The Legend of the Secret Chamber

"Ahem!" Aaron coughed. "What are you doing?"

The three of them shuddered, feeling as if they had been caught doing something wrong. They only breathed a sigh of relief after realizing that it was Aaron's voice.

When Harry saw Aaron approaching, he asked somewhat nervously, "Did you hear a hoarse voice just now?"

Aaron pretended to think for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I didn't hear anything."

Harry subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief and continued to ask, "Then how did you end up here?"

"I was planning to sleep in the dorm when I noticed the stairs were covered in water stains, so I came over to check it out." Aaron looked at the three of them meaningfully. "You guys are really something. Instead of going to the Halloween party, you pull this kind of prank. Filch will be furious if he finds out."

"This is not a prank," Ron said somewhat anxiously.

"Is that so?" Aaron raised an eyebrow, then looked at the blood-red words on the wall, "The door to the Chamber of Secrets is open. Enemies of the Heir, beware."

Tsk tsk tsk! It smells bloody, and these words were written not long ago.

When I arrived, only you were here. Who else could it be but you?

"But it really isn't us," Harry said. "We just arrived too."

"Alright, I'm not going to explain anymore. It's just one sentence, isn't it?"

This prank was a bit malicious, but compared to driving a car to school, it's nothing.

Aaron didn't think Harry and the others would be so bored as to write in blood, after all, this was a place where that unknown and dangerous creature had stayed.

Add to that the blood-stained words on the wall and the water stains on the floor, and it might just be the so-called primary crime scene.

If you want to completely absolve yourself of responsibility, you can only put yourself in the shoes of an ordinary passerby and then pretend to be completely oblivious.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, as if they could both see a huge pot on each other's backs.

"Ah..."

Hermione suddenly screamed and pointed at the torch holder on the wall, "What's that?"

The other three all looked over. A black cat was hanging on a support, its whole body stiff, as if it had been cursed with a stone.

The actual situation is far more serious than this, because the Stone Curse only renders the cursed person unable to move, while all their senses remain functioning.

But its eyes remained motionless, as if it were truly dead, and in a way that left its eyes wide open in death.

"Mrs. Norris, Filch's most cherished cat." Aaron swallowed hard and carefully reached out to check its breath. "It's not breathing, but its condition is strange; we can't be sure if it's really dead."

After saying that, Aaron looked at the three of them with a surprised expression, "You didn't do this too, did you?"

The three immediately shook their heads. Although they disliked Filch, they wouldn't take it out on a cat, especially not with such a vicious method.

"I don't think it was you who did it."

"This kind of effect, even more perverse than the Stone Curse, is something that Warlock of our time could not achieve," Aaron said, already having some guesses in his mind.

This is most likely the work of that unknown dangerous creature. The words on the wall might not have been made by it, because Abei suspects that it is not human. Mrs. Norris's stone tablet is definitely related to it.

Thinking of this, Aaron frowned. The situation might be more complicated than he had imagined. There might be someone in Hogwarts cooperating with this creature.

"Aaron, what are you thinking about?" Hermione asked.

"I think I need to get out of here as soon as possible," Aaron said bluntly. "I advise you to hurry up too. Staying at the crime scene is not a wise choice; you'll usually be treated as a suspect."

"Shouldn't we try to save her?" Harry looked at Mrs. Norris with some reluctance, his voice slightly trembling.

Aaron gave him a deep look, then gave him a meaningful smile. "Goodbye."

"I think we should listen to him," Ron said.

Harry nodded, but before he could act, a low commotion and heavy footsteps came from both sides of the corridor.

Aaron watched the approaching figures in the crowd, cursed inwardly, and quickly retreated.

"Why are you here again?"

"You don't know the answer." Aaron rolled his eyes at Ron. "The dinner is over. I shouldn't have wasted my time here."

"Yeah!" Hermione shrugged, a shrug tinged with pity. "Too late."

"We were a step too late, but the situation isn't too bad."

"At least compared to you, I'm less suspicious," Aaron said meaningfully.

Before long, both ends of the corridor were packed with students.

