When Kate came hurrying up to the Headmaster's office, she found Dumbledore still leisurely feeding his balding Phoenix.
Clearly, he had been waiting for her.
After steadying her breathing a little, she took out the small vial containing the memory and walked up to Dumbledore. "Professor, I've made up my mind."
"Mmm, it seems you've already reached a decision." Dumbledore set down the birdseed and turned with a smile to look at her. "I wonder—now that you've seen this memory, what are your thoughts on it?"
Kate lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. "I don't know whether my thinking is right, but like you, I hope the tragedy of fifty years ago never happens again."
"Child, having that resolve is already very good." Dumbledore twitched his eyebrows; one could tell he was in good spirits.
He took out the diary once more—only this time it wasn't kept inside the wooden box from before.
Kate snapped her fingers, and the suit of armor standing in the armor corridor on the second floor suddenly stirred, then swiftly took flight, soaring in through the office's wide-open window.
She'd already revealed plenty of her abilities in front of Old Man Dumbledore anyway, so exposing a little more didn't matter.
Dumbledore might be the strategizing White Dark Lord who held the Dark Lord in the palm of his hand—but at the same time, he was also the greatest educator of the age.
As his student, Kate thought, perhaps she didn't need to keep too much hidden up her sleeve.
"Let's begin. This time we have to draw out the diary's secret." she said gravely.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Wait a moment first."
With that, he cast a Confundus Charm on the armor.
This time the diary's consciousness might demand to take over the armor's body, and if Kate couldn't handle it, then they had to be prepared in advance.
Only, whether the Confundus Charm could actually fool the diary—of that, Kate still had no certainty in her heart.
"Hello, Tom. I spent a week investigating the events you mentioned from fifty years ago.
They say that murder was committed by a spider kept by Rubeus Hagrid, the current gamekeeper of the grounds. After his wand was confiscated and he was expelled from the school, no similar murder ever occurred at Hogwarts again.
Since the events of fifty years ago are connected to you, then that half-blood giant must have been the one who took the blame for you. In truth, the real monster that killed that schoolgirl is still hidden in the school—isn't it?"
As she wrote this passage, even Dumbledore shot her a slightly startled glance.
The memory he had provided did indeed lean clearly toward naming Tom as the murder suspect, but the part about suspecting a monster within the Academy—that he had never told Kate.
Still, considering that this child had always read widely and could even recite the school's history backward, it didn't seem so strange that she'd been able to perceive the monster's true nature.
Soon, the ink vanished, and new handwriting emerged: "I'm delighted, Katherine. I like working with clever people—it spares me a great deal of trouble."
The implication was an admission: there really was a monster inside Hogwarts.
This made Dumbledore frown deeply in spite of himself.
"Since you've looked into so much, then you must already know that, according to legend, Salazar Slytherin, one of Hogwarts's four founders, secretly built a chamber beneath the Academy.
For centuries, the Chamber of Secrets has been treated as mere legend. Only Slytherin himself and his descendants can open it, and hidden inside is an ancient Basilisk.
Its existence is meant to 'celebrate' the Muggle-born students at the school—to turn Hogwarts into a school that conforms to Slytherin's own admissions ideals."
Kate instinctively looked up at Dumbledore. "Professor, this Chamber of Secrets, is it really—"
"It should be real." Dumbledore nodded, his face solemn. "Back then, Slytherin left in a fit of anger because his teaching philosophy differed from that of the other three founders.
But this legend has persisted; it must have been his descendants who passed this secret down by word of mouth within the school—only Slytherin's heir can open the Chamber of Secrets."
Kate understood, and continued manipulating the armor to write: "Since this Chamber of Secrets is so selective, how do you know about it? Could it be that you, too, are a descendant of Slytherin?"
"Of course. Fifty years ago I opened the Chamber of Secrets and directed the Basilisk to kill a Muggle-born student. I've already succeeded once.
As long as you're willing, I can possess your body, take you to open the Chamber together, continue cleansing all of Hogwarts, and bring Dumbledore down!"
Though it was presented in mere text, his tone was brimming with grand ambition, as if all Katherine had to do was agree and he could help her defeat Dumbledore.
Kate curled her lip in faint distaste—she had no desire whatsoever to let a filthy thing like this possess her.
Now that she knew of the existence of the Chamber and the Basilisk, all that remained was to coax out the Chamber's entrance, and she could wrap things up smoothly—of course, she herself already knew where the entrance was, she just had no way to say so.
She decided to keep going in circles with the diary.
"I'm very curious—only Slytherin's heir can open the Chamber. How exactly was this threshold for access established?
And how is the heir supposed to control the Basilisk?
As far as I know, anyone who meets the Basilisk's eyes dies, so the Slytherin line must possess some special technique for taming the Basilisk—am I right?"
Her asking so many questions made the diary seem a little impatient: "You still won't agree to let me possess you, is that it? So you've gone to all this trouble, hoping to lure me into revealing the method for opening the Chamber and controlling the Basilisk?
But you're wrong, dear Katherine. You're very clever, but you'll never guess what the true method is.
Apart from Slytherin's heir himself, no one can open the Chamber of Secrets. Playing mind games with me is useless!"
Kate's lips curved. "Since you put it that way, then why shouldn't I just go find another Slytherin heir instead? Why bother taking the risk of letting you possess my body?"
"You're in no position to bargain!" The diary was clearly enraged by her stalling and excuses. "Come find me again once you've thought it through—otherwise, even if you hand the diary to Dumbledore, you'll never be able to defeat him!"
Tch. Give it a little color and it really has the nerve to open a dye house.
Kate let out a cold laugh and snapped the diary shut directly. "Professor, it's clear now—there's a Chamber of Secrets and a Basilisk hidden beneath the castle. Next, all we need to do is find the Chamber."
"As you can see," Dumbledore shrugged, "unless one is Slytherin's heir, I'm afraid no one can find the Chamber of Secrets."
She shook her head. "That's not necessarily so. We already know the Chamber is beneath the castle—how hard can it be to find?"
Dumbledore's gaze sharpened slightly. "You're planning to—"
"Halloween is almost here, and after that comes Christmas. During the holidays, students and staff all go home on break, so we'll have to give this castle that's stood for a thousand years a thorough repair."
Kate blinked, and said it with a face brimming with smiles.
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