75: Heir and Protector
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The next day.
"Have you heard?"
"Of course, John Wick, he's so cool!"
"I didn't think it was real; he's our protector!"
"I heard it directly from Colin, and there are photos! My gosh, that thing was terrifying."
Harry was discharged from the hospital. He found Hermione and Ron brewing Polyjuice Potion in the girls' bathroom.
"Oh my gosh, Harry, is it true?"
Ron was too excited for words, holding a photograph.
It showed the basilisk being struck by John's spell.
Colin was really a natural photographer; the picture looked almost staged, capturing the moment perfectly.Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m
Even John's hair was captured flying just right.
Ron wanted to confirm with Harry since the incident happened near the hospital wing, and Harry must have seen it.
Harry felt a bit embarrassed because he had been chatting with Dobby at the time and hadn't noticed.
However, he did see John being taken to the hospital wing.
Hermione's heart skipped a beat. She asked worriedly, "Was John seriously injured?"
"Well... No."
Harry remembered John finishing off his toffees yesterday and replied with a strange expression, "He's fine, just hungry."
This answer left Ron unable to imagine the situation, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Hermione hesitated and asked, "Should we still continue with the Polyjuice Potion?"
Originally, they were brewing the Polyjuice Potion to extract information from Malfoy, but with John having driven off that monster, their efforts seemed futile.
Harry nodded decisively and said seriously, "Of course we should. Don't you remember how Malfoy insulted Muggle-born wizards? John encountered that thing, and it might be Malfoy trying to kill John."
Harry's suspicion wasn't baseless. Malfoy's actions had caused a lot of commotion and had led John to take on the entire Slytherin house single-handedly.
Given Malfoy's arrogant nature, it wasn't impossible that he might have opened the Chamber to have the monster kill John in revenge.
Thinking about the danger their friend might face, Hermione couldn't sit still.
They were still missing some ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion, so Hermione set her sights on Snape.
As a Potions Master, no one would have a more complete collection of ingredients than Snape.
...
Monday.
John was discharged from the hospital. Madam Pomfrey looked at him with a strange expression on her face.
Because John's stay in the hospital felt more like staying in a hotel, he never stopped eating.
His appetite was great, and he himself thought it might be related to the poisoning.
But wasn't he supposed to have diarrhea? Instead, his appetite improved.
Unable to figure it out, John didn't dwell on it. As he walked through the school, he received admiring glances from all around.
He walked to the bulletin board and saw a photo at the top.
This much could be guaranteed.
John sought out Percy instead of Ron or the Weasley twins because he feared they might complicate things.
Compared to Percy, the others were less reliable, especially the twins. If they decided to eavesdrop, it would be quite awkward for him.
Although he had confirmed that Ginny was the Heir, John didn't expose her immediately.
He was puzzled as to how a Weasley could open the Chamber of Secrets, where she got the knowledge, and how she could cast a spell like "Reducto," which was beyond first-year capabilities.
With these questions in mind, John went to the Whomping Willow that afternoon.
The Whomping Willow had fully recovered, and a small bird that flew by was immediately turned into a puff of feathers.
John didn't idle while waiting; he recalled the incantation he used to enhance the flame of the Ironwick Sword.
"Could using Dragon language make it stronger?" he wondered.
He took out the Ironwick Sword and attempted to recite the spell in Dragontongue. The flames on the sword gradually took the form of a fire dragon.
"When I enchanted it, I used dragon's blood. That must be why," he concluded.
Putting away the sword, John took out his wand.
He tried using Dragontongue to cast a spell, but the wand only produced a small flame before fizzling out.
"It seems it doesn't work."
John sighed, somewhat disappointed.
After waiting for a while, he saw Ginny walking toward him.
Ginny's face was full of tension, and Percy kept comforting her.
When they arrived, Ginny started trembling upon seeing John, while Percy explained, "Sorry, she's just scared because of the monster from the Chamber of Secrets, you know."
"I know."
John stared at Ginny, noticing the fear in her expression.
This wasn't an act; at least, such a frightened Ginny couldn't have cast a Reducto spell on his back.
John gazed at her and softly asked, "Ginny, it was you, wasn't it?"
Ginny's body trembled, tears streaming down her cheeks, and she nodded.
"What did she do?" Percy asked, confused.
Ginny choked up and said, "I don't know why. I was so scared. I felt like he was influencing me, so I threw him away."
John's mind raced, and he asked, "Who is 'he'?"
Ginny was sobbing uncontrollably, the pressure of the past few weeks finally overwhelming her as she realized she might have released the monster.
"Riddle, a diary."
Hearing Ginny's words, Percy looked incredulous. He turned to John, urgently seeking answers, "John, tell me what's going on!"
John pondered and said, "I initially thought Ginny was chosen as Slytherin's heir. Now it seems it might be that diary."
Riddle...
Tom Riddle.
Voldemort's surname.
Hearing that name, some fog in the memory cleared and John immediately knew it was related to Voldemort.
John's face grew serious as he asked, "Where did you throw the diary?"
He needed to get the diary before anyone else found it.
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