Chapter 157: He stole it!

Sorting Hat: "Send him to Azkaban!"

Cyrus: ???

Azkaban, huh?

"Stop howling. I've already graduated from Azkaban," he replied in his mind.

"Graduated from Hogwarts, it's like a special vocational school. Finding a job wasn't easy, but getting out of Azkaban opened up many more opportunities. At least I can still be a Dark Wizard. Do you think I should go to Nurmengard for further studies and maybe get a wizard doctorate?"

"..."

The Sorting Hat immediately fell silent.

It wished it could pull out Gryffindor's sword and chop off the head of this inherently evil Slytherin brat!

But it couldn't.

The goblin-made sword couldn't be summoned at will; only a true Gryffindor could wield it.

"What exactly do you want? You barely escaped from Azkaban, and you dare to come to Hogwarts? And in Dumbledore's office, no less…"

The Sorting Hat wanted to ask Cyrus if he had a death wish.

It could understand Cyrus taking the Horcrux, but now that the Horcrux was in his possession, it was baffling that Cyrus didn't leave but instead placed the Hat on his head.

"Have you heard of the Chamber of Knowledge?" Cyrus asked bluntly.

He didn't care if the Sorting Hat told Dumbledore about his goal. After all, it wasn't a dark secret. Ancient magic wasn't dark magic, and pursuing power and knowledge was not a fault.

However—

"Chamber of Knowledge? I've never heard of it. Sounds like something Lady Ravenclaw might have built," the Sorting Hat replied after some thought.

It knew that the four founders had left many magical traces around the school. In those days, Hogwarts didn't have a headmaster, and the four houses taught separately.

The four founders naturally built some secret places unknown to others for their students.

But over a thousand years, many secrets had been discovered. Though the Sorting Hat spent most of its time on the headmaster's shelf, it knew a lot about Hogwarts' secrets.

But the Chamber of Knowledge—it was the first time it had heard of it.

"It's not Ravenclaw, and it's not that ancient," Cyrus said.

In fact, he didn't know exactly when those four ancient magic users lived. They didn't seem to be Hogwarts' headmasters, and perhaps in their time, there wasn't even a headmaster's position at Hogwarts?

Cyrus ultimately didn't get any useful information from the Sorting Hat.

He wanted to continue his inquiry, but at that moment, the fake Galleon in his pocket suddenly began to heat up. He took off the Sorting Hat and placed it back on the shelf.

"What's wrong?" The Sorting Hat, still deep in thought, was surprised to be removed suddenly.

"Our pleasant conversation is over. Someone annoying is coming back," Cyrus said lightly.

"Dumbledore is back? How do you know?" the Sorting Hat asked, astonished.

"He has a spy in Hogwarts!" Phineas on the wall couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "I bet it's Snape!"

"Why not Malfoy?" another headmaster asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Malfoy is a noble pureblood."

"..."

Cyrus ignored the portraits' antics.

Snape and Malfoy were certainly suspicious, but who would have thought that the real informant was Dumbledore's favorite, the so-called savior Harry Potter?

He quickly walked back to the elevator, disappearing under the watchful eyes of the Sorting Hat and the portraits.

....

*Creak——*

The door opened, the piercing sound lingering in Dumbledore's ears.

As he savored the pumpkin juice from the feast, Dumbledore walked confidently into his office. However, he immediately sensed something was off—the atmosphere was unusually somber. The portraits sighed one after another, as if lamenting something. Even the Sorting Hat, which usually stayed on the shelf composing next year's school song, let out a sigh.

"What's the matter, everyone? Are you all disappointed by having a peaceful evening?" Dumbledore remarked lightly.

It seemed that ever since twelve years ago, Hogwarts had always been restless on Halloween night. On that fateful night, the Dark Lord had killed Lily and James.

Since then, something always seemed to happen on Halloween. Two years ago, it was a troll; last year, the basilisk attacks. At least this year had been relatively quiet, though Dumbledore still had plenty of troubles—the Battle of Gringotts, the goblins' dissatisfaction, and Sirius Black's wrongful imprisonment.

But tonight, Hogwarts was peaceful.

"What a beautiful evening!" Dumbledore sighed.

The past headmasters exchanged glances, none of them eager to break the not-so-good news.

Finally, under everyone's gaze, the usually talkative Phineas took it upon himself to speak.

"Something serious has happened, Dumbledore!"

"What is it? Don't tell me it's bad news," Dumbledore joked.

In truth, after seeing the expressions on the portraits' faces, he had already braced himself for anything.

Whatever it was, he was ready to accept it calmly.

Even if Phineas told him someone had escaped from Nurmengard, he wouldn't be too surprised.

However, when Phineas finally spoke, Dumbledore's expression momentarily changed.

"It's terrible! You—you should check your drawer!" Phineas said, covering his face.

"Drawer?"

Dumbledore quickly pulled out the drawer where the diadem had been kept. It was now completely empty.

The gravity of the situation was beyond his expectations.

"He stole it!" Dilys Derwent said sorrowfully. "We wanted to tell you, but he used magic to seal the frames in the office."

"We shouldn't have suggested you keep the diadem for research," Armando said apologetically.

Dumbledore fell into a prolonged silence, and the portraits were quiet as well.

They all understood how much Dumbledore had sacrificed in his quest to defeat Voldemort, but now it seemed like all their efforts were in vain.

However, Dumbledore's despondence didn't last long. He soon pulled himself together.

"By the way, I also want to ask, was it Voldemort or Cyrus who stole the tiara?"   

"It was Cyrus." Phineas replied immediately, "I think he may have an insider in the castle."

Dumbledore bowed his head in thought.

"Are you... alright?" another portrait asked.

Dumbledore nodded.

"I'm just reflecting on how something always seems to happen on Halloween night. I'm starting to wonder if this too is a part of Voldemort's curse."

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