"Hm?"
Logan frowned while staring at the liquid suddenly appearing inside the Silver Cup.
Where did this come from?
Moments ago, the cup had been completely empty.
Now silvery liquid slowly swirled inside it like liquid mercury.
Was this… something he was supposed to drink?
Logan's expression immediately became cautious.
"…Actually, maybe not."
He had absolutely no idea what this substance was.
What if drinking it triggered horrifying side effects?
What if he died on the spot?
No thank you.
While Logan hesitated, the ripples inside the cup gradually became stronger.
Then something strange happened.
The silver liquid slowly turned transparent.
Little by little, it transformed into ordinary clear water.
"…Why did it change?"
Before Logan could figure it out, an image slowly emerged upon the water's surface.
His expression instantly sharpened.
Could this be the secret Helga Hufflepuff mentioned?
Logan immediately focused on the changing image.
Then suddenly—
The world around him changed completely.
The desolate wasteland vanished.
The darkness disappeared.
In its place appeared vibrant greenery and warm sunlight.
A beautiful blue lake shimmered nearby beneath the golden sky while soft ripples danced across the water's surface.
The contrast was absurd.
One second, Logan had been standing inside a dead wasteland in the Forbidden Forest.
The next, it felt as though he'd suddenly been teleported into a luxurious paradise.
It was like preparing to sleep beneath a bridge only to wake up inside a five-star resort.
Logan immediately became alert.
"…Another memory world?"
The situation looked extremely similar to the experience he previously had with Ravenclaw's diadem.
Then suddenly, voices nearby caught his attention.
A man and a woman stood beside the lakeshore talking quietly together.
Logan carefully approached them.
The moment he saw their faces, his eyes widened.
Salazar Slytherin.
Helga Hufflepuff.
Without hesitation, Logan immediately ran directly toward them and even waved his arms wildly in front of their faces.
Neither reacted.
They treated him as though he didn't exist.
"Yep," Logan muttered. "Definitely another memory world."
Honestly, that made things easier.
At least he could openly eavesdrop.
Quickly calming himself, Logan leaned closer to listen.
"I'm leaving Hogwarts."
Slytherin's voice sounded unusually tired.
"You'd better keep an eye on Rowena Ravenclaw from now on."
Hufflepuff looked stunned.
"Are you truly going through with this?"
"This school is our home. We built Hogwarts together."
Her expression became increasingly distressed.
"And what exactly does Ravenclaw have to do with your departure?"
Slytherin slowly turned toward her.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
"The current Ravenclaw…"
"…is no longer the Ravenclaw we once knew."
Hufflepuff froze.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Clearly, she found the statement impossible to believe.
Slytherin clenched his fists tightly.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me," he said bitterly. "But I'm telling you the truth."
"The Ravenclaw we know is gone."
As he spoke, frustration visibly spread across his face.
He even dragged a hand through his hair anxiously.
"It all started after that cave."
"Ever since we escaped from there, she's been acting differently."
His expression darkened.
"I suspect something possessed her."
"What's wearing Ravenclaw's body now…"
"…is something else entirely."
Hufflepuff looked completely shaken by his words.
Still, she quickly forced the conversation back on track.
"If something truly happened to Ravenclaw, then we should solve it together."
"But why leave Hogwarts?"
Slytherin immediately answered.
"She's already suspicious of me."
"I don't know whether she fully realizes I suspect her, but I need a reason to leave Hogwarts without raising alarm."
"I'm going to investigate that cave again."
His eyes became incredibly resolute.
"I'll bring back the real Ravenclaw."
Logan's expression slowly changed.
So that's what happened…
At the same time, Slytherin silently concealed another truth.
A few days earlier, he had already hired people to investigate the mysterious cave.
But when they searched the mountain…
The cave had vanished completely.
As though it had never existed in the first place.
Every clue had gone cold.
Fortunately, Slytherin had recently purchased information from a mysterious merchant that might be connected to the cave's origins.
This time, he planned to investigate alone.
Hufflepuff clearly understood his intentions now.
Slytherin planned to secretly leave Hogwarts, escape the possessed Ravenclaw's attention, and search for a method to restore the real Rowena.
Still, she looked deeply worried.
"But this is far too dangerous."
"You should tell Godric Gryffindor. With his strength helping you, surely—"
"No."
Slytherin rejected the idea instantly.
"Gryffindor is too reckless."
"He'll ruin everything."
His gaze became cold.
"If the current Ravenclaw realizes what I'm planning, conflict will become unavoidable."
"And if that happens…"
"…it'll be Rowena's body that gets hurt."
Logan silently listened while piecing everything together.
Meanwhile, Slytherin continued calmly.
"As long as Gryffindor remains at Hogwarts, she'll stay restrained enough not to act recklessly."
Naturally, Slytherin omitted another important reason.
Admitting that Gryffindor was stronger than him was simply unacceptable.
Even if it happened to be true.
Maybe he'd admit it in his next life.
Seeing that she could no longer change his mind, Hufflepuff finally sighed in defeat.
In the end, she agreed to help conceal the truth.
The memory world suddenly accelerated.
Scenes rapidly flashed past.
Then—
The next day.
Chaos erupted inside Hogwarts.
Slytherin publicly brought up his pure-blood ideology again, loudly declaring that Hogwarts had become polluted by inferior bloodlines.
He demanded the school return to its original standards.
Naturally, both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff publicly opposed him.
A massive argument broke out.
Slytherin even deliberately insulted Muggle-born students in front of everyone, ensuring the conflict became impossible to ignore.
Everything unfolded exactly like the stories passed down through history.
Except now Logan knew the horrifying truth hidden beneath it all.
That night, Gryffindor confronted Slytherin personally.
Three days later…
A bruised and battered Slytherin stood before Hogwarts and angrily announced that he would leave this "disgusting and corrupted school forever."
Apparently, getting beaten up by Gryffindor hadn't originally been part of the plan.
Still, Slytherin committed fully to the performance.
To make everything believable, he even constructed the Chamber of Secrets and deliberately spread terrifying rumors about hidden monsters within the school.
He wanted the entire conflict to appear completely real.
As he prepared to leave Hogwarts for good, Slytherin glanced back toward the hidden chamber he created beneath the castle.
Then he muttered quietly to himself,
"No one would actually believe such ridiculous rumors…"
"…right?"
Surely nobody could possibly be that stupid.
With several backup plans already prepared, Salazar Slytherin finally departed Hogwarts and stepped onto the unknown path ahead.
.....
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