HP Star Shining

"I don't know." Ron shook his head.

"Then why did she suddenly want to go to the library?"

"That's her style," Ron shrugged helplessly. "Whenever she has questions, she runs to the library."

Su Xingchen looked at the direction where Hermione disappeared with some uneasiness. If nothing unexpected happened, Hermione would turn into a stone statue this time.

She lowered her eyes and secretly warned herself not to be soft-hearted and just watch quietly. She would just turn into a stone statue, and she would be rescued once Harry got rid of the basilisk.

If her intervention caused Hermione to look directly into the Basilisk's eyes instead of seeing it in the mirror, then she would be unforgivable.

Harry didn't hear the sound again, and he stood there hesitant, not knowing whether to continue looking for the source of the sound.

People slowly poured out of the Great Hall and headed to the Quidditch pitch.

"I think you'd better hurry up, it's almost eleven o'clock," Ron reminded him.

Harry finally decided to let the matter go, and the three of them followed the bustling crowd.

As Harry changed into his bright red robes in the dressing room, the only comfort he had was the fact that everyone was watching the game on the Quidditch pitch.

The players walked towards the field amidst thunderous cheers. On the other side, the Hufflepuff players in pale yellow robes were discussing tactics at the last minute.

"Xingchen, what's wrong with you? You seem restless."

"Huh? It's okay, I was just too nervous."

Ron was puzzled. Could Xingchen also be nervous about the game? He had always thought she wasn't very interested in Quidditch.

Harry was about to mount his broomstick when Professor McGonagall came running across the field, a large purple megaphone in her hand.

Seeing Professor McGonagall, Su Xingchen stood up and ran quickly to the Gryffindor common room.

Ron didn't understand what was going on, so he had to follow Su Xingchen and run downstairs.

"The match is cancelled." Professor McGonagall shouted to the crowd in the stadium with a loudspeaker, "All students must return to the college common room. The college head will inform you of the details there. Please leave as soon as possible."

There was a sudden sigh from the crowd in the stadium.

Professor McGonagall ignored them and motioned Harry forward. "Potter, I think you'd better come with me."

Harry was wondering why he was doubting himself again when he saw Su Xingchen trying hard to squeeze through the crowd, with Ron following behind.

"Professor..." Su Xingchen ran to Professor McGonagall and stopped.

"Well, maybe you've arrived just in time, Sue. Come along. Weasley too."

Students crowded around them, some complaining about the cancellation of the game, others looking nervous.

The three followed Professor McGonagall, but this time they didn't go to anyone's office.

"Perhaps you will be shocked." Professor McGonagall's tone was surprisingly gentle as they approached the hospital. "Another attack has occurred. A double attack."

Su Xingchen's heart began to churn violently, and his eyes widened instantly. Double?

Professor McGonagall pushed open the door and saw Madam Pomfrey bending over to check on a Ravenclaw girl with long curly hair. Harry recognized her as the girl whom he and Ron had asked about the location of the Slytherin common room last time.

On the bed beside her—

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed.

Hermione lay there motionless, her eyes wide and glassy.

"They were found near the library," Professor McGonagall said with a heavy heart. "I don't think any of you can explain why. This was found next to them."

Professor McGonagall held up a small round mirror.

Harry and Ron shook their heads. Su Xingchen stared at the statue of Hermione, not daring to move forward.

"I'll escort you back to Gryffindor Tower. I have to go speak to the students anyway."

The Gryffindor students huddled in the common room, listening silently to Professor McGonagall.

"All students must be back in the common room by six o'clock. No student is allowed to leave the dormitory. Each class will be escorted by a teacher, and no student may use the bathroom without a teacher. All Quidditch matches will be postponed, and no evening activities will be held."

Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment she had just read and said in a deep, choked voice, "The school will most likely be closed unless the perpetrators of these attacks are caught."

After she left, the Gryffindor students began to chatter.

After a heated discussion, everyone found that the majority of people attacked were Gryffindors, with some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs also attacked, but only Slytherins had no one attacked.

The Heir of Slytherin, the Monster of Slytherin. Everyone agreed that the attacker must be a Slytherin.

Percy was unusually slow to express his opinion; he looked pale and frightened.

George leaned over quietly, "That Ravenclaw girl, Penelope Clearwater, was a prefect. Percy probably used to think that monsters wouldn't dare attack prefects."

But Harry didn't seem to be listening carefully. He couldn't get rid of the image of Hermione lying on the bed, stiff and inert as a stone statue. If the murderer was not found, the school would close and he would have to go back to spend the rest of his life with the Dursleys.

