424: Chapter 411 The Bloodstained Portrait

Misha led Ryan to the vicinity of the corridor entrance and stopped in front of a portrait.

The painting looked quite normal: a man stood on a magnificent stage, posing elegantly as he sang a song.

As Ryan's gaze swept past the man toward the carpet, his pupils suddenly constricted—a high-heeled shoe lay on its side at the man's feet.

Misha raised her arm, wanting to tap the portrait to emphasize the presence of the high heel, but unfortunately, she was too short and ended up only tapping the wall slightly below the painting.

“Look, Uncle Ryan, that's not something a man should have.”

“Not necessarily, Misha. In the Middle Ages, men wore high heels too. Or rather, high heels were originally invented to serve men,” Wino countered with a smile as he walked over.

Before Misha could speak, Ryan shook his head first. “This high heel is a feminine style, and you can tell from the lines that the size is quite small. A normal man's foot wouldn't fit in it at all.”

“This... singer, his height clearly indicates he isn't part of a specific group like dwarves.”

After explaining, he looked at Misha. “Are there any other clues? This alone isn't enough to find the lurker.”

“Follow me!”

Misha ran excitedly toward the door. Ryan raised his hand to press down on her head, then turned to Leon and Klaisi. “You've been with her the whole time; you should know where the clues are, right?”

The two nodded.

“Alright then, we'll go check the clues. You two take the Mobile Phones that recorded the events back to your respective dorms, then come rejoin us.”

With the most sensible arrangement made, the two had no objections and ran off toward their dorms.

“Let's go as well.”

The three set off, with Misha leading the way while recounting the details of the incident.

Approximately yesterday morning, she had come across a book in the library introducing strange magic items and saw one that piqued her interest.

After thinking for a moment, she recalled that the Exhibition Room seemed to have a physical specimen in its collection, so she left the library intending to take a look.

She arrived at the hall normally, passed through the main doors, and walked down the corridor. When she reached the middle, her peripheral vision caught Madam Louisa's portrait, and a faint sense of incongruity rose in her heart.

After stopping to observe carefully for a while, she noticed the abnormality.

Her memory was quite good. Although she didn't visit the Exhibition Room often and hadn't paid special attention to the portraits on the corridor walls, she still vaguely remembered that Madam Louisa in the painting should have been standing by a well, gripping a hemp rope with both hands—one in front of the other—and bending over to draw water.

However, at this moment, Madam Louisa was standing upright, covering her mouth with one hand and tightly clutching the hem of her blouse with the other. Her terrified gaze was directed toward the left, toward the withered tree.

Misha stared into her eyes for a while and realized the focal point of her gaze wasn't the tree, but behind it. But behind the withered tree was just the frame; there was absolutely nothing there. What exactly was she looking at?

After thinking for a moment, Misha understood. The object of Madam Louisa's fear was outside the painting. Or more specifically, it was in a space within the oil painting that wasn't displayed and couldn't be seen from the side of reality.

It was another world!

Having uncovered a secret, Misha excitedly looked for someone to share it with. Just as she stepped out of the long corridor doors, she ran into Leon and Klaisi returning together, so she pulled them over to the oil painting and gave them a full explanation.

The two were completely bewildered, thinking to themselves, 'Is such a thing at Hogwarts worth making a fuss over?' They shook their heads and went back to their dorms. Since they didn't take it seriously, they didn't tell Ryan or Wino.

When Misha returned indignantly, she felt that telling Ryan would only yield the same disappointing response, so she didn't bother mentioning it and went to her room to rest.

The night passed without incident, and morning arrived today.

Misha couldn't quite let go of the portrait. She got up and headed straight for the corridor, only to discover in shock that Madam Louisa in the painting had disappeared.

It was a villain! A villain had invaded the oil painting world!

She turned to find someone and saw a woman's high-heeled shoe in a portrait at the entrance. Without a doubt, this had been left behind by the abducted Madam Louisa.

Afterward, she happened upon Leon and Klaisi, who were heading to the training grounds to practice magic together, and told them about the case.

After verifying that it wasn't a joke, the two accompanied Misha to search for oil paintings hung throughout Hogwarts.

There weren't too many paintings in the academy, so they finished searching by noon. Armed with the clues they'd gathered, the three returned to the corridor to deliberate and unanimously agreed to inform Ryan and Wino before deciding on further actions.

After listening, Ryan said as he walked, “So, the original claim that oil painting figures can move freely is true?”

Wino, walking beside him, looked at him curiously. “You mean you thought it was made up all this time?”

