A Miscarriage of Justice

The group found a corner of the library far from Madam Pince and sat down. After putting down their assignment sheets, Ron and Harry began working out what to write. They didn't receive the special treatment Aya did. If they dared write the kind of nonsense she did, all that awaited them was a failing grade and a redo.

Hermione went to the History of Magic section, while Aya returned to the Fantastic Beasts section. Xiaohua wasn't allowed in the library, so Aya hadn't brought him along.

Although she had spent so long sleeping in the library, it hadn't been a complete waste. At least she could finish reading the table of contents before falling asleep, and she knew which books she had looked at.

Using the most laborious method possible, Aya had already worked her way through a whole row of books. Now she was searching a lower shelf for the book she had read last time. Today's target was its neighbor.

"Oh, found it. It's really battered." Aya patted the dust off the cover, sneezing when it flew into the air. She regretted that she couldn't use the book as a pillow today.

By the time Aya returned to her seat, Hermione was already flipping rapidly through a book, muttering to herself. "...No, not this one. Hmm, I remember it was right here—no, not this either..."

Aya watched her for a while, then copied her, opening her textbook. "No, not this one. Hmm, I don't remember where it is. Anyway, it isn't that one either..." Before she had finished speaking, she yawned. She frowned and widened her eyes, but before long she felt the Draught of Living Death taking effect. Her neck gradually drooped lower and lower until her chin landed on the book.

"Merlin, Aya will never have to suffer from insomnia." Ron was amazed no matter how many times he saw it.

"Who could possibly sleep better than she does?" Harry was shocked too. They had only just finished breakfast, and Aya was asleep again!

When Aya woke again, she saw her three friends sitting together, discussing something with serious expressions.

"Did you find the Chamber of Secrets?" Aya squinted and leaned over to ask, though her head still wasn't clear.

"A little," Hermione said seriously. "The book says Slytherin left the Chamber of Secrets behind, and there's a monster hidden inside that will purge those unworthy of learning magic. But it doesn't say where the chamber is or what the monster is. It even notes that the chamber is only a legend."

"There's a monster at school too?" Aya said excitedly. She had only recently beaten a boss, and she hadn't expected the next one to be so close at hand!

"What's there to be happy about?" Ron frowned. "And did you even pay attention to the important part? Opening the Chamber of Secrets will purge the students Slytherin considered unworthy of learning magic!"

"But we all have magic, so what does he mean, unworthy of learning it?" Aya asked, puzzled.

"Slytherin and people like him cared about bloodlines, like Malfoy. They don't like Muggle-born wizards," Ron said. "They even have a special slur for Muggle-borns. I always thought the Pure-blood families had lost their brains somewhere along the family line. I didn't expect it to have been wrong from Slytherin's time?"

"Professor Binns said before that in the time of the Four Founders, Slytherin really was against admitting Muggle-born wizards. But many people in the Wizarding World were being persecuted by Muggles at the time, so that was understandable!" Hermione flipped through the History of Magic textbook beside her. "Back then, if a pro-Muggle wizard told some weak-minded Muggles something they shouldn't have, it would lead to a 'witch hunt'! Never mind wizards-plenty of Muggles died because of it too!"

"But now, obviously-" Harry began. "With the Ministry of Magic around, no one would reveal anything." He had only used a tiny bit of magic over the summer, and a warning letter from the Ministry had arrived the next moment. That had indirectly led to him being locked up in that little room.

"But now someone wants to use this to advance the Pure-blood cause." Hermione's face was cold. "Dobby said the Chamber of Secrets was opened once before, and it was dangerous. So at the very least, someone was hurt because of it. If it was more serious, someone might even have died."

Listening to them, Aya rolled her eyes around. "But first, we don't know how long ago the Chamber of Secrets was last opened, and second, we don't know who the victim was. How are we supposed to investigate? Ask Dumbledore?"

"Ron, has anyone in your family ever mentioned the Chamber of Secrets?" Hermione turned to ask him.

Ron frowned and thought for a long time before shaking his head. "If Mum and Dad had mentioned it, Fred and George would definitely have made a fuss about going to see it. But so far, all they've bragged about are the secret passages they found."

"Then it seems it must have happened at least twenty or thirty years ago," Hermione surmised. "Or even longer. If it was opened before Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to school, people would still have been talking about it while they were there. But if they never mentioned it at all, then perhaps it was even further back."

