attacked. We ran out after him, and Filch led us to the place where Lorris was attacked. There was a message on the wall -- her bones will remain in the secret room forever --"
As she said this, Penelope sobbed uncontrollably. Professor Frivelli came over and gently patted her back with the tips of his toes, encouraging her to continue speaking.
"Professor McGonagall quickly conducted an investigation and found that it was Percy's younger sister, Ginny Weasley, a first-year Ravenclaw student, who had vanished..."
Ginny Weasley?
That little girl who seemed a bit sickly and always lacked energy the last few weeks?
Ammosta's eyes were serious, but why was it her?
"Ammosta!" Professor Frivelli shrieked.
Ammosta nodded, understanding what Professor Frivelli meant. He instructed Penelope not to wander around the castle alone and to stay with the professors as much as possible, then left the faculty dormitory without looking back.
When he came out, he found that most of the little wizards already knew what had happened. Everyone had a worried expression on their faces, as if they were facing a great crisis.
Ammosta rushed to the third floor of the castle and found Filch pushing all the little wizards who wanted to see that message firsthand back to their respective houses' common rooms. Inside, Professor Snape was trying to erase the message when he noticed Ammosta striding towards him and immediately spoke in a deep, low voice.
"Professor Dumbledore has checked here and found nothing. Moreover, he discovered that someone used a powerful freezing spell to freeze all your panoramic telescopes. He's not sure if, under these circumstances, your surveillance is still recording any valuable footage..."
Ammosta nodded, as if it wasn't surprising to him.
"I'll check them later. Those telescopes can form memories and automatically transfer the recorded images to my office. I didn't feel anyone break into my office, so I think the images should still be intact..."
Now, the sky outside was pitch-black. Ammosta gazed at the darkness outside the window, feeling as if this castle was caught in a trap. Yet, there was also a sense of relief that something long awaited had finally come to pass.
The inheritor of the secret room has finally begun to act again, and this time, he hasn't just petrified a student; he has directly abducted Ginny Weasley, the sister of Bill and Charlie. To be honest, Ammosta had already sentenced this girl to death in his heart.
Taking someone's life requires just one spell, and after a few hours, Ginny Weasley's body might have already gone cold.
An unexplained anger bubbled up from the depths of Ammosta's heart. In addition to being the Head of the Board of Governors' Inspectorate, he also held the title of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. The heir of Slytherin had practically attacked his student in front of him, which gave Ammosta a sense of offense.
"Where is Professor Dumbledore?"
Ammosta retracted his gaze and looked back at Professor Snape, who also had an equally worried look in his eyes.
"Lucius Malfoy has invited the Ministry of Magic to get involved in this matter on behalf of the Board of Governors. They've been incredibly efficient this time... I heard that they were talking with Cornelius Fudge in his office, and they're planning to take Hagrid away."
"Hasn't Hagrid already been proven innocent?" Ammosta furrowed his brow, "Why do they still insist on holding him?"
"Only Dumbledore and we believe--"
Snape pursed his thin lips, looking grim.
"When faced with pressure, Cornelius Fudge is a weak-willed person who has to do something to defend himself against public opinion!"
Ammosta's eyes flashed with light, and he seemed to be pondering something. After a while, he finally spoke up.
"I'd better go and find out what Dumbledore is up to..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