“Uh, I figured that since Ms. Rowling's memories were sealed, there would inevitably be discrepancies between her creations and the real Hogwarts.”

“Besides, I've been at Hogwarts for over a year and I've never seen a person in a painting move.”

“Maybe there are restrictions we don't understand that prevent them from moving freely,” Misha said, looking back from the front.

“Let's not worry about that for now. Everything will be clear once we find Madam Louisa.”

Hearing this, Misha began to talk about the clues they had gathered.

The three of them had found the second high-heeled shoe in a painting in the Teaching Building. The style was identical to the previous one, clearly belonging to the same owner.

Based on the orientation of the two paintings and the positions of others, they deduced the culprit's route. Tracking it all the way, they soon saw bloodstains dripped on the floor in an interior painting along the path.

Following the blood-spattered paintings, they finally stopped before the basement door.

By the time the story was finished, they had reached their destination.

Wino looked up at the basement door not far ahead, then glanced at the rusty shackle lock on the handle. “If there wasn't a lock, would you have just gone straight in?”

“Hehehe—” Misha chuckled sheepishly, trying to act cute to get away with it.

Ryan didn't indulge her at all. With a dark expression, he raised his hand and gave her head a firm but not overly hard knock. “If you encounter something like this again, come find us first. Otherwise, what if you run into danger?”

“Oh.” The young girl lowered her head, looking aggrieved.

Withdrawing his hand, Ryan saw that Leon and Klaisi hadn't arrived yet, so he took the opportunity to discuss things with Wino.

“Who do you think it is? How many? And what's the purpose of kidnapping Madam Louisa?”

Wino thought seriously for a moment. “I don't think there are many, two at most. As for identity... perhaps an Evil Sorcerer. You know, Evil Sorcerers are the sworn enemies of Hogwarts.”

“As for the purpose, I suspect it has something to do with evil magic.”

“Evil magic, huh...” Ryan lowered his head in thought, muttering to himself, “To increase the power of some kind of evil spell?”

“We can only find out by interrogating the culprit once we catch them.” Wino shrugged.

Lacking key information, the analysis stalled. The three fell silent, waiting for their companions to arrive.

About half an hour later, Leon and Klaisi ran up, panting. The latter shouted to them from a distance, “It's done!”

Wino pointed at the shackle lock. “This part isn't done.”

Approaching them, Leon looked over and smiled. “It's just a lock.”

Saying this, he pulled a pre-prepared claw hammer from his waist behind him, held it high, and smashed it fiercely against the lock.

“Crack—” A shattering sound rang out successfully, but it wasn't the lock; it was the claw hammer.

Gazing at the irregular iron fragments on the ground and the wooden handle of the hammer still in his hand, Leon stood dumbfounded.

“As expected, it's not that simple,” Wino said thoughtfully.

Leon finally snapped out of it and subconsciously asked for the others' opinions. “Should we... try another tool?”

“It's a magic lock. Ordinary tools won't work,” Ryan judged.

Klaisi leaned in to examine it. “It looks like an ordinary lock.”

“Could an ordinary lock shatter a claw hammer?” Misha kicked the small iron fragments scattered on the ground.

After a moment of silence, Ryan spoke up to interrupt them. “Madam Louisa has been taken; she could be killed at any moment. There's no time to slowly figure out how to pick the lock. Let's report this to a teacher.”

Since Madam Louisa's life was at stake, the four raised their hands in agreement and then went together to find a teaching professor.

However, the subsequent development of events truly exceeded their expectations.

After everyone found a teacher and reported the incident, the teacher didn't rush to the basement to open the lock or investigate the truth. Instead, the teacher smiled and said unhurriedly, “They often step out of their portraits to play. They'll come back on their own after a while.”

Misha hurriedly mentioned the pair of high heels Madam Louisa had lost in other paintings and the bloodstains.

The teacher was skeptical and followed them to check.

Then, the five of them were left utterly bewildered to find that all traces had completely vanished. The high heels and the bloodstains were all gone, as if they had never existed.

Misha cried out in shock, “What's going on?!”

The teacher's face darkened. “Pranks should be kept within limits. Considering you usually study hard and this is your first mistake, I won't punish you. Don't let it happen again.”

“Teacher, if we just open the basement door...”

“Have you forgotten the school rules? Except in emergencies, that door is strictly forbidden to be opened or approached!” The teacher's gaze became displeased as it swept over the five of them. “This is too much nonsense. Each of you, one self-reflection report!”

Misha wanted to argue, but Wino was quick to press her shoulder and interrupt. “Understood, Teacher.”

