073 Panic

073 Panic

The Gryffindor common room was filled with a heavy silence, broken only by the crackling of the fire and the occasional sniffle. Percy covered his face with both hands and sat on the sofa without saying a word. He looked like he had aged ten years in a day. Fred and George, his twin brothers, sat opposite him, and they had no reaction to their common friend Lee Jordan's comfort. They stared blankly at the floor, their usual mischief and humor gone. They had just learned that their little sister Ginny had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets by the heir of Slytherin.

Ron, another brother of Ginny, stayed by the fireplace with a pale face, his lips constantly mumbling, as if he had just had a serious illness. He clutched his wand tightly in his hand, as if it could bring him some comfort. He felt guilty and helpless, wondering if he could have done something to prevent this tragedy.

Beside him, Harry Potter shook his legs anxiously, and occasionally looked at the door of the common room, as if waiting for something.

"I found it!" Finally, the portrait of the Fat Lady opened, and Hermione Granger climbed out of the door hole panting, waving a note in her hand. She had been in the library for hours, searching for clues about the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. She glanced at Ron who had no reaction, and Harry quickly got up from the chair and greeted Hermione's answer.Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

"–Professor Watson's guess was right,"

Hermione's orange eyes sparkled with a hard light. She stuffed the note into Harry's hand without saying anything, and recited the contents of the note in a low voice, "In our country, there are many terrible beasts and monsters wandering around, among which the most bizarre and lethal is the basilisk, also known as the king of snakes. This snake can grow very large, usually living for hundreds of years.

It is hatched from a rooster's egg by a toad. The basilisk kills people in a shocking way. In addition to its deadly venomous fangs, its stare can also cause death. Anyone who is stared at by it will die immediately. Spiders will flee when they see the basilisk, because the basilisk is the spider's mortal enemy. And the basilisk will flee when it hears the rooster's crowing, because the rooster's crowing is also very deadly to it–"

The note was written by Newt Scamander, a famous magizoologist who had studied many fantastic creatures. Hermione had found it in one of his books in the restricted section of the library.

"But–"

Ron finally came to his senses. He moved his dry and pale lips and muttered, "So far, no one has died. If the basilisk's gaze can kill people, what about Colin and Justin?"

"That's because no one has confronted the basilisk's eyes–" Harry felt his stomach bubble in ice water. He twitched his cheeks and said softly, "Hagrid's roosters were strangled to death. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned the film in the camera, so Colin was only petrified. Justin was Nick. He must have seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick. Nick was stared at by the basilisk, but he couldn't die a second time, right?"

"And Mrs. Norris"

Hermione said solemnly, "I guess she saw the basilisk from the reflection of water flowing out of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry, I'm glad you understand what's going on. Riddle lied to you. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk, not some furry creature. Hagrid may be innocent!"

Hermione's conclusion made Harry pale. He stammered and didn't know how to explain why Riddle's memory would deceive him.

"Let's go find Hagrid!"

After a while, Harry finally came to his senses. He said firmly, "Hagrid must know something. I don't know why Riddle told us a wrong memory. Maybe he is the real culprit. But anyway, Hagrid must know some key information!"

Hagrid seemed to have no idea that they came to ask him anything. He choked and kept looking out of the window nervously. He picked up a knife and tried to cut a thick piece of fruit cake, but he was so clumsy that he knocked over the teapot instead. The hot water spilled out and almost extinguished the fire.

Harry opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could say anything, there was another loud knock on the door outside.

Harry felt a jolt of fear in his chest. He wondered who it could be at this hour of the night.

Hagrid looked even more frightened than before. He whispered to them to hide behind his bed, where there was a large pile of blankets and pillows.

Harry quickly grabbed his invisibility cloak from his pocket and threw it over himself and his friends. They crawled behind Hagrid's bed and hid under the cloak.

Hagrid grabbed his crossbow again and opened the door abruptly.

"Good evening, Hagrid." It was Dumbledore's voice. Harry recognized it immediately. It was deep and calm, but also stern and serious.

Dumbledore walked in with a very grave expression on his face. He was wearing a long purple cloak and a pointed hat, both decorated with silver stars and moons. He had a long white beard and hair, and a pair of piercing blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles. He was the headmaster of Hogwarts, and the most powerful wizard in the world.

Behind him, there was a strange-looking man who followed him timidly. He was short and fat, with brownish gray hair on his head like Professor Watson, but much more messy. His chubby face was anxious and sweaty. His clothes were matched in a very strange style, striped suit, bright red tie, black cloak, purple pointed boots, and under his arm, he also held a dark green hat with a golden buckle.

"That's my dad's boss!" Ron finally came to his senses. He whispered to Harry and Hermione, "Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic!"

Hermione elbowed Ron hard and told him to shut up. She didn't want them to be discovered by Dumbledore or Fudge.

For Hagrid, the worst thing finally happened. He fell on the bed with a pale face and defended himself. "I can't help it, Hagrid–" Fudge said in a crisp and fast tone, "It's very bad, Dumbledore. Keep calm. After those two young wizards were petrified, I can't tell you how much pressure I've been under. I forced the Daily Prophet to shut up, but now this can't be hidden anymore. Many people in the department who are paying attention to this matter already know that Weasley's daughter may have been unfortunate."

"I hope you understand, Cornelius, that I trust Hagrid completely." Dumbledore said in a firm and clear voice. He looked at Fudge with a stern gaze, but there was also helplessness in his blue eyes.

Sometimes power is such an unreasonable thing. Even Dumbledore had to obey the power structure under the stable social framework. Unless he wanted to push everything back to the beginning.

Fudge looked like he was trying to act professional and authoritative, but he also looked like he was scared and nervous. He played with his hat and didn't look at Dumbledore's eyes. Instead, he said casually, "Look at it from my point of view, Dumbledore. A little precaution is necessary. If we eventually find another person who opened the Chamber of Secrets, Hagrid will be released, and the Ministry of Magic will apologize fully."

/FicFrenzy