Chapter 244: Conspiracy with Deng
Schelling maintained a cynical expression, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised. He did not answer Dumbledore's question, but drew out his wand and used a transmogrification spell to transform a large mahogany chair decorated with various gemstones in front of him.
The seat cushion of the large chair was woven from unicorn fur, shining with a bright silver luster. The left armrest was carved into the shape of a honey badger, and the right armrest was carved into the shape of a goshawk, both of which were in a crawling posture with their heads lowered.
At the top of the back of the chair were inserted one unicorn horn after another, as many as ninety-nine, and colorful streamers swirled around the long horns. In the gap between the long horns was a large green snake, which was carved lifelike, with a strange red glow in its pupils, as if a real snake was staring at its prey. The most amazing thing is that the appearance of the large snake is more than 90% similar to the snake representing Slytherin in the Hogwarts school emblem.
The four legs of the chair are thin and slender, and the bottom is pressed with a plain-looking dark gray stone. Anyone who has a certain understanding of British history can tell at a glance that this is the legendary stone of destiny in Scotland. Only the king appointed by destiny can conquer it. It is a sacred object of the medieval royal family.
The wood grain on the whole chair is faintly shining with dark golden light, giving a thrilling sense of oppression, as if...
ruling the world.
Xie Lin smiled, and seemed very satisfied with his work of transfiguration. He first swung his robe, and then slowly sat on this imposing chair with a perfect and impeccable posture.
The moment he sat on it, an invisible wave of magic suddenly spread out in all directions with the chair as the center. Fox, the phoenix who was taking a nap on the gilded wooden frame, was suddenly awakened and let out a shrill cry. The silver instruments on the short table against the wall not far away made ding-dong sounds, and an instrument that looked a bit like a pipe even emitted light green smoke.
Xie Ling ignored the scene he had created. His left hand gently pressed on the honey badger, and then he leaned lazily to the right. His right elbow was pressed on the goshawk, and he supported his chin with his wrist to support the weight of his upper body. The snake-shaped ring on the finger of his right hand facing Dumbledore emitted a faint green light, and the simple-shaped guardian ring exuded deep invisible magic fluctuations, as if a fierce beast was silently accumulating power and could pounce at any time.
Xie Ling certainly would not choose to answer Dumbledore's question while standing, so that he would be at a disadvantage in momentum at the beginning. Since you, the headmaster, are sitting and talking to me, I have to sit and answer you, and my chair must be cooler than yours!
Dumbledore looked at the snake-shaped carving representing Slytherin and fell into a state of absent-mindedness.
Smart people never talk nonsense with each other. In addition to showing his strength, Schelling's action also shows that the entire Slytherin College has stood behind him. Although he is only one person, he can represent the will of a college. As for the meaning of the two armrests, it is clearly saying that he is also in control.
Don't forget that the principal's power is not absolute.
In the world of the original book, because of Dumbledore's powerful reputation and prestige that people can only look up to, and his absolute control over Hogwarts, the school's operating level - that is, the professors are almost a solid block, and the board of directors is completely hollowed out, becoming a shadow organization of Hogwarts. Students only know the existence of the principal and professors, and have never noticed that there is a board of directors in Hogwarts that can check the principal's power.
The original book is written from the perspective of Harry, a young wizard who has just entered the wizarding world. Throughout the seven books, the school board is only described in a few pitiful words, and a considerable part of them appear as failed clowns, such as the embarrassing incident of Lucius being expelled from the school board, and the incident of Lucius trying to kill Buckbeak but failing again.
In this world, although Lucius was still expelled from the school board, a faculty recruitment committee was established. And Schelling happened to be one of the members of the committee.
As Schelling's reputation grew, Dumbledore's authority was challenged to some extent. Those fence-sitters on the school board could not ignore Schelling's potential and remain unshakable. You know, no one who can win a school board position among many competitors is simple. Everyone knows that Dumbledore is over a hundred years old, and everyone does not want to prepare in advance for the situation after Dumbledore's death and continue their power and status.
At this moment, Schelling properly expressed his right to speak in Slytherin College, and the threat contained in it was self-evident.
There was another point that Dumbledore didn't say in his heart, perhaps he didn't want to think about this possibility-
Honey badgers, goshawks, and green snakes are all there, so what about griffins? The backrest and armrest positions are all occupied, so the only thing left is...
Dumbledore's eyes flickered behind his two half-moon glasses, and he sighed after a while.
Although he had tried his best to overestimate Schelling's potential, he didn't expect that he still underestimated Schelling by a large margin. He had to start to doubt whether he was really old.
It had been not long since the last meeting with Schelling. At that time, whether it was his eyes, tone or attitude, Schelling didn't say that he was in awe of him, but at least he was wary of him.
It can be said that Xie Lin now has no fear of himself at all. He is like a ferocious beast that has been lurking for a long time and has dared to bare its fangs towards him.
