Sharing secrets is the most direct way to get closer to each other. After listening to Professor Blaine telling his secrets and calming down, Harry was obviously a little embarrassed. He looked at Hermione hesitantly, and Hermione received his questioning look. Min was obviously a little hesitant.
"Why, do you also have something to share with me?"
Amosta stood up and went to the fireplace, picked up the boiling kettle from the shelf and poured himself a cup of tea. By the time he returned to his seat, Hermione and Harry had obviously reached some kind of consensus.
"Professor Brain, do you think hearing sounds that others can't hear is a good talent?"
Looking at Harry who was hesitant, Amosta knew that his behavior of establishing a good relationship with them intentionally or unintentionally during this period was finally about to pay off. He hid his expression in the curling clouds and replied very gently. ,
"It depends on the situation, Potter. I can't make an accurate judgment based on a simple sentence."
A suffocating silence fell suddenly, Hermione kept her mouth shut, and Harry looked uneasy.
Professor Brain was a professor he liked very much, but the purpose of the other person's entry into Hogwarts was not to teach. It was Professor Brain's job to investigate the secret room incident. If possible, Harry hoped to give him some help. , of course, provided that you or Dobby and Hagrid are not involved.
The best case scenario is for Professor Brain to find the secret room or the monster in the secret room, and then the whole thing ends there, and no one will be held accountable.
"--This is the situation,"
Harry spoke carefully, choosing his words carefully and trying to convince Professor Blaine that he knew only a little bit.
"When I first entered your office, you asked me why we came to the third floor after attending Nick's death anniversary party on Halloween night last year... In fact, it was because I heard A strange voice that first appeared in Professor Lockhart's office."
For the next ten minutes, Harry explained the causes and consequences of the strange voice. After listening to all this, Amosta leaned back in his chair expressionlessly and fell into deep contemplation.
"What exactly do you think that noise is coming from?"
"Are you sure you were the only one who heard that voice, Mr. Potter?"
Amosta did not rush to express his opinion, but confirmed again.
"Indeed, Professor Blaine--"
Hermione nodded cautiously, "Harry, I and Ron were staying together at the time, but except for Harry, neither Ron nor I noticed anything wrong."
Amosta nodded clearly. He carefully recalled the journey from the basement to the third floor. Under the eager gaze of the two young wizards, he said in a very slow tone,
"If I guess correctly, the one who made that sound should be a snake--"
"A snake!"
Harry screamed, and Hermione looked like she had been struck by lightning. Professor Blaine's simple guess broke through the fog that had been lingering in her heart for a long time.
"Yes, it must be, Harry!"
Hermione stood up from the chair with a whoosh, her face turned red, and her fingertips were trembling because she was so excited.
"It all makes sense... Only you can hear that sound, of course, Harry, because you're a Parseltongue and no one can understand the sound of a snake except you." What does it mean!”
"But!"
Harry, who was thinking along Hermione's train of thought, refuted,
"At that time, there were only a lot of ghosts in the basement and corridors except the three of us. If there really is a snake, it can't hide itself in the wall, right, Hermione?"
"maybe..."
Harry's words made Hermione frown, and she hesitated to answer,
"If the snake is small enough, maybe it can let itself swim in the cracks of the bricks... Or maybe it has a special ability to travel freely through the walls. After all, normal snakes are You won't be able to turn anyone to stone, Harry!"
Hermione's guess did have some possibility, but it was just a possibility.
"As long as anything has existed, no matter how careful you are, it will definitely leave traces--"
Amosta stood up with a smile. He seemed to be in a good mood as he finally had something to do. He waved his wand, collected all the letters scattered on the table on the floor, and then looked at Harry and Hermione.
"Let's go to the scene and take a look. Maybe we can find some interesting clues!"
...
The night was dark, and there were not many little wizards wandering around the castle on Sunday night. Most of them stayed in the common room to catch up on their homework or play a game of wizard chess, Gobstone or other games with their friends.
When they passed the second floor, they saw Filch yelling and threatening the two first-year wizards to wipe the muddy water on the floor, otherwise they would be tied up with chains and hung in the office. Kind-hearted Amos Ta conveniently helped the two little wizards.
"There's no need to be so harsh on the little wizard, Filch--"
Facing Filch, who looked unconvinced but didn't dare to resist a professor's order, Amosta smiled gently.
"It won't take long for Professor Sprout's mandrake to mature, and the poor Mrs. Norris will soon be restored to health--"
The three of them came to a corridor leading to the basement near the foyer. It was pitch black without any light. At the joints between the walls and the floor, there were still traces of a row of black candles placed here when Nick held a death anniversary party. Candle liquid.
"I was standing right here--"
More than four months later, Harry still vividly remembered what happened that night. He quickly led Hermione and Professor Blaine to the halfway point of the corridor, pointed at the wall and said,
"The sound appeared in the wall, then went up the ceiling, and finally took us to the third floor!"
Amosta lit his wand, and his eyes followed Harry's guidance little by little on the surface of the wall. Finally, he nodded and said,
"It seems that we need to open this wall and take a look."
"Open the wall?!" Hermione clicked her tongue, with a look of disbelief on her face.
"Of course, Miss Granger, how else are we going to figure out how the snake is swimming inside the wall--"
Amosta said in a relaxed tone. He raised his wand and made a few random gestures in the air. With a few flashes of light, the hard wall was cut open as easily as tofu.
And when what was behind the wall was exposed to the air, all the doubts were answered.
It's a pipe!
Behind the rock wall, pipes covered with mold emitted a disgusting stench. If you listened carefully, you could hear the sound of running water inside.
"I always thought the wall was solid..." muttered a stunned Harry.
"Now the problem is all clear!" Hermione's face turned a little pale, "I can't imagine how thick a snake can be hidden in such a big pipe!"
"There are still many problems to solve, Miss Granger..."
Amosta narrowed his eyes. He jumped up to the broken wall and looked at the thick pipe carefully. After a while, he put the wand in the palm of his hand.
"Show me the way!"
