"But I'm not!" Harry said firmly.
"You'll find that's very difficult to prove," Hermione said with a sigh. "Slytherin lived about a thousand years ago. From other people's perspective, you very well could be his heir!"
The common room fell into uncomfortable silence.
Harry was at a loss, looking around bewildered, finally settling his gaze on Dudley.
However, Dudley was currently deep in thought and completely ignored Harry's desperate look.
Suddenly, Dudley jumped up from his chair.
"Snake!" Dudley's eyes were blazing, seeming very excited.
"What? What snake?" Ron was startled, thinking a snake had appeared in Gryffindor's common room.
"The monster in the Chamber is a snake! It has to be!"
"The snake is Slytherin's symbol. If Salazar Slytherin were to choose a monster to keep in the Chamber, the best choice would be a snake!"
"And Slytherin was a Parselmouth. His heir would definitely also be a Parselmouth. That's the mark of his inheritance, and also why his heir can control the Chamber's monster."
"And that voice... the voice only Harry can hear. Because Harry's a Parselmouth, he can hear that snake's voice, while the rest of us can't."
"Everything makes sense now!" Dudley said rapidly.
Just now, he'd finally figured everything out.
He'd never understood why only Harry could hear that voice while he couldn't hear anything.
Until Harry demonstrated his Parseltongue ability during the duel just now, he finally connected everything together.
"Actually, I should've made this connection earlier. I did see Harry talking to a Brazilian boa constrictor at the zoo, but I hadn't thought about Parseltongue before!" Dudley continued.
After hearing Dudley's analysis, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all widened their eyes.
They felt Dudley's analysis made perfect sense.
"What about that yellow light? Could it be its scales? Does that mean it's a yellow snake?" Ron asked in shock.
"No, not scales... eyes!" Dudley's gaze focused as he recalled the yellow light he'd seen in the Mirror of Erised.
It didn't look like scales, but more like some kind of crystal. If you had to find it on a snake's body, it could only be eyes.
"What snake has yellow eyes? And can petrify people who see its eyes through a mirror?" Harry asked urgently.
If Dudley's analysis was correct, then what they needed to find now was a snake with yellow eyes that could petrify others through mirrors.
"There's more information. It's an ancient snake with a long lifespan, able to live from Slytherin's era until now," Hermione added thoughtfully.
"Then the scope is very narrow," Dudley said with growing certainty.
"Come on, to the library."
Without hesitation, the four immediately headed straight for the library.
On the way, they encountered many students coming out of the Great Hall. When they saw Harry, they looked at him like they'd seen a ghost, all moving aside.
This made Harry feel terrible, but he didn't want to dwell on those things now. Dudley had already determined what was in the Chamber. As long as they could catch that snake, all the speculation about him could be cleared up.
Soon, the four arrived at the library.
But by this time the library was almost closing, and due to the previous attacks, Madam Pince was extremely strict with all students, driving everyone out before closing and ensuring no one was left behind.
"You're too late. You can't go in now," Madam Pince appeared like a ghost from behind a bookshelf, blocking their path.
"We've got important things to look up," Harry said quickly.
"No! Come back tomorrow." Madam Pince refused without hesitation.
"Madam Pince, let us in. We won't stay long," Hermione pleaded.
"I said no, and no means no. Go back quickly, or I'll tell your Head of House," Madam Pince glared at the four.
"Madam Pince, I can violate school rules. Let me in," Dudley stepped forward.
Madam Pince looked at Dudley and frowned.
"No, the situation's special now. Someone could be attacked at any time in the school. This isn't something you can explain away by violating school rules," Madam Pince refused sternly.
Dudley narrowed his eyes slightly. This Madam Pince was truly immovable.
"What do we do?" Harry looked at Dudley.
If even Dudley couldn't get in, they definitely couldn't either.
Did they really have to wait until tomorrow?
But the answer was right in front of them. Asking them to go back and sleep now... he was sure no one could sleep.
Or they could only wait until late at night and come back wearing the Invisibility Cloak.
"Alright, then I'll return this book," Dudley said while taking out "Moste Potente Potions" from the Mirror of Erised. The book with the Polyjuice Potion recipe.
Madam Pince looked at Dudley, seemingly weighing whether he was playing tricks.
Not seeing anything unusual, Madam Pince finally reached out to take the book.
Bribery.
Dudley activated his beyonder ability.
Just after taking the book, Madam Pince felt that Dudley seemed much more pleasant to look at, and an inexplicable feeling of affection arose, as if standing before her wasn't a Hogwarts student but her never-met son.
"Madam Pince, look, we've kept the book in such good condition, not a bit of damage. You should let us in," Dudley showed a charming smile and said to Madam Pince.
This scene left Ron and Harry beside him dumbfounded, almost thinking Dudley had been possessed by Lockhart.
"He doesn't think that just because of this, Madam Pince will let us in, does he?" Ron whispered to Harry.
"Would Madam Pince fall for Lockhart's tricks? She doesn't seem to have ever been married..."
Just as the two were feeling nauseated by Dudley's charming smile, miraculously, Madam Pince actually nodded.
"Alright, seeing as you take such good care of books, you can go in. But you must be quick and can't stay too long, understand?" Madam Pince said gently.
"Yes, thank you, Madam Pince. You're so kind," Dudley showed his charming smile again.
"Go on then," Madam Pince said with a smile.
Under the shocked and confused gazes of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Dudley pulled them into the library.
"Search for the corresponding snake based on the clues we analysed just now. Hurry!"