Chapter Fifty-Nine: Carlotta Pinkstone

Xiwen had finally pieced together the truth; now he was desperate to inform the professor. Ignoring the curious glances from the other young wizards, he strode straight toward the staff table, circling around from the side of the platform, until he stood beside the headmaster's seat near the center of the long table.

Professor Slughorn saw Xiwen approaching and greeted him with a warm smile. "Ah, Xiwen! How are you enjoying the Halloween feast?"

"Pretty well, Professor," Xiwen replied absentmindedly.

He glanced at his own smiling head of house, then at the surprised Gryffindor head, and felt it inappropriate to address Dumbledore alone in front of Professor Slughorn. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to share his suspicions with both heads.

"Professor Slughorn, Professor Dumbledore," he said, looking at them. "I have something important to tell you."

Both professors were taken aback, but nodded graciously. After notifying Headmaster Dippet, they followed Xiwen to a quiet corner of the hall.

Standing behind a giant pumpkin, Xiwen got straight to the point. "Professor, I think I know who cast the Confundus Charm on me."

"What? Someone cast the Confundus Charm on you?" Slughorn exclaimed in shock, his reaction somewhat exaggerated.

"What’s going on?" he looked at Dumbledore for explanation.

Dumbledore’s expression grew serious. "Who was it?" he asked in a low voice.

Xiwen stared at their faces and said, syllable by syllable, "It was Professor Lore."

"Xiwen, you must understand, accusing a professor without evidence is a grave matter," Slughorn said sternly, clearly struggling to believe it. "If you reconsider now, we can pretend we heard nothing."

Xiwen shook his head. "Professor, I’m not making baseless accusations."

Dumbledore frowned. "How certain are you?"

"At least ninety percent sure," Xiwen replied solemnly.

"But Claude said he had a fever, didn't he? He should be in the infirmary right now," Slughorn said nervously, dabbing at the sweat on his greasy forehead with a handkerchief.

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "Let’s go to the infirmary and see if he’s there."

…

The three—two adults and one child—hurried up the stairs toward the hospital wing on the fourth floor.

But as soon as they stepped onto the main tower’s staircase, a faint tremor echoed through the castle.

"What just happened?" Slughorn paused, looking to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore stopped as well, shaking his head. "I don’t know. I hope it’s not what I fear."

Xiwen shook his head internally; he suspected Professor Lore had already succeeded.

"It must be underground," Slughorn recalled, then said.

Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "It seems to have come from the first basement."

They quickly changed course, deciding to investigate the direction of the tremor first.

"Xiwen, I want you to return to the hall. What’s about to happen could be dangerous," Dumbledore told him.

Xiwen refused, retorting, "But we’re inside the castle, and with both heads beside me, surely nothing can harm me!"

Slughorn, realizing Xiwen wanted to come along, considered for a moment and then said to Dumbledore, "Albus, Xiwen is right. With the two of us, there’s no danger. Besides, he’s involved in this."

Time was short, and Dumbledore couldn’t argue further. He agreed, but added, "If there’s danger, you must stay close to us—don’t wander off!"

They descended the main tower staircase to the first basement, near the kitchens, where they found dozens of house-elves scurrying about in panic. Their behavior was utterly unlike their usual purposeful manner, making the abnormality clear.

Xiwen spotted the house-elf who had often brought him meals—the one he usually asked for favors.

"Buddy?" Xiwen called, stopping him. "What happened here? Why are you all in such chaos?"

"Honored wizard, I never thought you’d remember my name! Buddy is so moved!" The elf wiped his eyes, touched.

"Just now, part of the kitchen equipment suddenly broke down, and Buddy couldn’t find a way to fix it. Buddy is a useless house-elf!" he said, utterly dejected.

Xiwen glanced at the two professors, seeing their faces grim.

"Buddy, it’s not your fault. A villain broke the castle’s magical node; the kitchen’s malfunction might be related," Xiwen turned to comfort him.

But Buddy grew even more distraught, sobbing, "The castle was damaged, and Buddy didn’t notice. Buddy is an irresponsible house-elf!"

He began banging his head against the wall, muttering, "Bad Buddy! Bad Buddy!..."

"Buddy, stop!" Xiwen had no choice but to intervene forcefully, then looked pleadingly at the professors.

Dumbledore quickly took over, giving Buddy a new task to distract him. "Buddy, here’s a new mission. We need you to show us any signs of damage nearby."

Given a purpose, Buddy wiped his tears and diligently led the trio through the first basement corridor, searching for suspicious traces.

It was a wide stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, decorated everywhere with pleasant paintings—mostly of food.

Xiwen noticed an especially large painting: a huge silver bowl filled with fruit. He knew that if he scratched the big green pear inside, it would transform into a green door handle, opening to the Hogwarts kitchen. He’d been here many times these past two months and was well acquainted.

Just then, Professor Slughorn suddenly pulled Xiwen behind him, and he and Dumbledore simultaneously raised their wands toward the painting.

Xiwen was startled; he scrutinized the painting but saw nothing amiss.

But the heads would not be mistaken. Dumbledore addressed the painting: "Claude, show yourself. You have no escape now."

With his left hand shielding Xiwen, Slughorn deftly cast a spell, while Dumbledore did the same.

Xiwen recognized the two silent spells: the Revealing Charm and the Disarming Charm.

Both spells struck the area before the painting; the Disarming Charm retrieved the opponent’s wand, and the Revealing Charm exposed a figure from invisibility.

However, it wasn’t Professor Claude Lore as Xiwen had expected, but a black-haired witch he didn’t recognize.

Seeing her, Dumbledore’s eyes widened in astonishment. "Miss Carlotta Pinkstone, what are you doing here?"

…