Chapter 284 The person who blocks the knife must stay and take someone else with him

There was a puddle of water left on the floor, and water kept flowing out of the abandoned bathroom, creating ripples in circles.

And above this group of water marks, stood a person who had been petrified.

She also had Wonder Glasses in her hand and looked like she was about to put them on, but it was obviously too late.

Before he even put on his glasses, he looked into the eyes of the basilisk and was petrified.

Opposite Ginny, there was a large wall.

A few words were written on the wall with very fresh blood——

[The secret room has been opened]

The little wizards who came from behind couldn't help but exclaimed, looking at this scene with horror and fear.

As soon as some people discovered it, they backed away and did not dare to get close. It seems that if you get close, you will be petrified!

At this time, the little wizard realized something. Lin Xia and other little wizards encountered the basilisk before and successfully escaped from it.

It's not because the basilisk is too weak.

But they were well prepared and were already scared away before the basilisk even got close.

"Which college is this student from?"

The little wizards whispered.

"Ginny, first year Gryffindor, from the Weasley family."

"That's not right. Doesn't it mean that the Chamber of Secrets cleans out people with impure blood? The Weasley family is pure blood, so she shouldn't be in danger."

"Yes, yes, didn't Professor Lockhart say that the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets has been found? It was Hagrid, who was taken away by the Ministry of Magic this afternoon."

"Hagrid is gone, so how could he still release the basilisk in Hogwarts? So there is someone else who is the heir of Slytherin, and it's not Hagrid. Hagrid is innocent."

"What should we do? The basilisk keeps coming out, and we can't completely prevent it."

There was a rush of footsteps, and several professors were walking behind. They frowned when they saw the little wizards gathering together.

Just as he was about to tell them to disperse and return to their respective common rooms, Professor McGonagall suddenly saw the petrified Ginny.

She couldn't help but take a breath and covered her mouth with her hand.

"How could this happen, how could..."

The expressions of professors from other colleges didn't look good either.

Dean Sprout couldn't help but sigh: "Another one appears."

Flitwick and Snape looked serious.

Sprout comforted the other little wizards: "You should leave quickly and stop guessing. All the people who have been petrified will be fine. Mandrake will be cultivated soon and they will recover soon. Don't worry."

The other young wizards slowly left the area due to the professor's words.

Instead, Lin Xia stared at Ginny for a long time, then suddenly stepped forward, bent down and looked at Ginny's hand, and even reached out to touch it.

As expected, Ginny had a scratch on her hand.

Lin Xia said: "Professor, Ginny may have been manipulated, so she cut her palm and wrote this sentence, and then she was petrified by the basilisk."

Ron looked at Ginny in a daze, completely confused.

He didn't know what to do.

Ginny was petrified?

How is it possible, this is impossible!

Professor McGonagall came back to her senses and said seriously: "Come with me, I have something to ask you."

Lin Xia and others followed the professor and entered Mag's office with them.

Compared with the calm and calm professor, the young wizards were a little distracted, especially Ron, whose face was as pale as paper, completely lost, and kept muttering:

"It's impossible, it can't be her, it can't be..."

Sprout spoke: "Something happened again. The secret room is more dangerous than imagined, and this time there is no abnormal warning at all."

Professor Flitwick looked extremely serious: "This is the most worrying thing. The warning is just a precursor. Once the precursor passes, it means that the Basilisk is going to take action!"

Professor McGonagall looked at Lin Xia, "You were the first to get there. What did you find when you arrived?"

Harry glanced at Ron and whispered: "When I arrived, Ginny had been petrified and the scene had not been touched."

He paused, closed his eyes, and said with determination: "The reason why I went there is because I heard the voice of the basilisk. It said that it was very hungry, wanted to eat people, wanted to kill people, and wanted to serve people." That person’s order was to purge those with unclean bloodlines…”

After Harry heard it, he quickly chased after him, but he didn't expect that he would be a step late.

I originally thought that Professor McGonagall would break the pot and ask him the truth, asking him since when he could hear the sound of the basilisk.

