In the Gryffindor common room, Percy covered his face with his hands and sat on the sofa without saying a word. Fred and George sat opposite Percy, facing the comfort of their mutual friend Lee Jordan. No reaction.
Ron stayed by the fireplace with a gloomy face, his lips kept slurping, and he looked as if he had just suffered a serious illness.
Beside him, Harry shook his legs anxiously and looked at the door of the common room from time to time, as if waiting for something.
"I found it!"
Finally, the Fat Lady's portrait opened, and Hermione crawled out of the doorway panting, waving a note in her hand.
After looking at Ron who showed no reaction, Harry quickly stood up from his chair to welcome Hermione's answer.
"--Professor Brain's guess is right,"
Hermione's orange eyes flashed with a hard light. She put the note into Harry's hand without any explanation, and recited the contents of the note in a low voice.
"In our country, there are many terrible beasts and monsters wandering around. The most bizarre and lethal one is the basilisk, also known as the snake king. This kind of snake can become very huge and can usually live for several months. century.
It is hatched from a male egg by a toad. The way the basilisk kills people is very shocking. In addition to its deadly fangs, its glare can also kill anyone. Anyone caught by its gaze can kill people. If you live there, you will die immediately.
Spiders will run for their lives when they see a basilisk, because the basilisk is the mortal enemy of spiders, and the basilisk will run for its life as soon as it hears the crowing of a rooster, because the crowing of a rooster is also very deadly to it--"
"But--"
Ron finally came to his senses. He moved his dry and pale lips and muttered,
"So far, no one has died... If the look of that basilisk could kill, Colin and Justin..."
"That's because no one has ever met the eyes of a basilisk--"
Harry felt as if his stomach was soaked in ice water. His cheeks twitched and he whispered,
"Hagrid's cock was strangled... Colin saw it through the camera. The basilisk burned the film on the camera, so Colin was just petrified. Justin... it was Nick, he He must have seen the basilisk through the almost headless Nick, and Nick was caught in the basilisk's gaze... But he couldn't die a second time, right?"
"And Mrs. Norris..."
Hermione said seriously,
"I guess it saw the basilisk in the reflection of the water running out of Myrtle's bathroom... Harry, I'm glad you figured it out. Riddle deceived you and the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was a basilisk." , instead of some furry monster, Hagrid might be innocent!"
Hermione's conclusion made Harry pale, and he hesitated, not knowing how to explain why Riddle's memory deceived him.
"Let's go find Hagrid!"
After a while, Harry finally came to his senses and said firmly,
"Hagrid must know something... I don't know why Riddle told us a false memory. Maybe... it is the real murderer, but no matter what, Hagrid must know some key information!"
Professor McGonagall ordered all the little wizards to stay in the lounge and not go out. Although Percy was in a state where he could no longer carry out Professor McGonagall's orders, the three of them didn't know what was going on outside. Harry rushed to the dormitory to get himself The invisibility cloak left Hermione and Ron speechless.
When they quietly came out of the common room, they found that there was no longer a little wizard wandering in the castle. The corridors were silent, only the professors walking together were patrolling up and down the castle, and the expressions on the faces of those professors Their expressions also made them despair.
Is Ginny still alive? Why did the heir of Slytherin end up targeting Ginny?
Even Hermione couldn't answer this question. In fact, what was flashing in Harry's mind now was a terrifying picture, that is, when Ginny was found by people, she had turned into a cold corpse. Mrs. Weasley Lying on Ginny's body and crying loudly, Mr. Weasley squatted on the side and pulled out his few hair one by one!
Regret was tearing at Harry's heart like a poisonous snake. Until this moment, he regretted not handing over Riddle's diary to Professor Brain earlier...
Professor Braine could only infer from the sounds he heard that the attack was a snake moving through the tube. If it was him communicating with Riddle's diary, Harry bet that Professor Braine would be able to dig it out. What secrets are hidden in Riddle's mind!
It was a starry night. They hurried towards the lighted window of Hagrid's residence. No one said anything until they arrived outside Hagrid's door. After Harry looked around warily, he took off his clothes on his own initiative. of invisibility cloak.
A few seconds after they knocked on the door, Hagrid suddenly opened the door. They saw Hagrid holding a crossbow pointed at them, and the big hound Fang was barking loudly behind him.
Hagrid seemed shocked that they were here. He looked so distraught that he spilled the water in the kettle, almost dousing the fire, and then his big hand shook violently, knocking the teapot over.
"You've heard about Ginny, right?"
Ron stared at Hagrid with a sullen face, Hermione didn't say anything, and Harry could only start the topic on his own.
"Oh, yes, I've heard that."
Hagrid didn't seem to realize that they were here to question him. His voice was choked and he kept nervously looking towards the window. Just as he was about to cut a thick piece of fruit cake, there was a loud knock again outside. Door sounds.
Harry could only swallow back all the questions he wanted to ask, and together with Hermione, he pulled the confused Ron and huddled in a corner. After seeing them hiding, Hagrid grabbed the crossbow again and suddenly opened it. Door.
"Good evening, Hagrid."
It was Dumbledore. He walked in with a very serious expression, followed by a very strange-looking man.
The stranger was short and chubby, with the same gray hair on top of Professor Brain's head, but it was much messier, with an anxious look on his chubby face.
The style of his clothes is very strange, a pinstriped suit, a bright red collar, a black cloak, purple pointed boots, and a dark green top hat under his arm.
"That's my dad's boss!"
Ron finally came to his senses and whispered to Harry and Hermione, "Cornelly Fudge, Minister of Magic!"
Hermione nudged Ron hard with her elbow to shut him up.
For Hagrid, the worst thing finally happened. He fell down on the bed and defended himself with a pale face.
"There's nothing I can do, Hagrid--"
Fudge said in a clear and fast tone, "It's very bad. Dumbledore asked me to stay calm. After the two little wizards were petrified..., I can't describe to you how much pressure I bear, forcing the prophet The daily newspaper shut up, but now this matter can no longer be hidden. Many people in the ministry who are paying attention to this matter already know that Weasley's daughter may have met with misfortune..."
"I hope you understand, Connelly, that I have complete trust in Hagrid."
Dumbledore frowned and spoke solemnly, but his blue eyes were also shining with helplessness.
Sometimes rights are such unreasonable things. Even Dumbledore must abide by the rights structure under a stable social framework, unless he wants to push everything over again.
But Fudge seemed to have made up his mind. He played with his top hat and said casually, without looking into Dumbledore's eyes.
"The way I see it, Dumbledore, a little precaution is in order. If we end up discovering that someone else has opened the Chamber of Secrets, Hagrid will be released and the Ministry of Magic will issue a full apology... "
