A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Felix found it difficult to understand Professor Lockhart.

He had seen through this man's true nature—a businessman who sold books by fabricating stories and self-promotion.

As for magical abilities, I returned them to my teacher long ago upon graduation.

This author's tactic is to name the protagonist of the story after himself and shamelessly use the "autobiography" label to make money.

This kind of thing isn't uncommon in the Muggle world, but the wizarding world isn't so open-minded; in some ways, it could even be described as quite naive. If you claim in a book that it's your own adventure, everyone will choose to believe you—and that constitutes fraud, which, once exposed, will basically lead to your complete disgrace.

Doesn't he know this himself? If he does, why is he still acting so arrogantly? And why is he performing in front of some of the most outstanding wizards in the British wizarding world?

To be honest, Felix didn't understand at all.

He and Lockhart are completely different kinds of people.

"Silence." With Lockhart's arrival, Dumbledore presided over the meeting.

"A second attack occurred just an hour ago, and the victim was petrified, just like Mrs. Norris," Dumbledore said, his voice heavy.

"But this time the nature of the crime is completely different. The victim is a young wizard, a first-year student, which means—" His deep blue eyes swept around with an extremely oppressive look, "the secret chamber has really been opened."

"Hogwarts is facing a crisis!"

All the professors became solemn.

Next, Professor McGonagall recounted the information about the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened. She pursed her lips and began to tell the story: "The Chamber of Secrets was opened once, fifty years ago."

"A student died as a result. Her name was Myrtle Elizabeth Warren, and yes, she remains at Hogwarts to this day as a ghost of the school."

"However, the secret room has been closed since then, and it remains closed to this day—"

“So, you’re saying,” Lockhart eagerly offered his opinion, “the attacks are over? I mean, one student has already been affected, hasn’t he? I’ve seen quite a few similar cases, like the Lake Morgan Monster, which appears every thirty years, and ever since I gave the residents there my homemade amulet, they haven’t been bothered by it anymore…”

Professor McGonagall pressed her lips together even tighter, and said in a very unusually loud voice, "I must remind you, Professor Lockhart! Colin Crevy is merely petrified; he is not dead."

Dumbledore echoed McGonagall's words, "That's right. None of us know if the monster will launch another attack, or if the consequences will be merely petrification. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them."

Professor McGonagall said, "I have arranged for prefects to patrol the area and strictly prohibit young wizards from going to secluded places. For first and second year wizards, they must line up to go to and from get out of class and try to minimize going out alone."

"Very good, Minerva," Dumbledore praised.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Felix felt it necessary to share the information he possessed, "my focus has always been on the Chamber of Secrets. There are three key words surrounding the Chamber of Secrets—"

He glanced at the crowd. "Unknown monster, the heir of Slytherin, the location of the Chamber of Secrets."

"Knowing just one point allows us to uncover the truth."

Dumbledore closed his long fingers, seemingly in thought. "Please continue, Felix."

"Unknown monster, why don't we connect it to Slytherin? Slytherin's symbol is a snake, so perhaps this monster is also a snake, which would solve the question of how it appeared in the castle—through the pipes that are all over Hogwarts."

As everyone pondered, Snape spoke, in his usual lukewarm and indifferent tone: "Felix, the symbol of Slytherin may be the snake, but that's only because he's a Parselmouth. If you studied him even slightly, you'd find that he's a master of bloodlines, and the magical bloodlines he researches are beyond your imagination."

"But we can't rule that out, can we?"

"Ha! That unknown monster murdered a witch fifty years ago, and fifty years later, all it did was petrify..." Snape stared at Felix with his stone-like eyes. "If I understand correctly, Felix, it's not the same monster?"

Felix shook his head. "I can't explain it either, so my opinion is just for your reference."

He continued, "As for the heir to Slytherin, I can think of two possibilities: active or passive."

"Perhaps this heir is lucid, aware of what he is doing, such as inheriting Slytherin's will and expelling the young wizards from Muggle families. But it's also possible that he accidentally obtained Slytherin's relics and was controlled by them."

Dumbledore looked up. "A very insightful point. You've broadened our perspective."

He seemed thoughtful. "We've overlooked this point in the past. It seems we need to strengthen ideological education for our students."

Felix's "manipulation theory" sparked a discussion among the professors. He paused briefly before continuing, "As for the location of the secret chamber, I have no idea. Perhaps we could inquire with the portraits and ghosts in the castle?"

After a long silence, an elderly professor spoke hesitantly, "I shouldn't have said this, but I think Hogwarts is at a crucial juncture, and every clue is important..."

Felix looked at the old professor, Silvanus Kettleburn, who had been his teacher in the Conservation of Magical Creatures class when he was in school, though he was said to be planning to retire.

This professor was known for his love of studying and caring for dangerous creatures, and he set an unprecedented record by serving as a probationary officer 62 times during his tenure at the university.

If Felix were to comment, he'd be just another version of Hagrid.

At that moment, Kettleburn said, "That boy is definitely not a bad person, but if you ask me, if he, like me... made a mistake out of curiosity," he paused, and said a name: "Rupert Hagrid."

“It wasn’t him, Silva,” Dumbledore said firmly. “I was the Transfiguration professor at the school back then, and I know he’s innocent, but I had no proof… Under pressure, Headmaster Depp fired him.”

"This was a serious mistake; we failed to catch the real culprit."

After the meeting, Dumbledore assigned a series of tasks. For now, the focus should be on prevention. In addition to daily patrols, they also need to urge the young wizards in the classroom not to believe any nonsense about magical items.

When Felix went outside, he saw Lockhart talking to Dumbledore.

The principal's expression was quite intriguing.