The lingering warmth of their first kiss atop the Astronomy Tower had not yet faded from their lips when cold reality surged over them like a tide. Ginny lay unconscious in the Hospital Wing, diagnosed by Madam Pomfrey with "nervous fever caused by magical exhaustion." Hermione stood beside the bed, clutching Lynn's sleeve as she watched the unnatural flush on Ginny's pale little face, her nails nearly digging into her palms.
"The diary..." Her voice tightened as she stared at the black notebook that Lynn had sealed with multiple Sealing Charms and locked inside the iron cabinet beside the bed. Through the door crack, threads of nearly invisible black mist seeped stubbornly out, thick with sticky malice, as though something living were struggling within.
"It's becoming more active." Lynn's voice was low and steady as stone. The Star Stone pressed against his chest, sending out a needle-like chill sharper than ever before—the Basilisk's movements through the pipes had become increasingly frequent and restless, while some force was forcibly deepening the connection between the diary and its host. "We can't wait for the Basilisk to show itself."
"The bait plan." Hermione suddenly looked up, determination blazing in her brown eyes. "Tonight?"
Lynn nodded, his gaze sweeping over the heavy dusk beyond the Hospital Wing windows. "The moon is waning. It's when a serpent's magic is relatively dormant." He pulled out a blank sheet of Potions Class parchment, dipped the tip of his wand into the remaining Calming Potion in Ginny's bowl, and quickly sketched a rough map of several key corridors. "Mrs. Norris's patrol route is fixed. She likes lingering around the abandoned Girls' Lavatory on the second floor—there are a lot of pipes there."
"The lavatory..." Hermione immediately understood. "Moaning Myrtle's territory! Where the pipes converge!" Realization flashed through her eyes, only to be swallowed by worry. "But how can you make sure it'll attack Mrs. Norris? What if..."
"Filch, a fanatical believer in Pure-blood supremacy." Lynn pressed heavily on the spot labeled "Filch's Office." "And the cat that never leaves his side. To the 'heir,' they themselves are a desecration of 'purity.'" His tone was calm, yet chilled with an understanding of darkness.
With the plan settled, the heavy air was almost suffocating. Hermione looked at Lynn's composed profile, then suddenly reached out to touch his forehead. The icy sensation against her fingertips made her heart clench. "Your temperature... it's lower than before!" Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly. "Is it because you're suppressing the diary?"
Lynn caught her cool wrist and lowered her hand. "The drain is manageable." He avoided answering directly. The backlash from overusing the Star Stone was like a bone-deep chill, slowly eating away at his body heat. But he could not stop.
"Liar," Hermione muttered. She clasped his hand tightly instead, trying to pass the warmth of her palm to him. The Moon White Stone at her throat grew faintly hot, and a gentle current of warmth flowed through their joined hands into Lynn. The stabbing pain from the Star Stone seemed tempered by that warmth, easing slightly.
At night, Hogwarts Castle resembled a slumbering beast. Wrapped in the Invisibility Cloak, Lynn moved soundlessly through the shadows untouched by moonlight, like a silhouette blended into the walls. Hermione wore thick wool socks and held several heavy books as cover, following a few steps behind him with her heart pounding like a drum. According to the plan, she was to use Extendable Ears at the corner to monitor any movement and be ready at any moment to set off Lynn's specially made bright flare as a signal.
The abandoned Girls' Lavatory on the second floor was filled with the damp smell of mildew and a faint air of sorrow. Moaning Myrtle sobbed intermittently in one of the stalls. Lynn carefully smeared a small bottle of concentrated potion that reeked of fish—made from the entrails of Stinging Fish from the depths of the Black Lake—into the cracks between the tiles at the lavatory entrance. It was bait highly attractive to serpents.
Once the bait was in place, he swiftly withdrew to the corridor corner to meet Hermione. In the darkness, they pressed against the cold stone wall, breathing as quietly as they could. Hermione could clearly feel the chill radiating from Lynn. Even beneath the Invisibility Cloak, that low temperature filled her with worry. Unable to resist, she quietly reached out and gently laid her hand over the back of his wand-gripping hand through the cloak's fabric.
