Smart Girls Can Recognize One Another / The Former Ravenclaw Alum Can't Even Get Through the Front Gate

In fact, many people at Hogwarts don't know that Harry isn't the only one with zero tolerance for certain taboos at the school.

"Well, anyway, this... this student is highly suspicious! Not only does she have an Invisibility Cloak, but she also has a special box that definitely contains some kind of shady secret!" Greengrass was slightly more careful with his wording, but his tone was still offensive.

"I understand. We'll need to find a place to conduct the interrogation properly. How about we go to the Staff Room on the first floor?"

Snape nodded slightly and gestured for the other person to go first.

"That's exactly what I was thinking too. We absolutely cannot tolerate these disobedient bastards!"

Seeing Snape's help, Greengrass's face immediately broke into a smug smile.

He turned and strode forward, his mind already racing, calculating how to punish Hermione once they found what they were looking for...

But just as he stepped around the corner of the corridor, he found himself facing a strange wall with bizarre patterns, resembling the belly of a snake!

An unknown liquid was even dripping down from that 'wall' in a meandering pattern...

Greengrass instinctively looked up, only to be met with a pair of deadly yellow-green snake eyes!

"This is... Ah!!!"

He only had time to let out a scream before all his life was extinguished.

Greengrass fell straight backward, his terrified face appearing just as he rounded the corner of the corridor, causing Hermione and Snape, who were lagging behind, to freeze in place...

(P. S. The Basilisk raised by the Pure-blood leader eventually glared at a Pure-blood to death~)

As an aside, the Greengrass family, which had close ties with the Malfoy, likely held an extremely hostile attitude towards those of ordinary birth. Their eldest daughter Daphne Greengrass, was one of the people who hung out with Pansy Parkinson when she was in school.

Therefore, we can only say that the youngest daughter, Astoria Greengrass, was an accident and cannot represent the entire family. That's all.

Chapter 168 Intelligent girls are able to understand each other.

"Professor Snape... was that School Governor... killed by the Basilisk?"

After uttering the word 'death,' Hermione immediately felt two tendons in her calf begin to twitch uncontrollably, the pain so intense that she couldn't move an inch.

To be fair, aside from his wide-open eyes, Greengrass's death wasn't particularly gruesome... but those lifeless, greyish-white eyes were enough to instill a profound fear in Hermione when she instinctively met their gaze.

A person who was just alive and well suddenly died right in front of her; it's no wonder that Hermione, who was only thirteen years old, was deeply shocked.

"Basilisk ... Granger, do you have a mirror or something on you?" Snape asked in a deep voice as he pulled Hermione back.

There was a slight tremor in his voice, but he carefully concealed it, making it sound as normal as ever.

Yes, some are...

"Give me!"

Hermione had barely managed to pull out the small mirror she had prepared to guard against the Snape when Basilisk snatched it away and then forcefully shoved her into an empty classroom next door.

"Find your own chance to escape!"

"Professor Snape?!" Hermione tried to stop him, but the lingering fear held her back, and she could only watch helplessly as Snape strode away outside the door.

What to do...

What should I do?

Standing in the empty classroom, Hermione, trembling with tension, had never hated her own cowardice and uselessness as much as she did now.

She, who was always so arrogant, has now become a burden to others, and is even too frightened to move by a corpse!

But... what can I do now?

Torn between advancing and retreating, Hermione faced a difficult choice.

Her experience was still too limited. Although she could master many complex spells and, under Tina's tutelage, possessed combat skills far surpassing her peers, hesitation was always inevitable when it came to death.

Because the choice between life and death cannot be taught; one must face it alone.

Bang! Bang bang!

At that moment, the box next to Hermione suddenly began to shake violently, accompanied by muffled knocking sounds.

"The suitcase... yes!" The voice jolted Hermione awake, and she quickly unlocked and opened the suitcase.

There are roosters in the box that Harry specially prepared; if they are released, they might be able to help Professor Snape defeat the Basilisk.

"After knocking for so long, it's finally open." But just as Hermione was about to enter the suitcase, the blonde girl's head popped out of the suitcase, almost bumping into Hermione.

