bioinnovel Chapter 184, Part 1: Nothing Gained
Chapter 184, Part 1: Nothing Gained
Chapter 184 Nothing Gained
The feud between Belvina and Snape has a long history, dating back to Belvina's student days.
The cause was nothing more than Snape's pettiness; he took his anger out on Belvina because of Sirius. She was merely a scapegoat, weak and helpless, taking the blame for her brother's mistakes.
At first, Belvina chose to back down, hoping to avoid trouble and not argue with Snape's petty nature. After all, one shouldn't fight with an official, especially since he was a university professor.
However, Belvina's concession did not yield the desired result.
The more Belvina backed down, the more Snape pressed on, pushing his luck and becoming increasingly aggressive.
For the sake of her physical and mental health, Belvina decided to no longer tolerate or back down, considering the possibility of ovarian cysts if she had to endure it for a while, or breast hyperplasia if she had to take a step back.
So what if he's a Potions Professor? So what if he's the Head of Slytherin? They're all just two people with one head, what's there to worry about? Just do it!
The feud between the two began to escalate, and their anger gradually turned into personal grudges, bringing the two Slytherins to a complete head.
Tonight, Snape's implication that Belvina might be an inside agent was not without the element of personal revenge. He wanted to settle old scores and new grudges, completely eliminate Belvina, and expel her from the faculty.
In Snape's view, Hogwarts was heavily guarded internally and patrolled by Dementors externally, making it highly unlikely that Black could break into the school without internal assistance.
Fortresses are often breached from within first, and Blake must have had inside help at school, either Belvina or Lupin.
Faced with Snape's almost explicit hint, Lupin made no comment, not even bothering to speak.
Lupin knew that his explanation would not dispel Snape's suspicions, and that even if he did explain, it would be a waste of breath and completely unnecessary.
The mild-mannered Lupin could tolerate it, but the vengeful Belvina could not stand this humiliation and would not allow her nemesis to act so presumptuously in front of her!
Belvina also did not explain her innocence, which has always been her nature.
Her view is: if someone falsely accuses you of eating their food, don't cut yourself open to prove your innocence.
Instead, gouge out the other person's eyes and swallow them, so that they can see clearly inside your stomach.
With a sharp blade in hand, we can punish all sides.
Life and death are bearish, if you don't agree, just do it.
Snape implied that Belvina was an inside agent, but Belvina turned the tables and exposed Snape's past, revealing that he had once been a Death Eater.
That wasn't the end of it. Given Snape's sensitive status as a former Death Eater, the matter of him bullying Neville Longbottom escalated several levels.
Former Death Eaters are bullying the families of war heroes, so the Ministry of Magic has to come and see what's going on.
The effort put into it was undeniably ruthless.
The moment Belvina uttered those two sentences, not only did Professor McGonagall's expression change drastically, but even Headmaster Dumbledore was taken aback.
"Enough, Belvina," said Dumbledore. "I explained Severus's situation a long time ago, and don't bring it up again."
Upon hearing this, Belvina spread her hands, pursed her lips, and shrugged, instantly revealing her street-smart demeanor and directly expressing her dissatisfaction.
Then Dumbledore looked at Snape and continued, "I repeat myself, Severus,"
I don't believe anyone in this castle would be willing to help Blake break in.
Dumbledore's tone made it clear that this topic was best left unsaid, and he didn't want to hear any more arguments about it.
The headmaster stepped in and gave both sides equal blame, so Belvina and Snape had no choice but to temporarily back down and could only secretly exchange greetings with facial expressions and eyes.
Dumbledore stopped talking and strode toward the tattered canvas.
At this moment, the fat lady was still hiding in the Argyllshire map on the third floor, and only the badly damaged canvas remained at the opening leading to the Gryffindor Tower.
Standing before the canvas, Dumbledore raised his right hand, his long, slender fingers tracing the curled canvas inch by inch. As his fingers moved, the curled canvas gradually became smooth.
Then, Dumbledore clapped his hands, and the broken painting wobbled forward, revealing a circular hole in the wall.
Dumbledore was the first to climb into the hole through the wall.
"Belvina, you go in first," Professor McGonagall said. She had originally intended to follow the headmaster in, but she was worried about the people in front of her, so she had to change her mind.
Belvina said nothing, obediently did as she was told, and was the second to crawl into the hole in the wall.
After crawling a short distance, Belvina entered the comfortable Gryffindor common room, a round room filled with soft armchairs.
"This is my first time standing in the Gryffindor Tower," said Bassheda, the third person to crawl into the opening.
"Welcome to the Gryffindor common room," Lupin said. "This is the boys' dormitory, and that's the girls' dormitory."
