Snape's gaze toward Ernie carried a hint of anger. Bing Huan also stopped fooling around. "This is exactly why I hate people who spread rumors more than anything. That night, Harry's father used his life to buy time. Harry's mother likewise gave her life to cast the Blood Relation Protection Charm on Harry.
Neither the two books mentioned above nor the books explaining the effects of the ancient spell known as the Blood Protection Charm were kept in any restricted section. They were all in the library's regular lending section. Don't use your ignorance to insult a pair of great parents again. Even if you're all still young, rumors can hurt someone for the rest of their life."
The Great Hall fell silent, and Bing Huan returned to his seat. Not long after he sat down, a figure who was somewhat tall among his peers walked over.
"I'm sorry, Harry," Ernie said, his eyes red. "I shouldn't have doubted you over things that were completely untrue. Your parents were the bravest people I've ever known."
"Thanks, but next time you discuss me, remember to pay me an appearance fee."
Ernie, who had expected to be scolded, froze. The Great Hall once again filled with laughter at Harry's joke.
On the way to class, Draco couldn't help asking, "I thought you were going to mock him."
"I could certainly have cursed him out, but I chose to put an absolute end to the evil caused by these things. The path I walk and the kind of person I become are mine to decide." Harry smiled as he looked ahead.
The other three stared at Harry strangely, feeling certain that aliens had swapped him out.
"Well, well~ Where did you learn to say something so philosophical?" Bing Huan hooked an arm around Harry's neck. "Putting on airs and acting profound in front of me now, are you?"
"An old man told me."
During the break at noon, Bing Huan was summoned to the Headmaster's Office. "That was a splendid speech, Little Huan. What makes me even happier is that Harry has truly grown. Not only does he have a strong heart, but he also has a broad mind."
Bing Huan gave Dumbledore an exasperated look. "You enjoyed watching the show. You were the one who started the rumors, but I was the one who cleared them up."
Grindelwald spoke awkwardly. "Albus is the headmaster, after all. If he had come forward to explain, it might have seemed as though he were taking sides. You're a fellow student, so you're more impartial."
"Impartial, my foot." Bing Huan took a sip of orange juice. "Those three are already treating me like their father. All that's missing is for them to change how they address me."
After chatting briefly, Bing Huan went back to rest.
After classes ended for the day, the five of them went to an empty classroom. Now that the rumors about Harry had been cleared up, it was time to devote themselves wholeheartedly to solving the problem of the Chamber of Secrets.
"Draco," Harry said, turning his head. "Your family knows more about Pure-blood wizards than most. Do you have any information about the Chamber of Secrets?"
Draco looked at the other four mysteriously. "You finally know when to ask for this young master's help, huh? My father told me that this Chamber was opened fifty years ago. It was the Dark Lord who opened it. It seems that the last time it was opened, a female student died."
"Voldemort? Come to think of it, Voldemort is obviously a title. What was his real name?" Bing Huan made his usual leap in logic.
"I don't think even I know that." Draco frowned as he replied. "My father said that, as far as he could remember, he had never seen the Dark Lord use his own name. He even seemed to hate using his own name, as though it were something filthy."
"Let's summarize what we know so far." Hermione recorded everyone's words in her notes. "Several hundred years ago, Salazar Slytherin left a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets to help his successor cleanse Hogwarts through what he called purification—by means of murder. Fifty years ago, his heir opened the Chamber of Secrets once, causing casualties. Now, another of his heirs has opened it again, intending to continue removing the Non-purebloods from Hogwarts.
"Although we still have no idea who the culprit behind this incident is, we can investigate what happened fifty years ago to confirm the Chamber's location and figure out how to deal with it. By then, even if we don't go looking for him, the culprit will come to us himself."
Afterward, the group split into three teams. Malfoy went to find his followers and have them write home to ask whether their families knew of any other details from fifty years ago. Hermione and Bing Huan decided to look through the library's records, while Ron and Harry went around asking the people at school whether they knew anything.
