Professor of Gemology at Hogwarts

The diary was recovered by Dumbledore, order was restored in the school, and everyone was waiting for the mandrake to mature.

Claire has been visiting Hogwarts from time to time in the past two days. She helped Sprout continue to repair the burned plants in the greenhouse, and also sent some other wild herbs, which made Sprout very happy.

"So you initially suspected that the anonymous package was sent by Malfoy, but it wasn't actually him?" Claire leaned against the door frame of the third greenhouse, taking off her gloves as she spoke, and a few grains of soil scattered on the ground.

"When I handed it to him in person, he looked like he didn't know anything. He didn't have any surprise or expression on his face, his eyes didn't stop on the stone, and he didn't pay attention there." Gray stood at the door.

"If he knew that there were traces of black magic in those stones, he would definitely accuse you on the spot and make your reasoning unclear. After all, this trick is very hidden, and not everyone can crack it." Claire said, "Since you met him, you must have had an inevitable argument, right? I heard that you also lost him in having a house elf. It was a wonderful show."

"It wasn't me who lost it, it was him who lost it. But it sounds like you regretted leaving early that day because you missed a good seat in the audience?"

"No, I don't want to get myself involved in those disputes." Claire, "This will make me more trouble. If I say anything here, Malfoy will definitely pull me out to express my position to distract the fire."

"What about you actually? What's your attitude?"

"Listen, Gray, this matter has nothing to do with me." Claire shook her gloves, shook her head in denial, and smiled politely at him, "And I don't want to offend anyone."

Gray was very calm in his heart. This answer was something he had expected. As long as it was not detrimental to her, he wanted to keep it in his hands. However, he was still a little curious. Can a person really maintain absolute neutrality?

"I mean right now, but no one else is here, it's just you and me. Can you talk to me about your true views on this matter? You have to have an attitude, no matter which side you are on."

Claire raised her eyes and glanced at Gray, tilted her head. She leaned slightly to the side and put away her gloves. "We have a very fair and cooperative relationship now, aren't we?"

She didn't mean to express anything interesting at all, and even emphasized that the only relationship between the two people was the exchange of information through their respective channels, or the exchange of money to do things.

"Oh, you don't give every collaborator a copy of Spanish moss, do you?" Gray said sarcastically.

"Not entirely." Claire thought for a moment, "There is something to say goodbye to."

"Wow, ha, that's really unexpected..." Gray pouted.

"Thank you so much, Claire." Sprout walked out of the greenhouse with a smile on his face, a patched hat on his flowing hair, and a pair of dragonskin gloves in his hands, patting each other and sticking them together. There was dirt on it, "I followed the cultivation methods you mentioned and have completed soil improvement for the mandrakes. I hope they can grow quickly."

"I'm happy to be able to help the school, Professor." Claire stood up straight and took two steps to the side, no longer leaning on the door frame.

"We know they are fully mature when they want to move to another pot. Then we can revive poor children in the hospital."

"Hey, hello!" Lockhart walked over with a cheerful face, "Nice to see you here - Miss Weisman."

Gray saw the smile on Sprout's face disappear immediately.

"Miss Weisman is here to help plant mandrakes, right? I understand, I understand - it is very happy to help others, and I am also very happy to help others. I also helped Professor Sprout plant the Whomping Willow before. Heal the wound! (Sprout actually rolled his eyes at this moment)" Lockhart's eyes did not leave Claire, "Ah, I know a thing or two about herbalism, and so does mandrake, but don't get me wrong - —I wonder how I, as a writer and travel adventurer, can easily reach your level, no, no, no, in fact, I just saw similar situations while traveling."

"Then why don't you tell me?" Claire calmly prepared to see what experience he had.

"The answer is - swamp diggers! They shuttle through the soil, making the soil soft and moist, and their excrement will be given to the mandrakes -"

"The swamp digger's favorite food is mandrake, sir." Claire sighed.

