After a bout of bickering among the crowd in the corridor, Filch arbitrarily accused Harry of being the culprit. Professor McGonagall analyzed the situation in detail, while Snape interrogated Harry with a sarcastic tone. Lockhart started showing off his great achievements again and even tried to seize the potion-brewing task that had originally been assigned to Snape.
In the end, Dumbledore overruled the objections, insisting on the principle of "presumption of innocence," and allowed the trio to leave the place.
"Where did you go!" Pansy, sitting at the dining table, whispered when she saw Draco, her tone filled with anxiety and worry.
"I heard that Filch's cat was petrified, aren't you afraid…" Pansy said to herself, then seemed to think of something and looked at him scrutinizingly. "Where exactly were you just now?"
"Are you suspecting that I'm the culprit?" Draco found it somewhat amusing and changed the subject; he could certainly tell that the girl was worried about him.
In the end, Pansy's questioning fizzled out because after Draco told a few jokes, her attention shifted away.
However, the atmosphere in the Great Hall was not very good. The original festive holiday mood had been greatly dampened by this petrification.
Students were no longer talking about Halloween pumpkins or ghosts; they were constantly discussing the attack on Mrs.Norris. Although most students did not like Filch, when they saw his dejected expression, they could not help but feel a twinge of sympathy and a sense of insecurity.
"Enemies of the Heir, beware." What does this mean? A Ravenclaw student asked again at their table.
"That's not the point. What we should be most concerned about right now is what exactly petrified it," said another thin boy.
"Medusa?" Luna raised her hand high.
"Oh, little Luna, that thing is the same as the Crumple-Horned Snorkack you're looking for; neither exists," another student said.
"One day I will find it." After saying that, Luna lowered her head again, seemingly lost in thought about where she could find her Crumple-Horned Snorkack, no longer caring about the current matter.
"Medusa?" Hearing this word, a girl who had been keeping her head down seemed to tremble, as if she had thought of something, and then she raised her head and said: "In Professor Sprout's class, she told us…"
"Are you saying there might be a Basilisk in our school?" This was a gentle female voice, but everyone could feel the tremor in her tone. If Draco were here, he would know who this black-haired girl was—Cho Chang.
Consequently, the rumour spread throughout the school almost overnight.
All the students knew that there might be a Basilisk in the school that could kill with a single glance.
"Draco!" A few days later, while Draco was enjoying his breakfast at the Slytherin table, he suddenly saw two shadows appear in front of him. They called out simultaneously, and Draco could feel their inner anxiety.
"Hmm?" Draco raised his head and raised an eyebrow, looking at the serious-looking Weasley twins.
"What are you doing here?" Pansy asked. If previously she would have had almost no interaction with Gryffindor students, as a Quidditch player, she clearly had to pay attention to her opponents, and the Weasley twins were two of them.
"It's not convenient to talk here." Both Fred and George had changed their usual playful demeanour and used a serious tone.
"I know what you want to ask," Draco said, waving his hand. "That was just a coincidence. If I could really foresee the future, in your eyes,s I shouldn't just be making a little pocket money, right?"
The expressions on the Weasley twins' faces were uncertain. After a moment of silence, George asked first: "Then, do you still want those things?"
"As you wish." Draco picked up a cup of honey tea and drank it, seeming unwilling to talk to them anymore.
"We won't take advantage of you." Fred dropped this sentence and then returned to the Gryffindor table with George.
"You're actually doing business with the Weasley family? Uncle Lucius will scold you to death." After George and Fred walked away, Pansy looked at him in surprise.
"You won't snitch, will you?" Draco looked at her quietly.
"Uh…" With almost no hesitation, Pansy denied this suspicion, but she was very curious about what kind of deal they had between them.
"You should know by this afternoon at the earliest," Draco said.
"That's why I hate your behaviour of leaving people in suspense the most." Pansy looked at him, pouting.
By the afternoon, the mystery was revealed.
Lockhart was the first victim, of course, not by being glared at by the Basilisk.
Ever since thatPixiess disaster, Professor Lockhart never brought living creatures into the classroom again. He chose to read large excerpts of his books to the students, and sometimes he would perform some dramatic segments.
So, in the afternoon, in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Lockhart was performing Weekends with a Werewolf with Harry. Lockhart played himself, and Harry played the werewolf. Just as the character Harry was about to pounce to tear out Lockhart's throat, and Lockhart was about to counterattack, a discordant sound suddenly appeared in the classroom.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo." This sound was like the first domino falling, or like a bomb dropped into deep water. Next, the rooster sounds in the classroom were simply rising one after another, endlessly.
"Everyone, be quiet!" Lockhart was stunned by everything in front of him. What a spectacle it was to have dozens of rooster howler letters opened at once! His voice was drowned out by the noisy crowing, unable to be heard at all, and it looked like even if they did hear him, no student would pay attention to him.
Looking at the chaotic situation in the classroom, Neville secretly buried his head. The very first howler letter just now was one he had accidentally activated; he had not expected that he would cause such a huge chain reaction.
When the news that there might be a Basilisk at Hogwarts spread from Ravenclaw, everyone was in a panic. Subsequently, they all knew that a rooster's crow would be fatal to a Basilisk, so some students set their sights on the roosters raised by the school. Even the trio went to look for Hagrid, but were told that all the roosters had died in accidents. This made them smell a hint of conspiracy even more.
Then some students heard the following promotion: "Rooster howler letters, your best choice for dealing with a Basilisk, two Sickles each. Buy more, get more; there are even bigger discounts for one-time purchases of over one hundred."
No need to ask, this was George and Fred's promotion. Although they still had doubts, not making money when it was available was not the Weasley twins' style.
So, almost in the blink of an eye, all the students were carrying a few rooster howler letters, and Neville became the first fuse that ignited Lockhart's classroom. Of course, this also had to do with some male students' dissatisfaction; after all, for students who studied diligently, Lockhart really had no real talent or learning, which was also the reason they dared to follow the trend. If it were Professor McGonagall's class, as long as she stiffened her face, Neville's careless act might have been like a spark in a gale, completely unable to start a prairie fire.
In short, Lockhart's class today could not continue. He seemed a bit angry and even ran to Dumbledore's office to complain, saying that the students were collectively defying classroom discipline, but he was lightly fended off by Dumbledore, with the reason being that it was not a bad thing for students affected by the rumours to relax in this way.
But in the next class, the first thing Lockhart did was to check everyone's pockets and bags. He confiscated all the rooster howler letters, which caused a wave of protest from the students, but he maintained his elegant smile and said, "When you are facing a Basilisk, you won't have a chance to open those letters at all. What you need is this."
After that, he paced in front of all the students and distributed something similar to an amulet to them. Then he returned to the podium and said loudly, "This is a petrification-prevention charm I have carefully crafted for you. You only need to place it on your chest, and even if you face the direct gaze of the Basilisk, you will be unharmed!"
After speaking, he winked at all the students, and the vast majority of female students had star-struck eyes again, looking at him with admiration. Compared to the noisy howler letters, the exquisite amulet in front of them was better suited to their aesthetic tastes.
"Tch." Ron curled his lip under the desk and turned his head away in disdain.
Harry stared blankly at the amulet in front of him; his intuition told him that the Weasley twins' howler letters were more useful.
As for Hermione, she carefully put the amulet away and placed it in her bag.
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