Speculation

Professor McGonagall frowned, not even noticing that her top hat was askew.

"Filius, is this Dark Arts or Ancient Magic? Can you tell?"

The type of magic is important. Ancient Magic, though rare, still has ways to be countered, while Dark Arts often means one thing—there is no counter-spell.

Professor Flitwick stood on tiptoe beside the bed, his wand trembling gently back and forth on the stiff Filch, but no matter how many probing spells he used, he still couldn't determine the true situation.

Sean leaned against the cold stone wall of the Hospital Wing, frowning as he pondered everything.

This doesn't make sense... The Chamber of Secrets requires Salazar Heir of Slytherin to open, and Tom Riddle is currently at most in a Residual Soul state...

Most importantly, Riddle had just been brutally defeated by Dumbledore and Grindelwald last year. Even if he was no longer as intelligent as he had been because of Horcrux, he wouldn't be so foolish as to send his diary to Hogwarts.

"I can only consider Tom Riddle's notebook as a low-probability possibility..." Sean muttered to himself.

So who opened Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets again?

Could there be another unknown successor besides Riddle?

At the scene of Filch and Edmund's murders, the writing on the walls was filled with malice.

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, and those untrustworthy, filthy bloods, those Mudblood who are not worthy of sitting in Hogwarts, will all be purged!

The handwriting alone revealed just how radical and volatile the person was, which was the main reason Sean prevented the students from leaving the Great Hall.

"Professor McGonagall, what should Edmund do?" Hagrid walked into the Hospital Wing.

Hagrid carried a huge fan and fanned Edmund, who was dressed entirely in black, all the way to the Hospital Wing.

"Thank you, Hagrid. Please get Edmund to his bed," Professor McGonagall said.

The professors' expressions grew even more serious; after all, even a ghost without a physical form had taken on this appearance.

Sean walked over and asked softly, "Professor, what are your thoughts on the attackers?"

Professor McGonagall and her colleagues exchanged glances. Normally, these were matters that a second-year wizard shouldn't be involved in, but it seemed like they could discuss things with Sean...

"There's still no progress, Mr. Wallop. What are you thinking of?"

Sean nodded and said directly, "I believe the attacker is a Parseltongue who manipulated the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets."

"We also saw the writing, but the Chamber of Secrets is just a legend..." Professor Flitwick said in a shrill voice, but he didn't sound very confident.

"There's an old Eastern saying: 'It's better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't.' And as things stand, the Basilisk is the most plausible explanation," Sean said.

"Oh ho ho, Sean, good idea, but the Chamber of Secrets is just a legend," Lockhart interjected. "I'm sure it's the effect of a Transfiguration Torture Curse. I've seen it many times while I was traveling. It's a pity I wasn't there, otherwise I could have saved poor Mr. Filch."

"He's not dead, he's just petrified," Newt had been silent until now, spoke up. ("Ah, that's what I thought too!" Lockhart said.) Newt ignored him and turned to Sean. "Sean, how are you going to explain Mr. Filch and Edmund's condition? Legend has it that there is indeed a terrifying monster in the Chamber of Secrets, but no one knows what it is. How can you be sure that it's the Basilisk? And if the Basilisk really exists, then according to the records, anyone who makes eye contact with it will die instantly."

"I happened to see a book in the library a few days ago," Sean casually lied, "Which talked about Basilisk, these terrifying creatures that were first hatched by the Herpo the Foul, who was Parseltongue Herpo, as was Slytherin."

"Obviously, because of the Basilisk's terrifying nature, anyone who looks directly at it will die instantly, so only Parseltongue can become its master. All of this fits the characteristics of Slytherin."

Sean then looked at Hagrid: "Hagrid, you moved out of the cabin because of the Forbidden Forest, right?"

Hagrid scratched his head. "Oh, yes, yes, I moved out of there."

"Then tomorrow we can send a few people to check the area near the Forbidden Forest. I think the roosters kept at the school are probably all feathers left, because the roosters' crowing is deadly to the Basilisk. Actually, we can also look at other places now, such as the long-abandoned broom shed. Basilisk are the natural enemies of spiders, and the spiders in the castle should be busy moving around right now."

"That sounds reasonable, but you still haven't explained why Mr. Filch didn't just die," Newt asked, though he seemed to already believe it and was just trying to get Sean to explain it more clearly so that others would believe it too.

Sean glanced at the stiff man and ghost on the bed. "What if it wasn't direct eye contact? For example, Filch saw the Basilisk's eyes through Edmund's translucent body. That wasn't a completely direct eye contact, so he didn't die, he was just petrified. Edmund, on the other hand, did make eye contact with the Basilisk, but obviously, he's a ghost and can't die again."

"Of course, this is just a conjecture, but considering the writing on the locked Chamber of Secrets and the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, this conjecture is quite possible."

"But how can Basilisk move around inside the castle? It's not Occamy, so it can't shrink its body freely." Professor McGonagall asked unconsciously. She felt that Sean's idea was a bit far-fetched, but it also sounded quite reasonable.

"The pipes," Sean said. "The Chamber of Secrets is obviously built in some unknown corner of the castle. Although the Basilisk has an extremely long lifespan, it still needs to eat. The fact that no one has found any trace of the Basilisk over the years proves that it has always been able to move around in hidden places. And the drainage pipes of Hogwarts lead to the Black Lake, which is a good place to hunt."

The professors exchanged glances. Sean's reasoning seemed very logical, and every part of it made sense.

"A reasonable guess, that reminds me of..." Lockhart was about to boast about his experience in Uagadou, but Professor McGonagall interrupted him mercilessly, "We're talking about serious matters, Mr. Lockhart."

An awkward silence followed, and Lockhart took a sheepish step back.

Professor McGonagall pushed up her glasses and said seriously, "It's all just speculation, Mr. Wallop, but I will tell Dumbledore your thoughts."

Dumbledore hasn't shown up yet; he seems to have been away from the school lately.