But she didn't.

She just nodded in understanding.

Seemingly noticing Harry's confusion, Professor McGonagall said: "You are not the first person to hear the Basilisk's voice, and running over as soon as you hear it is actually a very dangerous behavior.

Have you ever thought that if you run too fast and collide with a basilisk without any equipment, you might be the first person to be petrified? "

Harry felt scared for a moment. He had never thought about this before, so he chased after him when he heard it.

The door to Professor McGonagall's office was slammed open again. Harry suddenly thought that Dumbledore was back, but it turned out to be Lockhart.

He actually still had a smile on his face.

"Sorry, sorry, I just took a nap. On the way here, I heard some information, but I didn't expect that the secret room would be opened again.

It seems that my previous prediction was wrong. Hagrid is not the heir to the Chamber of Secrets. He has been taken away to the Ministry of Magic and it is impossible for him to return to Hogwarts.

Hey ladies and gentlemen, don't be so serious, I have another idea.

Maybe Hagrid has friends at school who can also open the Chamber of Secrets, and we should search Gryffindor House rigorously. "

The professor looked at him speechlessly.

But Lockhart was still complacent, thinking he had come up with a good solution.

There was silence, and Snape took a step forward.

"The person who solves the problem is here," he said. "It's you - Lockhart. A student has been petrified, the secret chamber has been opened, and the time for you to show your glory has finally arrived."

Lockhart's face instantly turned pale.

He stammered: "I, I, this, that -"

"Yes, Gilderoy," Sprout interjected, "Didn't you say before that you can find the entrance to the secret room as long as you search seriously?"

"Yes, didn't you tell me that you were sure you could deal with the basilisk? You have encountered more than one in the forest before." Professor Flitwick also interjected.

"D-did I say that? I don't remember..."

"Of course you said it. All of us remember what you said. It's a pity that you couldn't fight the basilisk before Hagrid was caught."

Snape continued: "Didn't you also say that the whole thing was a mess and that you should have been left to deal with it from the beginning?"

Lockhart gaped at his stern-faced colleagues.

"I...I really never...you may have misunderstood..."

"Then, Gilderoy, we'll let you handle it," Mag said.

"Tonight is a perfect opportunity for you to show off your skills. We promise not to let anyone hinder you. You can deal with the basilisk alone. Now we finally let you go."

Lockhart looked around desperately, but no one came to his rescue.

He doesn't look handsome at all.

Lockhart's lips were trembling, and his face did not have the usual smile showing bright teeth. He looked sunken and haggard.

"Okay, then." His tone was extremely far-fetched, "I, I want to go to my office to make some preparations."

Lockhart finally left the office.

"Okay," Professor McGonagall flapped her nostrils and exhaled thickly, "Finally we are rid of him."

She became serious, "Now the deans of each house are going to inform the students and tell them what happened. The Hogwarts Express will send them home early tomorrow morning. The other teachers must ensure that no student is left outside the dormitory." "

The professors stood up and left one by one. Lin Xia and others also left together, but they did not go to the common room immediately, but gathered in the laboratory.

Harry asked, "What are we going to do now?"

Hermione glanced at Ron, who still looked distracted.

She thought for a while and said: "Harry, we might as well leave this matter to the professor. That is a basilisk. I have faced it before and I understand very well how powerful the basilisk is. It is not something that ordinary little wizards can handle.

Just as the professor said, let's take the express train home tomorrow. "

"No!" Ron suddenly came to his senses and said with excitement: "I will never go back. Ginny was petrified and stayed in the school. I want to accompany her unless she is taken away together!"

Lin Xia said seriously: "This is impossible, Ron. Your family does not have such good conditions as the school. The professor will not leave the petrified students to death and will definitely send additional personnel to the infirmary to protect them.

Moreover, the basilisk wants fresh flesh and blood. Although it can petrify humans, it is not interested in petrified people. This is why every student who is petrified will not die. "

If the basilisk really wants to kill the petrified man, it only needs to sweep over with its tail and break the stone into pieces.

