The days passed quickly—so fast that it felt like only a blink before several days had gone by.
The young wizards were doing everything they could to uncover clues about the Chamber of Secrets.
Even the number of students in the library had noticeably increased, all flipping through dusty tomes in hopes of finding something useful.
But the Chamber truly lived up to its name—hidden and elusive.
Only a few obscure books contained brief, cryptic mentions, and those only led to more confusion.
Ted couldn't help but think: if that old seventh-year, Tom Riddle, hadn't opened the Chamber back when he was a student, leading to the death of that ghost Myrtle, the entire thing might still be unknown.
Originally, the tale of the Chamber had been quietly passed down in the Gaunt family—Slytherin's last known descendants.
But after generations of madness and inbreeding, most of them stopped attending Hogwarts altogether.
The legend faded into obscurity.
No one really knew how Voldemort uncovered the secret.
When books didn't offer answers, curious students began asking the professors.
One student questioned Professor Binns, .
But he was more interested in reenacting scripted lessons than answering spontaneous questions—and he didn't even remember most students' names.
In the original account, Hermione had asked him, and he only responded because she had a stellar reputation.
Now? The random student got nothing but a dismissive wave.
"You should focus on the well-documented history in your textbooks, not the whispers of old rumors. Now, please sit down~"
Still, one professor's rejection wasn't enough to kill the students' curiosity.
A third-year Gryffindor approached Professor Flitwick.
Professor Flitwick, always kind and approachable, actually indulged the question and even shared some old gossip.
Since the Chamber was last opened over fifty years ago, a few rumors still lingered around the castle.
Not that it helped much—by morning, every student and teacher had already heard some version of the tale.
"Hey, did you hear? Slytherin put a deadly curse in the Chamber so his heir could purge the school of Muggle-borns!"
"I heard even half-bloods would be targeted!"
"No way, I heard the heir plans to enslave the souls of anyone who resists!"
"That's nothing! I heard they're trying to unite the magical world and crown themselves as a new Dark Lord!"
The rumors spiraled overnight—no thanks to a certain someone fanning the flames.
Ted: Yep, that someone was me~
He had released a few carefully worded hints, steering the students toward more sinister theories.
The goal was simple: fight fire with fire.
If they let only one story dominate, the truth about the Chamber might soon be taken as fact.
Far better to turn it all into a joke—less panic that way.
And if the basilisk struck again, the more outrageous the rumors, the more pressure Slytherin House would face.
At that point, the other three houses might just unite to knock Slytherin down a peg~
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Ding! Hidden mission [We Media: White] completed. Reward: 120 experience points."
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The system now officially recognized Ted as a full-blown rumor-monger~
Meanwhile, Ted's friends were loving the chaos.
Jerry asked, "If this heir wants to purify the school, they wouldn't come after me, right?"
He tugged at his soft, rounded ears. "I'm too cute to eliminate!"
Neville looked alarmed. "Wait—what if they're targeting students with bad grades?! I've been trying so hard!"
Harley and Hermione both rolled their eyes.
Ted offered some reassurance. "Don't worry. That's not how it works."
"Pure blood doesn't equal talent. Look at Malfoy, always bragging about his heritage—does he even come close to Hermione in class?"
"If the heir started eliminating everyone who didn't meet some perfect standard, they'd end up alone in the end."
Still, the magical world was clearly ruled by elites. A small group pushed everything forward, while most just filled space.
Dark Lords, revered founders, powerful archmages—those were the movers of history.
Ordinary witches and wizards? Their greatest contribution might be continuing the bloodline.
Even that task seemed to be slipping—so many of them never had kids or got themselves killed in some magical mishap. The wizarding population kept shrinking.
At best, they added a little more color to the human experience~
...
Student interest in the Chamber far exceeded Ted's expectations.
He already had a packed schedule—studying magic, refining alchemy techniques, crafting odd magical items, and helping the Weasley twins troubleshoot their inventions.
Lately, he'd even been inspired to create a brand-new kind of potion.
Who had time for ancient chambers and cursed serpents?