And... she was also holding a lively, jumping rooster in her hand!

"Luna Lovegood?" Hermione was taken aback upon seeing this.

"There's Sneakoscope in the box so I can see what's going on outside. Also, could you help me catch it? It's struggling so much."

"Oh... okay."

Noticing the bloody scratches on Luna Lovegood's arm from the chicken claws, Hermione rushed to help, and it took the two of them and their combined strength to barely subdue the raging rooster.

"I'll count to three, and then we'll rush out together and throw the chicken around the corner!" Hermione had no time to care why Luna Lovegood knew the suitcase better than she did. With Luna's help, she had to go rescue Snape immediately!

"One!" The two girls in the classroom tensed up at the same time, and even the roosters in their hands subconsciously stopped struggling.

"Three!!"

Hermione gave the order and immediately darted forward, while Luna Lovegood, after a slight pause, followed suit, and together they rushed out of the classroom carrying the rooster.

The two girls, with their eyes tightly shut, stumbled forward. As they heard the monster's roar growing ever closer, they simultaneously flung the roosters they were holding with all their might!

Because of the excessive force, the two lost their balance and fell down simultaneously. However, they didn't have time to cry out in pain. They just closed their eyes, clung tightly to each other, and lay on the ground, too afraid to move.

Oh ho ho ho ho!

Finally, a series of loud rooster crows echoed throughout the corridor, and the sounds of the previous battle all disappeared.

Only when the two women felt the eerie roar had faded into the distance, in a rather disheveled state, did they dare to cautiously open their eyes.

The surroundings were in chaos. Greengrass's once intact body was now mutilated, clearly having been used as a shield by Snape.

Judging from the bloodstains all over the floor, the monster clearly wanted to cross the corner and reach the corridor where Hermione was, but Snape managed to keep it pinned down.

As for Snape himself, who was struggling against Basilisk...

"Professor Snape?!"

In Hermione's eyes, Snape stood motionless at the corner of the corridor, wand in one hand and Hermione's mirror in the other, like a cold stone statue...

He was petrified.

Snape was probably dealing with the Basilisk from around the corner, but while observing its movements through a mirror, he accidentally saw the Basilisk's eyes in the mirror.

"It's all my fault, I was too slow to react!" Hermione felt extremely guilty, believing she bore an undeniable responsibility for Snape's petrification.

If Snape had released the rooster immediately when he was in trouble in Greengrass, he wouldn't have had to delay the Basilisk to protect him!

He had hinted at it to Harry before, and even offered to use himself as bait to buy Harry time... Hermione never imagined that Snape's 'keeping his word' would ultimately be for her sake!

"Are you alright?" Luna Lovegood, still sitting on the ground, called softly, waking Hermione from her self-reproach.

"I'm alright... I really owe you a lot this time, thank you." Hermione managed to compose herself, helped Luna Lovegood up from the ground, and thanked her sincerely.

We were really fortunate to have Luna Lovegood with us just now; otherwise, the consequences might have been far more severe than just Severus Snape being petrified.

This also made Hermione reflect on whether she had been viewing Luna Lovegood with prejudice, just like everyone else.

It seems there was a reason why Harry valued this seemingly eccentric and Loony so highly.

"You're welcome, but we should leave... we can't delay his operation." Luna Lovegood's voice was still melodious, like singing, but upon closer listening, it sounded slightly off-key.

"I know! Professor Snape... we can only leave him here for now." Hermione knew the situation was urgent and they had to meet up with Harry immediately, so there was no time to move the petrified Snape into the box.

"Um... can I go back into the box too?" Luna Lovegood suddenly suggested weakly. "I didn't feel anything just now, but now that I've calmed down, my legs are a little weak..."

"Ha, so you can be scared too. I thought you were so crazy you didn't care about anything~"

Hermione couldn't help but smile upon hearing this, but she still carefully slipped Luna Lovegood into the box.

"I didn't know that at first either," Luna Lovegood said, pouting helplessly. But then she looked meaningfully at Hermione and said, "By the way... why didn't you shout 'two' just now?"

"I was so nervous that I forgot~" Hermione raised her chin slightly, her tone and expression regaining their usual pride.

