For no clear reason, the moment Tver heard that Harry was missing, he thought of Karkaroff, and Voldemort.
But a guess was still only a guess. They would have to look at the situation carefully. After all, it was hardly unusual for Harry to suddenly run off and do something dangerous, or something no one else could understand.
"Don't panic yet." He first tried to steady Hermione, though with the situation this urgent, he had no time to let her go inside and rest.
"Tell me exactly what happened, from beginning to end, and how you're sure Harry is missing rather than off playing one of his adventure games."
Seeing Tver's calm expression, and with her own breath finally evening out, Hermione managed to settle down a little.
"It's like this. A while ago, Professor Dumbledore had something come up and had to postpone Harry's lesson, right?" she said quickly and clearly as she recalled the events.
"He said he wanted to make up for the missed class, so he had Harry go to the Headmaster's office for a lesson first thing this morning."
"But."
"Just now at dinner, I saw Professor Dumbledore in the Great Hall, but I couldn't find Harry anywhere!"
"Find him?" Tver caught the key word in her explanation.
"Yes. Ron, Neville, and I searched Gryffindor Tower, then asked the other students. Only a few people saw Harry leave the Headmaster's office, but no one knows where he went after that!"
In that case, either Karkaroff had lured him away after he left the Headmaster's office under some pretext, or Harry had noticed something strange and secretly gone off to investigate.
Of course, knowing Harry, it was entirely possible the two had happened together.
The only thing was, the Cloak of Invisibility was with Tver. At most, Harry would only have the Marauder's Map.
Wait.
Tver suddenly remembered a small object he had nearly forgotten.
Under Hermione's astonished gaze, he swept a hand through the air. The wallet on the desk stirred, then flew swiftly into his outstretched palm.
With another motion, a thick stack of parchment slipped into his other hand and unfolded before his eyes.
Hermione was still staring at the map and the names on it in surprise when Tver had already put away the Map of Precise Locations in disappointment.
Harry's name wasn't on it.
Of course, it was still possible that Voldemort, to be safe, had completely hidden their traces and their names.
Tver stood in the doorway, eyes narrowed slightly.
He could not be completely certain, but he had the strong feeling that Voldemort's target was not Harry. Or rather, not only Harry.
That meant Voldemort might not have taken Harry out of Hogwarts.
In that case, somewhere inside the castle that could hide both of them while still being outside the range of the Map of Precise Locations.
The Room of Requirement, or perhaps the Chamber of Secrets?
Tver turned his head thoughtfully toward the other side.
The old, neglected girls' lavatory looked the same as ever. The cold night wind brushed against the door, drawing out one harsh creak after another.
The darkness inside was like the gaping maw of some prehistoric beast, swallowing every trace of light.
Or like an anglerfish in the depths of the sea, dangling a tiny lantern to lure Tver inside.
His eyes sharpened, and he suddenly looked at Hermione.
"Have you told Dumbledore? How is he planning to handle this?"
Hermione had been following the professor's gaze toward that door, and the sudden question made her flinch.
"He... Dumbledore and Sirius already know. They said they were going to notify the other professors and search the castle together, so I came to find you."
After saying that, she glanced at the lavatory and asked hesitantly, "Professor, do you think Harry went into the Chamber of Secrets?"
The professor's reaction just now had been far too obvious. With her intelligence, how could she not have guessed?
"It's only a possibility."
That was what Tver said, but he was almost certain they were hiding in the Chamber of Secrets.
"Marvolio, go to the Room of Requirement and see whether Voldemort is hiding there."
When someone was using the Room of Requirement, no one else could open its door, so if Voldemort was not there, a quick test would tell them.
But if Tver had guessed wrong, however unlikely that was, Marvolio could rely on how well he knew Voldemort and try to enter the room Voldemort needed.
Marvolio stood up without objection and walked to Tver's side.
In a sense, he also had a share in the soul inside Harry's head.
"And you?"
"I'm going to the Chamber of Secrets."
The moment he finished speaking, Tver vanished, leaving only a gust of wind to prove he had ever been there.
"Tsk, that really is convenient." Marvolio smacked his lips. His leisure came from the strength on their side.
Dumbledore, Tver, and he were all at Hogwarts, while Grindelwald was right next door in Hogsmeade. If Voldemort could still pull off something major under these circumstances, then the lot of them might as well retire.
Still, Voldemort had planned for so long just to abduct Harry and lure Tver into a one-on-one confrontation? That did not seem like it would give him much of an advantage.
Completely unaware that he had just set up a flag, Marvolio, still somewhat puzzled, led Hermione toward the staircase in the direction of the Room of Requirement.
As they walked, he asked casually, "By the way, have you or Harry seen Karkaroff?"
"I haven't. Does this have something to do with Professor Karkaroff?" Hermione asked back curiously.
Given how urgent things were, she did not dare hide anything. After thinking for a moment, she decided to tell him what Harry had said about Karkaroff.
"But Harry did tell us that he thought Karkaroff was acting stranger and stranger. Especially this morning, when Karkaroff came to tell Harry to go to class, Harry said Karkaroff looked as if something inside him was trying to break free."
"Break free? Why would he say that?"
The wording gave Marvolio a vague sense of unease. He could only comfort himself by assuming it was the effect of Voldemort's Polyjuice Potion nearly wearing off.
Hearing the seriousness in Marvolio's voice, Hermione thought carefully before answering with caution.
"According to Harry, it felt as though Karkaroff was trying to break free from some kind of shackles. There was something distorted about him, as if he wasn't quite himself."
Shackles?
Marvolio's pupils widened instantly.
In the wizarding world, aside from physical chains, the only thing that could be called shackles was the Imperius Curse.
If Karkaroff had been controlled by the Imperius Curse all along, then what was Voldemort using the Polyjuice Potion for?
He whipped his head around. Even though they had already reached the sixth-floor corridor, his gaze remained fixed hard on the floor below.
As if his eyes could pierce through layer after layer of obstacles and reach that mysterious Chamber of Secrets.