"Then what do we do?" Harry asked.

Hermione thought for a moment. "We could look through old editions of the Daily Prophet? We might not find news about the Chamber of Secrets, but there's no way an injury or death at school would have gone completely unreported."

"All right, how far back should we start?" Ron sat up straight.

"To be safe, let's start twenty-five years ago."

With her chin propped on the table, Aya stared blankly as the three hurried over to the newspaper section, rummaged around, and came back with a huge stack of newspapers.

"Oh, Aya, go do your homework. Don't look at these." Hermione didn't want her friend, who had only just woken up, to fall asleep again, so she sent her off to do something productive.

All right, then.

Aya knew herself that she and words were fated to clash, so she began padding out her essays.

"Nothing in 1966."

"Nothing in 1965 either."

"Same for 1932."

To be more efficient, the three started at opposite ends of the timeline. Hermione read faster than Harry and Ron combined, so she searched on her own from the earliest years forward. They had brought over more than thirty years' worth of newspapers, which were very heavy, but each year's editions had been bound into a single volume, making them fairly convenient to search.

Just as Aya finished padding out her assignments for three classes, Hermione suddenly cried out, "Th-this-"

"Did you find something?" Harry hurried over.

"'...A murder has occurred at Hogwarts. The victim was a Muggle-born third-year student from Ravenclaw. The killer was a vicious Acromantula, and the keeper of this dangerous creature was Rubeus Hagrid, also a third-year student. We regret that such an incident occurred. By order of the Ministry of Magic, Rubeus Hagrid will be expelled from Hogwarts and his wand broken. Because Dumbledore strongly vouched for his innocence, and because he was underage, he will not face imprisonment...' How could this happen!"

"That absolutely can't have been Hagrid, you know that!" Harry said in disbelief.

"Calm down, mate, we know. Keep your voice down!" Ron quickly held the agitated Harry back and put an index finger to his lips. "Don't make so much noise that you bring Madam Pince over."

"So that's why Hagrid is the gamekeeper at school," Aya said, nodding. "If he could keep a spider as big as the one in the photo, then he really would be capable of patrolling the Forbidden Forest."

"That's absolutely impossible, Aya. Hagrid would never keep something like that to hurt people!" Harry said.

"The victim was a Ravenclaw student," Hermione suddenly said. "Do you remember Moaning Myrtle?"

"Oh, didn't we run into her at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party last time? You mean-" Ron covered his mouth.

"She was wearing Ravenclaw robes. Although there's no color after becoming a ghost, and her whole body is black and white, she has the Ravenclaw crest on her chest. And-" Hermione lowered her voice. "And she's the right age too. She only looks a little older than us. Oh, this is terrible!" Hermione's voice grew sad as she spoke.

"It's possible. She's the only student ghost in the whole school," Aya said with a nod. She took such things in stride. Life could end at any moment, and she thought that if someone could become a conscious ghost after death, the NPCs in her former world might consider it immortality.

"Should we go ask her?" Harry hesitated. It would be like rubbing salt into her wounds. From how sensitive Moaning Myrtle was, she clearly hadn't truly come to terms with her death. Whenever she went to a bathroom to cry, she not only got water everywhere, but the bathroom would also be out of order for repairs for the next few days.

"...Could we ask Hagrid first?" Hermione suggested.

"Honestly, I think it might be true. I expect you all remember Norbert from last year," Ron said fearfully. Spiders were the animals he feared most, a psychological scar from being frightened by Fred and George when he was little.

"And there's Fluffy too," Harry added. "He thinks they're cute."

They had known for a long time that Hagrid had a particular fondness for enormous creatures like that. Harry even found himself thinking that perhaps Hagrid felt sorry for the monster locked in the Chamber of Secrets and thought it should be allowed to see the light of day again and breathe some fresh air. Then thirteen-year-old Hagrid put a collar on the monster and fastened a leash to it...

"With Hagrid's build, even if Dumbledore stood in front of him, he'd think he was tiny and cute," Aya muttered.

"Disrespecting a professor!" Hermione poked her.

Since it was the weekend, the group hurried to finish their homework before noon-mostly Harry and Ron, since Hermione had finished hers long ago, while Aya only needed to pad hers out to the required word count to show she was taking it seriously. After lunch in the Great Hall, the four headed for Hagrid's Hut, and Xiaohua wandered over to join them along the way.

