The Return to Hogwarts

“This means,” Amostella said calmly, gripping his wand tightly and stopping his attempts, gazing at a small section of exposed pipe.

"Salazar Slytherin cast many powerful spells on his Chamber of Secrets, including anti-locating spells, which thwarted my plan to find the Chamber directly using magic."

To be honest, this is quite a troublesome matter. Hogwarts Castle has stood for a thousand years, and no one knows how many times the castle's drainage system has been modified. In fact, the original blueprints for the castle may have even been lost.

Amos Tower's words clearly disappointed Harry and Hermione. After all, this was the closest they had ever been to the monster in the Chamber of Secrets since the incident began.

In the dim light, Harry frowned as he stared at the section of pipe. For some reason, ever since Professor Blaine had guessed in the office that the sound he had been hearing was from a snake, he had had a vague sense of unease, as if he had forgotten something important.

"Then what should we do now, Professor?"

Hermione, oblivious to Harry's strange silence, asked with concern,

"Should we tell Headmaster Dumbledore about this discovery?"

"Not for now, Miss Granger—"

Amosta rejected the suggestion without hesitation. He wasn't necessarily going to be the first to discover the Chamber of Secrets, but he had to be before Dumbledore. Otherwise, what would he use to explain himself once Dumbledore had taken away the magical creatures from the Chamber?

Amosta jumped down from the half-wall and waved his hand, restoring the wall to its original state.

"The pipes inside the walls are connected to the entire castle's sewage system. Unless there's no other way, I try not to go in with the Bubble Head Curse and search through each pipe one by one."

Over the next few days, I plan to spend more time in the library. First, to figure out what kind of snake was in the Chamber of Secrets. Second, to see if I can get lucky and find the original architectural plans for Hogwarts Castle. Although the plans probably won't mark the location of the Chamber of Secrets, at least some clues might help me pinpoint its approximate location.

“Is there anything I can do to help, Professor Blaine?” Hermione asked hopefully.

“Of course, Miss Granger—”

Amosta led the two of them downstairs, and when asked, he smiled.

“I’ve heard from other professors that finding key information from vast amounts of text is your forte, Miss Granger. You can participate in the two things I just mentioned, but I try not to take up your usual study time.”

If I haven't found the answer by next Saturday, you can come to the library and help me out.

Because of the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical class on Friday, Ron spent almost two whole days lying in his dorm bed. Now, he no longer dared to stubbornly say that it was lucky he didn't have to fight the eight-eyed spider with the third, fourth, and fifth graders.

“I’m starting to agree with Malfoy’s assessment of Professor Blaine, Harry—”

When Harry returned to his dormitory, preoccupied with his own thoughts, Ron stared listlessly at the four-poster bed curtains and said...

"Who in their right mind would carry something like that around and show it to young wizards? It should be the Aurors who deal with those terrifying dark creatures!"

After Harry recounted everything that had happened that evening, Ron, who had been half-dead, immediately transformed. His eyes sparkled with anticipation, and he eagerly pressed for more information.

"Did Professor Blaine explain to you in detail how to hide magic in your eyes?"

Sometimes, Ron's obliviousness can be really frustrating, Harry said irritably.

“That’s definitely not a simple spell, Ron. Even a genius like Professor Blaine took a considerable amount of time to master the spell he designed himself!”

Ron pursed his lips, glanced at Seamus, Neville, and Dean who were chatting and laughing together, and then spoke in a more serious tone.

"Regardless of whether that old madman in Slytherin was hiding a snake in the Chamber of Secrets or not, Harry, I think that as long as Professor Blaine is still in the school, his successor won't dare to continue his activities. Once Colin and Justin Finley from Hufflepuff have returned to normal, this matter should be completely resolved!"

“It’s not that I disagree with Professor Blaine’s deduction, Ron.”

Harry frowned and said in a low voice,

“I just feel like I’ve overlooked something. And I think he’d better find the Chamber of Secrets before the Board of Governors lets Professor Blaine leave Hogwarts. Otherwise, if that monster causes trouble again someday, who will we be able to rely on? I think something’s wrong here, Ron!”

As Harry lay in bed, a sudden inspiration struck him. He jumped out of bed, his eyes wide open, ignoring Ron's astonished gaze, and pounced on his desk, opening his backpack and rummaging through it.

Just now, Harry suddenly remembered something: he had actually seen the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, in the memories that Tom Riddle had shown him!

It was a huge, hairy, low-lying body with several dark legs tangled together, many gleaming eyes, and two pincers as sharp as knives. In any case, that thing did not look like a snake!

Harry frowned and looked serious as he opened the notebook, wondering what had gone wrong.

Professor Blaine's theory sounded perfectly reasonable; it explained why no one but himself could hear the terrifying sound. Who would have thought that the monster would move in such a stealthy way through the pipe?

However, the unknown past that Riddle showed him also contained an undeniable fact: after Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, there were no more attacks at the school, and Riddle himself was even awarded a special contribution award by the school for this.

“Harry, I think you’d better throw this notebook away. I’m starting to feel like there’s something weird about this Tom Riddle—”

Sitting on the bed, Ron frowned as he watched Harry open the notebook on the table and then immediately pick up the quill pen.

"Don't talk nonsense, Ron. Riddle's memories have taught us some very valuable things, haven't they?"

Harry said without turning his head, and almost the instant the ink dripped onto the notebook, the elegant handwriting immediately reappeared on the blank paper.

"--Hello, Harry Potter. I thought that after learning the truth about the Chamber of Secrets, I had been forgotten by you and buried in some corner of the bookshelf, awaiting another fifty years of darkness and oblivion. By the way, I think Rupert Hagrid is still in this school. Have you told anyone else about the truth in my memory?"

