Chapter 156: Sorting Hat: "Azkaban!"

Grindelwald regards Muggles as equals, but he always stands on the side of wizards.

In fact, it is precisely because Grindelwald can see the strengths of Muggles that he pays more attention to Muggles, knows more clearly that the Statute of Secrecy needs to be broken, and understands more that the wizarding world needs change. If the opportunity is not seized, the situation of wizards will only get worse.

From the standpoint of wizards, he is not wrong, but he is too radical and his methods are too bloody.

Traditional wizards are too conservative.

Regarding the relationship between wizards and Muggles, Cyrus does not stand on the side of wizards, because he was a Muggle without magic in his previous life. Of course, if the war between wizards and Muggles really breaks out one day, he may not fight for Muggles.

He has no feelings for the Muggles in this world, and it can even be said that he has no connection with them.

He did not think much about this issue, but stepped onto the spiral elevator.

There is no danger in the headmaster's office now, unless Dumbledore uses the time turner to leave another of himself waiting for him in the office.

This possibility is very low, and even if it does happen, Cyrus is not very afraid. Now is different from a few months ago in the Shrieking Shack. It is impossible to defeat Dumbledore, but he is still confident that he can just escape.

The elevator took Cyrus to the headmaster's office.

"Tom Riddle!" A sharp voice sounded.

"Shut up, Phineas!"

The portraits on the wall were very surprised by Cyrus' sudden visit.

"Quick! Who will go find Dumbledore!"

No one responded, but it was obvious that the headmasters in several portraits were ready to leave here and report to Dumbledore.

Cyrus would not ignore the portraits this time.

"I need you all to stay here for a while."

He looked around and immediately cast a spell to imprison the people in the portraits, temporarily locking them in the photo frame in the headmaster's office and unable to leave. But he did not let down his guard, because at this moment, on the table, there was a small and beautiful red bird looking at him.

This is the phoenix raised by Dumbledore, Fawkes.

It looked small, but in fact the Phoenix was related to the Thunderbird, which was as big as a dragon.

Cyrus would not underestimate its power just because of its size. Not to mention that it could bring Dumbledore to him in the blink of an eye.

"Good evening, Fawkes." Cyrus greeted him in a familiar manner, but Fawkes just looked at him in surprise without making any move.

It didn't seem to have any intention of leaving here to inform Dumbledore, and leaned against the shelf and closed its eyes.

He probably felt that Cyrus had a blood affinity with him, which made him feel that he was not a bad person.

The headmasters in the portraits, unable to leave, caused a ruckus that quickly escalated into a shouting match.

The old headmaster from the Black family naturally bore the brunt of the collective verbal assault from the other headmasters. Soon, under Cyrus's watchful gaze, they fell silent, each closing their eyes and pretending to be dead—which, for most of them, was not far from the truth, as they had been dead for many years.

Taking his eyes off the portraits, Cyrus surveyed the furnishings in the headmaster's office. Everything was almost exactly as he remembered. He slowly walked over to the claw-footed desk, where Fawkes affectionately pecked at the back of his hand, a far cry from the tense encounter they had in the Shrieking Shack.

Cyrus began to pace slowly around the office, searching for any secret passageways that might lead to the Hall of Knowledge 'Athenaeum'.

The figures in the portraits, while pretending to be asleep, were all nervously watching his every move.

"Revelio!"

He waved his wand, and magic filled every corner of the headmaster's office, exposing all the room's secrets to Cyrus.

*Crack—*

The peculiar desk suddenly made a crisp sound, as if something inside it had broken. Following that, one of the desk drawers popped open slightly, revealing a sliver of silver light.

The passage to the Hall of Knowledge was inside the drawer?

Cyrus paused, feeling an unexpected sense of déjà vu, almost like a scene out of "Doraemon."

A time tunnel, perhaps?

Cyrus carefully approached the desk, wary of any protective enchantments that might have been set on it. However, one advantage of dealing with a white wizard like Dumbledore was that he wouldn't resort to dark magic, unlike Voldemort who often left curses on certain objects. Curses, after all, are a form of dark magic, categorized into curses, hexes, and jinxes.

