The next morning, a new notice appeared on the Hogwarts bulletin board — announcing that Mrs. Norris had been attacked the night before.
At the end of the notice, it reminded everyone that the culprit had not yet been found, and all students should take extra precautions for their safety.
In the Great Hall, at the Gryffindor table, Harry and the others were deep in discussion about what had happened.
"I did hear a voice last night," Harry insisted to Ron.
"Yeah, maybe, but none of us heard it," Ron replied, swallowing a mouthful of bread.
"You think I should tell Professor Dumbledore about it?" Harry asked hesitantly.
Hermione frowned. "Oh, please. Hearing mysterious voices is a bad sign even in the Muggle world — let alone here.
And don't you find it strange? You heard that voice, and then Mrs. Norris got attacked."
Arthur, sitting nearby, nodded. It was rather odd.
The creature had spent all night shouting about killing, yet in the end, it only managed to petrify a cat and slither back home. Truly a very peculiar basilisk.
The three discussed for quite some time but failed to reach any conclusion.
Hermione noticed how calm Arthur looked and suspected he already knew the truth — he just didn't want to say it.
So when Harry and Ron weren't around, she quietly asked him about it.
But Arthur didn't tell her either. He only smiled and said she'd find out soon enough — because he was planning to move the basilisk into the "Zen Garden."
Why? Well… just because it was big.
Boys liked big things, after all.
And besides, this was probably the only basilisk in the world that had lived for nearly a thousand years — and quite possibly the only one that had been holed up indoors for just as long.
Ever since Salazar Slytherin had brought it to Hogwarts, it had remained guarding the Chamber, awaiting someone who could speak Parseltongue to summon it.
The last person to summon it was Tom Riddle, fifty years ago.
Back then, Riddle used the basilisk to petrify a girl — and then ignored it ever since.
That girl's name was Myrtle… the one later known as Moaning Myrtle.
Many believed Myrtle was killed by the basilisk.
Arthur, however, thought differently.
He suspected that the basilisk had only petrified her. After all, Myrtle had been wearing glasses — meaning her eye contact with the basilisk was indirect.
Only direct eye contact was fatal.
Mrs. Norris, too, had only seen the basilisk's reflection in the water on the floor.
The real killer of Myrtle, Arthur reasoned, was Voldemort.
To create a Horcrux, one had to use the Killing Curse — Avada Kedavra — and, at the same time, a secret ritual that split the soul. The split fragment would then be sealed inside a chosen object.
Voldemort's first Horcrux had been his diary.
So he must have killed someone while still a student.
Arthur guessed that Voldemort had recently learned about Horcruxes, stumbled upon Slytherin's Chamber, and summoned the basilisk — only for Myrtle to witness it.
She was petrified in the process, and Voldemort decided to go all the way, using her death to forge his first Horcrux.
Then, he framed Hagrid for the murder.
At the time, Hagrid had just gotten hold of a young Acromantula — Aragog, the very one Arthur had slain last term.
Even though Aragog had still been small back then, its venom could already kill a person.
When the school found out Hagrid had been keeping such a creature, they expelled him and snapped his wand.
For reference, he was only in his third year at the time — a fourteen-year-old raising a deadly spider. Truly, a half-giant with a hard life and a harder skull.
In short, Arthur thought the basilisk wasn't such a bad sort after all — so he decided to make it his pet.
After all, what malice could a thousand-year-old shut-in snake possibly harbor?
It only followed Parseltongue commands, nothing more.
That day in Transfiguration class, the students were practicing turning animals into goblets.
Professor McGonagall demonstrated first, then had everyone try it themselves.
The students used the animals she'd provided — except for Ron, who brought his pet rat, Scabbers.
Or rather, Peter Pettigrew, the Animagus.
Which meant Ron's task was harder than everyone else's — he wasn't just turning a small animal, but a person into a goblet.
Just then, a loud bang echoed behind Harry and Ron.
Everyone turned to see that Seamus's white mouse had turned black — and wasn't moving.
The air reeked faintly of burnt feathers.
The sight startled Ron so much that the goblet he had been working on twitched and turned back into Scabbers.
From the back row, Arthur couldn't help laughing.
If he remembered right, Harry and Seamus were dormmates.
He wondered — did Seamus also experiment with magic in the dorms?
If so, that dorm must be living in daily chaos.
Meanwhile, Hermione, whose Transfiguration skill was already advanced, found the class rather boring.
She raised her hand. "Professor, could you tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?"
Had any other student asked, McGonagall might have told them to focus on their work.
But this was Hermione — her star pupil.