Harry blushed slightly, but he didn't have time for pleasantries with Riddledore. Instead, he went straight to the point and told him about his discovery that evening.

"--Riddle, do you think you might have made a mistake? In my opinion, Professor Blaine's guess is more reasonable. However, the monster you showed me in my memory, although I didn't see it clearly, was obviously not a snake?"

This time, the notebook didn't answer Harry's question immediately; it seemed that what Harry said had also confused it. Two minutes later, the notebook displayed its question in messy handwriting.

"Could you tell me more about Professor Blaine?"

Chapter 74 Approaching

On Monday noon, Harry sat at the table with a gloomy expression. The mountain of syrup fruit tarts, grilled eel, roast beef, and lamb chops in front of him failed to whet his appetite. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Great Hall, Draco Malfoy's bizarre imitations further worsened Harry's mood.

"Seriously, Harry!"

Ron, sitting next to him, looked at him with concern and said...

"I think you might have lost your mind because of that notebook. Otherwise, how could you dare to take off your earmuffs while taking care of the mandrake?"

During this morning's Herbology class, Professor Sprout assigned them to help repot some thriving mandrakes into brighter pots. As a result, Harry, who was upset by Riddle last night, for some reason simply took off his earmuffs.

The consequences of doing so were obvious: the screams of dozens of mandrakes that were about to mature caused Harry to fall headfirst into the ridge. Professor Sprout was so frightened by this unexpected scene that he screamed and almost fainted.

“It is indeed very suspicious, Harry—”

Hermione glanced at Professor Blaine, who had huge dark circles under his eyes, sitting at the faculty table, then frowned and looked at Harry.

"Why do you think that a notebook that has been in a dark and sunless environment for fifty years is more reasonable than Professor Blaine's speculation?"

Harry couldn't convince himself that his terrible condition this morning had nothing to do with the notebook, but Riddle's speculation in the notebook seemed to make some sense. Riddle believed that the sound he heard in Professor Lockhart's office before the attack on Mrs. Lorris was probably just an ordinary snake hunting its prey in the pipes.

Riddle's memory holds true: fifty years ago, the monster Hagrid kept, whose name he couldn't recall, killed a girl in the bathroom.

"--Headmaster Deppet was wiser than Dumbledore. Harry, the Ministry of Magic back then was also more objective than it is now. If they hadn't confirmed this, how could they have so easily expelled a young wizard from school?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. Judging from the outcome of the series of attacks fifty years ago, Riddle was undoubtedly right, but emotionally, they preferred to believe Professor Blaine's guess.

"Let's put this on hold for now, Harry."

Hermione frowned and said,

“This weekend, I can go to the library with Professor Blaine to look for some information… If I can find a snake that can kill and turn people to stone, Harry, I think it’s time for you to hand over the notebook!”

Are you discussing this afternoon's practical lesson?

Then, Neville stretched out his chubby head, his round little eyes full of worry.

"Oh, damn it, I forgot about that!"

Hermione looked up at Professor Blaine, who was discussing something with Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall, and slammed her hand on the table. Even Harry gasped.

Because the number of young wizards voluntarily participating in practical classes has decreased significantly, Amosta spent half of Monday afternoon's Defense Against the Dark Arts class talking to the first and second-year wizards about the traps that some ancient wizards liked to set up in the ruins when exploring unknown magical ruins, and what methods dark wizards outside usually use when poisoning people. Only the remaining half of the time was spent leading the group of young wizards to the classroom on the eighth floor of the castle where the Infernal was hidden.

"Do you really think that a 'freelancer' who runs errands, finds potion ingredients, and delivers goods would know so much about the habits of dark wizards?"

On the way to the eighth floor, Simo whispered to Dean.

"I have a cousin who used to be an Auror, but he retired due to injury--"

Dean's tone and expression were very mysterious.

“He once told me that there is a type of person who is not an employee of the Ministry of Magic, but makes a living by arresting dark wizards. These people are privately known as bounty hunters. I believe that Professor Blaine was a wizard hunter who hunted dark wizards before he entered Hogwarts!”

Dean's deduction was accepted by many people, and even Hermione blinked with a thoughtful expression.

"There is no reasonable explanation other than this!"

Ron, who had already decided to withdraw from the practical course, said to Harry in a serious tone,

“I did hear my father say that the Ministry of Magic sometimes collaborates with unofficial special agents to combat villains like dark wizards and smugglers. These people are all very capable, but they don't like being bound by rules, which is why they haven't chosen to join the Ministry of Magic.”

Although Amosta, who was walking at the front, did not turn around, his powerful magic gave him keen senses, and he heard every whisper of the young wizards.

Bounty hunter, huh?

Amostah smiled inwardly. He wasn't a bounty hunter who hunted down dark wizards; rather, he was a dark wizard hunted down by bounty hunters.

"So--"

Amosta, standing before the oak door, turned to the solemn-looking young wizards and called out their names aloud.

"Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Daphne Greengrass, Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbott, Ginny Weasley, Michael Corner, Blaise Sabine, Theodore Nott, Eloise Middlegen, Terry Boot, those whose names I've called, please pair up and enter the maze in the classroom in order."

Amosta glanced at Potter and Malfoy, whose faces had turned pale, and smiled.

"This maze has a memory function; it has recorded your progress from your last challenge. I hope you can make the most of this last chance. By the way, if anyone manages to defeat the dark creatures in the maze, I will add fifty points to their academy's score!"

Gulu!

Harry swallowed hard. In addition to fear, there was something else in Beatrice's eyes. How many times in a student's entire life can a young wizard earn fifty points for their house? Many young wizards probably wouldn't get that many points from first year to seventh year combined!

Hermione became visibly anxious. She suddenly realized that when she was away from textbooks and materials, her ability to react on the spot seemed to be far from what she was satisfied with.