Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 46 Midnight Howls and the Weakened Siron

A lot happened on Christmas night.

First, Hagrid dined with everyone in the castle hall for the first time, and Siren received a special gift as a result.

Secondly, the castle was unusually noisy that night. It is said that someone broke into the restricted section of the library, which caused a series of shrill and chilling screams to come from there in the middle of the night.

Filch searched the castle frantically for the culprit, but after a whole night of searching, he couldn't find a single person, as if the person didn't exist at all.

Even the omnipresent ghosts in the castle remain a mystery.

The next day, this incident became one of the topics the ghosts discussed to pass the time.

Nick, who was almost headless, huddled around a plate of rotten, stinking cheese pudding with the fat monk and Sir Podmore of the Headless Hunters, wondering who the mysterious intruder was.

After all, being able to evade Filch is nothing special; not even seeing the ghost or the portrait is truly a feat of extraordinary skill.

"It must be those two Weasleys from your college. They often break the rules, and maybe they've discovered some secret passage that no one else knows about." Sir Podmore held his head as he passed through the cheese, as if that was enough for him to finish eating.

Nick has envied Sir Doc Bodmore for being able to remove his head completely; he's envied him for centuries.

Upon hearing his words, Nick's eyes lit up.

“It’s definitely not the Weasley brothers,” he said. “Patrick, want to know why? I’ll tell you if you agree to let me join the Headless Hunters.”

"I have plenty of time to find out the truth, Nick." Sir Podmore adjusted the angle of his head with his hand and said with a smile, "And I've said it many times before, the Headless Hunters only accept ghosts whose heads and bodies are completely separated."

"Please don't do this," Nick pleaded, nearly headless. "My neck was chopped 45 times, and it was just half an inch away from falling off completely... I've always dreamed of joining the Headless Hunters."

"I must correct you, Nick, ghosts don't dream!"

"..."

The chat ended badly, with Nick, who was nearly headless, and Sir Podmore leaving in a huff, leaving only the fat monk sitting there.

He seemed to have expected this to happen and was not surprised at all.

They're always like this, arguing endlessly over things that are only half an inch apart, and they never seem to tire of it. The next time they meet, they'll definitely start arguing again, and the ghosts are used to it.

However, from the few words he had just heard, the fat monk found a new clue.

First, we can rule out the Weasley brothers, who are the most likely suspects. Nick seems to have already been verified; as the representative ghost of Gryffindor, his words are quite reliable.

However, according to the portrait of the Fat Lady, someone seemed to have passed in front of her last night, so Gryffindor is still the prime suspect.

Moreover, Nick had mentioned before that some dormitory lights in Gryffindor stayed on until the early hours of the morning, and strange noises would occasionally be heard from them.

I don't know if it has anything to do with this matter.

The next night, the ghosts, believing the library scream maker would continue its rampage, gathered near the library.

Filch shared the same view.

Unfortunately, they didn't see a single person all night, and the library remained completely silent.

Then on the third day.

That night, they did have some success. Someone appeared on the second floor, but it was Headmaster Dumbledore, with something floating beside him that they couldn't identify.

It was very large, and looked like a mirror or a wooden board, covered by a velvet cloth, so you couldn't see anything.

Filch was extremely disappointed, but he certainly didn't dare to arrest the principal and put him in solitary confinement, so he could only walk away dejectedly.

For the remainder of the Christmas holidays, no one approached the second-floor library at night anymore, and the castle seemed to have returned to its usual tranquility, with everything looking much the same as usual.

No, that's not entirely true.

Fred and George suddenly realized that one of them seemed to be missing.

Siren hasn't been seen for a long time. He can't be seen anywhere, whether it's the stadium, the Quidditch pitch, or the common room. It's as if he's vanished.

Or perhaps they secretly left Hogwarts through a secret passage.

Fortunately, George eventually discovered that Celen would still appear in the auditorium for ten minutes every night, which cleared him of suspicion that he had run away from school.

One evening, Fred and George timed it perfectly and finally caught up with Celen as he hurriedly walked towards them at the entrance of the auditorium.

"It was really hard to find you!"

"Tell me quickly, what have you been doing all this time, all secretive?!"

The two men flanked Celen from both sides. Fred was about to say something when he looked up and saw Celen's dark circles under his eyes and his pale, dry lips.

"Merlin's beard!" Fred exclaimed, abandoning all curiosity, and together with George, helped Celen run into the Great Hall.

After eating five loaves of bread, three sausages, a whole roasted chicken, two sandwiches, and a large bottle of pumpkin juice, Xilun's complexion finally improved considerably.

Although the dark circles under her eyes are still there, at least she doesn't look as weak anymore.

"What's wrong with you?" George couldn't help but ask. "You look like you haven't eaten all day."

"It's not that it seems like..." Xiren shook his head, "I just haven't eaten all day."

"Hogwarts forbids you from coming to the Great Hall during the day?" Fred asked, puzzled.

"No, not at all." Xilun shook his head. "It's just that I'm doing my homework, and I'm so focused that I keep missing the time."

"Save that to Quirrell," Fred sneered. "He might even be moved and give Gryffindor two extra points."

"And you can only fool Quirrell, because no one else will wrap their brain in a stupid scarf," George said.

"Okay, actually I'm making a wand," Siron said.

"Great, we can add Filch this time." Fred glanced at him. "You don't think we know nothing, do you?"

"The Wand Making and Usage Guide is available in the school library," George said. "We've calculated that, excluding necessary preparation, making a wand will take no more than an hour."

"You definitely won't need that long."

"If it's a normal wand, about ten minutes?" Siren thought for a moment and said.

“That makes sense.” Fred leaned closer. “You said you were making a wand, but you spent the whole day in your dorm. Isn’t that a contradiction?”

Xilen scratched his head; this time he was telling the truth.

Besides, he didn't just stay in the dorm for a whole day, but for ten days, from Christmas until now, he's been struggling with that magic wand.

It was incredibly hard. Although the troll's spine had shrunk to about two feet, its mass remained unchanged. For Siron, fully embedding it into the staff and filling every rune was undoubtedly a test of both skill and physical strength.