Lucius Malfoy's conspiracy had ultimately failed.
When the house-elf Dobby disappeared, he knew that his plan to secretly slip Voldemort's diary into Hogwarts had been exposed.
However, he didn't give up. After careful consideration, he took advantage of his fight with Arthur Weasley to secretly stuff the diary into one of Lockhart's books.
From that point on, he had been closely monitoring Hogwarts.
Until Halloween eve, when the warning that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened appeared, he knew it had worked!
From then on, he began taking action against Dumbledore and the Weasleys, mainly using his connections and wealth to manipulate both the Ministry of Magic and the Board of Governors.
Unfortunately, he had misjudged the situation.
Originally, the Board members who supported Dumbledore were still troubled by the headaches the situation caused.
After the Chamber incident emerged, the pure-blood supremacists led by the Malfoy family weren't exactly celebrating, but they were certainly very excited.
After all, the Chamber's legend was clear, Slytherin's purpose was to purify the school, to drive out those who didn't belong there.
The so-called "those who didn't belong" referred to Muggle-born and half-blood wizards.
For these people, this was certainly a good thing.
The problem was that Hogwarts didn't seem able to handle the situation well.
Under these circumstances, when Dumbledore voluntarily proposed to temporarily leave the school, both sides hit it off immediately.
Lucius didn't know the real reason behind this; he thought Dumbledore's departure from Hogwarts was entirely due to his pressure.
In this situation, even though many people disapproved of such methods, he remained highly sought after.
His son Draco Malfoy followed suit, strutting around the school arrogantly.
However, neither father nor son realized this was a massive trap.
Especially Draco, who not only jumped into the pit but also went around broadcasting it everywhere. His father wasn't much better.
When Sherlock and Harry successfully solved the Tom Riddle and Chamber mystery, and Dumbledore reappeared before all the teachers and students to announce the resolution, Lucius even came rushing over excitedly to demand accountability.
"Dumbledore, who gave you permission to return? The Board clearly suspended your duties!"
The result was naturally that he came full of excitement but left in defeat.
The Board's impeachment of Dumbledore had already become yesterday's news. In its place was evidence of Lucius threatening and bribing other Board members.
Only then did Lucius realize he had been played. But now it was too late for regrets—the tables had turned!
What he needed to consider now was how to keep his position.
The sun always comes out after the storm.
News that the Lion King and the Boy Who Lived had once again saved Hogwarts spread like wildfire.
Unlike last year, this time all the teachers and students began cheering for both of them including the little snakes of Slytherin.
Slytherin House wasn't entirely pure-blood; a large portion consisted of half-blood wizards.
The basilisk's attacks had made it clear that Slytherin's heir was an extreme blood supremacist who targeted not only Muggle-born wizards but half-bloods as well.
Previously, when circumstances were against them, those Slytherin half-bloods could only play along.
Now that the incident was over, they naturally didn't need to pretend anymore and showed their genuine smiles.
Of course, there were obvious layers to how the entire school understood the events.
The quartet of Sherlock, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, along with Dumbledore, were the ones who knew the complete truth.
Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione had faced Tom Riddle, Voldemort's 16-year-old memory directly in the Chamber and witnessed the entire process of him controlling Lockhart through the diary.
Unlike last year with Quirrell and the Philosopher's Stone, this year Dumbledore successfully took on the role of protector, and with his deep understanding of the magical world, he had a more profound comprehension of the entire incident.
However, this crucial information wasn't disclosed to the entire school.
What most teachers and students understood was.
Poor Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart had been bewitched and inadvertently opened the Chamber, releasing the basilisk.
When Dumbledore explained the incident, he focused on Lockhart being "controlled" rather than Voldemort's direct intervention.
At the school-wide feast, he mentioned that "someone used a magical object to mislead an innocent teacher," but didn't mention Voldemort's name.
Even the fact that Pansy Parkinson had once been controlled wasn't revealed.
This handling was mainly to avoid panic about Voldemort's return.
After all, the entire magical world currently believed Voldemort was dead, and publicly revealing his existence would shake society's confidence.
On the other hand, the entire magical world, led by the Ministry of Magic, still hadn't accepted the fact that Voldemort was still alive.
On this point, Dumbledore insisted on his own opinion—revealing the truth too early might lead to chaos.
His insistence also led Sherlock to a new deduction—besides the known reason, Dumbledore was secretly investigating something else, but he felt it wasn't appropriate to expose this plan yet.
Dumbledore's speech at the school-wide feast deliberately simplified the event details. He emphasized how Sherlock and Harry had shown extraordinary courage and wisdom, protecting their classmates at the most dangerous moment.