And ever since finding out that Arthur had become Snape's apprentice, McGonagall had been paying extra attention to Hermione.
After all, Hogwarts only had so many gifted students — she wasn't about to let another professor poach hers.
So she nodded kindly. "Very well, then. I'll tell you a little."
"As you all know, more than a thousand years ago, four great founders built Hogwarts: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.
Three of them got along quite well — but the last did not."
(Slytherin: Slander! Outright slander!)
"Slytherin believed Hogwarts should be more selective — that magical education should be limited to pure-blood wizards. The others disagreed. In the end, he left the school."
Hermione, growing impatient, asked, "But what about the Chamber of Secrets?"
McGonagall nodded and continued, "According to legend, before leaving, Slytherin built a hidden chamber within the castle — the 'Chamber of Secrets.' He sealed it, awaiting his true heir.
Only his heir could open it, and when opened, a terrible monster would purge the school of those deemed unworthy to study magic."
"You mean — Muggle-borns?" Hermione added.
McGonagall nodded. "Exactly."
Arthur had his own thoughts on that.
Slytherin had disagreed with the others but hadn't fought them — that showed he still had affection for his friends and the school.
Would he really want to destroy what he'd built?
There were Muggle-born wizards born every year — what was the point of killing a few at Hogwarts?
No, Slytherin merely wanted to uphold pure-blood prestige, not commit genocide.
The Chamber was likely just a secret room for teaching Dark Arts to his students.
When he left, he sealed it up — perhaps as a legacy for future generations.
The idea that his heir would release a monster to slaughter Muggle-borns? Utter nonsense — Voldemort's nonsense.
If Slytherin truly wanted that, couldn't he have trained his heir elsewhere?
Would a founder of Hogwarts really think a single basilisk could wipe out all Muggle-borns?
Ridiculous!
A second-year armed with a phoenix managed to kill one.
Even without a phoenix, a few roosters would do — basilisk lore was clear that a rooster's crow could kill it instantly.
Then a thought struck Arthur:
If Slytherin had left a legacy in the castle… could the other three founders have done the same?
He made a mental note to investigate later.
When he came back to his senses, McGonagall was already wrapping up her story.
"Of course, the staff have searched many times but never found the Chamber."
"What about the monster?" Hermione pressed, still wondering what had attacked Filch's cat.
"I'm not sure," said McGonagall. "But it's said only the true heir can control it."
At that, Ron instinctively turned to look at Draco.
Draco, not knowing why, looked back with his usual sneer — which, naturally, made Ron certain Draco was either the heir or knew who was.
"All right, enough idle talk," McGonagall said briskly. "Whatever the creature is, stay alert. Safety first."
The Slytherins, of course, didn't care.
They believed the monster would never harm them — if anything, it would help rid the school of Mudbloods.
McGonagall finished, "While there may be a monster roaming the castle, that's the teachers' problem. Your problem is your homework. I expect a ten-inch essay on Transfiguration by Monday."
Her casual remark instantly shifted the students' focus.
Groans erupted across the room. The Chamber was forgotten in an instant.
Indeed — if there were more homework, who would have time to worry about monsters?
Well… almost no one.
Harry, as the one involved, still couldn't let it go.
Nor could Hermione, who was naturally curious.
After class, Harry pulled Ron and Hermione aside to discuss it again.
(After all, what's a best friend for if not to scheme together?)
"Do you think the Chamber's real?" Harry asked.
"Of course," said Hermione. "Didn't you see how anxious the professors were today?"
("Except Lockhart," she added silently.)
"If it's real, and it's been opened before… doesn't that mean Slytherin's heir is back?" said Harry.
"I'm more curious about who that heir actually is," Hermione muttered.
The monster hadn't been found, and now there was talk of an heir — things were getting messy.
"Think about it," Ron said confidently. "Who always says Muggle-borns are filth?"
"You mean… Malfoy?" Harry and Hermione said together.
"Of course!" Ron recounted the way Draco had sneered at him in class and laid out his "analysis" — which, impressively, convinced Harry.
"But we have no proof," Hermione cautioned.
"Crabbe and Goyle must know. Maybe we can trick it out of them," said Ron.
"They're not that dumb. But… maybe there's another way. It'd break about fifty school rules and it's very dangerous."
Hermione explained her plan — and after exchanging a glance, Harry and Ron both nodded.
They were in.
A few tables away, Arthur and Ranni watched them whispering — loudly — about their "secret" rule-breaking scheme.
Ranni tilted her head. "How long have they been like this?"
Arthur shrugged. "Since last term. Must be a protagonist thing — movie logic."
Ranni didn't quite get it, but decided to look up some movies later to see if he was right.
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