However, it is also possible that in the eyes of the basilisk, petrification of a person is equivalent to death, so it does not do so.

Petrified people are like stones. The basilisk wants to eat meat and does not like eating stones. This may be why the basilisk is not interested in petrified people.

Therefore, in Lin Xia's eyes, those who were petrified were actually very safe, and they would not suffer a second attack.

Professor McGonagall is so determined this time and must send the students back to Hogwarts because the number of petrified people has reached its maximum.

Students must leave as soon as possible!

Now that we are gone, the school can still be closed for inspection and reopened after the basilisk is dealt with.

If it is not closed now, if another student is petrified, then Hogwarts may face permanent closure!

Which one is less important and which one is more important, the professor can clearly distinguish.

But Ron's attitude was firm.

Gryffindor's reckless character is most vividly displayed at this moment.

Like a stubborn little old man, he kept emphasizing: "No, I will stay at Hogwarts, Ginny needs me!"

He added: "I believe that if George and Fred knew what happened to Ginny, they would definitely choose to stay."

Draco said: "If we can find the basilisk tonight and deal with it, then no one will have to leave, and Hogwarts will not be closed."

Harry asked, "How to find it? Where to find it? We don't even know the basilisk's movement trajectory."

Lin Xia's mind moved slightly.

At this time, and the place where Ginny was petrified happened to be next to the bathroom, it was a good time to throw out clues and do analysis and reasoning!

"Have you noticed Jinni's expression? She is very surprised. This is actually not right. Who would not be scared and panicked after seeing the basilisk? But she was surprised."

Hermione's mind was spinning very fast, and she immediately understood: "You mean, Ginny didn't make eye contact with the basilisk without being in contact with it?"

Lin Xia nodded: "I think so."

Ron was puzzled: "How could you not notice it? Such a big basilisk must make a lot of noise, right? It makes a sound just by crawling."

Lin Xia: "But if it didn't crawl out and just wandered through various pipes, we wouldn't be able to hear the basilisk's voice, otherwise it wouldn't be able to live for such a long time."

Hermione continued: "So, is there a possibility that the basilisk bumped into Ginny when it first came out, and Ginny looked at each other before she could react?"

An idea flashed in Harry's mind: "Water!"

"There is water under Ginny's feet. Could it be that she collided with the basilisk from the reflection in the water and was petrified?"

Lin Xia immediately said: "It's very possible!"

Hermione and Draco also nodded: "Yes, it is possible, so her expression is one of surprise, not panic."

Lin Xia continued: "Ginny was manipulated by someone to cut the wound and leave those words, which means that there is indeed an heir of Slytherin in the school, but we don't know who it is.

The only thing that is known is that the heir is very capable and can confuse people's hearts and manipulate them unknowingly to achieve what he wants to accomplish. "

Ron said angrily, "Can we find this guy?"

Lin Xia raised his eyebrows: "Of course. If we find the secret room, we will definitely meet him. This is obvious."

Draco couldn't wait to ask: "So where is the secret room?"

This time, Lin Xia didn't need to give any hints. The smart Hermione had already analyzed it.

"If we really encountered the basilisk when it first came out, it is obvious that the basilisk came out of the bathroom! That bathroom should have the entrance to the secret room!"

Harry said anxiously: "Let's go there now."

"No!" Lin Xia and Hermione said in unison.

Several other people were also confused, "Why?"

Lin Xia said: "Professor McGonagall has left this matter to Lockhart. We have to call him in and let him take the lead."

Lockhart has been lying for so long, and it's time for him to play a role.

His reaction is so slow, so the Forgetting Curse is better. At the critical moment, he might be able to use it to block the knife.

Lin Xia thought so, but Hermione didn't.

She felt that Professor Lockhart was very powerful and that it would be better if the professor solved the problem.

The two have different ideas, but they have the same goal.

Harry no longer hesitated: "Let's go find Professor Lockhart now!"

But Lin Xia and others never expected it.

They arrived at Professor Lockhart's office and knocked on the door for a long time before getting a response from inside.