"Wh-what?"
Seeing Colin, Harry instinctively let go of Hermione's hand. Hearing the somewhat jarring word "dating," another girl's face involuntarily popped into Harry's mind—long black hair, black eyes—he'd heard she was Ravenclaw's Seeker...
A Seeker and a Seeker, they were a perfect match...
"Oh, I mean, good afternoon, Harry." Colin paused, lowered the new camera from his neck, "Uh, what are you doing here?... Are you investigating clues related to the attacks?" He looked around, as if realizing something.
"Oh, no, of course not, Colin..."
Harry, who had already imagined a scene of flying on a broomstick with someone, finally came back to his senses. He sighed a bit helplessly—this first-year little wizard in front of him was practically his number one shadow, following him everywhere, most of the time holding a camera constantly taking pictures—
The night he ended up in the Hospital Wing thanks to Lockhart, Ron's petrification was just a small factor for his sleeplessness; the key was that this boy suddenly appeared in the Hospital Wing in the middle of the night and took thirty or forty photos of him.
The boy seemed quite satisfied with his new digital camera, even more diligent than before in staking out for photos.
"So you're here..."
"We were just passing by, and coincidentally...said hello to Mrs. Loris." Harry quickly made up an excuse. He knew Colin's personality; if you answered one of his questions, countless more questions would follow.
So, nipping it in the bud was the way—
He squatted down, pretending to reach out to Mrs. Loris's cat, but the gray cat just gave Harry a cool glance, then it flicked its tail, got up, and slowly walked away along the corridor, disappearing from the three's sight.
"Uh, sorry, we have other things to do..." Harry awkwardly looked up at the gap there, turned his head to exchange a glance with Hermione, and after her assuring nod, he said to Colin, "So, we have to go now, as for the photos...next time, definitely next time."
With that, Harry grabbed his and Hermione's school bags and quickly left in the opposite direction Mrs. Loris departed.
"...You really are popular?"
Turning the corner, ensuring Colin didn't follow, the two found a deserted corner, and Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Hermione, you know—I don't want this."
Harry was a bit impatient; the current level of popularity was already starting to seriously affect his normal school life.
"Alright, I was just joking..." Hermione tossed her hair, somewhat dismissively.
"...Alright, now...you're thinking the same thing I am, right?" Harry nodded, suppressing the frustration in his heart, and asked.
"That night, we both saw it—Ron and Filch weren't hit by some charm as Dumbledore said, were they? They were both looking at the water on the floor—because there was a restroom next to it, and then they got petrified." Hermione nodded, her expression turning serious.
"Charm? I remember it was Lockhart who said that..." Harry muttered softly.
"Really? Maybe he misjudged...and a mistake once isn't much." Hermione grinned, trying to brush it off.
"If only it were once!" Harry said, visibly annoyed, with a somewhat rough tone, "That day, Lockhart made my bones disappear; do you know what it's like to have Bone Regeneration Potion?"
"That was just..." Hermione wanted to retort but ended up at a loss for words, so she changed the subject, "That incident isn't related to the attacks, we're not discussing Professor Lockhart now!"
Noticing Hermione's attempt to change the topic, Harry didn't plan on arguing further with her, so he smoothly shifted the conversation back on track, "Okay, so what you're trying to say is..."
"I collected some construction maps of Hogwarts recently—" Hermione pulled out a stack of drafts from her bag, and from those, she took out one relatively clear picture, "These are images I copied from 'Hogwarts: A History of the School'."
On the messy drafts, there was a rough outline of a castle, surrounded by annotated texts, almost guiding most of the rooms—woven into the castle bricks were intricate, twisted, and chaotic red lines...
"They're drainage pipes." Hermione explained.
"You mean, the monster from the Secret Chamber is hiding in these pipes?" Harry said, somewhat incredulous, frowning, "Then why have there been no more attacks after Halloween..."
"Although I don't know why the victims were petrified, this is definitely the most likely explanation—" Hermione hesitated, she speculated tentatively, "Maybe the Heir didn't open the Secret Chamber again?"
"...No, Malfoy would never give up this opportunity."
"What do you mean, Harry, you're saying Malfoy is the Heir of the Secret Chamber?"
"Who else would it be?" Harry's tone was a bit amazed, evidently not understanding why Hermione didn't suspect Malfoy, "Snape is a Half-Blood Wizard, and in all of Slytherin, Malfoy is the most likely one..."
"Uh, I thought you had evidence." Hermione subtly rolled her eyes, "If it's just that, actually, that transfer student William was also suspected by many people..."
"No, it could not possibly be William!" Harry declared confidently, although he didn't quite know where this confidence came from, "So what should we do? Even if we know the monster's hiding place, how do we persuade the Professor to inspect the drainage pipes?"
Harry looked down at the map, the maze of pipe lines making him a bit dizzy.
"Shrinking Potion—I originally thought it would be troublesome, went specifically to the Forbidden Book Area, but only a potion a third-year can learn is needed—it's simple, all the materials are even in the Potions Class material cabinet..."
Before Hermione could finish her plan, a serious look crossed Harry's face; he tilted his head, starting to listen carefully—
"Why, where are you…I'm so hungry…hungry, hungry, kill, I want to kill..."
Like whispers from a demon in hell, Harry's face visibly turned grim.
...
"..."
Looking at the two disappearing around the corner, Colin fiddled a bit dejectedly with the dial on his camera. The few photos just taken appeared on the display, he stared at the two figures almost hugging each other for a long while, finally noticing the direction Harry was looking at in the picture.
He looked up, and the neatly arranged gap at the center of the bricks caught his attention—
Take a shot?
The thought had barely formed when the boy instinctively raised the camera.
"Snap—"
In the darkness, a brilliant yellow light emerged.