Chapter 1248: Application Form

Percy stepped into the room, coughing twice from the dust, not knowing what he stepped on, producing a crisp “crack” sound.

He looked down and found that it was a piece of glass shard under his foot—perhaps remnants left behind long ago after an ink bottle shattered.

Percy had the urge to take a deep breath, but the musty smell in the air made him hold back.

He turned around and saw Filch still standing at the doorway, staring at him intently.

It felt as though a mangy old hyena was following him.

Mrs. Loris at Filch’s feet arched her back, and when Percy turned around, she hissed, baring her teeth as if threatening him.

The two exchanged a glance, and Filch lowered his eyes, seemingly respectfully said:

“Since I’ve already brought you to the place, I will take my leave now…”

He turned to leave but suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back, saying:

“By the way, Mr. Weasley, none of the documents here can be taken out at will, or the magic of the archive room will issue a warning—I thought you might need to know this.”

“Wait, Mr. Filch.”

Percy called him, glanced around, and said:

“These documents should be placed in chronological order, right? Can you tell me which area the archives from the recent years are located?”

“This way, I can start investigating from recent years, and if there’s a question, it would be easier to verify.”

“As for the ones from long ago, there’s no need to look at those anymore.”

Filch looked at him and silently walked to the left side of the room, standing in front of a wooden rack propped up at the bottom by chair legs, and patted it.

“Everything you need is on this rack, Mr. Weasley; which part would you like to see? I can help you find it.”

Percy Weasley walked over and noticed that the parchment was indeed relatively new. He casually picked up a few sheets and flipped through them, seeing Romilda Vane’s name.

Percy remembered that she was a new student enrolling in his last year at Hogwarts.

She was a black-haired girl, very shy, and, like Colin Creevey, was extremely obsessed with Harry Potter, though she hardly dared to speak to him.

It seemed this time, Filch really directed him to the recent years’ materials without deliberately delaying.

Perhaps the previous waiting process was so frustrating that this smooth process now seemed a bit unbelievable, and when Percy saw Filch’s wrinkled old face again, he felt he wasn’t that annoying.

“Great, this is exactly what I wanted. Thank you for your help, Mr. Filch.”

Percy rubbed his itchy nose, speaking in a muffled voice:

“I’ll handle the work from here on myself. You can… continue patrolling the corridor.”

“Alright then.” Filch headed towards the door, not looking back as he said: “Remember to lock the door when you leave, though it’s not as if anyone would want to steal the scrap paper here.”

Mrs. Loris’s tail was raised high, and she walked out with her owner.

“Bang!”

The wooden door closed with a dull thud, simultaneously blocking the light pouring in from outside.

The archive room was located on the castle’s basement level, relying solely on the magical candles in the alcoves, which were far from sufficient to provide enough illumination.

In the darkness, Percy stood quietly for quite a while.

In the silent room, only his faint breathing could be heard.

A moment later, he waved his wand:

“Lumos!”

A bright light burst from the tip of the wand, illuminating the surroundings.

Percy rubbed his tired eyes, looking down at the disorganized parchment on the cabinet, then rubbed his stiff face.

—It’s alright.

He told himself.

It’s alright… it’s all part of the job.

There are times of prominence, and naturally, there are times of hard work and toil.

He skillfully consoled himself for a moment before pulling out the student list Professor McGonagall had given him and started searching through the pile of documents.

File after file was opened and closed, parchment after parchment floated up and then down, the dust visibly stirred up, swirling and spreading in the air.

Comparing with the student list, Percy ticked or circled symbols on the parchment, leaving various marks only he understood.

He saw his sister Ginny’s application form, with their mother’s signature in the guardian column—Molly Weasley.

The familiar name didn’t cause a single ripple in his expression.

Next was Draco Malfoy… Pansy Parkinson… Ron Weasley… Hermione Granger… Harry Potter…

Percy’s hand paused slightly as he searched, his gaze falling on the guardian column.

[Sirius Black]

“No doubt, of course, it’s him,” Percy muttered, “Who else could it be?”

He knew the Muggle relatives raising Harry were a truly terrible family, complaints he had heard from his brothers at the dining table. Fred had even mentioned wanting to find a way to teach “the little fatty” a lesson…

But what was the name of that family? Where did they live?

Percy pinched his forehead, trying to recall for a long time, but still couldn’t remember.

No way, Harry might have mentioned it to Ron and them, but at that time, Percy was either in his room writing letters to Penelope or diligently studying for his exams, completely uninvolved.

If he hadn’t sent that letter to his family, he could have asked Ron, or even directly asked Harry, who would surely have told him…

Percy shook his head, not regretting his previous decision to cut ties with his family.

He was certain that in his family, none could be his support on the path of his career, but rather each could become a huge drag-back troublesome issue.

Including Bill.

Because they all trusted Dumbledore too much!

Trusting to the extent that… as long as the old headmaster gave a word, they would unhesitatingly follow him in doing something foolish.

—Such as opposing the incumbent Minister of Magic, while putting on an air of “I’m doing all this for your good.”

And Percy, in the ebbs and flows at the Ministry of Magic, saw very clearly—those wary of Dumbledore’s existence, even resenting it, was certainly not just Fudge alone.

He shook his head, put down Harry’s application, and continued flipping through.

Padma Patil… Michael Corner… Terry Boot… Vid Gray…

Vid Gray?

Percy’s heart gave a heavy thud, and as his gaze turned serious, his lips slowly curled up.

He eagerly looked at the bottom of the application form:

[Guardian: Terence Moray]

Percy was somewhat surprised.

Vid’s father was actually named Terence Moray?

Being a different surname, no wonder there weren’t rumors of anyone causing trouble for his parents… but Moray did sound familiar…

Wait!

Percy’s smile suddenly froze.

Terence Moray… wasn’t that the school’s Alchemy Professor?