Chapter 64 The Chamber of Secrets
Rita burst out of the door, displaying the excellent instincts of a professional reporter.
She didn't notice that in the office behind her, Lockhart was still sipping his tea with a smile, looking completely unhurried.
In fact, he couldn't rush.
After all, at such a crucial moment, he didn't want Professor McGonagall and the others to see him with a reporter in tow. That would be far too irritating.
Because…
The Chamber of Secrets had been opened!
By the time Lockhart stepped out of the office, the stairwell at the end of the corridor was already packed with whispering students, all looking secretive and occasionally pointing towards Harry Potter and his friends at the bottom of the stairs.
"Professor Lockhart!" A student spotted him and shouted excitedly, "Great, Professor Lockhart's here!"
This scene seemed somewhat familiar.
Oh, right, it was like the time Ron tried to cast the Slug-vomiting Charm on Draco, only for his damaged wand to backfire. Some students had called out with the same excitement then, as if a savior had arrived.
That time, Lockhart had wished everyone would just ignore him.
Unknowingly, things had changed.
He hurried forward, clutching the Self-Sticking Spellotape, nodding to the students who greeted him, appearing like a savior arriving at Harry Potter's side.
"Children, what has happened?"
His smile was always full of confidence that defied all difficulties, always radiating a gentle brilliance that instantly eased the tension among the young wizards.
"Professor…"
Hermione, somewhat agitated, pulled him forward, pushing past several older students, and pointed ahead. "Look!"
There on the wall ahead, between two windows, some blood-red words were smeared, glinting faintly in the light of the burning torches.
——The Chamber of Secrets has been opened.
——Enemies of the Heir, beware.
Yes, this was the inscription from the original story, Lockhart knew.
The crucial point was that below these two lines, there was an additional line of writing that he didn't remember.
——All who betray me and declare themselves against me will be punished!
This was very interesting.
For Tom Riddle, this line made no difference, but for certain groups, it was like a bolt from the blue!
As for which groups…
Just look at the victims of the Basilisk this time.
The window beside the writing was pushed open, and Professor McGonagall looked at him sternly. "Professor Lockhart, you'd better come and take a look."
Lockhart quickly entered through the door of the nearby classroom and was immediately confronted by the sight of two young wizards frozen mid-laughter, their expressions indescribably eerie.
It was Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe, Malfoy's two cronies.
Draco was curled up on the floor nearby, shivering, looking utterly terrified.
Professor Snape was examining him. After standing up, he recounted softly with a grave expression, "All three of them were present. Draco claims he was sitting in that chair thinking, and when he realized there was no sound behind him, they were already like this."
He gestured towards a corner of the classroom, a spot facing away from Goyle and Crabbe.
Lockhart pursed his lips and remained silent, slowly walking over to Goyle and Crabbe. He followed their line of sight towards the nearby window, which had been hit by a Stinksap and was now somewhat obscured.
"They appear to have been Petrified," Professor Flitwick, the Charms professor, concluded after examining them.
Petrification in the common understanding of wizarding magic usually described a state where a wizard's body became as stiff as stone, not literally turning into stone.
The most famous example was the Full Body-Bind Curse, whose incantation was Petrificus Totalus.
Professor Flitwick attempted several counter-curses and unlocking spells, and then, standing on tiptoe, waved his wand in front of Goyle and Crabbe's eyes. Finally, he shook his head regretfully. "However, unlike the Full Body-Bind Curse, which only immobilizes the body without affecting the eyes, they appear to be completely Petrified."
Lockhart nodded. A wisp of black smoke escaped from his robe pocket, landed in his palm, and was held up in front of Goyle and Crabbe.
"Their consciousness is completely dormant."
He shook his head at Professor Snape and the others. "Even a Boggart can't sense their inner thoughts."
Just then, the classroom door was pushed open again, and Dumbledore strode in, followed by the castle caretaker, Filch.
Dumbledore, carrying the Elder Wand, had a tight expression on his face. Clearly, he had just investigated various corners of the castle but found nothing.
Filch shouted beside him, "It's Harry Potter, it must be him! Many people saw it. Potter and his friends were sneaking around the castle suspiciously, and then everyone caught them near this wall. They even said they heard Parseltongue and followed it, saying a snake was saying 'kill him' or some such nonsense. Humph, who doesn't know Harry Potter is a Parselmouth? Only he can understand those disgusting snakes…"
"Mr. Filch!"
Lockhart interrupted his long tirade, shaking his head at him. "I was the one who taught the children Parseltongue. They can all understand it."
"???" Filch blinked, utterly unable to comprehend that speaking to snakes could be taught.
