The Legend of the Chamber of Secrets

For several days in a row, the topic of conversation in the castle was surprisingly consistent: the students talked about nothing else but the attack on Filch.

Filch was taken to the Hospital Wing, and Mrs. Norris went with him and stayed by his side.

Some students initially thought that without this annoying duo, life would be much easier from now on.

For example, they can chat loudly and play around in the hallway without worrying about someone suddenly jumping out from a corner screaming that they need to be locked up.

As it turned out, that wasn't the case at all; they soon realized they had been overthinking things.

The professors took over Filch's job and began taking turns patrolling the castle. If anyone was caught violating school rules, they would be punished in any way, from points deductions to detention.

Moreover, they are much more difficult to deal with; the little tricks that were used against Filch before are completely useless against the professor.

In just a few days, the score hourglasses of the four schools dropped significantly.

To make matters worse, the job of cleaning the castle has now fallen to those who broke the school rules... and they can't use magic.

A few days ago, Kyle saw Fred and George carrying a bunch of tools, laboriously scrubbing the words on the wall on the third floor.

From their conversation, it was clear that they actually missed Filch quite a bit.

Chamber of Secrets are another hot topic these days.

All copies of "Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History" in the library have been checked out.

"They're just wasting their time."

In the Great Hall, Cedric looked at the young wizards around him who were constantly turning the pages of their books, and said with certainty, "I remember very clearly that there was nothing about the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets in that book."

"Did you memorize such a thick book?" Mikel asked incredulously.

"Of course not, how could that be?" Cedric shook his head and said, "But I do have a general impression. I don't remember any record of a so-called Chamber of Secrets inside...not a single one."

"Oh, I was thinking of borrowing it from Millicent after she finished reading it," Mikel sighed, seemingly equally interested in the Chamber of Secrets.

After breakfast, the group left the castle and headed towards the Third Greenhouse.

Professor Sprout is a kind witch who is always smiling, and her Herbology Class is one of the most popular subjects at Hogwarts.

Today, they will learn how to remove the beans from the Puffapod.

This is much harder than I imagined. If I use too little force, I can't get them out, and if I use too much, the beans will immediately burst open.

This level of force is difficult to control.

"Don't rush it. Gradually increase the intensity. It takes time. Also, don't touch the leaves and tender branches, or they'll get angry."

Just as Professor Sprout was instructing them on how to proceed, a young Hufflepuff wizard suddenly raised his hand.

"Miss Bird, is there a problem?" Professor Sprout asked with a smile.

"Professor, could you tell us about the Chamber of Secrets? And who is the successor?"

Now everyone looked up.

Mikel was so excited that he almost pulled the Puffapod out of the pot.

The angry Puffapod sprayed a string of pink beans onto Mikel's face, making him howl in pain.

Professor Sprout blinked.

"Miss Bird, you're not the first person to ask me this," she said softly. "Lately, a student has asked this question in every class."

Professor Sprout thought for a moment, "How about this, if you can finish the task ahead of schedule this class, I can use the remaining time to tell you some rumors I know."

Now, everyone lowered their heads. Those who were chatting stopped, and those who were fiddling with the dragon dung fertilizer put their bags aside and began to concentrate on handling the Puffapod in front of them.

With ten minutes left before the end of get out of class, the last person finally finished the task.

"Oh, well then." Professor Sprout looked at the large patch of bean flowers in the greenhouse, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Although the students' error rate was a bit high, at least everyone succeeded at some point, and there were no cases of intentional failure.

So she decided to keep her promise, "Of course, it's just a legend, even a bit ridiculous."

"Let me think... The Chamber of Secrets... This story begins a thousand years ago, when Hogwarts was founded..."

For the next ten minutes, Professor Sprout explained in detail to everyone how Hogwarts was founded.

And the growing conflict among the four founders... their respective criteria for selecting students.

"... After a heated argument, Salazar Slytherin left the school."

Professor Sprout paused at this point.

"That's all the recorded information. It's also mentioned in ' Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History,' which you can take a look at if you're interested."

"As for the Chamber of Secrets ...that's just a strange legend." She continued, "Some say that Slytherin built a secret room in the castle, and the other founders knew nothing about it."

"As long as his successor can open the Chamber of Secrets, he can release the monster inside and let it purify the school, eliminating all those unworthy to learn magic."

The bell rang, but the greenhouse remained silent. No one seemed inclined to leave; everyone stared at Professor Sprout, hoping she would continue lecturing.

"Alright, let's go back to the castle. That's all I know."

Professor Sprout opened the greenhouse door.

"However, in my opinion, this legend is complete nonsense. Salazar Slytherin may have been able to build Chamber of Secrets in the castle without the knowledge of the other two founders, but he could never have fooled Rowena Ravenclaw."

And most importantly... even in Slytherin's rage, he only wanted to drive the children out of the castle, not kill them."

At her urging, the students all left the greenhouse.

"I knew it, the Chamber of Secrets must be related to Slytherin."

Ryan said to Kyle and Kanna, "That second-year student named Malfoy was acting really smug... and Flint too, I bet they knew about the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets a long time ago."

"It's a pity he's unwilling to tell us," Mikel said with some regret. "If only we could sneak into the Slytherin Common Room, we might be able to overhear some confidential information there."

"If that's really what you're thinking..." Kyle said with a smile, "I have a Slytherin scarf and accessories here. If you dress up a bit and cover your face, you might actually be able to sneak in."

"We can try..." Mikel thought seriously for a moment, "But I don't know their password."

"That's easy," Kyle said casually. "It's just Pure-blood, glory, eternity, power, and things like that. Just try a few more times and you'll get it."

Or you can sneak in with the others. Just do it after breakfast on the weekend; that's when it's most crowded, and one more person won't attract attention."

"That makes sense. I don't need to know the password at all." Mikel's eyes lit up.

He touched his red and swollen face... it was from being hit by Puffapod.

He had been thinking about getting some anti-swelling medicine, but now it seems he doesn't need it.

He looks so different now that even some Hufflepuff wouldn't recognize him, let alone Slytherin.

This is a rare opportunity...