Chamber of Secrets

That night, Zhang Wen closed the office door, made sure no one was in the corridor, then cast a Silencing Charm.

The new wand's Silencing Charm worked much better. The one cast with Lockhart's wand always leaked sound, like a window screen full of holes. This one was completely airtight.

Artoria sat in an armchair, without a cup of tea in her hands.

She could tell something was wrong from Zhang Wen's expression. When he was serious, she would not let herself get distracted.

"Go on," she said.

Zhang Wen sat down behind his desk and gathered his thoughts.

"First, I need to fill you in on some background. About the greatest threat in this world."

"Voldemort," Artoria said. "You mentioned that name before."

"That's right. Voldemort, whose real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, was the most powerful and dangerous Dark wizard in this world about fifty years ago. He started two Wizarding Wars, killed countless people, and nearly overturned the entire magical world's order."

"What about now?"

"Eleven years ago, he tried to kill a baby. The curse rebounded, and his body was destroyed."

Artoria frowned slightly.

"Defeated by a baby?"

"It wasn't the baby who defeated him. The baby's mother used her life to cast Ancient Protection Magic, which reflected his Killing Curse," Zhang Wen said. "That baby was Harry Potter."

Artoria fell silent for a moment.

"So the scar on Harry Potter's forehead—"

"Was left that night."

Artoria nodded and did not press further. She absorbed information quickly.

"Although Voldemort's body was destroyed, he didn't die," Zhang Wen continued. "Because he made something called a Horcrux."

"A Horcrux?"

"It tears apart the soul and seals it inside an object. As long as the Horcrux remains, his soul won't perish. Even if his body is destroyed, his soul still exists and can be resurrected through special means."

Artoria's expression changed.

It was not surprise. It was disgust.

"Tearing apart the soul," she repeated in a low voice. "Such a method..."

"It's disgusting, I know," Zhang Wen said. "And he didn't make just one. He made several."

Artoria said nothing. But Zhang Wen noticed her hand tighten around the armrest.

"Now for the important part." Zhang Wen drew a deep breath. "One of Voldemort's Horcruxes is a Diary. He made it fifty years ago, when he was still studying at Hogwarts. This Diary has a certain degree of self-awareness. It can communicate with people, and—"

He paused.

"It can control anyone who comes into contact with it."

Artoria's gaze changed.

"Who has the Diary now?"

"A first-year girl," Zhang Wen said. "Ginny Weasley. Ron Weasley's sister."

The office fell silent for about three seconds.

"We'll go take the Diary from her right now." Artoria stood up.

Zhang Wen raised a hand, motioning for her to sit.

"No."

"Why not?" Artoria's tone turned colder. "An eleven-year-old child is being corrupted by a fragment of a soul, and you expect me to stand by and do nothing?"

"I didn't say we'd do nothing. I said we can't take the Diary directly right now."

"Reason."

It was not a question. It was a demand.

Zhang Wen knew this conversation would be difficult, but he had not expected it to be this difficult. There was something in Artoria's eyes that he rarely saw—not anger, but something deeper than anger.

The instinct to protect the weak.

The instinct of a knight.

"First," Zhang Wen said, doing his best to keep his voice calm, "I have no plausible reason to know that the Diary exists. If I suddenly go to a first-year student and confiscate her personal belongings, everyone will ask—how did I know? Dumbledore will be suspicious, Snape will be suspicious, and even Ginny herself will be frightened."

Artoria did not sit down, but she stopped.

"Second, the Diary is Voldemort's Horcrux. Destroying a Horcrux requires special methods—a Basilisk Fang, Fiendfyre, or the Sword of Gryffindor. I have none of those right now. Even if we get the Diary, I won't be able to destroy it immediately."

"Third..." Zhang Wen hesitated, then said it anyway. "The Diary will trigger the Chamber of Secrets Incident. There is a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, a massive serpentine magical creature. Voldemort opened the Chamber of Secrets once fifty years ago. This time, he will use the Diary to control Ginny and open it again."

"A Basilisk's gaze can kill. Look directly into its eyes, and you die on the spot."

Artoria's hand moved to her waist.