Tom Riddle had told on Hagrid because he would have to go back to the orphanage if the school closed, and Harry could now completely empathize with him.

"What should we do?" Ron whispered in Harry's ear. "Do you think they'll suspect Hagrid?"

"We have to go talk to him." Harry decided, "I can't believe it's him this time, but since he released the monster last time, Hagrid must know how to get into the Chamber of Secrets. This is a breakthrough."

"But Professor McGonagall said we have to stay in the tower unless we're in class."

"I think," Harry said softly, "that now is the time to get my father's cloak out and use it."

"Should we call Xingchen?"

Harry looked at Su Xingchen, who was sitting in an armchair without saying a word. Her face did not show the same fear as Percy's. She just seemed to be still immersed in the attack on Hermione. After all, she and Hermione had spent the longest time together since they came to Hogwarts.

"Don't tell her, we'll go on our own."

Ron nodded, "Okay, I feel like Xingchen is a little weird today."

Su Xingchen returned to the dormitory in a daze, sitting on the bed with her arms around her legs. The twins in the same dormitory thought she was worried about Hermione and tried to comfort her.

In fact, she was thinking of something else.

Su Xingchen felt as if there was a hand in the dark, controlling the plot and manipulating the world.

She had just come up with the idea of ​​saving Hermione from being petrified today, but subsequent developments told her that it was a good thing she didn't do it. If she had pulled Hermione away today, then that Ravenclaw girl, Penelope Clearwater, might have died.

She was not familiar with the original plot, and the experience of the Ravenclaw girl seemed to remind her not to attempt to change the plot.

Meanwhile, on this starry night, Harry and Ron put on their invisibility cloaks and went to Hagrid's hunting cabin.

The next morning, Su Xingchen, who had just come out of the dormitory, was dragged to a remote courtyard by Harry and Ron.

"Follow the spider." Ron spitted as he spoke of the thrilling incident that happened to the two of them last night. "I will never forgive Hagrid. We are lucky to be alive."

"It's really lucky." Su Xingchen nodded. It turned out that while she was thinking about this and that last night, Harry and Ron had already gone over the spider plot.

There were only two of them in the original plot, and in reality, there were only two of them. If it were any other time, she might have noticed something, but she really didn't have the heart to care about them last night.

"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt us."

"That's the problem with Hagrid!" Ron hammered the wall hard. "He always thought monsters weren't as bad as people made them out to be. Look what happened to him, he was thrown into a cell in Azkaban." Thinking of the horrific experience last night, Ron began to tremble uncontrollably. "What's the point of sending us there? I don't know what we've figured out!"

"It turned out that Hagrid was innocent and he never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry.

Su Xingchen was silent for a moment, "Didn't Aragog tell you that the dead girl was found in the bathroom fifty years ago?"

Harry looked at her sharply. "You mean..."

"What if she's always been there and never left?"

Ron frowned, then realization dawned on him. "You mean—Moaning Myrtle?"

Unfortunately, it is no longer so convenient to find Myrtle. It is almost impossible to avoid the teacher and sneak into the bathroom for a long time, especially since this bathroom is right next to the scene of the first crime.

In the first Transfiguration class in the morning, Professor McGonagall just entered the classroom and told everyone that the exam would be held a week later on June 1st.

Everyone immediately complained.

"Even under such extraordinary circumstances, the school has not closed. Our goal is to ensure that you receive an education," she said sternly. "Therefore, the exams will proceed as usual. I believe you will all study diligently."

Studying seriously? Hagrid had been arrested, Dumbledore had gone to the Ministry of Magic, and Harry had never imagined that Hogwarts was in such a state. He actually had to take exams?

He simply couldn't think of anything he had studied this year that would allow him to pass the exam.

"Can you imagine me taking an exam with this lousy thing?" Ron asked, raising his wand, which had just made a sharp whistling sound.

Su Xingchen looked at him sympathetically.

With only three days left until the exams, Professor McGonagall announced some good news at breakfast.

Instead of becoming quiet, the auditorium became noisy.

"Dumbledore is coming back!"

"You've captured the Heir of Slytherin!"

"Quidditch is back!"

After the noise died down, Professor McGonagall said, "Professor Sprout told me that the mandrakes are ready to be harvested. Tomorrow night we can bring the petrified people back to life. Perhaps one of them can tell us who attacked them."

Everyone burst into cheers.