The three Unforgivable Curses are all classified as curses.

Despite this, Cyrus remained extremely cautious, adhering to the principle that it's better to be safe than sorry.

He didn't directly touch the drawer. Instead, he cast several general counter-curses first, then used a levitation charm to open the drawer.

His eyes widened instantly.

Inside the drawer wasn't a secret passage to the Hall of Knowledge, nor was it a time machine out of "Doraemon," but a silver diadem!

—Ravenclaw's Diadem!

"Dumbledore didn't destroy it?" Cyrus was full of surprise.

Dumbledore had spent most of his life fighting Voldemort, and Cyrus couldn't think of any reason why he would keep a Horcrux after discovering it. Unless—

"Unless he intended to study this Horcrux to find Voldemort's other Horcruxes."

Cyrus pondered for a moment.

The book *Advanced Dark Arts*, which documented the dark magic of Horcruxes, was currently in Dumbledore's office. The old man must have read it many times, trying to find a way to break the Horcrux enchantment.

He might understand Horcruxes better than Voldemort himself.

There is a connection between a Horcrux and its original body, based on the existence of the soul. Perhaps Dumbledore believed that the Horcruxes might also be connected to each other in some way.

But what he didn't know was that this connection had been severed on that fateful night years ago.

Now, the only Horcrux still connected to Voldemort was Harry.

Cyrus picked up the diadem and examined it closely.

The last time he lost the diadem, he felt it was a great pity. He had enjoyed conversing with the soul fragment inside it, which had even helped him immensely by enabling him to create the Philosopher's Stone.

Cyrus certainly wouldn't pass up such a treasure. The wisdom of the diadem might provide him with significant assistance.

He put the diadem away.

Seeing this action, the portraits of the former headmasters couldn't continue pretending to sleep. They started sighing and complaining.

Most of them had watched Dumbledore struggle against Voldemort all this time, finally making some progress by obtaining a Horcrux, only for Cyrus to steal it again!

"I warned Dumbledore to destroy it sooner!" Phineas covered his mustachioed face, complaining.

"Come on, you were the first to support Dumbledore keeping that thing," Armando said. "You even said that Cyrus wasn't a bad person because he helped clear your great-great-grandson's name!"

Phineas had no reply to that.

Armando Dippet looked at Cyrus with a complicated expression.

Fifty years ago, it was because of this student that he had been forced to resign.

At the time, Armando hadn't seen through Tom Riddle's true nature, believing Tom to be a talented and unfortunate child.

"I'll be taking the diadem," Cyrus said, glancing at the portraits. He added deliberately, "When you get the chance, tell Dumbledore this: he shouldn't take what doesn't belong to him."

Cyrus was responding to what Dumbledore had said in the Shrieking Shack. 

Of course, in reality, he himself wasn't the rightful owner of the diadem either.

Having obtained the Horcrux, Cyrus was quite satisfied with the outcome of his visit to the headmaster's office.

Thinking about it carefully, except for Harry and Slytherin's locket, he had already collected all the Horcruxes.

The diadem, the ring, the cup, and even himself.

'I need to find time to get the locket too,' Cyrus thought.

Having collected so many Horcruxes, leaving one still out there made him feel uneasy. Moreover, Cyrus had a strange feeling that these Horcruxes might be useful in the future.

After acquiring the diadem, Cyrus didn't choose to leave immediately.

Harry hadn't yet signaled him, and there was still plenty of time before the banquet ended. Moreover, he hadn't found the location of the Athenaeum.

His gaze wandered around the office and finally landed on a hat.

—The Sorting Hat.

As a hat that existed since Gryffindor's time, perhaps it knew the castle's secrets?

The Sorting Hat seemed to notice Cyrus's gaze, and a human-like, frightened expression appeared on its face.

"What do you want?" it said in a raspy voice.

It was clear that if it had legs, it would have run away in fear by now.

"Nothing, I just have some questions," Cyrus said, taking the dusty hat off the shelf and placing it on his head.

The Sorting Hat's eyes, formed by folds, widened immensely.

It screamed at the top of its voice:

"Azkaban!" 

"Send him to Azkaban!"

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