"What was that sound?"
Two pairs of eyes snapped toward the door simultaneously. Lockhart slowly tucked the diary into his robes, while Umbridge drew her wand with practised precision.
That explosion wasn't particularly loud, but the two people in the bathroom were close enough to hear this sudden disturbance clearly.
Although Hogwarts nights weren't exactly peaceful, such explosions didn't occur frequently.
Exchanging wary glances, the two lightened their footsteps and slowly crept toward the door.
Outside the bathroom, Harry and Sir Podmore were visibly startled by the house-elf's sudden appearance, both whipping around to look.
The suddenly materialised Dobby looked around in obvious confusion, as if searching for something but unable to locate it.
After carefully observing that house-elf's appearance, a strange gleam flashed in Sir Podmore's crimson eyes.
Then, first glancing at the tightly closed bathroom door, then at Harry beside him, his spectral form gradually faded, retreating backward until he'd vanished completely.
Not noticing Sir Podmore's sudden disappearance, Harry somewhat frantically extended a hand from under the invisibility cloak, grabbed Dobby's arm, and yanked the elf beneath the shimmering fabric.
Clamping a hand over Dobby's mouth, Harry didn't even dare breathe audibly as he watched the bathroom door, terrified those two might suddenly burst out.
After remaining frozen like this for what felt like an eternity, seeing the people inside showed no intention of emerging, Harry finally released a shaky breath.
Then he looked around and suddenly discovered that Sir Podmore beside him had somehow vanished.
Where had that spectre gone?
A trace of confusion flickered through his mind, but Harry shook his head, temporarily setting aside concern for the Sir, and looked at the still somewhat panicked house-elf beside him, asking in an unfriendly whisper, "What are you here for this time?"
Although both he and Hermione felt Dobby harboured no ill intentions toward him, he still had no warm feelings toward this house-elf that appeared from who knows where.
After all, except for that time appearing in his common room, every time Dobby materialised, it brought him considerable danger. Over time, he'd even begun to truly believe this house-elf was sent to harm him.
However, if it wanted to harm him, this elf obviously had many more opportunities. This was also why he was willing to trust Dobby.
"Dobby—Dobby finally found an opportunity to come warn Harry Potter!"
Perhaps realising the gravity of the current situation, Dobby's voice also dropped to a whisper. "Harry Potter should leave. Dobby heard news that bad people have already come to Hogwarts and are about to—"
Dobby's voice suddenly cut off, and simultaneously, a faint sound drifted from the bathroom entrance.
Harry alertly crouched lower, ensuring the invisibility cloak completely covered both him and Dobby, then looked toward where the sound originated.
He saw a woman gripping a wand standing behind the bathroom door, carefully pushing it open and peering outside with narrowed eyes.
If not for the bathroom door being somewhat aged with no wizard maintaining it, her movements might have been completely silent.
Behind the woman, Lockhart also brandished his wand, poking his head out and viciously scanning the surrounding shadows.
Watching those two's movements, Harry crouched on the cold stone floor, barely daring to breathe, terrified his breathing would attract their attention.
But perhaps being overly cautious, after those two emerged and looked around twice, they still didn't plan to leave. Instead, they continued advancing forward, apparently intending to thoroughly search the surrounding corners.
"Pop!"
Just then, an explosive crack echoed from nearby, drawing their attention.
Whirling around, they saw a figure wearing brightly coloured bizarre clothes and a hat covered in jingling bells, hurling a small bowl at the ground and shattering it to pieces.
Seeing their gazes turn toward him, Peeves made an exaggerated face, his form floating toward a nearby wall. While drifting, he cackled wildly:
"What do I see? A school professor actually having a date with a woman from outside! Hahaha!"
With that, Peeves merged into the wall, though his mocking voice still slowly drifted through:
"Great Lord Peeves will let the whole school know about this—"
Hearing that troublesome poltergeist's words, a flash of fury passed through "Umbridge's" eyes, while Lockhart beside her was even more enraged, drawing his wand and preparing to chase after it.
He couldn't let this poltergeist spread such rumours around school, or Professor Lockhart's reputation would be utterly destroyed!
That was the reputation he had worked so painstakingly to accumulate!
But he'd barely taken two steps when a hand suddenly reached out beside him, grabbing his arm firmly.
Turning back, he saw the woman called Umbridge looking grimly at where Peeves had vanished, saying in a low voice, "There's no time. My letter can't keep that target outside too long. We need to quickly summon it and complete tonight's ritual."
"We can settle accounts with that wretched poltergeist after it's over."
Hearing the woman's words, Lockhart hesitated for a few seconds but still turned back resentfully.
"Are you sure you can deal with that thing?"
He seemed to recall hearing that this poltergeist called Peeves was fundamentally different from ordinary ghosts—methods for dealing with regular ghosts might not work effectively on it.
"I can. Even if I can't, 'it' should be able to." Taking a meaningful look at where Peeves had departed, Umbridge and Lockhart turned back and entered the bathroom.
Seeing the bathroom door close again, Harry breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Just then, Sir Podmore, who had disappeared earlier, rematerialised beside him.
"Did you call Peeves?" After brief consideration, Harry understood what had happened.
"Yes. Although if fighting directly, I could hold them off for a while to let you call for help, doing so would alert these two that something was wrong, and they might not proceed with their next actions."
"I want to know what exactly they're planning to do, which means we can't alert them."
"Conveniently, Peeves owes me a favour, so asking it for help was most appropriate."
After his brief explanation, Sir Podmore looked at the two who had returned to the bathroom, then at the house-elf in the invisibility cloak who looked visibly relieved, his tone carrying some curiosity.
"He hadn't seen this house-elf before, which meant it wasn't one of Hogwarts's house-elves, but rather the servant of some wizard family."
Why would a family servant come to Hogwarts?
Moreover, he'd seen very clearly just now—after spotting Ms Umbridge, this house-elf's expression had become extremely panicked.
That fear didn't look like being afraid of getting caught, but purely fearing that person's identity.
Having some suspicions forming in his mind, Sir Podmore spoke softly, his tone gentle but his blood-red eyes carrying sharp scrutiny:
"So tell us, why did you come here?"
"And judging by your appearance, you seem to know something?"