Professor Luke's face twisted with horror as the memories came rushing back.
"G..Gandalf… I saw it. I saw that thing in the shadows!"
His voice trembled.
"He wasn't human. He was a ghost, an evil, powerful ghost!"
Luke clutched his head, shaking as he relived it.
"A white phantom suddenly burst out from that student's body. Before I could react, he rushed into me… took over me! I couldn't resist at all, I was like a puppet. I watched helplessly as he used my body, pretended to be me, and walked those two boys right here!"
His voice cracked.
"And when Lady Amanda came close, he controlled me to strike her down, then he left my body and possessed hers!"
Gandalf's expression grew grim.
Saruman was playing games.
Possessing one host after another, slipping between bodies as if mocking them, but Gandalf knew this was no mere prank. Saruman always acted with purpose.
And a Maiar who felt cornered was the most dangerous of all.
Footsteps thundered outside the infirmary.
Edward rushed in, levitating an unconscious figure behind him.
Everyone gasped.
It was Lady Amanda, pale, limp, completely unconscious.
Gandalf's eyes narrowed.
"Where did you find her?"
Edward set her gently on a bed, his face dark.
"She was discovered in an unused classroom. A portrait said she was wandering the corridors frantically. She even tried to break into the Headmaster's private tower to reach the fireplace."
Gandalf and Galadriel exchanged a sharp look.
"That confirms it," Gandalf muttered. "He wanted to escape through Floo travel."
Edward continued anxiously:
"But Headmaster Sylas shut down all fireplaces earlier. So Amanda left the tower and kept searching… until she collapsed."
His expression tightened even more.
"And Lady Galadriel says Saruman already abandoned Amanda's body. Worse, after leaving the infirmary, Amanda interacted with at least a dozen students. Those students then returned to their dormitories and saw more students."
He swallowed hard.
"In other words… anyone could be possessed now. Any student, even any professor."
A heavy silence fell.
Gandalf's jaw clenched.
"He's cornered… and desperate. That makes him unpredictable."
With nowhere to flee, blocked by Galadriel's Water Ring barrier outside and Sylas's sealed fireplaces inside, Saruman was now trapped with only one path left:
Hide.
Gandalf suddenly thought of something else.
"The Vanishing Cabinets!" he snapped. "If he uses one, he could escape the castle entirely."
But Edward shook his head.
"Headmaster Sylas already anticipated that. All Vanishing Cabinets were moved to the underground vault and placed under Smaug's guard. Not even a ghost could get near them."
Gandalf let out a rare breath of relief.
"Good. Then he has no escape route. This time, we must corner him."
He turned sharply.
"Search every student Amanda came in contact with. Now."
Galadriel returned at that moment, pale with controlled fury.
"I have scanned the castle," she said, "but a Maiar spirit that chooses to hide can mask itself even from me. Saruman is changing hosts too frequently, his presence is faint."
Gandalf nodded grimly.
"He's jumping bodies constantly. He knows the net is closing."
Together with Edward and the professors, they began re-examining every student one by one.
However, during their investigation, Gandalf and Galadriel found something even more disturbing, several students showed clear signs of having been possessed, and all of them had been struck with Obliviate, leaving them with absolutely no memory of the incident.
Worse still, these students came from all four Houses.
Meaning:
Anyone, Thunderbird, Phoenix, Dragon, or Basilisk, could be Saruman's current host.
A chill spread through every professor.
Saruman was slipping through bodies like a ghost, erasing memories behind him.
They couldn't track him. They couldn't even trust their own observations.
And while Gandalf, Galadriel, and the professors continued their frantic investigation...
Inside the sealed office
After three days and three nights of tireless collaboration between Sylas and Elrond, the Marauder's Map was finally completed!
This wasn't the simple parchment from Sylas' memories.
This was a legendary artifact.
A single sheet of enchanted dragon-hide, large and flexible, holding an impossibly detailed, magically shifting cartography.
Not only did it include Hogwarts, but Hogsmeade, Bree, and the entire central region of Elriad.
East to the Last Bridge. South to Southhill Ridge. West to Old Tomb Ridge. North to Northhill Ridge.
Elrond had expanded the map far beyond what Sylas alone could've achieved.
The features were astounding: Zoom in, zoom out. Entire areas rise into 3D terrain.
Touch a name to view a miniature moving figure.
Real-time tracking of every being within the map's boundaries.
And most importantly, names were color-coded.
🟩 Emerald green - harmless🟥 Crimson red - malicious intent
This map was on a completely different level from the Marauder's Map that Sylas remembered.
Sylas spread the map across the table, tapped his wand on Hogwarts Castle, and whispered:
"Show me."
The castle expanded instantly, corridors, classrooms, dormitories, even fireplaces, every corner visible.
Hundreds of names glowed green.
Sylas and Elrond scanned each one with razor focus.
Until suddenly, they both saw it.
A name burning in crimson.
🟥 Saruman
But that was not the part that froze Sylas' blood.
Saruman's red name was overlapping another name, completely fused with it.
But upon seeing that overlapping name, Sylas's pupils constricted, and his face instantly turned ashen.
"How could it be him?"
...
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