Standing at the door of the Defence Against the Dark Arts office, Evans took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
After hearing the descriptions from those three young wizards, he had roughly sorted out what had happened.
But what those children said wasn't necessarily the complete picture, since they hadn't actually witnessed the so-called crime scene with their own eyes.
However... petrification?
The door slowly opened, and the first thing Evans saw were the portraits hanging on the office walls.
They posed in various different positions and wore all kinds of different clothes but all had that overly confident smile on their faces.
Perhaps sensing someone entering, all those pairs of eyes in the frames looked toward the door simultaneously. A truly unsettling scene.
Below the portraits, Lockhart was boasting to Snape about his great moment of once brewing Mandrake Draught. From the bat's expression, he seemed to be enduring it with great difficulty.
If Dumbledore weren't here, Evans suspected Lockhart would be force-fed half a bottle of poison by the bat and thrown out the window to fend for himself the next second.
Shifting his gaze, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall stood by the table, observing the cat on the table, each looking more grave than the other.
Behind them, Filch was constantly sobbing, looking like he might faint.
Perhaps noticing Evans's arrival, Dumbledore turned around and waved, calling Evans to the table.
After Evans carefully examined the petrified Mrs Norris on the table, he spoke softly:
"Regarding petrification, what are your thoughts?"
"Cockatrices, petrification lizards, or petrification curses, but all these things are too rare, especially cockatrices. This magical creature has long been extinct." After pondering for a moment, Evans seemed to suddenly remember something and added: "Oh right, it could also be a basilisk."
"Basilisk?" Hearing this, Snape, who had just escaped from Lockhart, frowned and said coldly: "I've never heard of basilisks having the ability to petrify people."
"No, actually they do."
Placing a hand on his temple, Evans spoke softly while recalling:
"In the notes of a mediaeval Egyptian wizard, Lintramus, it was recorded that a basilisk's eyes can kill all creatures that make direct eye contact with it, but if no direct eye contact is made and one only sees their eyes indirectly through some medium, death can be avoided and one would merely be petrified."
That manuscript was something he had seen while travelling in Egypt. It was full of content related to the despicable Herpo, making him seriously suspect the author was either Herpo's worshipper or simply his student.
But what really made him propose this theory was actually another matter he couldn't quite describe.
After hearing those young wizards' descriptions, on the way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts office, he had carefully recalled some scenes from those compilations he had once watched.
Although those memories had long become blurry, he could still remember some impressive scenes.
The silver stag among the Dementors, Voldemort's large face, Grindelwald's towering flames... And just now, another somewhat blurry scene had suddenly appeared in his mind.
In the scene, Harry held a long sword, fighting with a terrifyingly large serpent, while Fawkes's fiery red figure flew nearby.
There weren't many magical creatures related to snakes to begin with, and after some elimination, only the basilisk remained as an option.
But why would a creature like a basilisk appear in the castle?
"Haha! Basilisk! To tell the truth, I once saw this creature with my own eyes when I was in Sri Lanka..."
Lockhart began boasting about his so-called glorious history again, but no one present intended to pay attention to him.
"If it's a basilisk..." Dumbledore's half-moon spectacles reflected an arc of light as he looked toward Evans. "What do you suggest?"
"Me?" After lowering his head in thought for a moment, Evans raised his head. "Send the students home, systematically investigate every inch of the castle, or just demolish the whole building. Any secret chamber would be exposed through total demolition."
Perfect timing. He had long felt there were too many uncontrollable things in Hogwarts castle. The zombies and vengeful spirits in the dungeons, the curses and traps that appeared from time to time in the castle, and now they had to add a secret chamber. It was really getting too dangerous.
Which school required students to be careful not to step on traps while walking to class?
Why not take this opportunity to give the students a few days off while they find several more powerful wizards to clean the castle from top to bottom, at least ensuring the students' basic safety?
Hearing Evans's suggestion, Dumbledore couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
He felt Evans's idea was a bit too extreme.
Moreover, those traps or curses in Hogwarts that had survived were actually rooted in the school's protective magic. If they were rashly removed, it could very likely cause a spectacular avalanche.
By then, all those originally semi-neutralised curses and traps would trigger simultaneously. That wouldn't be something that could be solved by just tearing down the school.
While they hadn't caused too much harm yet, it was best not to disturb them for now.
Thinking this, Dumbledore spoke softly:
"Demolishing the school is definitely impossible. Even if I agreed, the Board of Governors and the Ministry of Magic wouldn't agree."
"Yes, after all, the current situation isn't that serious. You also know that petrification curses could achieve the same effect." Professor McGonagall spoke with some worry: "But when things get worse, it will be too late."
Having said this, she looked at Evans.
"You already know about that message, right? The message related to the Chamber and the heir?"
"Mm, I just met Harry and the others. They told me about it." After pausing, Evans asked: "So our problem now is, what is this so-called Chamber? And who is the heir mentioned in those words?"
If they could find clues related to the Chamber or the heir, even without tearing down the school, they could solve this matter.
Hearing Evans's words, Dumbledore opened his mouth, his expression becoming somewhat hesitant.
Catching this movement, Evans raised an eyebrow.
"You seem to know something?"
After pondering for a moment, Dumbledore slowly spoke:
"Decades ago, Hogwarts experienced an identical incident. The Chamber was opened, and a female student died at the hands of that monster."
"Decades ago?" His gaze sharpening, Evans pressed: "Was the culprit caught?"
Nodding, then shaking his head, Dumbledore remained silent for a long time before speaking again: "Someone was arrested for it, but I've never believed they were actually responsible for opening the Chamber."
Then he raised his head, his expression returning to calm.
"Please bear with us for the next few days. Let's search the castle and see if we can discover some clues about the Chamber."
Having said this, Dumbledore looked again at Filch, who was lying beside Mrs Norris, sobbing softly, and gently comforted him:
"Don't be too sad, Argus. Mrs Norris will be fine."
"When Pomona's Mandrakes mature, it will return to normal."