Chapter 129: The Vanishing Him
Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape followed closely behind. Professors Flitwick and Sprout were in charge of evacuating the crowd, sending them back to their respective common rooms. The remaining professors helped maintain order during the evacuation.
As they followed the pompous Lockhart into his office, the photographs lining the walls suddenly erupted into chaos.
Several Lockharts in the photos cowered in panic, embarrassed to be caught wearing hair curlers and bathrobes.
Lockhart lit the candles, illuminating the dim office.
"Professor Dumbledore, is Mrs. Norris still alive?" Filch asked nervously while Dumbledore placed the cat on the table and examined it carefully.
"I'm not certain yet. I must check again." Dumbledore shook his head and prodded the stiff cat with his finger.
"You said earlier that she wasn't dead. Please tell me it's true!" Filch turned to Ethan, his trembling voice carrying a note of desperation.
"What makes you think that?" Dumbledore asked before Ethan could answer.
"It was an educated guess. Her entire body is stiff, much like a Full Body-Bind Curse. But this goes a step further, stopping her breathing and heartbeat entirely. I believe she's been petrified."
Ethan had already come up with an explanation by the time he was summoned.
Lockhart glanced at Dumbledore, whose expression remained unreadable. Hearing Ethan admit that it was merely a guess, Lockhart immediately perked up.
"I wouldn't say so. I believe it was likely the Transmogrifian Torture. I've seen that spell used many times before. If I had been present, I undoubtedly could have saved her. I know the counter-curse."
"No!" Filch staggered back and collapsed into a chair, burying his face in his hands as he wept.
Lockhart was still prattling on about his "great achievements."
Snape turned his face away, his lip curling in disdain.
Professor McGonagall bent down to examine the rigid cat alongside Dumbledore.
Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances, shrinking into the shadows of their chairs, afraid to make a sound.
Ethan pursed his lips and lowered his head, hiding his disgusted expression from the others.
In the dim office, the silence was broken only by Lockhart's rambling, Filch's weeping, and Dumbledore's occasional hushed incantations.
After a long while, Dumbledore straightened up. He turned to the weeping caretaker. "Mrs. Norris is not dead, Filch. As Ethan said, she has been petrified. There is still hope."
Lockhart immediately backpedaled, quickly changing his tune. "Hah! I thought so too."
But no one paid him any attention.
"Can she be saved?!" Filch asked, seeing a glimmer of hope. His voice broke into sobs as he looked at Dumbledore.
"Professor Sprout has recently cultivated some Mandrakes. Once they mature, a Mandrake Restorative Draught can be prepared to bring this cat back to life."
"I'll prepare it," Lockhart interjected. "I've done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep."
"Excuse me, I believe I am the Potions Master at this school." Snape's tone was icy.
"There, there," Filch wept uncontrollably, staring at the petrified cat.
"He did it! I want him punished!" After glaring at Mrs. Norris for a moment, Filch turned on Harry, who was shrinking back in his chair, and shrieked.
"It wasn't me! I didn't touch her!" Harry protested.
"We were down in the dungeons at a Deathday party. Hundreds of ghosts can vouch for us!" Hermione added hurriedly.
"It was them!" Filch refused to let it go. His beloved cat, his companion for so many years, had suddenly suffered this terrible fate. Even though Dumbledore said she could be saved, his fury demanded an outlet, and Harry Potter was the perfect target.
Especially since Harry had invaded his privacy just days before.
"Impossible, Filch. Petrification is highly advanced Dark Magic. Not something a second-year could manage..." Dumbledore's words trailed off as he looked at Ethan.
Ethan met the old man's gaze. "I was in the Great Hall the entire time. Everyone can vouch for me."
Although Filch didn't understand why Dumbledore would suspect him, he didn't think Ethan was the culprit. After all, they hadn't quarreled.
Thinking back to the incident a few days earlier, Filch realized he had given away his secret. He fixed Harry Potter with a resentful stare, as if he wanted to devour the boy.
"It was Harry Potter who did it! He saw that Kwikspell letter in my office. He knows I am a... a Squib!"
His face turned purplish red as he forced out the last word, his cheeks twitching.
"It wasn't me! I don't know Dark Magic like that!" Harry protested. He couldn't deny that Filch was a Squib, but he felt deeply wronged. He truly hadn't done it.
"Then please explain exactly why you were there. I don't suppose this is where the Deathday Party was held, was it?" Snape sneered as he stepped out of the shadows.
"Because we wanted to go to bed early." Harry hesitated, struggling with himself, but decided to hide the fact that he'd heard a voice.
Snape clearly saw that Harry was hiding something. He sneered, "Nonsense! Ghosts' banquets don't serve food for the living. You went to bed on an empty stomach?"
"We weren't hungry!" Hermione glanced at Harry and said sharply.
"They should be punished until they tell the whole truth. Removing Potter from the Gryffindor Quidditch team would be a fitting punishment." Snape looked at Dumbledore.
Professor McGonagall stepped forward. "Severus, this cat wasn't hit by a broomstick. There's no reason to bar Potter from playing."
"There's no evidence to suggest that Potter and Granger did anything wrong."
"Minerva is right. There's no evidence of their guilt, Severus," Dumbledore agreed with Professor McGonagall.
Snape fell silent. He glanced at Harry before disappearing into the shadows.
"You three, go on back now," Dumbledore said, looking at Ethan and the others in turn.
Ethan nodded calmly and headed for the door.
Relieved to be dismissed, Harry and Hermione picked up the pace until they were practically jogging.
The three of them walked in silence. Once they were a safe distance away and ready to part ways, Ethan cast Muffliato. "Where's Ron?" he asked. "Didn't he go down there with you?"
"He said he felt sick halfway there and headed back to the dorms," Harry said, looking pretty gloomy after everything that had just happened.
