When Harry found Hermione and Ron, they were doing their homework in the Common Room.
"Why didn't you go to the Great Hall for dinner?"
Ron put down his quill and rubbed his wrist.
"We ate too much at Hagrid's at lunchtime. Why did you only just get back?"
Hermione asked rather awkwardly:
"After we left, did the professor say how he was going to punish us?"
Ron nodded hurriedly too, pointing at the sheets of paper in front of him.
"Did Professor Holmes say anything? Look, we've already written our self-criticisms!"
Harry had forgotten all about what had happened in Hagrid's Hut, but their reminder brought it straight back.
Looking at the self-criticisms in front of them, he cleared his throat and said:
"Ahem. Professor Holmes told me to tell you to write two feet of self-criticism each and hand it in at his office tomorrow afternoon."
Before Ron and Hermione could question him, Harry quickly glanced around, then lowered his voice and continued:
"You'll never guess what I just went through in the Headmaster's Office..."
After Harry described his experience, Hermione told them to wait, then hurried back to the girls' dormitory.
Ron lowered his voice too and asked:
"So only your Parseltongue can control the Basilisk now?"
Harry shook his head.
"But I'm not descended from Slytherin, and I still don't know exactly what a Basilisk is..."
They had barely exchanged a few words when Hermione came rushing back with a book.
Flipping through it, she said:
"That Chamber of Secrets you mentioned-I happened to read about it in Hogwarts, A History before, and..."
Hermione quickly turned to the page she wanted and pointed at a passage.
"...Salazar Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets without the other three founders of Hogwarts knowing...
Perhaps Slytherin originally built the