But his friends wouldn't let it go.
This was the hot topic of the year. They couldn't just ignore it.
Even if Ted wasn't all that into it, the others were fired up.
Hermione dove back into the books.
Then Ted's comment sparked a new line of thinking.
Harley suggested, "If Slytherin really chose an heir, who would it be? It couldn't be me, right?!"
Hermione shut her book with a snap. "Wouldn't it have to be someone in Slytherin House?"
Jerry nudged Ron, who was half-asleep. "Hey, does your pure-blood family have any ties to Slytherin?"
Bingo. That was the right question.
Heirship! If it was about blood, then a family connection would matter.
Ron groaned. "All the pure-blood families are interlinked—centuries of marrying within the same circles. By that logic, me, Neville, and Harley are all related to Slytherin!"
He added with a scowl, "I've even got ties to Malfoy."
Malfoy!
Exactly. Malfoy!
Although Ted had just mocked Malfoy's grades, when it came to naming a possible heir of Slytherin, Harley and the others immediately thought of him.
Harley wore the expression of someone who believed they had cracked the case: "Do you think Malfoy is the heir?"
Neville chimed in, serious as ever: "He definitely has the motive!"
Jerry added, crossing his arms, "And he's awful enough to do it."
"We need to test him," Harley said, eyes gleaming with determination.
The group agreed—Malfoy was their top suspect. Even if he wasn't the heir, he probably knew something. Ted couldn't help but chuckle.
While his friends only considered their batch mates, they didn't even think about the upper-year students, many of whom were far more powerful and suspicious.
Still, better they focus on Malfoy than poke around the real threat.
Compared to the basilisk, Malfoy was practically harmless.
Ted had hoped he could stay out of it for a while, but his friends had other plans.
Harley's eyes lit up as she recalled something.
"I read about a potion that lets you completely turn into someone else. We could become Malfoy's cronies and sneak into his world!"
Ron and Neville blinked at her, unconvinced.
"I don't read that much, but that sounds fake," Ron muttered.
Jerry leaned forward, intrigued. "What potion?"
"Polyjuice Potion," she said proudly.
"How do you make it?"
"...I have no idea!"
Jerry sighed. "Then why are you so hyped?"
Hermione, ever the reliable one, stepped in. "I know the potion. It's mentioned in a book I read once."
Jerry lit up. "Which book? I'll find it!"
Jerry wasn't just being helpful.
If the heir really was targeting certain students, he had every reason to be worried.
Being part of the magical world now meant everything to him—and to his family.
Hermione glanced at Ted.
"It's in Moste Potente Potions. I think it's kept in the Restricted Section."
Everyone turned to look at Ted.
Thanks to his... unusual connection with Professor Lockhart, Ted could probably get into the restricted section without much trouble.
Ted raised both hands in surrender. "Okay, okay—I'll get the book. But I'm not brewing the potion. It takes a month to finish, and I've got an important experiment coming up. Hermione, you'll have to brew it."
Hermione wanted to protest, "But—"
He held up a hand to cut off her protest. "Believe in me that believes in you. You've got this."
...
That night, moonlight spilled through the tall library windows, casting silver patterns across the floor.
Ted, completely invisible, moved silently through the shadows.
He slipped past known magical traps, ducked around the bronze guardian statue that let out a blood-curdling scream when touched, and reached the edge of the Restricted Section.
He wasn't going to bother Lockhart for a signed slip.
There were far too many valuable tomes to waste time borrowing one or two.
Lockhart wouldn't care, but if Professors McGonagall or Dumbledore caught wind of it... well, that would be a problem.
Besides, wasn't it practically a Hogwarts tradition to sneak into the restricted area at night?
Like a rite of passage?
If your dad takes something, it's not stealing. But when a student swipes a book? That's real theft!
Not that Ted minded.
After all, he had a quest—[Forbidden Books Are the Essence of Libraries (Red)]
Now that he had mastered the Invisibility Charm and had Detection Magic to protect him from cursed texts, Ted decided it was finally time to make his move on the restricted section!