“Mm.” The teacher turned away satisfied and walked off quickly.

Once the person was far away, she slapped Wino's hand away and demanded, “Why didn't you let me explain?”

“Could you have explained clearly? All the evidence is gone.”

Misha opened her mouth to argue, but finally recognized the reality and lowered her head gloomily.

Wino then looked at Ryan. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Seeking help from the school is no longer realistic. We can only rely on ourselves to save her,” Ryan said, his expression grave.

“Then...” Leon scratched his hair. “The first thing we need to solve now is the lock on the basement door.”

Klaisi also looked distressed. “The teachers haven't taught us any lock-opening magic.”

A silence fell over the five of them until Ryan finally broke it. “How about this? It's very late today and the library is already closed. We'll go first thing tomorrow morning to look for a way to open the lock.”

“But we have classes tomorrow afternoon,” Leon said.

“Skip them. Also, don't keep the Mobile Phone recordings. If a teacher sees them, they'll just think we're playing a prank.”

It was the only way.

The remaining four couldn't think of any other method, so everyone returned to their dorms to rest.

The night passed in silence.

The next morning.

The five got up and washed quickly, gathered in the hall, and went to the library together to frantically search for books on lock-opening magic.

The library's collection was vast and varied. It took them two hours just to find the books, and by the time they finished reading, it was already noon.

Misha pushed the book in front of her away, straightened her back, and rubbed her sore eyes. “So we spent the whole morning and only managed to find information about that lock.”

The shackle lock on the basement door was actually just an ordinary lock. The reason it could shatter a claw hammer was due to the magic imbued in it.

It was a type of sealing magic that could only be undone in two ways: either by destroying it with overwhelming magic power or by inputting the correct password—a specific pattern of Mental Energy fluctuations.

Compared to the latter, the former was certainly simpler, as they had no idea who held the 'password.'

However, with the total magic power of five Magic Apprentices, breaking the lock by force was pure fantasy.

Ryan irritably snapped his book shut. The dull thud of the thick pages echoed in the quiet library, drawing a cold stare from the Administrator.

He quickly cast an apologetic glance. Once the Administrator's head retracted behind the counter, he said in a low voice, “We can only enter the basement if we find the password.”

“How do we find it?” Leon lay face-down on the table, his cheek compressed and distorted. “The password must be with a teacher. There are no fewer than fifty teachers of various levels at Hogwarts. How long would it take to rule out the wrong answers?”

“Can Madam Louisa last that long?”

“We could...”

“Hmm? What's wrong, juniors?” An upperclassman carrying books passed by the five of them and asked curiously upon seeing their troubled faces.

“Uh, we're troubled by some problems.”

“Is it a school assignment?”

“No, no.” Misha, worried the senior would offer to help solve a problem she didn't actually have, quickly shook her head and made up an excuse. “It's a personal matter.”

“Is that so?” the senior said understandingly, then offered a helpful suggestion. “There's a very knowledgeable senior sister who often hangs around the third-floor restroom of the Teaching Building. If you have doubts you can't resolve, you can go ask her.”

Oh!

The five of them collectively pricked up their ears. Wino even stood up, smiling amiably. “Senior, what is that senior sister's name? What are her likes and dislikes?”

“By the way, why does she like staying in the restroom?”

“Why she likes the restroom... I'm not sure about that.”

“As for hobbies, it's said she's keen on having an audience when she tells stories.”

“As for dislikes, it's probably having an audience member leave halfway. Oh, it's best not to do that; there will be very serious consequences.”

After patiently and carefully answering, the senior asked if there was anything else they wanted to know.

“That's enough.”

“I wish you all the best.”

“Goodbye, Senior.”

The senior walked away with his books. Across the long table, the five leaned their heads together.

“Do you think that senior sister might know who has the password?” Leon was the first to ask.

“Even if she doesn't, maybe she has a way to calculate the correct password?!” Misha was excited enough to slap the table, but just as her hand rose, she felt a cold gaze fall on her back, and her consciousness quickly checked the physical impulse.

“Based on the senior's description, that senior sister's temper seems a bit eccentric. She might refuse to answer us.”

Wino smiled confidently. “She likes people listening to her stories. If the five of us listen for a whole day to satisfy her, would she still refuse us?”

“Makes sense!” Ryan strongly agreed.

Klaisi hesitated. “I just hope her stories aren't too boring.”

“How boring could they be? Let's not waste time, set off immediately!”

“Let's go!”

The five split up to put the books back on the shelves and then headed together to the third floor of the Teaching Building.