"Thanks for stepping in today. If it hadn't been for you, Filch probably would have strangled me." He rubbed his neck, still shaken by the memory of Filch's furious expression.
"Don't mention it. Just be careful, you two. It seems like the castle isn't safe anymore," Ethan said with a nod. He knew exactly what was going on.
"Wait, actually," Harry called out, "we only went down that corridor because I heard a strange voice right after we came out of the underground passage. I followed it all the way there."
Ethan hadn't expected Harry to volunteer that information. "Is that so?" he said. "Hearing voices no one else can hear is never a good sign."
The voice was ghastly, constantly screaming about hunger and a desire to kill. Harry suspected the owner of that voice was the one who had petrified Mrs. Norris. He still felt shaken, unnerved by his own recklessness in pursuing the mystery.
"You should tell Dumbledore about this. He's incredibly knowledgeable, so he might know something," Ethan suggested.
"Dumbledore? I know. I'll consider it." Harry nodded solemnly.
"All right, it's getting late. Good night," Ethan said to Hermione and Harry, then went downstairs.
When Ethan returned to the dormitory, none of his three roommates were asleep. They were all waiting for him, eager to hear how the situation had turned out.
"What?! Potter is actually unharmed? That's absurd. I'll write to my father and demand he convene the Board of Governors to punish that criminal, Potter!" Draco exploded. Ethan could clearly sense his insincerity.
It was clear, however, that he didn't believe Potter was truly the Heir of Slytherin. He simply wanted to use the incident to see his rival punished. Threatening to tell Lucius was mere bluster. He wouldn't actually follow through.
Once Goyle and Crabbe were asleep, Ethan could hear Draco tossing and turning. He approached the curtains around Draco's bed and whispered, "Draco, you're not asleep, are you? I have a few questions for you."
The rustling inside the curtains ceased immediately. After a short pause, a figure sat up, pulled back the curtains, and climbed out of bed.
Ethan cast Muffliato to keep the conversation from being overheard by the other two.
"Last night, your reaction to that remark was a little off. Did Salazar Slytherin really leave a chamber containing an inheritance?"
Ethan knew about the Chamber of Secrets, but he didn't know whether there was actually any inheritance inside.
The movie hadn't shown any inheritance, only a basilisk, but it was possible that Voldemort had taken it, or that it simply hadn't been shown.
According to the legend recorded in Hogwarts: A History, Salazar sealed a secret chamber, waiting for the true heir to appear and release the horrible thing inside, to purify the school and drive out all those unworthy of learning magic.
So Ethan was very curious whether the founder from a thousand years ago had actually left anything behind.
"You discovered it?" Draco looked somewhat unhappy.
"I told you last school year, didn't I? I inherited some of Salazar Slytherin's talents, but they're relatively weak. I only have a slight affinity for snakes. I didn't inherit his gift for Parseltongue."
"I remember." Ethan knew that only Parseltongue could open the Chamber. Salazar must have prepared it specifically for descendants like him.
Legend had it that Slytherin had a falling out with the other three founders because their philosophies were fundamentally at odds.
Before leaving the school, he built an Inheritance Chamber and left behind a legacy, decreeing that whoever could open the chamber would become his true heir.
A horror lay hidden within, waiting for the heir to awaken it, enact Salazar's philosophy, and cleanse the school.
Most people assumed this was merely a legend, but fifty years ago the Chamber was actually opened. Back then, a Muggle-born student died. Draco shot a furtive glance at Ethan and stopped mid-sentence.
The incident caused a massive scandal at the time. After the death, the heir was reportedly captured and imprisoned in Azkaban, then vanished without a trace.
"So when I showed an affinity for snakes, Father thought I might have inherited Salazar's talent and become the new heir. I disappointed him. I'm not."
It seemed Draco had been burdened by immense expectations when he first discovered his talent. He looked guilty, as if he felt his abilities were simply not enough.
"Judging by the writing on the wall, a new heir has appeared. He opened the Chamber. Dealing with that cat was just a warning. Someone is going to die next!" Draco looked thrilled.
Given that the Malfoy family had championed pure-blood supremacy for generations, Ethan was not surprised by his reaction.
However, Ethan had no interest in such ideologies. He said disdainfully, "You think you're safe? Are you sure this so-called heir will actually follow Salazar's doctrine?"
Naturally, he was just trying to frighten Draco. Based on the movies and his knowledge of Voldemort, he knew that whoever controlled the diary was indeed targeting Muggle-borns for a reason.
"I'm a pure-blood from a wizarding family, exactly the sort of student Salazar wanted at this school." Draco wasn't sure the situation Ethan described couldn't actually happen, and though his face turned pale, he stood his ground.
"Heh." Ethan sneered.
"So, you don't actually know what sort of legacy lies inside the Chamber?"
"My father was never specific. I only heard that Salazar left all his knowledge there." Draco gazed at him wistfully, clearly having spent hours daydreaming about his bloodline suddenly awakening, which would grant him the ability to speak Parseltongue and access the Chamber.
"All right, that's enough. Go to sleep." Ethan felt that, aside from the remote possibility of an inheritance, he hadn't learned anything useful. He went to bed disappointed.
He had confirmed at the Halloween feast earlier that day that Ginny was present, and Nancy Riddle was also there. That meant the only person who could be behind all of this had to be Ron, who had left the Deathday Party early.
Lying in bed, Ethan nursed a headache as he tried to figure out how to 'accidentally' discover the method to open the Chamber of Secrets. He also needed to find a way to pass the information to Dumbledore so the headmaster could eliminate the Basilisk and destroy Voldemort's Horcrux diary.
*Let's wait a little longer. The situation is too sensitive right now. It's best not to act just yet. I'll keep an eye on Ron.*
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4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 127
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