"Oh, I see~" Luna Lovegood responded casually, still as dismissive as when she first met Hermione.

Both were intelligent girls. One didn't want to drag the other down and wanted to use the excuse of suddenly miscounting to rush out; while the other immediately realized what was happening and followed closely behind... These things didn't need to be said explicitly between them.

Inside and outside the suitcase, the two women smiled at each other, finally beginning to truly understand and accept one another.

Chapter 169 Former Eagle House can't even get through the gate.

"It's a success..."

He extinguished the fire, stirred the Potions in the Cauldron with his wand until it cooled, and finally breathed Harry sigh of relief as he looked at the shallow, clear liquid at the bottom of the pot.

After more than twenty days, with the one-month deadline fast approaching, Harry finally brewed the most important Veritaserum.

Moreover, Headmistress Derwent, who has great expertise in potions, had just confirmed that Harry's entire process, from brewing to the final product, was flawless, so he truly succeeded.

After carefully bottling the Potions and placing it away, Harry's tense expression eased slightly.

"Now, it's time to take action!"

The Cauldron that couldn't be put away were temporarily placed in the Headmaster's Office. Harry gulped down the remaining Felix Felicis in one go, and then got ready to go!

"My child, we shameful old folks can do nothing for you, we can only hope for your safe return."

Headmaster Dippet felt guilty for not being able to help Harry, but he also held high hopes for Harry.

"Harry, you will definitely become a great wizard someday. If you return to Hogwarts to teach after you graduate, I can assure you that your portrait will appear in this room!"

Well, although Headmaster Dippet's expectations for Harry were obvious, Harry still felt like covering his face in embarrassment after hearing those words.

"Headmaster Dippet, could you please stop thinking so far ahead and just hope for the best for me?" Harry said, his face a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

Good heavens, this former principal hasn't even lived enough yet, and he's already looking forward to his posthumous achievements!

However, Harry was very grateful for his high regard.

"Headmasters, it's getting late..." Harry waved at the wall covered in framed pictures, "I have to go save Hogwarts!"

After saying that, Harry turned around without hesitation and strode down the spiral staircase leading to the third-floor exit.

"Will this child succeed?" Headmistress Moore asked uncertainly after Harry left.

"Absolutely! Although he chose to forgo his own honor, he is still the godson of my great-great-grandson Sirius, and he would never bring shame to the Black family!" Phineas Nigellus Black said proudly. "However, I'm curious whether he can really become the second headmaster of the Black family after me."

"His last name isn't even Black, okay?" Dippet sighed, rubbing his forehead, but his face remained hopeful. "Only Albus can truly see the future of that child. But I believe that even if he doesn't become the headmaster, he will definitely inject new vitality into Hogwarts, which is currently stagnant!"

"What's going on?" After leaving the Headmaster's Office, Harry was completely bewildered by the noise around him.

I haven't even started anything yet, how come the school is already in chaos?

"Lord Granger! Lord Granger... Something terrible has happened!!"

Just then, Peeves flew over, and after Peeves's breathless explanation, Harry finally understood what was happening.

The Chamber of Secrets was opened again, Heir of Slytherin left a message in blood on the wall, saying that the remains of a student would remain in the Chamber forever.

Upon seeing this message, the remaining teachers and Pure-blood Family members in the school simultaneously took action, spreading out in groups throughout the school to search for the location of the Chamber.

At Gilderoy Lockhart's suggestion, the faculty members even searched the students' dormitories this time, showing their complete determination to find the Chamber!

However... if Lockhart is the one leading this, then there's definitely something wrong with it.

Also, why was Ginny Weasley the student who was kidnapped?

"How is Hermione? And where is Lockhart?" Harry frowned and asked the question that concerned him most.

"I don't know anything about Miss Granger. After we parted ways on the Seventh Floor, I was busy tracking that idiot Lockhart," Peeves explained. "That guy is with Flitwick now, heading towards the Ravenclaw Tower!"

"Just as I thought... Peeves, you go cause trouble on the road and slow him down!"

"Alright! Stirring up trouble is my specialty, Mr. Granger, just you wait and see!"