Investigating the Heir (II)

Harry saw Lavender Brown's face turn deathly pale in an instant. She was a half-blood; her mother was a witch, and her father was a dentist. Her lips trembled slightly as her fingers unconsciously clenched the edge of the desk, her knuckles whitening. Dean Thomas, sitting beside her, shifted uneasily, making his chair creak softly.

He was Muggle-born—his father had left home when he was very young, and his mother was an ordinary Muggle woman. He had not even known he possessed magical talent until he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Several Hufflepuff students Harry did not know very well also looked awful. One of them was a first-year girl Harry remembered as Eloise Midgen, a Muggle-born. Her eyes had already reddened, as though she might burst into tears at any moment.

Hermione's expression changed too.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, and the color drained from cheeks that had been flushed with excitement, leaving them as white as paper. But her eyes did not waver, nor did her back bend. She stared at Professor Binns as if waiting for him to say more.

"Of course," Professor Binns continued in that maddeningly calm tone, "there is no evidence that the Chamber of Secrets ever truly existed. Many distinguished headmasters, including Phineas Nigellus Black... incidentally, his attitude toward Muggles was rather similar to that of Mr Slytherin... searched the castle thoroughly and found nothing. It was most likely merely a... metaphor. Or a... ghost story."

When he said "ghost story," there was not a trace of expression on his translucent face.

There was an absurd irony in a ghost declaring that ghost stories were false.

But no one laughed.

"Professor," Hermione spoke again, her voice lower than before but still clear, "if the Chamber of Secrets is only a legend,