Dumbledore knew very well that Schelling had never been an impulsive student. He dared to behave like this because he must have had enough confidence in his heart!
"Shailin, I don't mean anything else. I'm just worried about the safety of you and other students." Dumbledore's tone was much gentler than before.
Schelling did not feel any contempt for Dumbledore's show of weakness——
In his opinion, Dumbledore's ability to manipulate people's hearts with words is not much weaker than Grindelwald. Have you not seen that the Order of the Phoenix, an organization with no money, no food and no welfare, can actually have a group of people who can be regarded as social elites who are willing to sacrifice their lives for a lofty ideal?
"Okay, I think we can have a frank talk about this matter." Schelling suppressed the unserious expression on his face and said seriously: "I can confirm that the crazy person is Mr. Crouch. As for The people who attacked me are most likely the subordinates of the mysterious man, but they may also be the shadow of the dragon."
"Oh," Dumbledore put his hands on the table, intertwined his fingers, and looked at Sherrin with interest and said, "What's the reason?"
"The person who attacked me had a death curse in his hand. He didn't leave any room at all. He obviously didn't intend to keep me alive. This is the style of a Death Eater, rough and direct." Xie Lin explained: "Then I used the wind to The Swirling Curse injured him, and then he erupted with black energy similar to what was seen on Pettigrew and Lockhart. I saw that the situation was wrong and I couldn't wait for your support, so I decided to retreat. "
"As for Mr. Crouch, he is fine. I put him in the suitcase left by Scamander and took him away with us."
"Well, Sherling," Dumbledore said slowly, "can I ask you to release Mr. Crouch? I have something to ask him."
"It's okay, but..." Xie Lin deliberately didn't finish his words.
"Don't worry. I know this is an important favor. I will make it clear to him that you single-handedly rescued him, and I will not take away your credit." Dumbledore said firmly.
Xie Lin pretended to be thoughtful.
"Okay," Xie Lin said after a long while. It seemed that he had carefully thought about it before making a decision in a short period of time. He shrugged and said, "Who told me that I still owe you that copy of "Abata"? "Where is your kindness?"
Schelling lifted the sleeping Mr. Crouch out of the suitcase space and placed him on the ground. Then he quickly waved the wand above his head to remove the sleeping spell on him, and said softly: "I think Harry should have told you that Mr. Crouch acted crazy when he suddenly appeared, and later he became even more out of control and crazy. I was worried that he would do something to harm himself and others, so I asked him to Fell asleep."
Dumbledore nodded in understanding.
After Crouch woke up, he rubbed his groggy eyes and said doubtfully: "Dumbledore? Malfoy? Where is this? Why am I here?"
Dumbledore's blue pupils were shining. He stared into Crouch's eyes tightly and said, "Barty, don't you remember anything?"
"Remember what?" Crouch was a little confused. "I just remember that I was very busy at work today. There has been no progress in the international ban on private duels. I asked young Weatherby to be responsible for this matter... He was very enthusiastic... To be honest, it was a bit too high...I just got home and fell asleep on the sofa without even eating dinner...and I woke up here."
"Now..." Crouch said gloomily, "It's your turn to tell me what happened, right?"
Dumbledore briefly and concisely described to him the process of Sherrin and Harry discovering him in the Forbidden Forest, and how he was attacked and finally rescued by Sherrin.
Crouch's eyes widened, obviously unable to believe what he had experienced in one night. If it weren't for Dumbledore who was talking to him now, he would never believe a word of it. But obviously, Dumbledore and young Malfoy had no reason or motive to deceive him about such a thing.
He wanted to go home, but Dumbledore insisted that he rest in the school hospital for one night and let Madam Pomfrey observe him for one night to make sure there were no sequelae before letting him go. Crouch couldn't argue, and since he was really weak, he had no choice but to obey Dumbledore's wishes, so he stayed at Hogwarts for one night.
A few hours later, 12 o'clock midnight to be exact.
Crouch, who was sleeping with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes, sat up from his lying position, and sat on the hospital bed in the school hospital. He was the only one in the ward, and Madam Pomfrey's footsteps could be heard outside.
He touched his forehead and face and found that a lot of cold sweat was flowing down his forehead, making his face soaked.
Revealing the prototype of Jafar:
Ja'far ibn Yahya was a real person in history. He was the prime minister of the ancient Persian Empire. He did not do any evil deeds, but I don't know why he was regarded as a mere villain in later literature. The prototype of the great villain. In the fairy tale "Aladdin" of "Arabian Nights", he is the evil magician; in the video game "Prince of Persia 1 and 2", he is also the villain.
Why did the author choose him to be the character of this book, as Herbo's Horcrux?
Because, interestingly, in both "Aladdin" and "Prince of Persia", this guy can speak snake language and transform into a big snake. (In Aladdin, his magic comes from the power granted by the magic lamp, and in Prince of Persia, his magic comes from the snake god he worships)