The wand in Amora's palm began to rotate rapidly like a windmill, and it has been maintaining this state without stopping.
"What does this mean, Professor Brain!"
Hermione anxiously looked at the squinting Amora, hoping to receive an explanation.
"This means," Amora grabbed the wand firmly and stopped the attempt. Looking at a small exposed pipe, he calmly said,
“Salazar Slytherin casted many powerful spells on the Chamber, including preventing location, which made my plan to directly find the Chamber by magic in vain...
To be honest, this is quite a hassle. Hogwarts Castle has stood for a thousand years, and no one knows how many times the plumbing within the castle has been renovated. In fact, it's possible that the original design plans for the castle may have been lost as well.
Amora's words caused Harry and Hermione to show obvious disappointment. After all, this was the closest they had been to the monster inside the Chamber since the Chamber incident had occurred.
In the dimness, Harry frowned and stared at the exposed pipe. For some reason, since the professor had guessed earlier in the office that the sound he had been hearing all along was from a snake, he had a faint sense of discomfort. It was as if he had forgotten something important.
"What should we do now, Professor?"
Hermione didn't notice Harry's oddly silent mood, she worriedly asked,
"Should we inform Headmaster Dumbledore about this discovery?"
"Not yet, Miss Granger--"
Amora immediately rejected this suggestion without hesitation. Jokingly, he didn't necessarily have to be the first to discover the Chamber, but he at least wanted to be ahead of Dumbledore. Otherwise, when Dumbledore took away the magical creatures in the Chamber, what would he have to offer?
Amora jumped down from the half-wall, waving to restore it to its original state.
"The pipes within the wall connect the entire castle's drainage system. Unless there's no other option, I don't want to crawl through each pipe with a frizzy head... "
"Over the next few days, I plan to spend more time in the library. First, to figure out what species the snake in the Chamber is, and second, to see if I can get lucky and find the original architectural plans for Hogwarts Castle. Although the plans are unlikely to mark the location of the Chamber, at least through some clues, we might be able to determine its approximate location."
"Can I help with anything, Professor Brian?" Hermione asked with an hopeful tone.
"Of course, Miss Granger--"
Amora led them down to the first floor, hearing the question, he smiled and said.
"I've heard other professors say that finding crucial information from the vast sea of texts is your forte, Miss Granger. You can get involved with both of the things I mentioned earlier, but I try not to take up too much of your regular study time..."
"If I don't find the answer by next Saturday, you can come to the library and help us together--"
Because of the second half of the Friday Defense Against the Dark Arts practical class, Ron had been lying on his bed in the dormitory for almost two whole days. At this moment, he dared not say that it was sheer luck that he had handled the eight-eyed spider against three, four, and five years with Harry and Hermione.
"I'm beginning to agree with Malfoy's assessment of Professor Brian, Harry--"
When Harry, full of thoughts, returned to the dormitory, Ron weakly said to the four-poster bed curtains.
"Who in their right mind would carry such a thing and show it to students... Dealing with such terrifying dark creatures should be the job of Aurors!"
After Harry had recounted everything that happened tonight in detail, Ron, who had been feeling almost lifeless, immediately transformed. His eyes sparkled with a look of anticipation as he eagerly asked follow-up questions.
"Has Professor Brian explained to you in detail how to hide magic in one's eyes?"
Sometimes Ron's brusque behavior is really exasperating, Harry said with irritation.
"That's definitely not a simple spell, Ron. Even a genius like Professor Brian spent quite a lot of time mastering this spell he designed himself!"
Ron rolled his eyes and looked over at Seamus, Neville, and Dean who were talking and laughing together. His tone became more serious.
"No matter what that crazy old Slytherin is hiding in the Chamber, Harry, I think as long as Professor Brian is still at the school, his heir won't dare to continue their activities. Once Colin and that Justin Finchley from Hufflepuff get back to normal, this matter should be settled once and for all!"
"I don't disagree with Professor Brian's deduction, Ron"
Harry said with a furrowed brow, softly.
"I just feel like there are some things I've overlooked... and I think before the Board of Governors forces Professor Brian to leave Hogwarts, he should find that Chamber. Otherwise, if that monster starts causing trouble again, who are we going to turn to? I've been thinking something's not right, Ron!"
A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed across Harry's mind as he was lying in bed. He opened his eyes wide and jumped off the bed in a hurry. Ignoring Ron's shocked gaze, Harry dashed to his desk and rummaged through his backpack.
Just then, Harry suddenly thought of something: he had actually seen the monster in the Chamber, in the memories Tom Riddle had shown him!
It was a huge, shaggy low-limbed creature with several dark legs tangled together, many gleaming eyes, and two pincers as sharp as knives... regardless, the creature looked nothing like a snake!
Where had the problem arisen? Harry furrowed his brows and looked serious as he opened his notebook.
Professor Brian's hypothesis sounds perfect, it perfectly explains why that terrifying sound only made itself heard by himself... how could anyone have imagined that the monster would move in such an inconspicuous way through the pipes?
However, the past that Riddle showed him which remained unknown also possessed an indisputable fact: after Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, there were no more attacks in the school. Even Riddle himself was awarded a special contribution award for this event.
"Harry, I think you should throw this notebook away... I'm starting to feel a bit spooked by Tom Riddle."
Sitting on his bed, Ron furrowed his brow as he watched Harry unfold the notebook and pick up a quill pen without hesitation.
"Don't say stupid things, Ron, does Riddle's memory not tell us some very valuable information?"
Harry said without turning his head, as soon as the ink drops hit the page, the elegant handwriting appeared on the blank paper almost instantly.
"--Thank you, Harry Potter. I thought after learning the truth about the Chamber, I would be forgotten in a corner of the bookshelf, waiting for another fifty years of dusty obscurity. By the way, do you think Rubeus Hagrid is still in this school? Have you told anyone else about the truth I remember?"
Harry blushed, but he didn't have time for chitchat with Tom Riddle. Instead, he got straight to the point and told him about his discovery that night.
"--Riddle, do you think it might be that you got something wrong? In my opinion, Professor Brian's guess seems more reasonable. However, the monster you showed me in your memories... although I didn't see clearly, it's definitely not a snake, is it?"
This time, the notebook did not immediately respond to Harry's question. It seemed that Harry's words had also put it into confusion. It wasn't until two minutes later that the notebook displayed its question in a disorganized handwriting.
"Can you tell me more about that Professor Brian?"
