Orchideous!
During the days without his Magic Mobile Phone, Draco often studied whether he could replicate Slytherin's combos. The answer was obviously no; those advanced spells were beyond the reach of a second-year student.
In comparison, the "bladder flow" technique that Sains once used with Hufflepuff is actually quite feasible in reality.
While the Orchideous serve as a lesser alternative to the Incarcerous of Incarcerous, they don't achieve the same effect of restricting movement or blocking attacks. However, this spell can summon orchids to obstruct the enemy's vision.
All he needs to do is hide behind the orchid and make Serpensortia!
Harry's rank isn't as high as Draco's, but the bladder-style attack has such a profound impact that even lower-ranked players blindly copy it. Harry is also experienced in dealing with these, and he can unleash a Incendio with a flick of his wrist.
The orchids burned, petals fell, but Harry remained unaffected. He flicked his right hand up and down, mimicking Professor Snape's gesture. " Expelliarmus."
Harry's target wasn't Draco; he didn't know if Draco had any backup plans behind the orchid—anyway, this was his first time using the spell, and even if he hit Draco, it wouldn't necessarily cause any damage. He was just anticipating the summon that might emerge from behind the orchid.
Harry's gamble paid off; a black snake, its tongue flicking, had just emerged from behind the orchid when it was blasted away by his spell.
The black snake circled in the sky a few times before finally landing in a daze on the edge of the long platform.
Justin was engrossed in the play, even grabbing a petal of an orchid fluttering in the air, when he turned around to find a black snake flicking its tongue and staring at him.
"Akusiwarascannes--"
The moment Harry spoke, all eyes turned to him. Before the black snake could make its next move, Snape silenced it with Nonverbal Spell, reducing it to black smoke.
Ron kept gesturing to Harry from below the stage, signaling him to come down quickly.
Harry looked around and realized that the way people were looking at him was different than before. There was suspicion, fear, and apprehension... Before he could figure out what had gone wrong, Ron grabbed his robe and dragged him out of the fighting arena.
" Harry, you never told me you were Parseltongue."
What kind of Parseltongue?
Hermione quickly caught up. "It's the ability to talk to snakes. Parseltongue are born with the language of snakes, but the books say that only descendants of Slytherin can become Parseltongue. Are you his great-great-great-great-grandson?"
"How could that be?" Harry blurted out. "How could I be a descendant of Slytherin? I just told that snake not to attack Justin. Would Slytherin be that kind?"
"To be honest, Harry," Ron said quietly, "It looked more like you were instigating the snake to attack Justin."
Harry was distressed. He wanted to go to Justin and explain things, but the next day Hogwarts was hit by a heavy snowfall, and even classes were suspended. They had to stay in the common room.
But rumors about him are rampant.
"Have you heard? Harry speaks Parseltongue, and he's the heir to the Chamber of Chamber of Secrets!"
"Probably a dark wizard too."
"I heard he held a grudge against Filch for capturing him in the first year, which is why he opened the Chamber of Secrets and killed Mrs. Norris."
Justin is a Muggle too; he didn't dare sleep all night after returning to his dorm.
"But isn't Harry the Chosen One? He stopped You-Know-Who again last year."
"Don't be silly. We weren't there at the time, so how would we know what happened? Besides, how could the You-Know-Who be defeated by a baby, who just sat on him and died? I bet it's just the Ministry of Magic's fabrication."
"..."
Not only Harry, but even Hermione and Ron were rumored to be the left and right protectors of the Chamber of Secrets. Now, within a circle five meters in diameter centered on the three of them, no students from other houses would appear.
Ron didn't really care what others thought. There was no way around it; his social life at Hogwarts and with his family was rich enough. He had to spend his energy every day fending off Fred and George's pranks.
We have to do something.
Hermione immersed herself in the library, trying to find clues to debunk the rumors, but books about Parseltongue and the Chamber of Chamber of Secrets always revolved around two words.
Slytherin and the Dark Wizard.
Finally, Hermione, unable to bear it any longer, raised her question in her History of Magic class, " Professor Binns, could you explain the Chamber of Secrets to us?"
"That's not part of the History of Magic, Miss Granger," Professor Binns commented. "It's all just rumors, while the History of Magic is a credible and reliable subject."
"However, I can tell you about Slytherin. Hogwarts was founded in the Middle Ages, when Muggle were hunting down wizards. The four top wizards joined forces to establish a sanctuary magic school: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin."
"Later, Slytherin, one of the four Founders, insisted on admitting only Pure-blood wizard and left the school in a huff. It was at this time that rumors began to circulate. Some said that he had built Chamber of Secrets, waiting for his bloodline successor to open it and purge the Muggle-born wizard."
Ron chuckled at Harry and Hermione, "What a crazy old lunatic, coming up with this Pure-blood nonsense. I bet you two, if the Sorting Hat dares to put me in Slytherin on House Day, I'll grab a train and run home without a second thought."
Harry returned to his dormitory; he hadn't even been interested in playing with his Magic Mobile Phone lately.
Harry was falsely accused of being Slytherin, whom he hated most. He thought his silence would calmly explain everything, but the rumors never stopped.
On his way back to the dormitory, he saw Filch's lonely figure wiping the floor alone. The curly-haired cat that used to sit by the lamppost and gently watch everything was now lying in the Hospital Wing.
Filch has stopped scolding them lately. Even if someone is wearing muddy boots, he calmly lets them deal with it themselves instead of rushing to the professors to complain and punish them with confinement.
That damned mastermind.
Harry vowed to find the murderer, bring justice to Filch, and restore peace to himself, Hermione, Ron.
He immediately thought of someone.
Draco.
If you were to ask who on this school is most enthusiastic about eliminating Muggle and driving away Squib, it would undoubtedly be Draco. Perhaps there are other Slytherin, but the one who dances the loudest every day and constantly utters the words "Muggle" and "Mudblood" is definitely Draco.
If, as the rumor-monger claims, his motive for harming Filch was that he had been arrested by Filch in his first year, then Draco, who had a similar experience, would naturally also be a suspect.
Harry was certain he wasn't that petty, but he couldn't be sure Draco, who came from Pure-blood families, wouldn't be.