Two days later—on the day before the Christmas holidays, when most students were at their least inclined to study—a rumor quietly began circulating among the student body, especially among Muggle-born students:
"Have you heard? Someone opened Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets!"
"Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets? What's that?"
"Listen—legend has it that Salazar Slytherin firmly opposed admitting Muggle-born witches and wizards, and after a huge falling-out with the other three Founders, he left the school. Before leaving, he secretly built a hidden chamber without the others' knowledge, raising a Basilisk inside it—so that one day his heir could return, reopen the Chamber, release the Basilisk, and wipe out all the Muggle-borns!"
"That sounds kind of far-fetched. And didn't people say earlier that Basilisks are afraid of rooster crowing? That didn't work in the end, did it?"
"Someone went to ask Professor Binns—this rumor is true! The Chamber was opened fifty years ago, and Myrtle was killed by the Basilisk back then! So there's no such thing as an 'angry castle will' at all—someone released the Basilisk Slytherin left behind! And that so-called heir of Slytherin probably reached some kind of deal with the Board of Governors. Together they modified the Basilisk so it's no longer afraid of roosters, then made up lies and blamed everything on the castle's will…"
"Are you sure? Slytherin lived a thousand years ago. Could a Basilisk he raised really survive until now?"
"I checked—Basilisks have extremely long lifespans. Living for over a thousand years is completely possible…"
"In that case, it does sound pretty plausible… But aren't you Muggle-born? You could be attacked by the Basilisk at any time. Aren't you scared?"
"Heh—someone figured out another weakness of Basilisks. They can be sensed by spiders from a distance, which causes the spiders to react violently. I checked—it's true. And then some genius came up with a Basilisk warning device. They're handing it out according to the Muggle-born student list right now. I got one too—here, take a look…"
"What the—keep that thing away from me! I'm afraid of spiders!!"
…
That's right. To further enhance the credibility of the Basilisk story, Avada and the others released the entire Chamber of Secrets legend wholesale.
The tale had circulated around the school for ages, and fifty years ago an incident related to it had indeed occurred. It could be corroborated by several older professors, which greatly boosted its plausibility.
Although the earliest versions of the rumor hadn't specified that the creature in the Chamber was a Basilisk, Myrtle's firsthand account as a victim—combined with Avada and the others deliberately spreading Basilisk-related information, and explaining why the creature no longer feared rooster crowing in an almost conspiracy-theory fashion—perfectly fused the Basilisk narrative with the Chamber legend. As a result, many people once again became convinced that the Basilisk truly existed.
And amid the spread of these rumors, the Basilisk early-warning devices jointly developed by Baron, Avada, Professor Kettleburn, and Hagrid quietly made their way into circulation.
To protect everyone involved—and to prevent the Horcrux diary from simply tearing off the mask and escalating things—Avada and the others deliberately blurred the source of the rumors. The main contributors on that front were the Weasley twins. With their connections and knack for chaos, spreading rumors quietly was effortless for them.
As for the warning devices themselves, Avada used the So Near Yet So Far Charm to deliver them directly to each house's common room, clearly stating that Muggle-born students staying at school over Christmas could collect them themselves. After a day or two, distribution was largely complete.
Unfortunately, the Basilisk seemed to have gone quiet lately. Ever since the devices were handed out, not a single alarm had gone off. Otherwise, the publicity effect would likely have multiplied several times over.
…
"You're not going home, Ken?"
On the day before the Christmas holidays, the school always compiled a list of students staying over Christmas. Even with the exceptionally unusual circumstances this year, the school couldn't possibly break a thousand-year-old tradition and expel everyone like during summer vacation. After Avada wrote his name on the staying-behind list, he drew a number of surprised looks from his friends—under the current conditions, very few Muggle-born students were willing to remain at school.
"Haven't I always stayed at school for Christmas anyway?" Avada replied casually with a smile. "And staying this time is a good way to show my support for resisting discrimination against Muggle-borns."
"Besides, I picked up one of those spider warning devices too. Even if the Basilisk shows up, I'm not worried!"
"Right," someone suddenly remembered. "Come to think of it, you were the first one to suggest that the culprit might be a Basilisk, weren't you? Those rooster-crow badges were your idea too… And now this device just happens to line up perfectly with that."
"'Just happens to line up'…" Shabby smacked his lips. "This isn't just a coincidence anymore. I seriously suspect this thing was made by Ken. The whole 'suddenly pulling out some mysterious gadget' style is exactly like him."
"Am I wrong?"
Avada: "..."
After three years of living together, it was hardly surprising. Even without participating in major events alongside him, his roommates had come to know him extremely well.
"All right, fine—you got me," Avada said with a helpless smile. "The idea was actually Baron's. I just helped refine it a bit. We rushed this batch out over the past couple of days…"
"Oh, and don't spread it around," he added, a little uneasy. "That heir of Slytherin might really exist—and it could be anyone. We still need to be careful."
"Mm."
The others all nodded in agreement.
"Well, if this device really was developed by Ken, then I feel a lot more comfortable using it," Summers said happily, pulling a palm-sized, delicate glass device from his pocket. Inside was a small black spider resting quietly. He was also Muggle-born. Although he didn't plan to stay at school, as Avada's roommate, Avada had naturally saved one for him and passed it along when he "picked up" his own.
"Then I definitely can't let that trust go to waste," Avada said with a grin. "This Christmas, I'm planning to finish producing warning devices for all Muggle-born students in the school. That way, once term starts again, the Basilisk threat will be completely eliminated—and the so-called will of the castle scam will collapse on its own. Does that count as restoring Hogwarts' reputation?"
"…That's a lot of work," Stibbons said with a sigh. "Almost every time there's been a crisis at school over the past three years, you've had to personally deal with it at great risk… And the rest of us, being pretty average, can't really help much."
"All we can do is cheer you on from behind the scenes," Shabby added.
"Maybe we can help with food support?" Summers shrugged.
"All right, all right," Avada laughed. "This kind of mess shouldn't have happened in the first place. Not getting dragged into it is actually a kind of good fortune… Still, once this is resolved and Dumbledore comes back, things shouldn't get this chaotic again, right?"
"Hopefully…"
(End of Chapter)