Under these circumstances, the vast majority believed Sherlock and Harry were heroes who had opposed Slytherin's heir.
In the end, Sherlock and Harry received the "Special Award for Services to the School" for thwarting the Chamber crisis and rescuing teachers and students.
Harry felt very embarrassed.
This time in the Chamber, he had done even less than when he directly faced Voldemort last time.
Apart from using Parseltongue to open doors, he had been an observer throughout.
This inevitably gave him the feeling of "me and Chamberlain combining for 102 points" once again.
However, neither Sherlock nor Dumbledore saw it that way.
"Parseltongue was a very crucial element in this entire affair, my friend. Without you, I might still be wondering what the monster in the Chamber could be."
"Sherlock is quite right, Harry. In fact, this time I was also standing on the sidelines like you, if it weren't useless, I'd want to award myself a medal too."
In any case, when this matter was announced, Sherlock and Harry received even more acclaim than the previous school year.
After all, what happened in the room storing the Philosopher's Stone was entirely based on Ron's account.
This time, students being attacked and even petrified had happened right before their eyes.
On the day this news was announced, the tall Ernie Macmillan hurried over from the Hufflepuff table, so excited that he tripped halfway there.
He gripped Harry tightly with his short, fat hands, apologizing endlessly for having suspected him initially.
"Actually, if I had known about your relationship with Miss Chang back then, I wouldn't have suspected you now I know you would never attack Cho Chang."
"Ahem... well, that's alright, but my relationship with Cho isn't what you think."
"Don't misunderstand, Potter, I don't mean anything by it. I just meant you and she are good friends."
Compared to the magnanimous Harry, Ron wasn't so quick to forgive Ernie.
He said sarcastically, "Heh, you're quite clever."
Ernie knew Ron was being sarcastic, just kept scratching the back of his head with a silly grin.
Seeing him like this, Ron lost his temper as well.
Not far away, Hermione was surrounded by a group of people asking for details about the Chamber incident.
"I don't know anything."
Hermione was thoroughly annoyed and had to repeat the same line over and over.
"I was unconscious at the time. When I woke up, I found I had already been rescued by Sherlock and Harry."
She said this partly to cooperate with Dumbledore, temporarily not revealing that Voldemort was still alive.
On the other hand, she was eager to escape the crowd and meet up with Sherlock.
Couldn't she see that Gemma Farley was already chatting with Sherlock?
Although she was too far away to hear what they were saying, it was precisely for this reason that Hermione's heart felt like it was being scratched by cat claws, itching terribly.
She really wanted to know what Gemma was saying to Sherlock!
"Congratulations, Sherlock. I knew you could successfully solve the mystery."
Gemma's blue eyes looked at the little boy who was three years younger than her, not sparing any praise.
"Thanks to your efforts, Hogwarts students no longer have to worry about being attacked by the basilisk."
Sherlock wasn't very satisfied with his performance. "It was still too slow. If I could have been more decisive, I would have solved this matter even faster."
"Compared to fifty years ago, you've done very well."
Gemma said gently, "The attacked students were only petrified. Once the Mandrakes mature, they'll recover immediately. You and Harry are both true heroes."
"Don't turn people into heroes, my friend. Heroes don't exist, and even if they did, I wouldn't be one of them."
"Sherlock, aren't you being too strict with yourself? I think sometimes you don't need to be like this."
"Dear Gemma, for a precision instrument that requires exact calibration, any indulgence toward the gears is a betrayal of the overall operation. You must understand, those bastards prowling through cases won't stop because of a slowed breathing rhythm.
What I need isn't the comfort of 'you don't need to be like this,' but the discipline to ensure every cell is in optimal hunting condition. A hound chasing truth that loosens its leash will ultimately only bite its own tail in the maze."
"Sherlock, if I hadn't taken Muggle Studies, I probably wouldn't understand your peculiar metaphors."
"It's common sense, my friend."
"Every time I hear you speak, it's like solving another puzzle."
Since the Chamber threat was eliminated, Hogwarts had returned to its former liveliness.
Potions Professor Snape began serving as Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor as well, just as he had when Quirrell briefly left last school year.
For those who genuinely wanted to learn something, this could be called good news.
Although Snape had a terrible attitude, a violent temper, and poor teaching methods, he had real ability and genuinely wanted to teach students new things.
As they say, everything is relative.
Lockhart could indeed teach them some things too, but after enduring a class where most of the sound was dramatic recitation and immersive role-playing, even the sharp-tongued old bat seemed pleasant by comparison.
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