"How exactly did Ginny Weasley open the Chamber of Secrets? She couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin." After returning to his office, Dumbledore began to ponder the matter.
In the Hospital Wing, McGonagall had thought he might know who had opened the Chamber of Secrets. In fact, Dumbledore did know-Ginny's earlier misdirection had made him suspect Draco Malfoy, but during this latest attack, someone had already revealed the real culprit's identity.
As headmaster, he had far too many eyes and ears in the school.
And this informant wasn't even human, but-
"The portraits?"
Last night, Dumbledore had arrived almost immediately after Cyrus had petrified Colin. Even if Dumbledore had already known Ginny's secret, surely he couldn't have been keeping track of Cyrus's every move?
Dumbledore had said he happened to come downstairs for some hot chocolate, but how could there be so many coincidences in this world?
Cyrus soon realized where the problem lay-the portraits in the Castle couldn't simply be treated as decorations. They had minds of their own, and they served Dumbledore. Whenever Dumbledore wanted clues about something in the Castle, he only had to ask them. Sometimes they even volunteered information, allowing him to keep tabs on everything.
Until now, however, Cyrus had overlooked this. In fact, even Riddle had overlooked it.
The first time Tom Riddle released the Basilisk, he had killed Moaning Myrtle without even leaving the Bathroom. Usually, he let the Basilisk move through the pipes, so naturally, no portraits had seen him. Cyrus's first attack had also taken place at the Bathroom entrance, allowing him to evade the portraits' watchful eyes once again. During his second attack, however, he had let the Basilisk slither straight through the corridors, exposing his location.
"At least the location of the Chamber of Secrets hasn't been exposed," Cyrus muttered to himself.
Every time he went to the Chamber of Secrets, he cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself just in case, and there weren't any portraits in the Bathroom.
Besides, Cyrus didn't particularly mind Dumbledore knowing some of his secrets.
Letting him think he has everything under control will actually work in my favor, Cyrus thought.
Dumbledore would presumably assume that Tom Riddle was behind all this trouble. With that assumption in place, he would certainly want to see whether the two people in the prophecy-or rather, Harry Potter, the enemy Voldemort had personally chosen for himself-could shine once again.
As headmaster, Dumbledore himself only needed to ensure the students' safety for the time being.
What a shame-
"The prophecy stopped mattering long ago, because the soul inside the Diary no longer belongs to Tom Riddle." Cyrus laughed.
That was the outcome Dumbledore could never anticipate. It would be amusing when, after carefully following the path Cyrus had laid out and waiting for Harry Potter to pass another test, he discovered that the boss prepared for Harry this term had vanished.
Cyrus climbed out of bed. After petrifying Colin, he had returned and enjoyed another good night's sleep. This had brought some color back to Ginny's face, though she still looked rather pale, and her body temperature was a little lower than most people's.
These were signs that Ginny's life force was draining away. Still, he didn't return her body to her. Instead, after washing up, he headed to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Hermione was already sitting on the sofa, reading.
It was that copy of Powerful Potions.
"You're up early."
"It's not every day I get to borrow this book," Hermione said, looking up. "Ron isn't even out of bed yet."
She had barely finished speaking when a red-haired boy came bounding out in a hurry.
"Whew-you're both up? Sorry,
I'm a bit late," Ron said hastily. Hermione snapped the book shut and said quietly, "Let's go."
The three of them immediately headed out together.
"Where are you going?" Percy appeared from somewhere and eyed Ron suspiciously.
"Out for a walk. What's it to you?" Ron shot back defiantly.
"I only hope you're not sneaking into the Girls' Bathroom-and taking Ginny with you!" Percy said sternly, clearly displeased by Ron's disrespectful attitude. Last time, he had caught Ron loitering in the Bathroom on the Third Floor.
Ron flushed as he argued back.
"What's that got to do with you? Besides-I don't see anything wrong with Ginny going into the Girls' Bathroom."
That left Percy speechless.
A little over ten minutes later, in a cubicle in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom, Cyrus saw the Polyjuice Potion with his own eyes for the first time.
"It looks disgusting..."
"It's not fully formed yet. We still need bicorn horn and African Tree Snake skin, and we can only steal those from Snape's office." Hermione stirred the thick, greenish mixture-which looked like crushed leaves mixed with black soil-as she dropped knotgrass into the cauldron.
"And we'll need a little hair or some nail clippings from a Slytherin student. That part should be easy."
Before long, Harry emerged from the Hospital Wing after spending the night regrowing his bones. He wandered around for a while, only thinking of the Bathroom after running into Percy, and hurried over at once. He wasn't surprised to find Ginny there. After all, he was the one who had let it slip yesterday.
He immediately launched into an account of what had happened the night before.
"Colin's been petrified. He was coming to see me..." Harry's face was full of guilt.
"We already know," Hermione said. On their way here, they had overheard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick about it.
Although Ron wasn't particularly fond of Colin, he couldn't help feeling angry now. "We'd better get Malfoy to confess, and fast. He's been sulking ever since the Quidditch match. He's taken it out on Colin."
After that brief burst of anger, their spirits lifted again. After all, Colin could still be saved.
"Oh, there's something else." Harry told them about Dobby too, making them even more certain that Malfoy was the culprit.
"Lucius? Malfoy must have opened the Chamber of Secrets when he was at school here, and now he's taught dear little Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Still, I really wish Dobby had told you what sort of monster was shut up in there. I just don't understand how it can sneak around the school without anyone noticing."
"Maybe it can turn itself invisible," Hermione said, prodding some leeches down into the bottom of the cauldron. "Or maybe it can disguise itself-as a suit of armor or something. I've read about chameleon ghouls..."
Seeing this, Cyrus lent a hand, pouring some dead lacewing flies over the leeches.
Then Harry told them how Dobby had hurt him.
"So Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and broke your arm..." Ron shook his head. "You know what, Harry? If he keeps trying to save you, he'll end up killing you."
"First Lockhart, then Dobby. You're really having a run of bad luck," Cyrus added.
Before you continue