Time crawled by second after second in deathly silence. Just when Hermione was beginning to think the plan had failed, Filch's hoarse muttering drifted from afar, accompanied by Mrs. Norris's familiar, complaining meow.
They're here!
Lynn's body instantly tightened like a drawn bowstring. Hermione held her breath too, pressing the horn of the Extendable Ears tightly against her ear.
Footsteps and meowing stopped outside the lavatory. "Back here again, you naughty little thing!" Filch's voice carried indulgent reproach. Then came the sound of Mrs. Norris sniffing the floor, followed by a contented purr as the fishy scent drew her in.
Suddenly!
A shriek of grinding noise erupted from beneath the floor and deep within the walls, like countless enormous sheets of icy armor scraping against each other! It carried a soul-piercing, icy malice, clearer and more terrifying than the hissing they had heard on the train!
"Meowrrr—!!!" Mrs. Norris's scream tore through the night, so shrill it warped out of shape!
"Mrs. Norris!" Filch's terrified roar rang out almost at the same time!
Now!
Lynn threw off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand thrust toward the lavatory entrance like a drawn sword! At almost the same second, Hermione lit the flare tube in her hand!
"Incendio Maxima!" Lynn's spell was not ordinary Lumos, but an overwhelming burst infused with the Star Stone's power! A blinding white radiance, like a miniature sun, exploded from the tip of his wand and instantly turned the entire corridor as bright as day!
The light pierced through the open lavatory door, illuminating the horrifying scene inside!
Mrs. Norris was hanging upside down, flung toward a dust-covered chandelier by an invisible force! Her whole body was rigid, and her soft fur was covered in a thick layer of Ice Crystals that gleamed with an eerie blue light, making her look like an exquisite ice sculpture specimen! Filch had collapsed on the floor, pointing at the ground in abject terror, his lips trembling too violently for words.
On the damp wall swept by the beam of light, a line of enormous words formed from twisted ice spikes gave off a sinister chill:
"The filthy defilers have been purged. The Chamber of Secrets shall be opened."
Beneath the icy inscription, two deep grooves, as though plowed by the belly of some enormous serpent, stretched from the wall all the way across the foul-water-covered stone floor. Fine fragments of ice, glimmering with a ghostly blue sheen, remained along their edges!
The powerful light lasted only three short seconds before abruptly going out. At the instant it vanished, Lynn let out a muffled groan and swayed. His face was paper-white in the darkness, and the hand holding his wand trembled uncontrollably. Forcing the Star Stone's power to resist that bone-piercing cold and the Basilisk's hissing had brought backlash like ice spikes driven into his marrow!
"Lynn!" Hermione ignored the scene entirely. The moment darkness fell, she rushed to his side and caught his wavering body. His arm felt terrifyingly cold beneath her hand, as though he had just been dragged out of an ice cellar!
"I'm fine..." Lynn's voice was strained with suppressed panting as he forced himself to stand steady.
At that moment, students roused by the bright flash and screams came pouring in from every direction, dressed in pajamas and carrying wands! Footsteps, gasps, and questions tangled into chaos.
"What happened?"
"Who was screaming?"
"Oh my God! What was that light?"
Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape arrived almost at the same time. Dumbledore's azure gaze was sharp as an eagle's, sweeping first over the frozen Mrs. Norris, then the icy words on the wall, and finally settling on Lynn, who was being tightly supported by Hermione, his face unnaturally pale. A flicker of nearly imperceptible understanding passed through Dumbledore's eyes.
"Mr. Filch," Dumbledore said in a calm, commanding voice that instantly silenced the commotion. "Please explain."
Filch scrambled to Dumbledore's feet, tears and snot streaming down his face as he pointed at the frozen cat and the writing on the wall. "Headmaster! It was a monster! A monster in the walls! It attacked my Mrs. Norris! And the words! It left words!" His speech was incoherent; terror had nearly broken him.
