Now it was the end of the semester, and the young wizards had just finished their school year exams. After giving them their grades, Hogwarts would have a long summer vacation.
From Dumbledore's words, it seemed like he hoped that Evan could follow him to pursue these two clues.
They were going to leave for a long time, which meant they would take new fantastic adventures during the holidays.
Evan was thrilled to think about Azkaban, the unknown hideout of the Fallen Centaurs, and the evil spirit of terror from the void.
This time there would be Dumbledore on his side, and he should not have any more accidents.
"I want to go, too. This is my responsibility." Sirius stood up and said with excitement, "I must help Evan to break free from this Curse!"
"I can allow you, but you must promise to fully obey my orders in case of danger. Can you do that?" Dumbledore looked at Sirius.
"Of course!" Sirius nodded hastily, without any hesitation.
"Very well, we will leave tomorrow morning. We'll first go to the Ministry of Magic to see Fudge." Dumbledore turned to look at Professor McGonagall and Snape, "Minerva, Severus, I'll not be here. Everything in Hogwarts will handled by both of you. If you encounter something that you can't solve, you know how to contact me!"
"Don't worry, Albus!" Professor McGonagall said, her mouth was thin. She went forward and hugged Evan tightly, sent a blessing, and patted his hair.
"I have no objection." Snape said, looking at Sirius in a vicious manner. "But the thing I just said, about the responsibility of the whole incident, I hope…"
"Don't bother, I will file a resignation application." Sirius looked back at Snape tit-for-tat. "If that would make you feel better, Snivellus."
Snape's gloomy face was flushed red, and his right hand rested on his wand, seemingly hesitating to pull it out, and then he snorted heavily.
"That's what I've been dreaming of. Now that you've made up your mind, I don't have time or need to continue arguing with a reckless fool. Now it's midnight. If there's nothing else, I hope I can go back to sleep."
Snape nodded to Dumbledore and turned to leave the ward.
"Professor, you won't really let Sirius leave?" When Snape disappeared, Harry hurriedly asked, "He's the best Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor we've ever had!"
"Don't worry about me, Harry!" "Dumbledore had not spoken yet, and Sirius answered for him. "Snape is right. I have to take responsibility and pay for my mistakes. I hope you can understand that."
Harry didn't seem to understand but he nodded. He seemed to want to say something. His face was full of worries.
"Sirius, now that you have made a decision, I will accept your application. The post of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts class is always prone to get vacant. Looks like we're going to worry about new candidates again!" Dumbledore said calmly, turning to Evan. "You have to carry this Philosopher's Stone with you so that you can absorb the magic at any time. I noticed that you had Slytherin's Locket. Maybe you can put it in there."
Evan nodded and took out the Locket hanging around his neck.
He gently opened the lid with the Slytherin family emblem, which had a large letter S, and put the Philosopher's Stone in it. He didn't know whether it was a coincidence or not, this irregularly shaped fragment could just fit in and occupy half of the space.
Looking at the size, it seemed that this Locket was originally used to hold the Philosopher's Stone.
"Good, very good!" Dumbledore exclaimed, as if he had thought about this already. His eyes turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Children, if there are no other questions, I hope you can go back to bed and sleep."
"Professor, can we go with you to pursue those two clues?" Hermione summoned her courage to ask, and looked at Evan with concern.
"Yes, I want to go too!" Harry followed, "We all want to do something for Evan to help him break the Curse left by Voldemort."
"I'm sorry, but I don't think the three of you can take part in this." Dumbledore shook his head and said, "I have no right to take you away for the whole summer vacation to face some dangers far beyond your capabilities. You should go home, or your parents and families will be worried."
"But Sirius is my godfather. He's my guardian!" Harry said, "He's my only relative. I'll follow him wherever he goes."
"Harry, I'm glad you said that!" Sirius said happily, "But I think Dumbledore is right. You can't take risks with us."
"But…"
"Harry, you have to go back to your uncle and aunt's house during the summer vacation. From a kinship point of view, they are your only relatives." Dumbledore said in an indisputable tone, seemingly not wanting to discuss the matter. "Well, you three should go back to bed now. I hope to talk to our friends, the Centaurs and write a letter to Evan's parents to explain the story in a way that Muggles can understand."
Dumbledore walked towards Firenze, who was waiting at the door. He seemed to be returning to the Centaurs' colony with him to get a closer look at the whole incident.
Soon, there were only four people left in the ward: Evan, Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Madam Pomfrey blew out the candlelight, and the place became rather dark.
Evan lay awake in bed, staring at the snake mark on his wrist.
Next to him, Harry, Ron and Hermione also faced their own confused thoughts.
They talked for a long time, starting with the Centaurs' colony adventure tonight.
Finally, Evan comforted Hermione for a long time before she calmed down.
Unconsciously, the four of them fell asleep.
Dark clouds gradually disappeared in the sky, and the bleak moonlight went through the window to find the ward, shining on a bedside beside the window. If someone came at this time, he would be able to see clearly a Dark Mark forming behind the child's neck in the hospital bed.
The python that emerged from the skull's mouth seemed to have life. Its eyes flashed malicious light and disappeared in an instant.
The whole Mark disappeared slowly into the skin as if it had never existed.
Professor Trelawney's prophecy was fulfilled, and Voldemort marked the chosen one with his magic, and he would gain unimaginable powers from that.
Would these powers come from the horrible evil spirit?!