They looked at the four people in the center and Mrs. Norris, who was hanging upside down on the torch stand, and tacitly stopped the cheerful noise that had followed the end of the banquet.

"This scene reminds me of Halloween Eve last year," Aaron said speechlessly.

Seeing this scene, Colin in the crowd instinctively picked up his camera, but before he could take a picture, Percy Silencio pressed the shutter.

"Aaron, what are you doing here?" Draco looked at the other three with a surprised expression, somewhat incredulous.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't overthink it."

You forgot what I just said about going back to the dorm to sleep early. I only arrived a few minutes earlier than you guys.

The situation I see is similar to yours, except I'm not there to worry about.

Draco looked enlightened upon hearing this.

He first gave Aaron an awkward yet polite smile to express his apology, then looked at the Slytherin Prefect and said, "What Aaron said is true. I can testify to it, and many others can testify to it."

"I didn't say I didn't trust him," the Slytherin Prefect said, then beckoned to Aaron. "Gaius, I don't think it's appropriate for you to stand with them right now."

"The Prefect is wise." Aaron gave a thumbs up and walked into the students without any hesitation.

"Niall, what you're doing isn't quite right!" Percy said, somewhat displeased.

"We have witnesses," Niall said dismissively. "You know my character. I have never shown favoritism to any Slytherin, but I will never let any Slytherin suffer."

"The Prefect is domineering."

"Come on, I've never seen you flatter me like this before." Niall was speechless. "From last year until now, the most you've ever done when you see me is nod."

"Things change!" Aaron said with a grin.

Harry and the others stared in disbelief at this scene. Aaron was trying to absolve himself of responsibility; wasn't that a bit too childish?

The three exchanged glances and finally focused their attention on Percy.

Percy shook his head, looking quite troubled, indicating that he couldn't help.

While Prefect do have certain rights, they cannot abuse their power for personal gain without cause.

Moreover, with so many people watching, unless Harry has witnesses or sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, he will have no choice but to proceed according to the law.

However, the fact that none of the three of them attended the banquet tonight was already a clue, not to mention that they were at the crime scene at this time. Few people would believe it was just a coincidence.

"Enemies who will inherit the throne, beware." Draco looked at the blood-written words on the wall, then slowly turned his gaze to Hermione as if he had thought of something. "I reckon you're next, Hermione Granger."

I advise you to be careful; after all, he's Muggle-born wizard.

Hermione frowned. She had a feeling that Draco knew something, but their current situation didn't allow her to find out.

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked, puzzled.

"You don't know?"

Should I know?

Draco chuckled awkwardly, but then, considering the unique nature of the Hidden Family, he understood.

"The Secret Chamber is a legend at Hogwarts. I've heard my dad talk about it before, and the professors should know about it too."

At that moment, the system's voice suddenly rang in Aaron's mind, and his expression turned strange.

But before he could figure out how to respond, the administrator Filch, squeezed through the crowd.

"Potter, what are you doing..." Filch stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, looking at Mrs. Norris hanging in horror, and staggered back a few steps.

"Mrs. Norris." Filch's lips trembled slightly as he glared at Harry and asked, "You killed my cat."

"No, it wasn't me, it wasn't me," Harry said nervously.

"I'm going to kill you." Filch grabbed Harry by the collar and hissed, "I'm going to kill you."

"Argus!"

Dumbledore in time, followed by a group of professors and students who spontaneously made way for him.

Filch also let go of his hand, but just looked at his cat with a wronged expression.

Dumbledore he saw the blood-written words on the wall, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Everyone, please return to your dorm in an orderly manner, everyone except... the three of you."

Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger.

"Wait, Mr. Gaius, you stay here too."

Aaron was taken aback. "Professor, I must have misheard you. Are you sure you want to keep me here?"

"Sure."

"But I have Knut no connection to this matter; it was just a coincidence," Aaron said dejectedly. "I have witnesses. I simply left the Great Hall a few minutes early. Even if I wanted to do these things, I wouldn't have had the time."

"I know, and I have no doubt about you, Mr. Gaius."

"Don't worry, Aaron," Professor Snape stepped forward. "Headmaster Dumbledore just wants to know what you saw. It's nothing serious. Just tell the truth."