A few minutes later, Louis took a deep breath and pressed the throbbing veins on his temple.
It's fine, it's fine.
Although this book isn't of much use, the significance behind it is extraordinary.
He began to review everything that had just happened, forcing his attention away from Lockhart's smile.
This trunk is definitely a very powerful mystical item.
Its function is somewhat similar to the Vanishing Cabinet in the world of Harry Potter, but its capabilities are even more potent; it can cross not only space but even world connections to deliver items!
However, this function clearly requires some special condition to activate.
Perhaps it's a specific incantation, or maybe something else; he hadn't figured it out yet.
Furthermore, there should be strict restrictions as well.
Louis vaguely remembered that in the dream just now, Harry had confusedly thrown a whole bunch of things into the trunk.
But now, the only thing that appeared in his trunk was this damned Lockhart novel.
This means that the transmission isn't 100% successful; there might be a very high loss rate, or perhaps some sort of filtering mechanism he hasn't grasped yet.
"I've already transmigrated to another world, and there's still a middleman taking a cut? To think it ate so much commission... Dammit!"
Even so, this discovery was enough to make him very excited.
Although he hadn't fully figured out the specific mechanism of the transmission, it at least represented one thing—
His connection to the wizarding world was not completely severed!
If they can send things over from that side, can he also send things over there?
Even if he can't send himself, a living person, back, if he writes a distress letter and stuffs it in, could it reach Dumbledore's hands and let him find a way to fish him out?
Worst case scenario, even if he can't send anything back from his side, as long as he can find a way to 'pluck' some things from over there, it would be good!
Never mind precious magical materials and those miraculous spatial tools.
Even if it's just some upper-year textbooks or notes, that would be a huge help for his survival in this apocalypse!
Thinking of this, Louis couldn't help but press his hand to his chest to calm his excited heart.
It's still too early to celebrate.
He would still need to spend time figuring out this trunk's cooldown time, restrictions, and activation method.
In case this thing has some ridiculous restriction like 'can only be used once in a lifetime' or 'requires a massive human sacrifice,' then it would be a celebration for nothing.
Thinking of this, Louis looked at the copy of 'Year with the Yeti' in his hand, and reflecting on what just happened, his gaze became somewhat complex.
"Fortunately..."
He sighed silently in his heart.
Fortunately, the other end of this trunk was picked up by Harry Potter, the kind-hearted and proactive savior.
Looking at the situation just now, Harry probably didn't even hear clearly what he was saying; he might have only heard a faint 'help' and threw in everything he thought was useful in one go.
If it were someone cautious or not so friendly, trying to establish a long-term stable transmission relationship would be on hellish difficulty.
"As expected of the savior!"
Louis prayed silently in his heart: Please, Harry! Whatever you do, don't destroy the trunk on that end thinking it's some dangerous Dark Arts item.
If you're going to turn it in, please remember to give it directly to Dumbledore!
After all, once he figures out the mechanism of this magical trunk later, he'll still need to rely on the other side for 'proxy shopping.'
As he thought, he picked up that Lockhart book again and flipped through it casually.
"Even though it's a useless novel, what if there's an introduction to some useful spells inside?"
"Even though Lockhart is a hack, most of the deeds written in his books were stolen from other people's real experiences..."
As Louis was thinking, he looked at the content of the book and suddenly froze for a moment.
"Wait, what?"
He looked at this book and then thought back to Harry's appearance in the dream just now.
"Could it be... I transmigrated during Harry's second year?"
The year the Chamber of Secrets was opened?
Louis suddenly thought of something strange.
Since Lockhart is the Professor, according to the Hogwarts book list, new students should have been required to purchase a full set of Lockhart's works.
"Why isn't there even a single Lockhart book in my trunk?"
His textbooks were prepared in advance by his parents. Could it be that they didn't look at the book list at the time, or perhaps they thought those novels were a waste of time and just didn't buy them??
Countless questions flooded his mind, but clearly, now was not the time to delve into them.
Louis sighed, locked away the book along with the doubts in his mind, and stuffed the trunk back into the depths of his backpack.
"Forget it, Lockhart and all that aren't important anyway; I should focus on the present first!"
However, there was one thing Louis was still a bit curious about.
If he really could return from this world later, which house would he be sorted into with this experience of apocalyptic survival?
Brave and fearless Gryffindor? Shrewd and pragmatic Slytherin? Or... "Well, as long as I don't get sorted into Azkaban or Nurmengard or something."
Louis made a joke, then tidied his clothes and pushed open the door.
Just as he stepped into the hallway, a burst of intense arguing drifted into his ears, interrupting his thoughts.
The sound was coming from the study at the end of the hallway, and it sounded like... Maggie was arguing with her father, Hershel?
Louis was somewhat curious and lightened his footsteps to approach.
Through a door left slightly ajar, Maggie's suppressed, angry interrogation came out clearly.
"Dad! Why haven't you dealt with those things in the Barn yet?!"
"Don't you think we've learned enough of a lesson already?!"
The room fell into a brief silence, followed by Hershel's pained and stubborn voice: "Don't call them 'those things'!"
"They are people, Maggie. They are just sick, just like having a cold or a fever; they are just waiting for treatment!"
"..."
Maggie seemed stunned by her father's stubbornness; after a long silence, her voice was full of disbelief: "I truly can't believe... after what happened, you still have such foolish thoughts!"
"Dad, I also think this isn't right."
Shawn, who hadn't spoken, also spoke up, his tone full of exhaustion and helplessness. "You haven't seen how those monsters out there eat people... we saw it at the factory. Those things are no longer human."
"Shut up!"
Hershel suddenly raised his volume, even carrying a hint of a roar, "Your mother is in there! How can you say that about them!"
Shawn was intimidated by his father's fury and lowered his head in silence.
But Maggie did not back down.
"She was our mother." She looked into Hershel's eyes and said firmly, "Now, she is just a Walker."
"A monster that would eat its own child."