Chapter 144: What's in the closet

Ivan thought about the prophecy as he walked down the stairs and with that prediction, he began to consider taking divination classes next year!

Professor Trelawney was not usually very reliable. She was more like a vulgar liar who always made up tragic predictions about her students. But once she enters her real prophetic state and makes a prophecy, her words become crucial in the unfolding of all future events.

According to her teachings, the signs of destiny should become clear with the coming of Voldemort's return.

Ivan was to keep in constant contact with her to ensure that he would be the first to learn of the new predictions.

Five minutes later, he arrived at the door of Professor Lupin's office. There was no one in the narrow hallway on the third floor. Even the portraits in the hallway were empty.

The third floor was much colder than the rest of the castle. Ivan couldn't figure out where the bleak wind was blowing from there, which made it particularly gloomy. Then he thought maybe it was due to Voldemort's relationship with the Defense Against the Dark Arts course, these rooms were also a bit dark, as if all misfortunes happened on this floor.

"Alohomora!" he pulled out his wand and knocked softly on the door to Professor Lupin's office.

With a click, the door opened. All the furniture inside the room was the same as last night, but the atmosphere was colder and sadder.

Ivan waved his wand and lit the fireplace. The warm flames dispelled the coldness. The green monster, Grindylow, was stretching its limbs in the large water tank in the corner. It floated in the water and continued to spit upward. After seeing the light, it immediately buried itself in a mess of plants in the corner of the tank.

Although not very good at rummaging through other people's things, Ivan believed that Professor Lupin would forgive him after learning his reasons. He stood in front of the fireplace and carefully checked the room. There were few places where things could be hidden, and it didn't seem to be a particularly difficult task to find the Marauder's Map.

But actually, that wasn't even close!

Ten minutes later, Ivan still hadn't found the Marauder's Map.

He had carefully searched Professor Lupin's desk, and found nothing except a few broken teacups, an old-fashioned teapot, textbooks, and homework for the students after school.

Professor Lupin would not take the map. Since it wasn't on the desk, then it could be placed somewhere else.

Ivan's eyes went to the old closet next to the tank, where the teachers put extra robes.

As he approached the old cabinet, the old cabinet suddenly shook and trembled, crashing against the wall.

Ivan was shocked. He raised his wand against the old closet and didn't know what was inside.

Cautiously he opened the door and there was nothing but a small, worn, almost faded suitcase and two extremely old and patched wizard robes.

From these things, one could see how tight Professor Lupin's financial situation was.

No one wanted to hire a werewolf. He had been wandering alone. Even the only two sets of robes left on his body were fifteen years old. Ivan vaguely remembered seeing Professor Lupin when he was going through Harry's album. He was attending the Potters' wedding.

It was unfortunate, Ivan sighed. He simply went ahead and found the map in a robe.

It was exactly the piece Professor Lupin wore yesterday. Ivan had never been so happy before. The old cupboard in front of him shook again. This time, he noticed the location where the robe hung. He lowered his head and found a small compartment under the closet.

He hesitated and opened the door. It was very dark and something seemed to be hidden in it. It was like...

Ivan took two steps back in a hurry, panting and wide-eyed.

"This.... this is impossible!" He just saw a face in the closet.

Hermione's face!

It wasn't her familiar smiling face, but a face full of fear, bloodied, and as pale as a dead man's face.

That was terrible. Ivan never expected to see something like that. Fear rose from the depths of his mind. He swallowed, and his whole body was sweaty. His right hand that was holding his wand trembled a little. He wanted to be sure of what he saw, but he was afraid to see that face again.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

This fact was too absurd-how could Hermione run to be in Professor Lupin's closet? She clearly stayed with Harry in the Gryffindor common room upstairs and had just hugged him.

Could it be that Hermione was dead and her body was cut into pieces and hidden in the castle? And the one who has been in contact with him is actually someone using the Multijuice potion? Or is it that Professor Lupin has a strange appetite and hid Hermione's face in his cupboard?

Ivan shook his head to shake off these absurd ideas.

"Lumos!" he muttered softly, and the tip of his wand glowed lustrously, fully illuminating the dim office, he was ready to go confirm what he saw.

He hadn't acted yet. He saw Hermione emerging from the old closet in a strange pose.

In the light, Ivan clearly saw a cheerful smile on her lips, her face was cold, and her body was all bloody.

She was getting closer to him. Because of her injuries, she took each step with extreme difficulty.

Ivan took a step back and involuntarily tightened his grip on his wand.

"Hermione?" he tried to shout, but his voice was so low he couldn't hear himself.

There was no response from her. She was still approaching Ivan and her body was stiff as a walking corpse.

"No, you're not Hermione! Don't come any closer!" Ivan suddenly shouted, and the magical power of his body gathered at the tip of his wand.

At the sound of it, "Hermione" suddenly stopped. Whatever it was, she seemed to sense the danger of the wand in Ivan's hand.

The next second, his body began to warp.

As Hermione disappeared, her body shrank into what looked like a black dot in the air, and then a stout humanoid monster appeared in front of Ivan, who saw it with its long black hair. Higher up, it was a fierce and terrifying head. It was Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf that attacked him and Hermione yesterday in Hogsmeade.

His eyes were full of blood and madness. They looked a thousand times more terrible and fierce than Hermione's.

But Ivan wasn't frightened, and for some reason he suddenly felt like laughing.

He knew exactly what it was, it was a Boggart!

Harry had told him the other day that to help him practice the Patronus spell, Professor Lupin had found a new Boggart in Filch's filing cabinet. They had been using it to simulate Dementors.