Chapter 151: Some Speculations
Compared to other possibilities, Phineas felt it was more likely that Sakaski had known about the Room of Requirement before even coming to Hogwarts.
But what exactly was in the Room of Requirement that could make Sakaski give up his position at Skull to come here?
Phineas could think of only two things. One was Ravenclaw's secret room and the inherited knowledge within.
The other was the so-called ancestral bloodline left to him by Professor Jonathan, which he had hidden away and then retrieved last semester.
Both were critically important to Phineas.
Many of his current abilities came from the system, but the foundation of those powers was built upon Ravenclaw's inheritance. If the system were to disappear one day, Phineas feared his strength would diminish significantly.
As for the ancestral bloodline, although it wasn't especially useful, it had made him a target of the vampires. If Sakaski was after it, that could imply he was working with those vampires.
But if that assumption was wrong, it might prove that the "ancestral bloodline" wasn't what he believed it to be—perhaps it was something even more valuable, which would explain the vampires' interest.
This overturned much of what Phineas had believed. He had always assumed the item was simply the blood of an ancestor, or at best, a more potent strain of vampire blood.
But Sakaski's interest complicated things.
With that in mind, it made sense that Sakaski had instructed Marcus Flint—who was, frankly, an idiot—to provoke him at the start of the school year.
Maybe Sakaski had been using the Flint family to test Phineas's real strength in preparation for stealing that item.
However, there was still a flaw in this theory.
After the kidnapping incident, Phineas had moved the item from the Room of Requirement into the Black family's vault. That was the only truly safe place for it—after all, the Room of Requirement was still part of the school.
And Sakaski had already managed to enter it.
Phineas didn't believe for a second that Sakaski hadn't considered this. So perhaps Sakaski's true target was Ravenclaw's secret room?
But if that were true, it raised too many questions and cast doubt on all of Phineas's earlier speculation—frustrating him deeply.
The bottom line remained: Sakaski had come to Hogwarts with ulterior motives. He was dangerous. But Phineas still had no solid proof, no clue about what his real objective was.
And all of this had spiraled from the moment he noticed that Sakaski's name was missing from the Marauder's Map.
"Mousse."
After thinking it over, Phineas decided to act.
As the house-elf appeared beside him, he said:
"Go arrange for some house-elves to work in the Hogwarts kitchens. Have them collect any information they can on Professor Richie."
Mousse nodded and disappeared, probably heading back to No. 12 Grimmauld Place to organize the task.
Mousse was one of the young house-elves Phineas had purchased previously. Normally, he was responsible for managing the old Black house, while Puff had been stationed with the Lovegoods. Since Puff hadn't returned yet, Mousse had to handle things for now.
Phineas couldn't help wondering how things were going with Puff—or if Senior Pandora had gotten involved again.
Watching the elf vanish, Phineas slipped back into deep thought, his right hand unconsciously tapping the tabletop in a steady rhythm.
At Hogwarts, portraits were among the best tools for gathering intelligence—second only to house-elves.
Ordering Mousse to place elves in the kitchen had just been one step. Phineas also needed to keep direct eyes on Sakaski.
To that end, he considered adding a portrait to his dorm room—one that could move between the many paintings throughout the castle.
But its subject had to be inconspicuous.
Small animals were ideal.
Phineas didn't understand other animal languages—so the only choice was his Animagus form, a cat.
When he transformed, he could understand feline speech. That would be his workaround.
At this moment, he deeply wished the Slytherin blood in his veins hadn't thinned so much. If it were stronger, he might have awakened the ability to speak Parseltongue.
But that trait had vanished generations ago—at least as far back as his great-grandfather.
Technically, he could still try to learn Parseltongue or other magical tongues, but it was extremely difficult.
In the modern wizarding world, only Dumbledore had managed to learn such languages without a bloodline advantage—and that had taken over a century of life and extraordinary talent.
Nicolas Flamel also knew a handful—Parseltongue, feline speech, bird calls, mermaid song—but he had lived over seven hundred years.
The ancient elders of the pureblood council had mastered languages lost to time, but their lives spanned even longer.
Phineas simply didn't have the time or energy to learn a new language now.
So, cheating through Animagus was his best option.
Resolving to act, he shook off his thoughts, grabbed a parchment sheet, dipped a white quill in ink, and began writing a letter.
It was addressed to the staff of the Black family shop in Diagon Alley. He asked them to help purchase cat portraits—ideally kittens—small in size and easy to carry.
After handing the letter to Popsicle for delivery, Phineas stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes.
Today, he didn't plan to study magical texts or alchemy. Recently, he had reviewed and tested the foundational notes Nicolas Flamel had prepared. He could now create simple alchemical items.
His research into spell creation was also progressing well. After so much continuous work, he finally decided to give himself a break.
Early the next morning, he took the Marauder's Map to find George and Fred.
As always, the twins were cracking jokes and entertaining their classmates even while eating breakfast in the Great Hall.
Though Phineas's reputation at Hogwarts had improved, he was still a Slytherin.
A Slytherin sitting at the Gryffindor table? That was bound to draw attention.