Moriarty spent an hour in the Chamber of Secrets before emerging. The students followed behind him, and when they stepped out of the underground passage, they saw the Sorting Hat hanging from the Slytherin staff. Fawkes stood on its brim, Peeves floated beside Fawkes, and Bloody Baron and a whole host of ghosts hovered quietly in the air.
Sunlight passed through the ghosts' bodies and refracted into grayish-white light, flickering as the ghosts drifted about.
A beam of sunlight shone on Fawkes, making him look as though he were on fire, the glow complementing the silver light from the Slytherin staff.
"Magical creatures and people living together in harmony, happy and peaceful—this is Hogwarts! I'd call it the most beautiful picture of the year!" Tonks suddenly sighed, murmuring to herself.
Moriarty suggested, "I think this picture ought to include us. We brought stories to Hogwarts, and we brought light."
The Little Wizards nodded in agreement. From the back of the group, Bill called out, "I know there's a kind of camera in the Muggle world that lets you see the photograph right after taking it. I wish we had one of those. Then we could keep a group photo."
Bill was the only student not wearing formal attire, but it did nothing to diminish his good looks. His words also resonated with William and the other seventh-years. In a few months, they would be graduating.
Moriarty and Dumbledore noticed the seventh-years' low spirits. Their eyes flickered, and they came up with an idea at the same time.
After the Chamber of Secrets incident ended, the students threw themselves into intense revision. Mountains of homework took up all their spare time, but Moriarty still found time to write Lockhart a letter, asking him to publish the matter of the Chamber of