The Prisoners of Hogwarts

Chapter 23 The Principal's Office and Before Going Out

"I need to borrow your Pensieve..."

Snape's voice brought Dumbledore's turbulent thoughts to a halt.

He looked at Snape and noticed the glass bottle he was clutching tightly in his hand.

"This is...?"

"Lily...about my last words..."

Snape kept his head down, his voice muffled.

Dumbledore frowned slightly; he instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

He tried to warn Snape that the authenticity of the so-called last words was questionable.

"Lily and James hid in Godric's Hollow for over a year without ever leaving, so Mr. Lynch couldn't possibly have known Lily's last words."

But Snape was already lost in his own thoughts and couldn't hear a word Dumbledore said.

He looked up, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore: "This was the last time Lynch and I spoke about my memories before she went into hiding, when Lynch visited her. After that, she went into hiding, and Lynch thought she wouldn't talk about me with anyone else anymore. I think he was right, so to me... these are Lily's last words about me!"

"Why would he give you this memory?" Dumbledore pressed.

"Because I will help him brew a potion."

"What potion?" Dumbledore stared into Snape's eyes.

Snape lowered his head again, looking at the glass bottle in his hand.

"It's a new potion recipe that I've never seen before. I don't know its specific effects yet, but I do know that it's likely to be harmful."

For some reason, he chose to be vague on this issue. He didn't know the specific effects, but he knew the general effects.

Seeing Snape with his head down, Dumbledore sighed silently, understanding that Snape wouldn't listen to any advice right now.

"Okay, I understand. The Pensieve is in that cabinet over there; you know how to use it. Now, I think there are some things I need to check out myself."

Dumbledore walked out the door, leaving Snape alone in the entire office, knowing that Snape wouldn't want anyone watching.

Snape stood quietly in the headmaster's office for quite a while.

Finally, he took a deep breath.

He walked to the cabinet that Dumbledore pointed to and reached out to pull it open.

A shallow stone basin with edges carved with inscriptions and mystical symbols appeared before him. Inside the basin was a silvery, luminous substance that resembled both liquid and gas—this was the meditation basin.

He picked up the glass bottle, uncorked it, and slowly poured the silver threads of memory into the silvery, luminous substance in the basin.

Snape took a deep breath and then buried his face in the basin.

......

Dumbledore left the headmaster's office, thought for a moment, and waved his elder wand. A silver Patronus shot out from his wand: "Nick, I need more detailed information about the dark wizard who intended to attack you."

The guardian spirit soared into the sky and quickly disappeared.

He began to wander around the castle, trying to find a suitable location to set a trap.

Finally, he reached the fourth floor and stood in the corridor on the right.

"This will do," he thought.

......

Lynch walked along the lake to the Forbidden Forest, and then walked for quite a while before finally returning to the stone house.

Totz had already prepared dinner, placed it on the table, covered it, and was waiting for him to return.

Lin Qi looked around the stone house.

The leather on the only single sofa was polished to a shine, and the ash in the fireplace had been cleaned out.

You can tell that the dining table and small square table were carefully wiped clean, and the floor tiles were even sprinkled with a little water after being carefully swept.

Nothing in the house was changed, yet it felt completely refreshed.

Lynch raised an eyebrow and called out, "Tortz!"

With a bang, Totz appeared in front of him.

Still dressed in the same cloth bag outfit as House-Elves, but now carrying a large brush.

"What are you doing?"

"Toltz is cleaning Mr. Lynch's bathroom! He'd only ever brought meals before, never really cleaned it properly! Now Thortz's going to give the whole house a thorough cleaning!"

Lynch stroked his chin: "Hmm, your diligence is commendable, but let's stop for now, go back to the castle, and get some rest. I hope to see you looking refreshed and energetic tomorrow."

Totz was delighted to receive Lynch's praise.

He bowed deeply to Lynch, then happily took the large brush and left.

As he watched Thors disappear outside the door, Lynch smelled a strange odor.

"Hmm... he just said he was cleaning the bathroom, and he was holding a big brush..."

"Snapped!"

Lin Qi snapped his fingers, and a gust of wind, centered on his snap, instantly spread outwards throughout the room, then condensed into a ball and squeezed out through the doorway.

Outside air was forced into the vacuum-filled room, and the strong airflow ruffled Lynch's hair.

"I'll have to emphasize the importance of proper transitions between work settings to him in the future..."

Lin Qi muttered to himself.

After dinner, Lin Qi sat down at his desk.

He unfolded a sheet of paper, pondered for a moment, and then began to use his sketching quill.

"Dear Reggie, I have received your list and information about the Chamber of Commerce's board of directors. After reviewing it, I have some new ideas regarding the handling of the existing board members."

When we made the plans back then, we did not foresee the unexpected situation that I would be imprisoned.

Leaving you alone to manage all the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, and facing an impasse and being unable to withstand the attack, bringing in members of the Twenty-Eight Pureblood Families to stabilize the situation was the right choice.

However, it must be said that it is precisely because of their resources and connections that the Shita Chamber of Commerce has been able to expand to its current size in just ten years.

If we kick them out now, while it will certainly solidify our control over the Chamber of Commerce, it will also cut off one of the Chamber's legs, slowing down our development and, in severe cases, even bringing it to a standstill.

This is undoubtedly something that neither you nor I can accept.

So I have a new idea. If it can be implemented smoothly, then our control over the Chamber of Commerce will not be weakened, and the power of the pure-blood family can continue to be used by us. The only drawback of this plan is that it will sacrifice your authority within the Chamber of Commerce.

The plan is as follows: ......

After folding the letter in half, Lin Qi opened the middle drawer of the desk.

Put the letter in and close the drawer.

Lin Qi reached out and turned the hourglass on the corner of the table upside down where the sand had stopped falling. He silently counted to three and then turned the hourglass upside down again.

The sand in the hourglass began to fall again.

......

For the next few days, Lynch lived a very regular life.

Every morning, after getting up on time and eating the breakfast prepared by Torts, he would go for a walk in the Forbidden Forest. During this time, Torts would do some housework while Lynch was away.

During his walks, he would pick some magical herbs whenever he saw them. It must be said that the Forbidden Forest is quite rich in resources. Lynch even found a few feathers of the Silent Bird, but because they had been shed for too long, their effectiveness had been greatly reduced when he picked them up.

After lunch, Lynch would not go out again.

He would go into his small alchemy room to optimize and improve the crow, but unfortunately it was just some icing on the cake, without any major functional breakthroughs.

After dinner, he would sit on the sofa and read for a while before going to bed.

And so, the fifth day arrived.

After having breakfast, Lynch did not go for a walk in the Forbidden Forest, but instead headed towards the castle.

"Knock knock knock"

He knocked on the door.

The wooden door opened silently, and Snape's gloomy face appeared before Lynch.