Just as Ron was about to make another bet involving his nonexistent girlfriend, his voice suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Ron's expression, Hermione couldn't help but find it amusing.
"This time is it twenty years old? Or can't find a girlfriend before fifteen?"
"No, it's... Sherlock, I think she's here to see you..."
Following Ron's gaze, Sherlock and Hermione saw a tall, slender girl walking toward them.
Seeing Gemma Farley, Sherlock remained composed, Hermione frowned slightly, and Ron looked surprised.
Gemma stopped in front of the three and smiled as she greeted them.
"Sherlock, Granger, young Weasley, hello there!"
Sherlock and Hermione both nodded.
Ron hesitated for a moment, then kindly reminded her.
"Prefect Farley, Slytherin just lost the match. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to be this cheerful—I've been hearing some unfavorable rumors about you from Percy lately."
Due to Malfoy's situation, news of Gemma forcing the apology to Harry and Colin had already spread.
Obviously, in the current environment, her actions were naturally controversial.
Hearing Ron say this, Gemma was momentarily stunned, then shook her head with obvious disappointment.
"In competitive sports, being weak is the original sin—but if you can't even face your own failures properly, then you might as well surrender early."
After saying this, her expression softened again.
"As for those rumors... thank you for your concern, Mr. Weasley.
But I think your friend Harry Potter has more to say about this than I do—rumors about him still haven't stopped to this day."
Even thick-skinned Ron understood what Gemma meant.
Clearly, she wasn't bothered by those gossips at all.
After saying this, Gemma turned to Sherlock.
"Sorry, I originally wanted Malfoy to apologize to Mr. Potter and Mr. Creevey after this match, but..."
"He's still being scolded by Flint, isn't he?"
Sherlock finished the sentence for her.
Gemma looked somewhat surprised, then laughed as if relieved. "I knew you'd be able to guess."
"It's inevitable. Given Marcus Flint's personality, he would definitely do this."
"Mm, when I left, I could still see Flint shouting at Malfoy, saying something about how the Golden Snitch was right above his head and he couldn't see it.
He also said Malfoy shouldn't have dodged to the side at the crucial moment, calling him a coward—but..."
Gemma looked around. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Creevey don't seem to be nearby either?"
"Harry left with Professor Lockhart, and Colin went with them too."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "If Prefect Farley can really convince Malfoy to apologize to them, perhaps wait a bit longer."
"Alright."
Gemma smiled at Hermione and sat down across from Sherlock.
That smile was like a spring breeze, even making Hermione momentarily stunned.
Originally, everyone thought they'd only need to wait briefly, but the wait turned out to be much longer than expected.
During this time, even Cho Chang came by.
Her purpose was naturally to congratulate Harry on his excellent performance in the recent match, securing a victory for Gryffindor.
However, seeing Slytherin's prefect Gemma Farley sitting with Sherlock, Hermione, and Ron was rather surprising.
After all, Slytherin had just been decisively defeated by Gryffindor, and here was their prefect sitting at a table with Harry's best friends...
Could she be here to settle scores?
But before she could speak, Gemma proactively struck up a conversation.
"Miss Chang, the next match is Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. Are you prepared?"
"I, I'm doing okay, I suppose?"
Cho Chang hadn't expected Gemma to ask directly. Unable to gauge her intentions, she gave a rather vague response.
"From this match, it's clear that the Nimbus 2001 provides significant improvements in speed and stability.
If you want to achieve victory under these circumstances, you'll need the same determination and skill as Mr. Potter!"
"Thank you, Prefect Farley. I'll do my best!"
Gemma's presence was indeed quite strong. Cho felt that only Penelope could probably withstand it. Plus, aside from Harry, she was only familiar with Sherlock among this group.
So, after asking Sherlock to convey her congratulations to Harry and greeting the three of them, she hurriedly left.
"She seemed to think I was threatening her?"
Watching Cho Chang's somewhat hurried departure, Gemma chuckled softly. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Not at all, I think."
Ron said hesitantly. "I feel Prefect Farley was completely right. Slytherin isn't weak—to achieve victory, you need to be like Harry."
"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Weasley."
Gemma nodded gracefully at Ron.
"The same words spoken by different people can have completely different effects."
Sherlock added calmly.
"That seems to be true."
Ron scratched his head. "Percy once said he broke some school rule, and Mum just said breaking little rules occasionally doesn't matter.
But if Fred, George, or I said the same thing, we'd probably get a good beating."
"Pfft~"
Both Hermione and Gemma laughed aloud, while Sherlock sighed.