The students had only just cleared up their misunderstanding of Harry, and now they learned that Harry was working hard to protect everyone just as he had the previous year. They were all willing to cooperate with Harry, investigating and asking their friends. As a result, the two of them actually had the easiest time of the three groups.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Magic had suppressed that incident as a secret, leaving almost no useful clues. The next day, the Daily Prophet delivered by owl reported that Minister for Magic Fudge had officially begun carrying out the punishment. Yes, the sentence had been issued several months ago, but it was only being carried out today.
Harry wasn't worried about Fudge. Instead, he asked anxiously, "Then Mr. Weasley is really all right now, isn't he?"
Bing Huan looked at Harry solemnly. "How dare you doubt Uncle Zhang? Be careful, or they'll send you in too."
Harry: Σ(°ロ°)
There were no classes that day, and Hermione dragged all four of them to the library to help her search for clues. That night, after finding nothing, the five of them wandered dispiritedly through the corridor. As they looked around, they suddenly heard Filch shouting.
"So many nuisances again! Mopping the floor for the entire night, as if I don't already have enough work to do. No, I have to go find Dumbledore."
Filch grumbled as he walked away. Since the place they had passed was where Mrs. Norris had been attacked, the floor was covered in water just like that night, and they also heard a girl crying.
They followed the sound to the entrance of a bathroom. "So it's her." Hermione seemed to realize something.
"Who?"
"Moaning Myrtle."
Ron asked in confusion, "Who's Moaning Myrtle?"
A ghost floated up behind Ron and shouted, "I'm Moaning Myrtle!" She then flew into the air and looked down at them. "I don't expect you to know me. Who would talk about ugly, pitiful, dejected Moaning Myrtle? Are you going to throw things at me too?"
Harry asked, "Why would we throw things at you?"
"I don't know." Myrtle looked sorrowful. "I was just thinking about my own business, but people always think it's fun to throw things at me."
Ron said, "But it wouldn't hurt even if they hit you, right? Things would just pass through you."
"That's right!" Myrtle excitedly rushed up to Ron. "Throw books at Myrtle. She won't feel a thing anyway. Ten points for hitting her stomach, fifty points for hitting her head." As she spoke, she thrust her ghostly arms through Ron's stomach and head.
Then she rushed into a toilet, sobbing.
Ron was somewhat frightened. "Why did she get angry?"
The four of them: "..."
Harry suddenly spotted something on the floor. He picked it up and saw that it was a notebook. The name Tom Riddle was engraved on the cover.
"Looks like this is that person's diary."
"I remember that name." Ron seemed to recall something. "When I was serving detention and polishing the awards, I saw it. Riddle received a Special Services to the School award fifty years ago."
Hermione said, "Fifty years ago?! That means Tom Riddle was at school when the previous Chamber of Secrets incident happened. Then this diary might very well contain a record of what happened back then."
"Excellent deduction, Hermione, but there's one thing you overlooked." Harry flipped through the diary strangely.
"What?"
"There aren't any words in this diary at all."
Hermione: (๑•̌.•̑๑)ˀ̣ˀ̣
The group stared at the diary for a long while, but couldn't figure out anything. "Maybe something is hiding the contents?" Bing Huan said. "But this book is still very wet, so we can't use any of the usual methods. Let's take it back first. We'll think of a way after it dries."
Afraid of damaging anything, they didn't use magic. Instead, they left it in a ventilated place to dry naturally. The next day, the others continued searching for clues, while Harry stayed alone in the dormitory to wrestle with the diary.
Harry swore he had never read a book so seriously in his life, but the diary didn't seem moved at all. It still didn't display a single word. At noon, Hermione even got hold of a revealing eraser, but that was useless as well.
That night, while Harry was doing his homework, he accidentally flung a drop of ink onto the diary.
Before you continue