As a former Gryffindor prefect, introducing the Gryffindor Tower was Lupin's forte, but unfortunately, he was a rather unsuccessful prefect, failing to control James and Sirius at all.
Or rather, Lupin never intended to fulfill his duties as prefect to discipline the two.
"It's more comfortable living in the tower, with a panoramic view of the school," Belvina said, adding that she disliked Slytherin's long, dark dungeons.
Snape, who had just emerged from the hole in the wall, gave a disdainful snort, which reflected both his disdain for the Gryffindor Tower and for Belvina.
When Professor McGonagall was the last to enter the common room, Dumbledore, standing before the warm fireplace, spoke again.
He said, "Now tell me your plans, Belvina, what are you going to do next?"
"Treat it like searching for contraband; search all the students' dorm rooms," Belvina said. "Don't overlook anything suspicious, including the students' pets."
As she spoke, Belvina gazed at Dumbledore, confident that the headmaster would understand the implication in her words.
"Headmaster, if I may be so bold," Snape said in his arrogant, languid tone, "Black is simply being ridiculous. We should be sealing off all the school entrances and exits, not searching students for contraband."
"Ha!" Belvina sneered. "I'm helping you, Professor Snape. If we find something, you'll have a reason to deduct points from Gryffindor, saving you the trouble of coming up with some flimsy excuse."
Seeing that the two professors, both from Slytherin, were about to start arguing again, Dumbledore quickly stopped them.
Having such two professors is truly a blessing for the headmaster of Hogwarts, a blessing that shortens his lifespan.
"Separate the boys and girls. I'll take Severus and Remus to the boys' dormitory," Dumbledore said. "Minerva, you take Belvina and Basilda to the girls' dormitory."
After saying this, Dumbledore went through a door first, followed closely by Lupin. Snape gave Belvina a venomous look before entering the boys' dormitory.
Professor McGonagall guided Belvina and Bassheda up a spiral staircase and through a door at the top.
"Belvina, what exactly do you want to do?" Professor McGonagall asked, puzzled. The vice-principal was completely bewildered and couldn't understand Belvina's purpose in doing this.
"I'm looking for what Sirius Black is looking for," Belvina said. "I'm sorry, Professor, I cannot explain at this time."
Professor McGonagall sighed and said helplessly, "Alright, let's begin."
Under Professor McGonagall's guidance, Belvina began searching the girls' dormitories. She showed no interest in the students' belongings, focusing all her attention on their pets. Bassheda did the same.
Each dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower is a five-person room, with five beds with four curtain posts and deep red velvet curtains hanging down.
In the girls' dormitory, Belvina once again witnessed the diversity of species. Some dormitories were clean and tidy, some were only superficially clean, and some couldn't even keep the surface clean.
Aside from gaining a clearer understanding of the hygiene conditions in the girls' dormitory, Belvina gained nothing.
It's not common to see female students keeping rats in their dormitories. The few pet rats that are kept are well cared for; they are just ordinary rats, likely from animal stores in Diagon Alley.
The only pet that left a deep impression on Belvina was a large ginger cat with a very flat face.
It looked like it had once run headfirst into a wall, and its thick, long tail resembled a bottle brush.
When Belvina saw the large ginger cat, it was hiding in a corner outside the dormitory eating mice.
The bald mouse tail was held in the mouth of the big cat, whose large yellow eyes watched Belvina warily as she suddenly appeared.
"That cat is huge!" Bassheda exclaimed. "It looks like it's afraid of you."
"Maybe it was afraid I'd steal the mice from it?" Belvina said. "I didn't find anything except the mice that the big cat ate."
Bassheda shook her head and said, "I don't have any either, just ordinary pets. You wouldn't let me go to the owl shed, would you?"
If the mouse eaten by the ginger cat were an Animagus, Belvina could only sigh, "So bad," and lament Sirius's fate.
That's right, Belvina came to the Gryffindor Tower to find the mice.
Peter Pediru is an illegal Animagus who transforms into a rat, and Sirius Black has a clear goal: to reach the Gryffindor Tower. That's why Belvina is willing to take the risk.
If we really find Peter the Animagus, it will undoubtedly be a great achievement, and all the problems will be solved.
If they don't find the mouse that Peter Pettigrew turned into, it proves that Belvina's speculation is wrong and needs to be adjusted.
"Did you find any contraband?" Professor McGonagall's voice came through. "Professor Dumbledore and the others have already left the boys' dormitory."
Upon hearing this, Belvina sighed. It seemed that the male professors' group hadn't discovered anything unusual either, otherwise they wouldn't have been so quick, and Professor McGonagall's tone wouldn't have been so calm.
Could it be that her speculation was wrong?