Chapter 69
Whoever the basilisk looks at with its eyes dies. But no one died here—because none of them looked directly at it!
Having said that, Harry eagerly looked at the page of paper in his hand, and the more he looked, the more he felt his heart brighten up.
The crowing of a rooster is deadly to him! he read aloud. Hagrid's cocks have been killed! Once the Chamber of Secrets is opened, the Heir of Slytherin doesn't want a rooster near the castle!
But how could the basilisk be crawling around? said Ron. It's a big ugly snake. Someone's sure to see it!
Harry pointed to the two words scribbled on the bottom of the paper.
The pipe! he said. Ron, it's been running in the pipe. I keep hearing that voice in the wall...
Ron grabbed Harry's arm.
The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets! he said hoarsely. Maybe it's in a bathroom? Maybe it's in—
Moaning Myrtle's bathroom! said Harry.
That means, said Harry, that I'm not the only one in this school who knows Parseltongue. So does the Heir of Slytherin, so they've kept the Basilisk under control.
Oh, yes... Ron was excited for a while, but after a while he put on an angry and powerless expression.
Yes, but even if we know this, what can we do... I think we have to go to Professor McGonagall.
Yes, let's go to the staff room, Harry said, jumping up into the rain. She'll be there in ten minutes, and classes will be over soon.
No matter who the heir is, it's never a mistake to act first! Harry said firmly.
After that, the two hurried downstairs.
They didn't want Professor McGonagall to find them wandering another hallway and walk straight into the empty staff room.
It was a large, paneled room filled with chairs of dark wood. Harry and Ron paced up and down inside, too excited to sit still.
However, the bell for the end of get out of class never rang.
Instead, Professor McGonagall's voice echoed in the hallway, amplified many times by magic.
All students return to the dormitories of their respective colleges immediately, and all teachers return to the staff lounge! Please act now!
Harry turned sharply and stared at Ron.
Did something happen again? At this time?
Maka! It must be him! Ron said, I'm going to find him!
Don't jump to conclusions, Ron, said Harry, looking around.
To his left was an ugly wardrobe full of the teacher's class robes.
Hide in here. We'll hear what's going on, and we'll tell them what we find.
They hid in the closet, listening to the footsteps of hundreds of people moving upstairs. Then, the door of the staff lounge was pushed open heavily. Through the layers of musty robes, Harry and Ron looked at the teachers who entered the room one by one, some with bewildered looks, some with fright.
Then, Professor McGonagall arrived.
Something happened again, she said to the silent teachers in the room. A student was kidnapped by a monster. He was taken directly into the secret room.
Professor Flitwick let out a scream, and Professor Sprout threw his hands over his mouth.
Snape, on the other hand, gripped the back of a chair tightly and asked, How can you be sure?
The heir of Slytherin, said Professor McGonagall with a very pale face, left another line. Just below the last paragraph, it read: Her bones will remain in the Chamber of Secrets forever.
Professor Flitwick couldn't help crying.
Who is it? Mrs. Hooch slumped in a chair with her knees limp.
Which student is it?
Ginny Weasley, said Professor McGonagall.
Harry felt Ron slump soundlessly to the floor of the wardrobe beside him.
We have to send all the students home tomorrow, said Professor McGonagall. That's the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore used to say...
The door to the staff lounge was slammed open again.
Ron, who fell down on the bottom of the wardrobe, even thought it was Maca, but it turned out to be Lockhart, who was still smiling.
Sorry, I'm late...
He didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were staring at him with what could be called hatred.
Snape took a step forward.
Here comes the solver, he said, and this is it. Lockhart, a girl was taken by a monster. Brought into the Chamber of Secrets—the time has come for you to show your brilliance.
He had thought that Lockhart would panic because of this, but to his surprise, Lockhart still maintained his bright and calm expression.
Yes, of course...I'm going to the office to make some preparations. Lockhart left the faculty lounge with a smile under the strange eyes of the professors.
...