Even Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Flitwick looked at Lockhart with astonishment.
"You taught them Parseltongue?" Professor Snape's expression turned peculiar.
Lockhart shrugged, spreading his hands. "Parseltongue is also a branch of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Why wouldn't I teach it?"
As the saying went, having more skills was never a burden in the wizarding world. Having an extra skill meant an extra means of survival. How wonderful.
Dumbledore clearly didn't see it that way. He looked at Lockhart thoughtfully, his half-moon spectacles glinting slightly.
Lockhart obviously knew something but was unwilling to say it. Dumbledore knew and understood.
But that didn't mean he intended to maintain this attitude while the children at his school were being attacked. If the other party wouldn't speak, he could listen himself.
Unfortunately…
He couldn't hear anything.
Or rather, he heard everything.
A dozen voices roared in Lockhart's mind, some screaming heart-wrenchingly, some cackling hysterically, and some even sounded like distorted voices overlapping from childhood to old age…
Lockhart's head was filled with clamor.
Dumbledore had never imagined that Professor Lockhart, who usually smiled so brightly, maintained such a terrifying state in his mind every moment.
Frankly, any ordinary person would probably have gone mad long ago.
Dumbledore's Legilimency only lasted a short while before he couldn't bear the voices and had to stop casting the spell, sighing inwardly.
Stealing someone else's memories indeed came at a price.
This world never had anything that was gained without effort. Fate had long secretly marked the price for everything.
On the way to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing with the two poor Petrified students, Dumbledore stopped Lockhart. "I haven't found any trace of Rita Skeeter leaving."
Lockhart was taken aback. "She left after finishing the interview with me. You don't suspect her of opening the Chamber of Secrets, do you?"
Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle. "If she did, then my judgment has truly failed me."
But he indeed hadn't sensed any trace of Rita leaving Hogwarts, as if she had vanished into thin air. He had no idea where she had gone.
He soon found out.
The next morning at breakfast, a flood of owls swooped into the Great Hall, and a massive pile of Daily Prophets nearly buried the headmaster.
Lockhart naturally had one too. His original self had a long-standing subscription to these newspapers to keep track of all reports about himself.
Today's front-page headline read: Hogwarts Suffers Major Attack! Two Students Already Harmed!
Two photos were placed side by side in the center of the page.
One was a picture of the bloodstains on the wall, taken from a perfectly chosen angle. Surrounded by countless students, the school caretaker Filch was pointing angrily at the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, and shouting something.
The other was a photo of the classroom inside the wall. In it, Dumbledore stood with a grave face beside the Petrified Goyle and Crabbe, half his face obscured by shadow, making him look particularly menacing.
As for the content of the report…
The words were so wildly provocative, designed to stir up the readers' emotions. Honestly, if Lockhart were Dumbledore, he would immediately want to kill Rita, that reporter who reveled in others' misfortunes.
Of course, he was actually more curious about something else.
He wondered about the current emotions of Voldemort's former followers, those Death Eaters and other supporters who had each pleaded in the Wizengamot court that they had been bewitched by the Dark Lord to escape punishment.
The blood-red sentence in the photo, "All who betray me and declare themselves against me will be punished!" must have been particularly jarring to them.
Oh~
Let him think, who were they?
Lucius Malfoy! (Member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families)
Old Crabbe! (Member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families)
Old Goyle! (Member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families)
Old Nott! (Member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families)
Young Avery! (Member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families)
Igor Karkaroff! (Current Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute)
Corban Yaxley! (Current Ministry of Magic official)
Walden Macnair! (Current Ministry of Magic employee, responsible for executing dangerous magical creatures)
Fenrir Greyback! (Current leader of a werewolf pack)
…
There were far too many. Back then, these people thought Voldemort was truly dead. They either claimed to have been under a death threat or directly said they were controlled by the Imperius Curse. In any case, their story was consistent—they were irreconcilably opposed to evil.
Now, evil had returned.
The Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts had been opened, and a monster released. The descendants of many of these people were in this school. First Goyle and Crabbe, who would be next?
Perhaps, even those outside the Chamber?
Now…
These people would probably be even more against Voldemort's return than Dumbledore, hehe.
This was just the appetizer!
Voldemort, enjoy it!
The still young Tom Riddle couldn't tolerate any opposition. He was too naive, directly treating those who betrayed him as enemies, not understanding the need for compromise.
Old Voldy, little Tom is frantically dismantling your forces, pushing your followers to your opposite side. What will you do?
Rush into Hogwarts and kill Tom Riddle?
If that were the case, Voldemort's wraith versus Tom Riddle's soul would be incredibly interesting.
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