This boy was really quite straightforward.
"Speaking of which..."
Gemma suddenly turned to Sherlock, her blue eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"I'm curious about the progress of your Chamber investigation. You returned that book to me so quickly—you must have gotten some useful information, right?"
"Unfortunately, I couldn't get any information about the Chamber from that book. I learned about it from Professor Binns' History of Magic class instead."
"That news has spread now. Thanks to Miss Granger proactively asking Professor Binns questions, we all learned about it—speaking of which, we should all thank Miss Granger, otherwise Madam Pince would have a headache."
"Why would Madam Pince have a headache? What does this have to do with her?"
"Because all copies of 'Hogwarts. A History' have been borrowed out. When books are borrowed for long periods, all sorts of situations can arise. As the librarian, Madam Pince would definitely worry about people losing them."
"Hermione, you're so smart! How did I never think of that!"
"Because you're only thinking about what to eat tonight—Prefect Farley, Professor Binns thinks the Chamber is just a rumor. You've been at school longer, haven't you heard any related news?"
"Oh, now that you mention it, I do remember something. Someone once told me about Hogwarts' Chamber... let me think, it was probably Bill..."
"Why didn't you mention this before?"
"You never asked!"
"You..."
"Besides, he only mentioned it in passing. I've forgotten the specific details."
"The person Mr. Weasley mentioned is William Weasley, right?"
"Yes, yes, that's him!"
"Hehe, I remember him too. He was quite a cool wizard. I remember he was tall, had your family's characteristic red hair, wore it in a long ponytail, and had an earring with something like a small fan hanging from it."
"Ha! I didn't expect an excellent witch like Prefect Farley would know Bill too!"
"Compared to your older brother, I'm still far behind! He not only served as prefect and Head Boy, but also earned 12 certificates in his O.W.L. exams. I remember him as sincere, warm, very humorous, fond of jokes, and a very responsible person."
"You're not bad either, Prefect Farley! I heard from Percy that you also earned 12 certificates in your O.W.L. exams, just like him."
"But I'm not Head Girl."
"I believe when you reach seventh year, you'll definitely become Head Girl!"
"Then I'll take your good wishes, Ron."
"Just call me Ron."
"Alright, Ron."
At this point, Gemma turned back to Sherlock, seamlessly redirecting the conversation to him. "Speaking of the Chamber, I've actually heard a rumor too. I don't know if it would be useful for your investigation."
Sherlock, who had been silent, immediately leaned forward upon hearing this. "I'm all ears."
Gemma smiled faintly and leaned slightly toward Sherlock. "The Chamber... has been opened before."
She lowered her voice, yet still ensured Hermione and Ron could hear.
Hermione and Ron were immediately stunned, while Sherlock raised his eyebrows slightly and made an "oh" sound.
Gemma's blue eyes swept over Sherlock as she continued explaining.
"I also heard this from my family elders. About fifty years ago, the Chamber was opened.
The monster in the Chamber attacked several students and eventually killed one. This incident nearly led to Hogwarts being closed down.
Fortunately, they later found the student who opened the Chamber. After being caught, he was expelled.
Since then, Hogwarts has returned to peace."
After a moment of silence, Hermione frowned and spoke first.
"I've consulted quite a few sources recently and have never seen such a description."
She glanced at Sherlock. "There's no record of this in 'Hogwarts. A History' either."
Gemma shook her head slightly.
"Miss Granger, I felt the same way you do now.
But my family told me that the headmaster at the time was Mr. Armando Dippet, who felt ashamed that such a thing had happened at Hogwarts and wouldn't allow people to tell the truth.
The official announcement was that the student died in a magic accident.
To this day, all specific details about this incident can no longer be traced.
However, my family elders also said this was just information circulating in small circles and couldn't guarantee its authenticity."
After saying this, Gemma straightened up and looked at Sherlock with gentle eyes.
"This is all I know. I don't know if it's helpful to you."
"Thank you very much, Miss Gemma."
After a moment of silence, Sherlock looked up with a slight smile at the corners of his mouth.
Seeing Sherlock's expression, both Hermione and Ron looked surprised. Ron couldn't help but ask.
"Sherlock, do you think this rumor is true? That the Chamber was really opened before?"
"I'm not certain, but the information Miss Gemma provided has indeed given me inspiration."
Sherlock stood up. "I think it's time to have a talk with our headmaster."
"You're going to see Professor Dumbledore?"
Seeing Sherlock's actions, not only Hermione and Ron, but even Gemma was startled.
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