When Lockhart hurried back to the third floor and opened the door of his office, the smile on his face immediately collapsed.
Oh—oh my god! he said as he closed the office door and turned towards the desk, do you really want me to go to the secret room to deal with that horrible basilisk... I mean, since you already know that I my secret...
Actually, I don't want to either.
On the armchair next to the desk, a young boy with an expressionless face was reclining on the backrest. The cuff of his left arm was rolled up, and there was a large scratch on his forearm, which was bleeding faintly at this moment.
The young man held a ball of cotton wool with tweezers in his right hand, and was dipping a light green liquid medicine on his wound!
As you can see, the basilisk is really not easy to deal with, and finally let it slip away.
But Professor Lockhart, you don't have to worry too much. Although the basilisk can slow down its growth by dormancy, it doesn't stop growing after all, said the young man. It is already too old, and it still suffers serious injuries. , even one eye is blind, so it won’t be too dangerous.”
...Isn't this a novel material delivered to your door?
Lockhart nodded with difficulty, but muttered again: Isn't that still an eye...
At this time, the boy put the tweezers in his hand on the table, took out a roll of bandages and wrapped them around his arms, he said as he wrapped them.
I will follow, I need experimental materials, and you need novel materials, isn't it just right? He said, You don't have to do anything, and you don't need to say a single spell to achieve your goal. Is this something better?
Okay, okay! Even if you don't say so much, I still have to do it... Lockhart shook his head and said, It's hard to believe that you're only in the second grade this year.
As long as you are focused enough, the boy put down his sleeves, then raised his head to look at Lockhart and said, Your Oblivion Curse must be master-level, isn't it?
But it's not blocked by you.
The boy walked to the door and opened the door of the office.
Because my focus is on magic, and your focus is on opportunism.
After that, he left quickly.
Looking at the slowly closing office door, Lockhart murmured, Maka McClain... McClain, is that an ancient family of pure-blood wizards? Why haven't you heard of it?
...
At this moment, the deans of each college went to inform the students what happened. It had to tell them that the Hogwarts Express would take them home tomorrow morning.
And other teachers make sure that no one student is left outside the dormitory.
The teachers got up and left one by one.
It was probably the hardest day of Harry's life. He, Ron, Fred, and George sat in a corner of the Gryffindor common room, neither of them saying a word. Percy wasn't there, he sent an owl to deliver a message to Mrs Weasley, and locked himself in his dormitory.
Never had an afternoon passed so slowly, and never had Gryffindor House been so crowded and silent.
When the sun was about to set, Fred and George couldn't sit still anymore, so they went back to the dormitory to sleep.
Ginny must know something, Harry, said Ron, speaking for the first time since they hid in the wardrobe in the staff room, that's why she was taken...with Percy She must have found out about the Chamber of Secrets...Maybe she met Maca! That must be the case, and that's why she—
Ron rubbed his eyes desperately, and his face gradually became angry again, I mean, she's a pure-blood, she couldn't get her turn! There can't be any other reason!
Harry could see the sun, red as blood, sinking below the horizon.
He has never felt so sad in his heart. Even if they can do something. whatever it is.
Harry, said Ron, you mean, maybe she hasn't—you know—
Harry watched Ron get angry for a while, lost and depressed for a while, and didn't know what to say for a while.
Although Harry always felt that without evidence, he couldn't easily doubt his friends. But Maca's various behaviors this semester were so suspicious that he couldn't help feeling depressed.
I think we should go find Lockhart and tell him what we know, said Ron suddenly. Isn't he going into the Chamber of Secrets? We can tell him where we think the Chamber of Secrets is, and tell him what's in the Chamber of Secrets. It's a basilisk!
Harry couldn't think of any other way, but he wanted to do something, so he nodded in agreement with Ron's proposal.
The Gryffindors around them were all sad, and all felt sorry for the Weasley brothers, so no one tried to stop Harry and Ron when they got up and walked across the room and through the portrait hole.
As they made their way down to Lockhart's office, they found the corridors getting a little dark.
Night has come...