"But if you see it indirectly—through a mirror, water, or another reflective surface—you'll only be Petrificus Totalus. Petrificus Totalus isn't fatal and can be cured with Mandrake Restorative Potion."

Zhang Wen looked at Artoria.

"In the original story, no one died. Several students and a cat were Petrificus Totalus, but all of them were eventually cured. Harry Potter killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, destroyed the Diary, and rescued Ginny."

Artoria slowly sat back down.

Her expression remained cold, but reason was taking control of her emotions.

"What is your plan?" she asked.

"Let the incident happen, but keep the damage under control," Zhang Wen said. "The Chamber of Secrets Incident spiraled out of control in the original story for two reasons. First, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at the time was Lockhart, a useless idiot. Second, no one knew about the Basilisk in advance."

"Now both conditions have changed," Artoria said.

"Right. I know where the Basilisk is—it is in a hidden passage beneath the second-floor girls' bathroom. I know its weakness—a rooster's crow can kill a Basilisk. And I know where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is—on the faucet in that bathroom. It can only be opened with Parseltongue."

"Parseltongue?"

"The language of snakes. The ability to communicate with them. Voldemort has that ability, and so does Harry—because on the night Voldemort tried to kill him, he accidentally transferred part of his power to him."

Artoria's brow furrowed more deeply.

"You mean that this child also has a part of Voldemort inside him?"

Zhang Wen nodded.

Artoria was silent for a long time.

"The Dark magic in this world... is far more vile than I imagined," she finally said.

"Yes."

"Then how do you intend to control the harm caused by this incident?"

Zhang Wen took a piece of parchment from a drawer. It held notes he had organized over the past few days.

"Step one: acquire roosters. There are roosters in Hagrid's chicken coop. In the original story, Ginny killed those roosters under the Diary's control—because Voldemort knew their crows were the Basilisk's weakness. I need to protect those roosters in advance, or get some more and hide them."

"Using roosters against a Basilisk." Artoria's expression became subtle. "That weakness... is rather plain."

"Magical creatures are like that. The older the creature, the stranger its weakness."

"Continue."

"Step two: take precautions in the areas where the Basilisk might appear. I can't seal the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets—that would alert the soul fragment in the Diary. But I can place mirrors in the corridors. The Basilisk travels through the pipe system. If students encounter it in the halls and see its eyes indirectly through a mirror, they'll only be Petrificus Totalus instead of dying."

"Step three: keep a close watch on Ginny Weasley's condition. The Diary will gradually drain her life force. When her condition noticeably worsens, that will signal that the Chamber of Secrets is about to be opened."

"Step four: after the Chamber of Secrets is opened, you and I will enter it directly and deal with the Basilisk. We won't let Harry take the risk—he's only twelve."

Artoria listened to the entire plan.

"There is one problem," she said.

"What is it?"

"You said the Basilisk's gaze can kill." She looked directly into Zhang Wen's eyes. "How do you intend to fight it without looking at it?"

Zhang Wen smiled.

"That's where your task comes in."

Artoria raised an eyebrow.

"Although the Basilisk's gaze is deadly, it is fundamentally still a snake—a very large snake. Its body isn't invulnerable, just protected by thick skin that ordinary magic can't penetrate."

Zhang Wen looked at Artoria.

"But you have Excalibur."

Artoria was silent for a second.

"You want me to fight a giant snake with my eyes closed."

"With your battle instincts and senses, fighting with your eyes closed shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Artoria was silent for another second.

"It won't be a problem," she said, her tone as calm as if they were discussing lunch.

Zhang Wen breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

For anyone else, a plan like "fight a giant snake that can kill you with your eyes closed" would sound insane. But Artoria Pendragon was not just anyone else. She was the King of Knights, who had once ruled Britain and defeated countless powerful foes. A snake, no matter how large, was merely prey before her.

"But I have one condition," Artoria said.

"What condition?"

"Before the incident happens, I want to take part in monitoring Ginny Weasley's condition."

"Of course."

"If her condition deteriorates to a dangerous degree, I will not wait for your orders. I will act directly."

