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"Ah—!"
A scream full of terror suddenly pierced the silence of the Hogwarts night, echoing through the empty corridors of the castle before coming to an abrupt halt.
Lynn, who was contentedly enjoying a late-night snack specially provided by the house-elves in the kitchen, suddenly looked up.
"Did you guys hear something?" Lynn asked his roommates, his voice muffled by food.
William listened for a few seconds. Outside in the corridor, there was only the usual crackling of burning torches.
"Was there? It seemed... like there was a sound? But then again, maybe not. It might have just been the wind..." William's tone was uncertain, as strange noises were never in short supply within the castle.
Edgar was busy wrestling with a massive chicken pie. Hearing this, he shrugged nonchalantly and joked,
"Nope, you definitely misheard. Maybe Peeves threw a Dungbomb in some corner and scared himself."
Ollie also nodded silently in agreement with Edgar's view, his attention focused more on the plate of pudding in front of him.
Lynn frowned. Seeing his roommates' reactions made him feel that he might be being overly sensitive.
"Forget it, never mind," Lynn shook his head, deciding to follow his instincts as a foodie. "Nothing's more important than eating."
The group then buried their heads in the delicious food once more, putting that brief cry of alarm out of their minds.
In a daze, Lynn seemed to hear the voice of that "snake" again. It was clearer than last time, carrying a heavy sense of resentment:
"Hiss... have to... go to work again... so annoying..."
Lynn's hand jerked, and his spoon nearly fell into his plate.
What the hell!
Could eating too much cause auditory hallucinations? Or was there really a corporate-slave snake living in the castle's plumbing system that had a formal position and needed to clock in?!
The next morning, when Lynn and the others walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, they immediately noticed that the atmosphere was unusual.
Instead of the usual idle chatter at the long tables, people were gathered in small groups, discussing heatedly. Every face was a mix of fear, excitement, and suspicion.
"Have you heard? Just last night! Harry Potter! He opened the Chamber of Secrets and attacked Filch!"
"No, no, it wasn't just him. There was also that red-haired Weasley; they were together!"
"Wasn't there another student? I forgot the name... Oh, right! The one who's always carrying a huge pile of books..."
"Hermione Granger!"
"Right! It was Hermione Granger! The three of them did it together!"
Whispers spread through the Great Hall. Lynn held his cup of milk, listening to the discussions around him.
To be honest, Lynn might have been able to believe that those two reckless boys, Harry and Ron, would stay up late and go attack Filch—after all, they were the type to fly a car to school.
But to say that Hermione, the Miss Know-It-All who practically wanted to carve the school rules onto her forehead, would participate in something that clearly violated school discipline and might even be illegal?
Lynn curled his lip. The credibility of that was pathetically low.
However, public opinion didn't seem to care about logic.
While Lynn was lost in thought, the protagonists of the event—Harry, Ron, and Hermione—walked into the Great Hall with heavy dark circles under their eyes, looking exhausted and depressed.
Almost the moment they stepped through the doors, the noise in the Great Hall instantly died down, and countless gazes snapped toward the three of them.
Ron was the first to snap under this silent judgment. His face flushed red, and he stopped abruptly, shouting at everyone looking at them,
"It wasn't us! We didn't do anything!"
However, no one responded to his defense; there were only more scrutinizing stares.
Harry couldn't take it either and stepped forward.
"We don't even know where the Chamber of Secrets is! Besides, we're Gryffindors! How could we possibly be the heir of Slytherin?!"
Hermione opened her mouth, about to back them up.
Just then, a discordant sneer came from the Slytherin table.
Draco Malfoy stood up slowly, his face full of mockery.
"Potter? The heir of Slytherin?" Malfoy drawled.
"What kind of international Merlin-joke is this... A Savior living with a Muggle family? A Weasley who's so poor he can't even afford a decent wand?"
He babbled on and on, his words full of disdain for Harry's background, Ron's family situation, and the entirety of Gryffindor.
This long string of insulting remarks was like lighting a powder keg.
Ron's eyes instantly turned red. He spun around, no longer caring about the setting, and roared back at Malfoy,
"Shut your filthy mouth, Malfoy! You big &$7*!"
Harry also clenched his fists and joined the fray.
Although Hermione was shaking with rage, she still tried to hold back the two impulsive boys.
The three of them and Malfoy engaged in a heated war of words across the hall.
Edgar, watching the excitement from the side and eager for chaos, fanned the flames by shouting,
"What's the point of just arguing? If you've got the guts, have a duel!"
These words seemed to give Malfoy an idea. He tilted his chin up and pointed his finger at Harry, his voice rising with pure provocation:
"Potter! Saturday night, Dueling Club—do you dare? Let's settle this like Wizards! The loser has to bow and call the other 'sir' whenever they meet in the corridors from now on!"
Stimulated by anger and the surrounding gazes, Harry didn't even think before practically roaring back:
"Who's afraid of you! Saturday it is!"
Lynn: ...The effect really was instantaneous.
After finishing his meal, Lynn had just stood up to leave with his roommates when he saw Hermione practically dragging a resistant Harry and a Ron with a constipated expression straight toward the Hufflepuff table.
"Good morning, Lynn," Hermione was the first to greet him.
"Morning to you too. What is it, Hermione? Looking for me for something?" Lynn didn't understand why they were coming to see him.
Hermione didn't answer immediately. She looked around.
"It's... not very convenient to talk here. Can we go somewhere quieter to chat?"
Lynn glanced at his roommates and waved them off.
"You guys go back to the common room first. I'll take care of a small matter and be back in a bit."
Lynn followed the trio to a relatively secluded corner.
"You can say it now, right? Why all the mystery?"
"Lynn, you... tell us honestly, are you the heir of Slytherin?"
"Cough, cough—cough, cough, cough!!"
Lynn choked on his own saliva, his face instantly turning beet red.
"You... you guys... are you serious?! What kind of international Merlin-joke is this?! What are you thinking?!"