"No, no, they mainly feed on small mammals, so you can put some animals in to divert their attention when breeding... They will also cause serious injuries to pedestrians and ankles who invade their territory. However, if they are planted in a greenhouse with pots It won’t hurt your ankle.”

Gray said nothing, Claire looked at him expressionlessly, and on the other side, Sprout was rummaging for something in his pocket, and none of the three responded to him.

Lockhart felt that the atmosphere was not right, so he said, "I think I can go inside and take a look first -"

"I don't think so!" Sprout took out a key from his pocket. She closed the greenhouse door with a bang, and then quickly locked the door.

-

Gray passed through the shiny oak door and stepped out of the stone staircase. Just as he was about to knock on the door, the door opened by itself, and he once again came to the circular room with many portraits of previous principals hanging on it.

"What do you want from me, Headmaster?" Gray said.

"I'm glad you're here at this time."

Dumbledore was sitting and playing with the many strange silverware on the table. They were spinning and emitting small puffs of smoke. Gray came closer, stood next to Dumbledore and began to observe these ornaments.

"Look at this teapot." Dumbledore held up a small silver teapot with fine carvings and patterns on it, and the patterns on the belly of the teapot were even more exquisite - in the middle was a long table filled with food, with people sitting around it. The five people seemed to be a family happily eating together. They were father, mother, brother, brother, and sister. Those characters seemed to be alive, sitting together happily. "This is my favorite teapot." , it made me see what beauty looks like.”

At this time, the little man above moved again, and the three children were joking with each other. The younger sister was even picky about food and put some vegetables she didn't like on her brother's plate.

"Hahaha, they are so nice." Dumbledore said with a smile.

His crooked nose was almost buried in the smoke, and he tilted his head to admire a family "living" on the silver teapots. Those teapots were all enchanted and kept as shiny as possible. They were illuminated by candlelight. shining.

"When you look at it from a distance, sometimes it's hard to see that this teapot has such rich content." Gray observed the vivid patterns.

"Yes, you really have to look closely at some of these things," Dumbledore turned his gaze to Gray, "otherwise it will be difficult to see clearly what he contains."

He suddenly felt that Dumbledore was about to see through him. At this time, Fawkes chirped, and Gray turned to look at the phoenix. It held the diary in its mouth and flew up from the shelf. The diary was thrown on the table. It almost knocked over a table full of silverware.

"You're being naughty again, Fawkes." Dumbledore raised his head and looked at the phoenix flying overhead and said, "You can't just throw this thing around."

Gray felt a little frightened in his heart. He didn't know what he felt just now, whether Dumbledore had used Legilimency on him, or whether his eyes were already so sharp. After all, they had never looked at each other so closely.

Finally, Fox circled around the office and landed next to Gray.

Dumbledore hummed happily, "It seems that Fawkes likes you very much."

"We can be considered friends as we fight together and face the same enemy together..." Gray said to Fox, touching its feathers by the way.

"I called you here this time to express my gratitude to you. Thank you very much, Gray." Dumbledore said, "You used your wisdom to help everyone solve the Chamber of Secrets incident. I am very happy to leave Hogwarts." There are students who come out and come back again to pass on knowledge to younger generations, solve problems for the school, and protect students' safety."

"This is my honor and my responsibility, principal."

Dumbledore nodded with a smile and picked up the diary on the table. "Fawkes has always been aggressive towards dark magic and evil. He has been staring at this diary for a long time."

Gray looked at the diary in Dumbledore's hand, which was almost the same as before. It was still in tatters, but it didn't look any new or damaged.

"Speaking of which, regarding this diary, I would like to hear your opinion on it." Dumbledore said.

"Do I have an opinion?"

"You brought up a lot of key information this time, so I also want to know what you think about the diary. Unique insights always open up people's minds, right?"

Gray pursed his lips. This intention was too obvious. Dumbledore came to him this time to express his gratitude. He clearly wanted to ask about the diary, and even asked Fox to cooperate with the performance.

Gray decided to just say it.

"I think it might be a Horcrux."