The DDuellingClub continued for a while. Hermione intentionally held back in her fight with Pansy, looking for a chance to get close and scuffle with her. She successfully grabbed a few strands of Pansy's hair, meaning all the ingredients for their Polyjuice Potion were now complete. Afterwards, the three of them returned to the girls' bathroom.
However, Hermione wasn't as happy as imagined. She seemed a bit afraid of knowing the truth, whereas Harry and Ron were very excited, feeling the mystery was finally about to be revealed.
"But have you thought about it?" Hermione stared blankly at the Polyjuice Potion that was almost finished brewing. "What if he isn't the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets?"
"Whatever the case, he'll surely know some clues." Ron's excited expression stiffened upon hearing this, but he still comforted himself that way.
"Alright." Hermione sighed helplessly. "Then,en have you considered how to get Pansy out of the way? I don't want her suddenly coming back while we're trying to get information."
"Don't worry about that, we have a way, right, Harry?" Ron patted his chest, looking very confident.
"Yeah." Harry nodded.
"What are you going to do?" Hermione feared they were going to do something against school rules again.
"Uh, just a small accident. Harry and I just need to 'accidentally' soil her robes, and then she'll go to Snape to complain. That'll be enough to keep us busy for half the day."
"And during the holidays, Snape shouldn't be able to deduct points from us." Harry laughed at the thought.
"Fine, then you're really pitiful, having to be lectured by Snape even on Christmas." Hermione looked at them with some sympathy.
"It's nothing compared to your sacrifice," Ron said bluntly. "Thinking about it, turning into another person is actually a bit disgusting."
After tDuellinging Club, Draco obtained what he needed—some pronunciations in Parseltongue, which seemed to mean things like "open" or "unlock." This gave him a bit more confidence in opening the Chamber of Secrets.
Then there was the extremely abnormal duelling incident, which couldn't even be explained as merely abnormal. Draco didn't believe a hack who only knew the Memory Charm could truly defeat Snape on his own, so the answer was practically jumping out.
The culprit is Lockhart; the diary is in his hands.
Draco recalled the scene at the bookshop. When Lockhart went to break up the fight and returned unsuccessfully, he passed between the father and son and also passed the bookshelf. Thinking about it this way, combined with his "extraordinary" performance atthe Duelling Club, he was the prime suspect.
"Not only that." Draco continued to recall some details about him. "He's also the one who detests the rooster howler letters the most!" He shuddered. It had to be said that the young Riddle was in some ways even more formidable than Lord Voldemort. During the noseless Lord Voldemort era, he only believed in his own power and was somewhat extreme. But the young Riddle would use others' goodwill towards him to get things done.
Replacing the somewhat crude howler letters with exquisite amulets seemed perfectly suited to his character in the eyes of others. It wouldn't arouse even a hint of suspicion—a perfect cover.
Thinking of this, Draco patted his head in self-reproach. He thought his mind was open enough, as he hadn't even spared the protagonist from suspicion, yet he never imagined the little black book would actually seduce a teacher.
"Lockhart, can't you be a bit more useful?" he couldn't help but think to himself, and then he started to think mischievously: "If you can come back alive this time, you can really write a book based on your own memories—' The Years I Was Bewitched: Days with the Diary'."
But even knowing this was of no use for now. Draco's intuition told him that Lockhart might not even do as well as that young girl,g girl Ginny.
In the original story, Ginny realised something was wrong and actually threw the diary away. Draco suspected Lockhart hadn't doubted the diary at all, directly treating it as a "golden thigh" that fell from the sky for him to cling to.
"Then it seems I need to prepare early." At this thought, Draco withdrew his mind and began to formulate his plan. He took out a piece of paper and started sketching and writing.
The next day, shocking news spread through the Gryffindor common room.
Someone else had been petrified. This time, the target wasn't a Muggle-born witch or wizard, nor an animal. This time, the petrified ones were a pure-blood wizard and a ghost.
Ron had been petrified, along with Nearly Headless Nick.
Panic spread through all the houses almost instantly. It was most severe in Slytherin. Most of them were pure-bloods, so after Professor Binns told that legend, they were even somewhat proud. "Look, only our house is the safest. Those mudbloods should all die out." But now, this illusion had been ruthlessly corrected.
The Basilisk doesn't just want to kill mudbloods! It wants to kill pure-bloods too!
Consequently, the Weasley twins' rooster howler letters were sold out again. Previously, the Slytherin students had been dismissive because they felt safe. Now, the situation was stronger than the people, and they had no choice but to buy things from their rivals.
Even though they made a huge profit, not a single smile appeared on George and Fred's faces. Their younger brother had been petrified. Although they usually played pranks on Ron, the family bond was very deep; those were just means to increase affection and were harmless. The issue of the Basilisk directly threatened lives, which left them deeply worried.
In the hospital wing, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione also ran to visit Ron whenever they had time. Even though he couldn't say anything, his mouth was wide open, as if he had seen something terrifying.
"I should have gone back with you," Harry said guiltily to Ron on the hospital bed.
At the time, Harry was about to go to Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class with Ron, but Ron hadn't brought his book. Harry had initially prepared to turn back with Ron to get the book, but was stopped by Ron: "Professor McGonagall's class is not a good one to be late for. Better to have points deducted from one person than two." Then Ron left Harry and rushed back to get the book.
That became the last sentence Ron said to him that day.
"Harry, it's not your fault," Hermione comforted him. "Maybe if you had gone with him, you would have been petrified too? You can't take everything on yourself."
"How much longer until the Poly—that potletely finished?" Harry suddenly looked up and asked Hermione. His gaze was burning intensely with the flames of anger. He had originally intended to say Polyjuice Potion, but seeing Ginny still nearby, he forced himself to change his words.
"By Christmas," Hermione said after glancing at Ginny and considering for a moment. Her mood was even more complex. One of her closest friends had also been petrified, which made her very depressed. She hoped to get the truth as soon as possible, but she also hoped the truth wasn't something actually spoken from that person's mouth. This complex state of mind made her look very anxious. She feared she would be so nervous in front of Draco that she wouldn't be able to speak and would mess everything up.
"Good." Harry shook his fist. "If I find out who did it, I'll definitely make them pay!"
Meanwhile, the Slytherin common room could be described as jumpy and paranoid. A large crowd of students looked worried. Although Ron was a disgrace to the name of pure-blood in their eyes, he was still supposed to be different from those mudbloods. They hadn't expected even him to be petrified. This made the Slytherin students, who had been sitting pretty, start to panic. Even having a few rooster howler letters in hand couldn't calm their surging emotions. They felt they had to keep discussing it, as if doing so could alleviate their fear.
Draco felt he had already guessed the truth. It was simple: Riddle was targeting Ron because his brothers were selling the letters. A very simple reason. As for why he didn't try to attack them personally, it was also easy to guess. Dealing with one person is always easier than two, not to mention Ron was in a much lower year, easier to handle, and more of a deterrent.
It's imminent, Draco sighed silently. Wanting to kick Dumbledore out of school was something only his power-hungry old man would be willing to do. If Dumbledore were gone, how could Hogwarts still be called the safest place in the European wizarding world? It was putting the cart before the horse!
If Dumbledore really left his post entirely, and Hogwarts were a public company, the stock would probably hit the floor instantly, and Lucius would be the first to lose a fortune.
Draco felt his head aching again. He still hadn't found a perfect plan. All known methods had the potential to alert the enemy.
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