Chapter 220: The House-Elf's Warning
"House-elf? What did he say?" Hearing the words "house-elf", Dudley immediately pressed for details, completely putting aside anything about girlfriends.
Harry didn't bother dwelling on it either and quickly said, "It was all that house-elf's doing! Our letters were intercepted, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was sealed, he gave me notes, and even today during the Quidditch match, that out-of-control Bludger was his doing too."
"I'm absolutely furious with this house-elf!"
"He said everything he did was to protect me!"
"I could have strangled him..." Harry's voice trailed off as he struggled to contain his anger.
You could tell Harry was truly livid.
"Can you believe it? He intercepted our letters and sealed the platform to prevent me from coming to Hogwarts. After discovering I still came to Hogwarts anyway, he gave me notes telling me to leave quickly. Then when he saw I still hadn't left, he controlled the Bludger to attack me, thinking that would force me to leave Hogwarts!"
"I really think this house-elf's brain isn't working properly," Harry said with a flushed face, all worked up by that house-elf's actions.
"Did he say anything else besides this?" Dudley pressed further.
Dudley had already figured out these things earlier. The only breakthrough was understanding this house-elf's purpose for doing all this.
He had previously thought it was someone's prank, like Malfoy instructing his family's house-elf to specifically annoy Harry and Dudley.
But now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
The elf genuinely seemed to want to protect Harry, but his chosen methods were completely incomprehensible.
"He also said terrible things are happening at Hogwarts and told me to leave quickly, or I would be in great danger," Harry continued.
"I only held back from cursing him because he really seemed to care about me," Harry said with obvious frustration.
Hearing Harry's words, Dudley fell into deep thought.
"That house-elf must know something. Since the summer holidays, he's been trying every way possible to prevent you from coming to school," Dudley said thoughtfully.
"Exactly," Harry nodded. "If the terrible thing he mentioned refers to the Chamber being opened, then during the summer holidays, that house-elf already knew what was going to happen at Hogwarts."
"Also, to tip me off, he's been punishing himself the whole time. He said this violates his master's rules. He even showed me the injuries on his body."
Hearing this, Dudley's eyes sharpened with focus.
"That means he came to tell you all this on his own initiative."
"His master doesn't know."
"So if we work backwards, we can deduce that this matter very likely has connections to his master's family. Either his master's family was directly involved, or they helped accomplish something. Otherwise that house-elf wouldn't know about these things."
Hermione picked up the thread and continued,"House-elves serve old wizarding families through inherited bonds that go back generations. That points to established families in Slytherin House, but now..."
"No need to say more. It's definitely someone from Slytherin. I even think it's Malfoy," Harry continued with conviction.
Although Dudley had already questioned Malfoy and confirmed he wasn't Slytherin's heir and didn't know about the Chamber, Harry still thought Malfoy was more suspicious. He just didn't know how Malfoy had deceived Dudley.
"Harry, looking at it now, the possibility of it being Malfoy really isn't high," Ron said with a frown.
"Why? Didn't you also think it was him?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Because just now, we discovered that Crabbe has been petrified," Dudley said gravely.
"What?" Harry was shocked.
"Crabbe was actually petrified?"
Ron nodded and explained, "Crabbe is one of Malfoy's most loyal followers. If Malfoy was really behind all this, I don't think he would attack Crabbe."
"And there's another important issue. Crabbe is a pure-blood wizard. According to legend, he shouldn't be attacked, but he was attacked anyway. This means things are spiralling out of control."
"The things left behind by legend can no longer be completely trusted."
The group fell silent, each lost in thought.
With developments reaching this point, they had hit a frustrating dead end.
"Next time I see that house-elf, I'm definitely going to make him stay so I can question him properly," Harry said with determination.
"He can Apparate. You won't be able to keep him," Dudley said practically.
Hearing this, Harry immediately felt deflated.
"However, this house-elf's appearance does reveal some issues. Since he specifically warned you and said you'd be in great danger staying at Hogwarts, it proves this matter might very well be targeting you specifically," Dudley said while thinking.
"So then, who would target you specifically and orchestrate all these events?"
"Or rather, who has a grudge against you?"
Dudley asked, unravelling things step by step.
"Voldemort!" Harry almost blurted it out.
Hermione and Ron's faces immediately paled at the mention of the name.
"You mean after Voldemort escaped from Hogwarts, he ordered his followers to attack Harry?" Ron asked in shock.
"It's very likely," Dudley nodded.
This was all he could think of, deduced through that house-elf's warnings.
Originally, he hadn't connected this matter with Voldemort.
"Let's go back first," Dudley decided.
"I feel like I'm overlooking something important."
"I need to think this through carefully."
The group headed back toward Gryffindor together.
News of Crabbe's attack had already spread throughout the houses. Those pure-blood wizards who had originally mocked Muggle-born wizards were quite shaken after learning that Crabbe had also been attacked.
They had previously maintained an arrogant attitude of indifference, even watching everything unfold with amusement, since Slytherin was only purifying Muggle-born wizards and had nothing to do with pure-bloods like them.
But now, when this danger might also fall upon them, they could no longer maintain their arrogant posture and began to feel anxious, afraid, and even terrified.
As they approached Gryffindor's common room, a ball of flame appeared before Dudley.
Then, a piece of parchment emerged from the flames.
Dudley's expression shifted as he reached into the flame and took the parchment.
"Hagrid says he didn't open the Chamber. If you want to know more, you need to go to the depths of the Forbidden Forest."
There was no signature, but Dudley knew this was a message from Cole.
"The depths of the Forbidden Forest..." Dudley murmured, staring at the cryptic message.