Zhang Wen looked at her.

This was not a negotiation. It was a notice.

"All right," he said. "If you judge the situation to be urgent, you have the authority to act on your own."

Artoria nodded.

"There's one more thing," she said.

"What is it?"

"That Diary—the fragment of a soul resides inside an object and drains life force through communication with people."

"Right."

"In my era, there was something similar." Artoria lowered her voice. "Cursed holy relics. They would attach themselves to those who touched them and slowly erode their will. The way to deal with them was to sever the connection between the person and the relic—not physically, but mentally."

Zhang Wen froze.

"You mean?"

"If we can make Ginny Weasley no longer depend on that Diary mentally—for example, by giving her enough friends and enough people she trusts—the Diary's control over her will weaken."

Zhang Wen stared at Artoria for several seconds.

That was an approach he had never considered.

In the original story, one major reason the Diary could control Ginny was that she had been extremely lonely during her first year at Hogwarts. She had a crush on Harry but did not dare say it, her brothers each had their own circles of friends, and she was lost and helpless in her new environment. The Diary took advantage of that opening and became her only "friend."

What if Ginny were not so lonely?

What if she had enough support around her?

The Diary would not become completely ineffective—it was still Voldemort's Horcrux, after all, and possessed powerful magic. But its control would slow down, giving them more time to react.

"You're right," Zhang Wen said. "That's a very good idea."

"A basic strategy," Artoria said. "In Camelot, we dealt with cursed knights the same way—strengthen their will first, then deal with the curse itself."

Zhang Wen leaned back in his chair and reassessed his plan.

Protect the roosters, place mirrors, monitor Ginny, step in directly if necessary. Add Artoria's proposal to "strengthen Ginny's mental defenses"—

This plan was far better than the passive response in the original story.

But uncertainties still remained.

The butterfly effect was unpredictable. His existence had already changed many things—Ron's wand, Harry's after-school tutoring, Neville Longbottom's physical training, Lucius Malfoy's letter. Every change could cause later events to deviate.

Would the Chamber of Secrets Incident still happen according to the original timeline?

Would Ginny still open the Chamber of Secrets for the first time around Halloween?

He did not know.

All he could do was make the fullest preparations, then adapt as things came.

"That concludes tonight's intelligence briefing." Zhang Wen stretched. "We start tomorrow."

Artoria stood up.

"I'll make a patrol."

"A patrol?"

"I'll inspect the castle's security. If the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is in the second-floor girls' bathroom, I need to familiarize myself with the terrain around that area."

Zhang Wen thought for a moment.

"There's a ghost living in that bathroom," he reminded her. "Her name is Moaning Myrtle. She cries a lot, talks too much, and loves gossip. Don't let her latch onto you."

"I'm not afraid of ghosts."

"I know you're not afraid. I'm afraid she'll ask you questions, and then spread your answers throughout the whole school. Gossip travels faster among ghosts than owls."

Artoria thought about it, then nodded.

"I'll be careful."

She walked to the door, then paused.

"Master."

"Yes?"

"You told me all this information in advance... thank you."

Zhang Wen froze.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"During the Holy Grail War, you often took on all the thinking and planning yourself, unwilling to let me share the burden." Artoria did not turn around. "This time, you were willing to discuss it with me. I'm very happy."

She left.

The door closed softly.

Zhang Wen stared blankly at the empty office for a while.

Artoria Pendragon had said, "I'm very happy."

Four words.

Coming from the King of Knights, they were probably equivalent to an ordinary person clinging to you and sobbing their heart out.

Zhang Wen rubbed his face.

All right.

It looked like he would have to discuss things with her more in the future.

He lowered his head to glance at the notes on the table and added a line at the bottom:

Step Five—Help Ginny Weasley make more friends.

Then he drew parentheses beside it and wrote three words:

(Ask Hermione)

The social network among Gryffindor girls still had to be handled by someone from Gryffindor.

Zhang Wen put away his notes and blew out the candle.

Outside the window, the night sky over Hogwarts was very quiet.

But beneath that quiet, something was waking.

A Diary.

A snake.

A storm that had yet to begin.