Chapter Sixty: The Mana Node Destroyed Once More

"Miss Carlotta Pinkstone, what are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked in surprise.

"Albus, who is she?" Professor Slughorn inquired.

"A fifth-year Gryffindor student," Dumbledore replied gravely to Professor Slughorn's question, then turned to Pinkstone. "Miss Pinkstone, what are you doing here?"

Pinkstone's expression was somewhat bewildered, then suddenly turned to terror as she trembled and said, "Professor, am I going to be expelled?"

Dumbledore's brow furrowed even deeper. He stepped forward and asked, "Miss Pinkstone, calm yourself. We need to know what you were just doing here."

Pinkstone gripped her head with both hands, closing her eyes in distress, struggling to recall, "I... I don't know... I think I just stuck something to the castle wall..."

Dumbledore tried to keep his tone gentle, though the urgency was unmistakable. "Think carefully now—where exactly did you stick it?"

Pinkstone raised a trembling hand and pointed to the painting before her.

Where she indicated hung a seemingly ordinary oil painting. It depicted nothing but a golden goblet, gleaming, with two ornate pure gold handles and intricate symbolic carvings upon its body.

Dumbledore waved his wand, lifting the painting from the wall.

Behind it, the wall revealed a shocking sight!

The thick pale grey marble was stained as though splashed by inky blackness, sinister tendrils of dark mist curling outward from the stain, as if the darkness would continue to spread.

Even the back of the oil painting was tainted by this evil aura.

"Such vile Dark magic!" Professor Slughorn drew a sharp breath, turning to Pinkstone with severity. "What exactly did you stick to the wall?"

Pinkstone slumped into the corner, hugging her knees, murmuring helplessly, "I don't know... I truly don't know..."

Observing Pinkstone's distress, Professor Slughorn sighed and pulled a potion from his pocket, handing it to her. "A calming draught. Take it—it may steady your nerves."

Pinkstone shakily accepted the potion and swallowed it in one gulp.

After drinking, her complexion seemed to improve.

Seeing this, Dumbledore addressed Professor Slughorn with grave urgency: "Horace! Our first priority is to deal with this Dark magic. Everything else can wait!"

"Understood." Professor Slughorn nodded. "We mustn't let it spread any further."

The two raised their wands, streams of silvery magic pressing against the malignant black stain, causing it to shrink and weaken.

Watching the traces of Dark magic before them, Siwen suddenly thought of something and asked, "Professor, if this is another magic node, how many intact magic nodes remain in the castle?"

"There should still be quite a few," Professor Slughorn mused uncertainly.

...

"Only two remain!"

Meanwhile, in the Hall of Ghosts, Helena gave an exact answer.

"Much of the castle's construction was overseen by my mother, and I've learned a thing or two from her," Helena explained. "Hogwarts Castle itself is a wondrous product of alchemy. The magic nodes, simply put, are hubs of magical flow left by the four founders—including my mother—when they built the castle. Each founder left one such hub."

"There are many parts of the castle that rely on the circulation of magical power to function smoothly, and most of this magic must be routed through the nodes. If one node is damaged, the castle can generally continue to operate as usual, but the effects multiply with each additional node lost. Now that two have been destroyed, many functions will have failed within the castle."

Siwen nodded inwardly. According to the house elf Buddy, many kitchen implements had already ceased to work.

"When the third magic node is destroyed, the castle's magical system will suffer a severe blow—half the castle will be paralyzed," Helena continued. "If all four nodes are lost, Hogwarts' own magic will utterly dissipate, leaving only an ordinary structure!"

"With the nodes being destroyed one after another, aren't you anxious?" Ghostly Siwen frowned at Helena.

"I'm only a ghost—what use is anxiety to me?" Helena smiled bitterly, shaking her head, her expression mournful.

"No!" Siwen interrupted her, resolute. "Even ghosts have their unique roles."

"I believe it's time we break a rule."

...

In the corridor on the first basement level, Headmaster Dippet and a number of professors arrived, most having felt the earlier tremors.

"Albus, what's the situation?" Headmaster Dippet stepped forward.

"Not good," Dumbledore replied, shaking his head with a sigh. "The Dark magic can indeed be cleansed, but the magic node behind the wall has been completely corrupted."

Headmaster Dippet's face turned grim.

At that moment, many young witches and wizards poked their heads into the corridor from the entrance, evidently curious as to why all the professors had abruptly left the Halloween feast.

Their arrival made the corridor noisy.

"Galatea, send them back to their common rooms," Headmaster Dippet said irritably to Professor Merrythought.

Professor Merrythought nodded and strode toward the crowd of overly curious students. Her voice rang from the end of the corridor:

"All prefects, lead your housemates back to your respective common rooms immediately. Anyone lingering after ten minutes will be dealt with for breaking school rules!"

With Professor Merrythought's words, the prefects' voices organizing discipline followed, and the students' chatter gradually faded.

"Why are you still here, Mr. Rosier?" Headmaster Dippet noticed Siwen lingering and asked, "Do you want points deducted or detention?"

Siwen shook his head, meeting the headmaster's gaze directly. "Headmaster, I have something to report."

Headmaster Dippet frowned. "Sorry, Rosier. We have more pressing matters now. Can yours wait?"

Siwen stood his ground. "What if I say what I have to report is directly related to what you're dealing with?"

"Armando, let him speak," Dumbledore suddenly interjected.

Headmaster Dippet gave Dumbledore a long look, then turned back to Siwen, his voice steely: "Go on then, Mr. Rosier."

"The culprit behind the destruction of the magic nodes is Professor Lore!"

Siwen pronounced each word with deliberate clarity.

...

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