Professor McGonagall drew in a sharp breath and carefully examined Mrs. Norris with her wand. "Rapid, deep freezing throughout the body... It isn't any known Freezing Spell... It's more like... the effect of contact with some powerful cold-blooded magical creature..." She looked toward the icy words on the wall, her expression grave beyond measure.
Professor Snape's sinister gaze, meanwhile, moved slowly over every student present like a cold snake's tongue, lingering especially long on Lynn. Deep in his black eyes swirled scrutiny and a profound trace of suspicion.
"All students, return to your respective Common Rooms immediately!" Dumbledore's voice was not loud, but it carried unquestionable authority. "Prefects, take attendance! Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, please assist Mr. Filch in moving... Mrs. Norris somewhere safe. Until this matter has been investigated, no one is to discuss what happened tonight!"
Under the prefects' urging, the crowd dispersed uneasily, whispers spreading like a plague. For the first time, a cloud of fear hung so heavily over Hogwarts's ancient castle.
Half supporting, half carrying Lynn, Hermione struggled against the flow of students toward Gryffindor Tower. She could feel more and more of his weight settling against her, his body temperature frighteningly low and his steps growing unsteady.
"Hold on... we're almost there..." Hermione's voice was thick with tears as she used all her strength to support him, gripping his icy hand with the other as she futilely tried to warm it.
After finally returning to the empty Common Room, they found the fireplace long extinguished, leaving only cold ashes. Hermione carefully settled Lynn onto the sofa closest to the hearth, then frantically tried to relight the fire, but her trembling fingers could not strike a match.
"Forget the fire..." Lynn's voice was weak and low. He leaned back against the sofa, his thick lashes casting faint shadows over his pale face. His breathing was shallow and quick. Beneath his clothes, the Star Stone pulsed faintly, as though it might go out at any moment.
Hermione's tears finally fell. Kneeling before the sofa, she unhesitatingly undid the buttons of her thick wool cardigan. Then, trembling, she grabbed Lynn's cold, stiff hand and tucked it directly beneath her warm sweater, pressing it against the heated skin of her abdomen!
"Mm..." Lynn let out a muffled groan, his body shuddering at the sudden, scorching warmth.
"Don't talk!" Hermione ordered through tears. She pressed both hands over his hand through her sweater, holding it against her lower abdomen as she used her body heat to warm his ice-cold palm. The girl's soft, heated skin pressed against the boy's frozen hand, the extreme difference in temperature sending a shiver through them both, yet strangely carrying a current of living warmth.
Hermione's other hand trembled as it stroked Lynn's cold cheek, trying to warm him. The Moon White Stone pressed against her collarbone shone with an unprecedentedly steady, warm white glow, like a tiny sun striving to drive away the cold gathered around Lynn.
"Idiot... you big idiot..." she sobbed softly, resting her forehead against his cold one as warm tears fell onto his pale skin. "Don't ever do this again... Don't keep draining yourself..." Her breath, sweet with Orange Cake and salty tears, lingered at Lynn's nose.
Lynn laboriously opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, and all he could see was Hermione's tear-streaked face so close to his, and those brown eyes filled with fear, heartache, and resolve. The stiff hand she had forcibly pressed against her warm abdomen greedily drank in the endless warmth carrying her soft scent. An unprecedented current of heat, mingled with the Star Stone's warming pulse as it was drawn back into stability by the Moon White Stone, slowly spread with difficulty through his frozen limbs.
He weakly moved the fingers of the hand Hermione held against her abdomen, lightly hooking the edge of her sweater as though offering a powerless response.
Outside, Hogwarts Castle had sunk completely into silent darkness. Within the walls, the ice marks left by the serpent gleamed ghostly blue beneath the moonlight. And in Gryffindor's cold Common Room, the girl used her burning body heat and tears to kindle the first faint spark against the freezing night.
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