"But how should we bring it up?" Hermione asked worriedly. That was why they hadn't rushed to find Hagrid immediately. "For Hagrid, this must be a painful memory too, right? If we don't believe that report—I mean, assuming it was wrong-then Hagrid has been wrongly accused for at least fifty years!"

"But that's still better than remembering someone's death, isn't it?" Ron said.

"True, he was only wrongly accused. Besides, the headmaster vouched for him, and Hagrid has a steady job now. Patrolling the forest every day, he might even get to know quite a few animals in the Forbidden Forest," Aya said, picking up Xiaohua and stroking him.

"What you said makes a tiny bit of sense, but not much," Hermione said. "Still, Hagrid can go about freely, so it seems most people probably didn't really blame him for what happened back then. Or rather, Dumbledore's assurance made many people choose to believe Hagrid."

"Believing Hagrid because they believe an authority?" Aya swished her tail twice. "That sounds like it might be dangerous."

"Then we still have to ask Hagrid. If there really is a monster in the Chamber of Secrets, at least we can clear his name," Harry said firmly. "At least you can let Hagrid use a wand openly. He shouldn't be treated like this!"

As Harry spoke, he reached the door of Hagrid's Hut. The yard gate was open, and no smoke was coming from the chimney. He went up and knocked, but there didn't seem to be anyone inside.

"Open up, Hagrid, we're here to check the water meter!" Aya shouted through the window. There was no response. "Excellent, no one's home. We can break in."

"Oh, give it a rest... Where would he go at mealtime?" Ron pulled Aya back, puzzled. This wasn't the time Hagrid usually patrolled the forest.

Hermione stopped Aya from pulling out her wand to blast the door open. The group sat on the stone steps outside, discussing how to broach the subject while they waited.

Aya eagerly studied her friends' art of conversation: start with his wand, ask why he couldn't use it, guide Hagrid into telling them what had happened back then, and finally explain what they had learned about the Chamber of Secrets and make it clear that they wanted to help clear his name and bring the real killer to justice...

Aya nodded and nodded and nodded-

So when Hagrid returned from the Forbidden Forest, Aya was the first to stand up and announce loudly, "Hagrid, we're here to help clear your name!"

Harry and Hermione's hearts stopped. They hurriedly looked at Hagrid's expression.

The tall Giant's face was naturally very large too, and they could see Hagrid's expression clearly: guilt.

Huh?

Why did he look guilty?!

Harry could hardly believe it. He stared at Hagrid again and again, only to find that when Hagrid looked at him, he actually looked away instinctively.

Even after they sat down inside Hagrid's hut, Harry still hadn't recovered.

"I swear, I really didn't do it. Aragog wouldn't kill anyone! He promised me, but I don't know how that student died..." Hagrid's face was pale as he sat stiffly in the hut. "Afterwards, Dumbledore vouched for me. I had no choice, so I left him in the Forbidden Forest. He promised me he wouldn't hurt anyone!"

"...You mean there's a spider bigger than a car in the Forbidden Forest?" Ron's voice trembled.

Hagrid looked guiltily from side to side, his huge hands twisting together. "Perhaps... perhaps there's more than one."

"You kept more afterwards?!" Hermione shrieked.

"He-he was too lonely, all by himself. I couldn't keep him company all the time!"

"He's a man-eating spider!" Hermione shouted. "Just how many have you kept?!"

Hagrid pressed his lips tightly together and said nothing.

"Didn't we come to clear his name?" Aya tugged at the agitated Hermione.

Hermione took several deep breaths and spoke again. "Hagrid, can you tell us everything that happened fifty years ago? It's very important."

"A House-elf told me the Chamber of Secrets was going to be opened again. We thought that what happened to you might have something to do with it," Harry said, trying to reassure Hagrid.

Hagrid seemed taken aback. "But-but there was no news of that at all back then. That can't be. Moaning Myrtle was the one who died. She said she saw a big yellow eye, and then she died. That's why Dumbledore vouched for me."

"A big yellow eye?" Aya repeated.

And she died after seeing it?

That was so much like what had happened when she ran the dungeon. She too had been staring at the cave entrance, and had only just seen the Basilisk's head emerge when she died.