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"Professors, I do not know whether you have heard this ancient rumor: 'When Slytherin left Hogwarts, he left behind a chamber that stored his most noble possession and all his knowledge. It would wait for the arrival of his heir, who would open it and purge all those without the proper qualifications.'"
Dudley slowly stated his "guess."
Compared with him, Lockhart was still struggling.
"It was a dark wizard. He brought a Medusa here..."
He stammered for a long time and still could not finish making up his story.
Why would a dark wizard bring a Medusa to Hogwarts?
To throw a birthday party?
Or was it only to Petrify a cat?
But what did that have to do with the Chamber of Secrets?
Oh, perhaps the Medusa was named Chamber of Secrets.
"Professor Dumbledore, as far as I know, the Chamber of Secrets was opened once before, fifty years ago. At that time, a young witch paid for it with her life."
"The Ministry caught what they believed to be the 'culprit' and expelled him. But I do not believe that was the truth."
Dudley threw out another heavy bombshell as he looked toward Dumbledore, while Dumbledore was also looking at him.
This time, Lockhart did not speak again, because he was already considering whether he should find an excuse to resign from the teaching position.
Someone had already died once fifty years ago!
Who knew who would be next?
He still had a splendid youth ahead of him and countless Galleons to earn. There was no need to keep staying here.
But leaving immediately also felt a little hard to accept. He had already sensed that his next book, Me and Hogwarts, would become a huge success.
That was a basilisk, after all, a magical creature that had not appeared for more than four hundred years. It would definitely defeat that damned Dragonlance Chronicles.
"I believe this matter should be handled by the disciplinary group."
Before Dudley could finish, Dumbledore interrupted him.
"Dudley, I believe this matter should be handled by the professors. You are all still too young," Dumbledore said.
Perhaps he plotted certain things. Perhaps he was not a qualified professor. Perhaps he was not a good brother either.
But at his core, he was still a good man.
Now that they knew what it was, it would be much easier to deal with. Basilisks feared the crowing of roosters, and he remembered that Hagrid kept quite a few roosters.
"Professor Dumbledore... you remember what you promised me, don't you?"
Dudley shook his head slightly. He did not plan to argue. He only said calmly, "This is only my second year. It seems Hogwarts has become unsafe again."
Dumbledore: "..."
Mrs. Norris being Petrified did not create much of a stir at Hogwarts. Just as Lockhart had said, she was only a cat. For most students, the matter merely became a topic to discuss after meals and during idle moments.
Still, it left a considerable question in their minds.
Who was the person who had opened the Chamber of Secrets?
There were many different opinions about that question, but quite a few people guessed it had been Dudley. On that day, Dudley had not participated in the Wizard Cards Tournament. Although he had been standing below the stage, it was not impossible.
As for Harry, since he had been playing cards the entire time, he had no time to do it at all. Unless he could split himself in two in front of Dumbledore, he was not suspected.
This theory spread most widely among Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.
Every house except Slytherin.
The Slytherins believed Mr. Dursley was not that stupid, and there was no need for him to do something so meaningless.
They would rather believe Crabbe or Goyle was the heir of the Chamber of Secrets.
The professors formed a patrol team and would occasionally patrol the castle. Naturally, they found nothing. They did not discover the slightest trace of the basilisk.
Actually, it was not completely fruitless. At least during this period, the frequency of students wandering at night fell to the lowest level in Hogwarts history since the school had been founded.
Dudley once tried to send tamed Cornish pixies through the second-floor girls' lavatory to reach the Chamber of Secrets and search for traces of the basilisk.
Letting such a dangerous thing roam around Hogwarts Castle was not Dudley's style. If someone ran into it, they might not be lucky enough to merely be Petrified.
Unfortunately, that thing seemed to have disappeared. There was no sign of it at all.
When Dudley tried to investigate more deeply, Dumbledore stopped him.
"You should try to trust the professors' abilities. Try to trust us."
That was what Dumbledore said.
"Alright."
Dudley agreed very decisively.
Then he made a special Wizard Card for every companion in the disciplinary group and told them to keep it close to their bodies.
This Wizard Card might not be able to block a basilisk's lethal gaze, but it could play the role of a mirror and reflect it, reducing death to Petrification.
After the announcement that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, that voice vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
No further abnormalities occurred.
The days passed one after another.
After their initial burst of attention, the matter gradually faded from the students' minds as time went by.
People's attention always had a limit. Once the excitement passed, they would forget.
The peaceful days continued until February 14.
That day was called Valentine's Day.
Of course, if one were willing, every month had a Valentine's Day of some sort: White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, and even Green Day.
When the students stepped into the Great Hall that day, they almost thought they had walked into the wrong room. All four walls were covered in enormous, dazzling pink flowers, and the whole room had been arranged in shades of pink. Heart-shaped confetti kept falling from the pale blue ceiling, and the air was filled with a scent so rich it was almost nauseating.
"What happened? Did Hogwarts get attacked by a pink demon?"
Ron pointed at the pink surroundings and was so shocked he could barely speak.
"I think someone has gone mad."
Dudley pointed toward Lockhart at the staff table, where the man was wearing bright pink robes. The professors sitting beside him all had stiff faces and lowered their heads gloomily, trying their best not to let others see their expressions.
Pink was not a color everyone could handle.
Clearly, Lockhart was not among those who could.
"Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!" Lockhart cried happily, showing off as he shouted, "So far, no fewer than fifty-nine people have sent me cards, and I would like to thank them! Yes, I took the liberty of arranging this little surprise for all of you."
"He said fifty-nine?" Hermione murmured, then silently wrote the matter down. It was an important clue.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
Looking at Lockhart, who was full of confidence on the stage, Harry suddenly spoke.
Whenever Lockhart arranged something, it was almost certainly not good.
Ron agreed. "No, Harry. I have that feeling too."
"I have that feeling too," Neville said third.
Then came Malfoy.
"I hope my feeling doesn't come true."
In the next instant, their feeling came true.
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