"Luo Bin, people from the Board of Governors are here. The professors are discussing things with their representatives. It concerns Dumbledore. If you barge in, you might... influence the board's decision!"
Damn it. Of all the times those people could have come, they had to arrive just when Hermione had been petrified. "Filch, you know that when a house guardian leaves its portrait, opening the entrance requires a confidential override password. And only the heads of house know those passwords!"
"Luo Bin, what are you trying to say?"
"There's just been another petrification attack, in the abandoned Storage Room in the Gryffindor girls' Dormitory. The victim is my friend—Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"The girls are crowding around the entrance. They're terrified. They're afraid the Chamber Monster will leap out of a corner any second and petrify them or kill them!"
"What?!!"
Filch's eyes bulged even farther in shock. Coupled with his sparse hair, hunched body, and skin like withered bark, it made him look like a dried-up corpse that had crawled out of a grave.
"Grr... Harry Potter finally went after Miss Granger. That rotten boy, that black-hearted little villain!"
"Filch, Harry doesn't even know about this yet. Otherwise, he'd have come running here. I think if Headmaster Dumbledore were here, he'd support me knocking on the Council Chamber door!"
"Perhaps that rotten boy is hiding in the shadows, laughing at us as we run around like headless chickens, letting him lead us by the nose! Luo Bin, you probably don't know this, but besides the Fat Lady's portrait and Professor McGonagall's password, there's another way into the Gryffindor Common Room."
"What way?"
Luo Bin had considered the unlocking charm, Alohomora, and the Wall-Passing Spell, but the door had been enchanted. Neither method would work!
"Luo Bin, every door has a