Percy sat on the sofa in the common room of Gryffindor, his hands over his face and said nothing. Fred and George sat opposite to them. In the presence of their friend, Lee Jordan, Percy was motionless as if he didn't react at all.
Ron stood by the fireplace, his face pale, his lips muttering constantly, looking as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.
Harry fidgeted his legs by his side, looking at the door of the common room from time to time, as if he was waiting for something.
"I have found it!"
Finally, the portrait of the Fat Lady opened, and Hermione came crawling out of the doorway, still panting, waving a piece of paper in her hand.
Looking at Ron, who showed no reaction, Harry quickly stood up from his chair to welcome Hermione's answer.
"-Brian professor's guess is right,"
Hermione's orange-yellow eyes shone with a hard light, and without further ado, she thrust the piece of paper into Harry's hand, reciting the contents of the note in a low voice to herself.
"In our country, there are many terrible beasts and monsters roaming around. Among them, the most bizarre and most deadly is the snake monster, also known as the Snake King. This snake can grow to be enormous in size, usually living for several centuries."
It hatched from a rooster egg by a toad, and it is so deadly that not only its venomous fangs but also its staring can kill. Anyone who is stared by it will die instantly.
Spiders will flee at the sight of the snake monster, for it is the snake's archenemy, and whenever the snake monster hears the crowing of a rooster, it will flee in panic, as the crowing is equally deadly to it--"
"But--"
Ron finally came to his senses, he moved his dry and pale lips, muttering.
"Until now, no one has died... If the snake monster's gaze could kill, then Colin and Justin..."
"That's because no one has faced the snake monster's gaze."
Harry felt as if his stomach was in a bucket of ice water, and he twitched his cheeks to say quietly,
"Hagrid's rooster was strangled... Colin saw it through the camera, the snake monster burned the film of the camera that Lee used, so Colin was just petrified. But Justin... it was Nick, he must have seen the snake monster through Nearly Headless Nick... but Nick was already dead, wasn't he? Can't he die a second time?"
"And Mrs. Weasley... "
Hermione said seriously,
"I guess it saw the snake monster in the reflection of the water from the ivy bathroom... Harry, I'm glad you've understood everything. Riddle deceived you; the monster in the Chamber is a snake monster, not some furry creature. Hagrid might be innocent!"
Hermione's conclusion made Harry's face pale, and he stammered not knowing how to explain why Riddle's memories would deceive himself.
"We'll go to Hagrid's!"
After a moment, Harry finally came to his senses, and he said firmly,
"Hagrid definitely knows something... I don't know why Riddle told us an incorrect memory, perhaps... it is the real killer, but whatever the case may be, Hagrid definitely knows some key information!"
Professor McGonagall commanded all the students to stay in the common room and not to go out. Although Percy's condition now is unable to execute Professor McGonagall's order, but what was happening outside they three were not clear. Harry rushed to his dormitory to take his invisibility cloak, leaving Hermione and Ron speechless.
Only after they sneaked out of the common room did they realize that there were no more wizard students wandering around the castle. The corridors were silent, and only groups of professors were patrolling the castle. The expressions on the professors' faces also made them feel desperate.
Whether Ginny is still alive and why the Slytherin heir finally targeted her?
This question even Hermione cannot answer. In fact, Harry's mind is now flashing with a terrible image, that is, Ginny was found dead when she was already a cold corpse, Mrs. Weasley was crying on Ginny's body, and Mr. Weasley was sitting aside, pulling out his own hair one by one!
Regret is like a poisonous snake gnawing at Harry's soul, and it is not until this moment that he regrets not giving the Riddle's diary to Professor Brian as soon as possible...
Professor Brian could only deduce that it was a snake moving through the pipes from the sound he heard. If it had been him who communicated with Riddle's diary, Harry dared to bet that Professor Brian would be able to dig out whatever secrets were hidden in Riddle's mind!
It was a starry night, and they ran quickly towards Hagrid's house, the window that reflected the light was open. No one spoke until they reached Hagrid's door, where Harry cautiously looked around before removing his invisibility cloak.
Several seconds after they knocked on the door, Hagrid flung it open, and they were greeted with Hagrid holding a crossbow that was aimed at them. Fang was barking wildly behind him.
Hagrid seemed very shocked to see them there. He looked disoriented, water from the teapot splashing out and nearly extinguishing the fire, then his large hand trembled violently, knocking over the teapot as well.
"Have you heard about Ginny's incident?"
Ron stared at Hagrid with a grim face, Hermione didn't speak either, Harry had to start the topic himself.
"Oh, yes, I have heard about it."
Hagrid seemed to have no idea that they had come to ask him something. He was choked up, and he kept looking out of the window nervously. Just as he was about to cut a thick fruit cake, there was suddenly a loud knocking sound outside again.
Harry could only swallow all the questions he wanted to ask, and Hermione and Ron, who was dazed, pulled together in a corner. After seeing them hide, Hagrid grabbed the crossbow again and opened the door suddenly.
"Good evening, Hagrid."
It was Dumbledore, who walked in with a very serious expression, followed by a man with an extremely odd appearance.
The stranger was short and plump, with the same gray hair as Professor Brian on top of his head, though much more disheveled, and a anxious look on his plump face.
His clothing was oddly styled, with a pinstripe suit, a bright red tie, a black cloak, purple pointed boots, and under his arm, a dark green top hat.
"That's my father's superior!"
Ron finally came to his senses and whispered to Harry and Hermione, "Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic!"
Hermione gave Ron a hard nudge with her elbow, motioning for him to be quiet.
For Hagrid, the worst thing had finally happened. He fell onto his bed, his face pale as he tried to defend himself.
"I couldn't help it, Hagrid--"
Fudge spoke in a crisp, rapid tone, "This is very bad, Dumbledore asked me to keep calm, after those two students were petrified... I can't even describe the pressure I've been under to silence The Prophet, but now it's all over. Many people in the department who have been paying attention to this have already found out that Weasley's daughter may be dead..."
"I hope you understand, Cornelius, I have complete trust in Hagrid."
Dumbledore furrowed his brow, speaking with gravity, but his blue eyes were also shining with a sense of helplessness.
Sometimes, power is so unreasonable that even Dumbledore must adhere to the power structure under the framework of stability, unless he wants to start over from scratch.
But Fudge seemed to have made up his mind; he twirled his hat, not looking into Dumbledore's eyes, and casually said,
"From my perspective, Dumbledore, some precautions are necessary. If we ultimately find that another person opened the Chamber, Hagrid will be released, and the Ministry will offer sufficient apologies..."
