What Tom Knew

No sooner had Colin Crevey left the Gryffindor Common Room than Albert came down from his dormitory.

Tonight, he added some ingredients to his roommates' milk tea, and after they finished their late-night snack and milk tea, they went back to rest.

Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were all fast asleep and wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night, let alone realize that their roommate had suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night.

As Albert left the Common Room, he raised his wand to examine the portrait of the Fat Lady, who had gone out to visit someone.

"I see, that's what he meant." Albert muttered, then turned and quickly walked forward, disappearing into the deep darkness at the end of the corridor.

A few minutes later, Albert pushed open the door to the Room of Requirement, sat in the brightly lit room, spread the Marauder's Map out on the table, and stared at Colin's location.

Colin Crevey walked very slowly, probably because it was his first time exploring at night, and he took each step with trepidation. He had only just reached the Seventh Floor of the castle.

Albert believed that Tom Riddle was currently hiding in the Chamber of Secrets, using the Traces Charm to monitor the entire castle, pinpoint the location of the Mudblood, and prevent himself from letting the Basilisk wander out and bumping into the professor patrolling the castle.

From a certain perspective, Tom's actions were quite perfect; he almost simultaneously carried out the attack and perfectly concealed the enormous Basilisk monster.

However, Tom never imagined that Albert had seen through such a perfect attack from the very beginning.

Sometimes, time travelers really can do whatever they want.

When Albert came down from the dormitory, he had already cast a very strong Shield Charm on himself.

That was the result of his continuous efforts over the past two weeks. With the help of the Panel Skill and his own hard work, Albert finally managed to use the Shield Charm to conceal his existence before Tom Riddle controlled Ginny Weasley to complete the second attack, so that his name and footprints would not appear on the map that had been marked with the Traces Charm.

Yes, Tom Riddle was completely unaware of this; he saw Albert as prey, but didn't know that Albert had long seen him as prey.

At this moment, the Heir of Slytherin was in the underground tunnels with Ginny Weasley, whom he controlled, monitoring the Mudblood's movements through a map shown in his diary.

Not long ago, when Tom learned from Ginny that a Mudblood named Colin was planning to visit Harry in the middle of the night and had even invited her to come along, Tom had already decided to take action against that annoying Mudblood.

This was a rare opportunity. Tom knew that the cat that attacked the Squib last time hadn't made the students at the school realize that the Chamber of Secrets had been reopened and the Slytherin Heir had returned.

At that time, Tom realized that he had to let the Basilisk kill one or two Mudblood so that Mudblood in the school could once again feel the fear of being dominated by the Slytherin Heir.

Ginny Weasley hissed, trying to calm the agitated Basilisk behind her.

Ever since Tom woke the Basilisk from hibernation, it has been very irritable.

It was hungry.

The rats in the underground pipes couldn't possibly fill its stomach. Tom couldn't control Ginny to get food for the Basilisk, nor was there any need for it; to him, the Basilisk was merely a tool to achieve his goals.

Tom Riddle's Parseltongue can make the grumpy Basilisk obedient to his commands.

The map in the diary marks the footprints of that Mudblood, which is heading towards the School Hospital on the second floor of the castle.

As for Filch, the Squib Administrator? Tom had already visited him before entering the Chamber of Secrets. Filch is currently fast asleep in bed and won't wake up for at least six or seven hours.

As Colin Creevey approached the School Hospital, Tom controlled the Basilisk and left Chamber of Secrets to begin tonight's hunt.

He was really looking forward to how the Mudblood at Hogwarts would react to tonight's attack.

At that moment, Colin Crevey was completely unaware that he was being watched. His heart was racing more because the surrounding darkness and cold air made him feel uncomfortable, and the lantern in his hand did not bring him any sense of security.

Moreover, Colin was still a little worried that he might be caught wandering around the castle in the middle of the night by the professors and have a lot of points deducted, making all of Harry's efforts on the field go to waste.

As Colin was about to walk down the stairs at the end of the Transfiguration Classroom corridor toward the School Hospital, he suddenly heard a rustling sound behind him.

What was that sound? Perhaps it was the courage of the Gryffindor students that prevented Colin from immediately turning and running away.

In Colin's mind, there was no danger in Hogwarts Castle. If there was danger, could it still be called a school? If you stayed up all night and wandered around the castle, the worst that would happen is that the professors would catch you, deduct points, and put you in solitary confinement.

However, the rustling sound was clearly not the professors' footsteps.

Colin didn't leave, but waited for the sound to approach. He had heard some older students say that there were many interesting things about Hogwarts, such as taking a night stroll and having a chance to encounter Knight Armor patrolling the corridors.

Perhaps today is his lucky day.

I wonder if I really encountered something incredible at Hogwarts.

Colin suddenly got excited, put the lantern he was carrying on the ground, took the camera off his neck, and prepared to take a picture of the scene.

The rustling sound was getting closer and closer.

The moment the voice's owner turned the corner, Colin quickly pressed the shutter button. The camera flash illuminated the dark corridor, revealing an enormous snake.

"Ah!"

Colin's eyes widened involuntarily, his expression of utter astonishment froze on his face, and his voice stopped abruptly.

Colin Crevey was thus petrified by the Basilisk.

In some ways, Colin Crevey is lucky.

Because he saw the Basilisk's eyes through a camera, he was not killed directly by the Basilisk's eyes, but was merely petrified.

His body leaned backward and hit the steps behind him.

Not far from here, in Professor McGonagall's office, Professor McGonagall, who had just finished grading students' homework and lay down to rest, immediately got up from bed after hearing the shout.

Professor McGonagall looked very unhappy; apparently, a student was wandering around the castle in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.

She quickly put on her cloak, picked up her wand, and hurried out of the office when she heard a strange rustling sound coming from the end of the corridor, as if something was being dragged along the ground.

What was that sound?

Professor McGonagall immediately became alert and walked forward. She soon spotted Colin Creevey lying stiffly on the ground and felt a chill run down her spine. Professor McGonagall immediately raised her wand and cautiously looked towards the end of the corridor.

That voice just now was most likely the monster from the Chamber of Secrets.

She hesitated for a moment, then quickly followed the direction from which the sound came. As she rounded the first corner, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.

"What's going on, Minerva? I just heard a scream."

Dumbledore, dressed in his pajamas, appeared before Professor McGonagall without warning.