Chapter 203 The Third Attack

hall.

Harry did not leave immediately after breakfast. He took Ron and sat on the Gryffindor long table. From time to time he looked towards the Hufflepuff long table, which frightened the little wizards there so much that they couldn't eat. .

According to Hermione, he wanted to find Justin and make things clear to him.

Harry once again did not look around and did not find Justin. Instead, he saw many frightened little Hufflepuff wizards.

"They can rest assured, at least I won't suddenly summon a basilisk during breakfast and make them all the basilisk's breakfast!" Harry bit off the bread on the fork in one bite, gritting his teeth, and seemed to be chewing it in his mouth. Not bread, but the flesh and blood of those who doubted Him.

Ron glanced at him and spread his hands: "Maybe Justin is too scared to leave the dormitory. We can't wait for him here."

"What should I do? I can't break into the Hufflepuff common room." Harry said angrily.

Ron said helplessly: "When our two colleges have classes together -"

"Harry! Ron!" Rolf suddenly slipped over to sit next to them and looked around cautiously, "I have something important to tell you."

Rolf's grandfather studied various magical animals. It was with his help last time that Harry and Ron were able to discover that the monster in the secret room was a basilisk.

Rolf found him, and was stumped...

Harry's eyes lit up, and the thought in his mind blurted out: "Have you found a way to deal with the basilisk!"

Hearing this, Ron's eyes also lit up.

But there was no joyful look on Rolf's face. Instead, he looked heavy. He lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Do you remember what happened with Hagrid and my grandfather?"

Hagrid and Newt Scamander?

There is an impression that Scamander traveled through Hogwarts and gave an Acromantula egg to Hagrid. Hagrid hatched the Acromantula - Arago in the school's storage room. gram. Later, this incident was discovered by the Ministry of Magic, and Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, broke his wand and was expelled from the campus.

Harry always felt that the punishment in this matter was too harsh and unfair to Hagrid.

Fortunately, Dumbledore helped Hagrid repair his wand and took him in as a gamekeeper.

"My grandfather felt very guilty because of this incident. He wrote to a friend of his who worked in the Education Department of the Ministry of Magic, hoping to help Hagrid clear his name. You know, the inquisitor has the responsibility for raising dangerous animals. Sufficient flexibility and discretion.”

"Praise Mr. Newt!" Harry asked hurriedly, "Then, was it successful?"

Rolf took a deep look at him and shook his head: "My grandfather's friend checked the files from that year and found that the matter was not as simple as raising dangerous animals."

For some reason, these words made Harry's heart suddenly twitch, and he vaguely guessed something.

"It is recorded in the file that Rubeus Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets and released the monster in the chamber, resulting in the death of Myrtle Warren. It was only because the evidence was insufficient that Hagrid was not imprisoned."

Harry's breath hitched, he had long known that Hagrid had an unfortunate fondness for giant monsters.

During their time at Hogwarts last year, Hagrid had tried to feed a fire dragon in his cabin, and if it hadn't been for the help of Loren and Sir Nicholas, they would have had their wands broken and been banished from the castle by now. Maybe this would be a good thing for Hagrid, he might have a few more helpers to guard the Forbidden Forest. They were also impressed by the big three-headed dog he called "Luwei".

Harry believed that the kind-hearted Hagrid would never intentionally kill anyone, but he also believed that if the 13-year-old Hagrid heard that there was a "cute" big guy hiding in any room in the castle, Hagrid would definitely do everything possible. Find a way to take a look at it.

Hagrid might have thought that it was too pitiful that that cute big guy had been imprisoned for thousands of years. He should give it a chance to come out and stretch its limbs.

Harry is in deep distress...What should he do? The murderer he has been pursuing may be his friend.

"To be honest, I still don't think Hagrid will be the heir of Slytherin." Ron's little face wrinkled tightly, and he was doubting life. "Hagrid, Slytherin...oh! I really can't put this Two people connected together.”

Rolf took a sip of milk and took a breath: "My grandfather thinks so too. This involves another person, Tom——"

Just when he was about to continue talking, Dumbledore came to them at some point and interrupted their conversation with a smile: "Ha, news about Newt. Rolf, your grandfather mentioned it me?"

"Principal Dumbledore!" Rolf was stunned for a while before he said hesitantly, "Yes, my grandfather often mentioned you, and he asked me to say hello to you."

Dumbledore was wearing a spacious gray cloth robe, and his kind and gentle eyes were partially obscured by crescent-shaped glasses, which made him look a little more mysterious. His light blue eyes had extraordinary penetrating power: "Just right. , I have a letter that I need you to deliver to him for me. Can you go to the principal's office and wait for me first? I want to say something to Harry."

"Of course, Headmaster Dumbledore." Rolf gave Harry a look, indicating that he could take care of himself, then turned around and left.

"By the way, today's password is butterbeer." Dumbledore added, then sat down next to Harry and Ron.

"Look, look, Headmaster Dumbledore must be censoring Harry Potter!"

"He'll be in Azkaban soon!"

"We are safe."

"That's great, that's great..."

The sounds from other long tables buzzed into Harry's ears like pestering mosquitoes in summer, making him a little irritated.

Angry, sad, indignant, aggrieved...

Harry suppressed the various emotions welling up in his heart, recalling Snape's voice without ups and downs, and wanted to speak in that tone, but the soreness on the tip of his nose reminded him that he might cry as soon as he opened his mouth. .

Ron's butt moved uncomfortably on the stool. He held it in for a long time before he spoke: "Principal Dumbledore, do you also think Harry is the heir of Slytherin?"

"Ron!" Dumbledore shouted, "I didn't think it was Harry who attacked those people."

Harry noticed that Dumbledore had deliberately raised his voice so that many young wizards in the Great Hall could hear him. His heart slowly settled down and his breathing became much easier.

"You think it's not me, Professor?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Yes, Harry, I think not."

Harry and Ron both smiled easily.

Dumbledore took a clean dinner plate and began to put food on it, bread, bacon, grilled mushrooms...

"Remember what I said, believe in yourself and your friends."

When the plate was full, Dumbledore picked up the knife and fork and touched it. The metal trembled: "But I still want to talk to you. I have to ask you, Harry, if there is anything wrong with you." Care to tell me? Anything."

Of course there is, about the relationship between Malfoy and the Chamber of Secrets, about the opening of the Chamber of Secrets 50 years ago, about Hagrid and the Basilisk...

Harry remembered that the Polyjuice Potion was still simmering in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry opened his mouth and said, "No, nothing, sir."

Ron's eyes widened with surprise.

Dumbledore sighed deeply and looked at the food on the plate with regret. He thought that the conversation would be enough time for him to eat these things slowly.

Harry pulled Ron up and nodded slightly towards Dumbledore: "Professor, you eat slowly, Ron and I are leaving first."

The two quickly ran out of the auditorium and disappeared around the corner of the corridor, leaving only sporadic words:

"Why didn't you tell Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"No need to tell him, as long as we find out the real heir, everything will come to light."

On a rare sunny day in winter, the bathroom window was opened wide, and the clear skylight shone in through the glass, making the whole room very bright. The sun slowly rises and becomes brighter and brighter. The dimmed window panes make people feel even more sleepy.

Loren could fall asleep anywhere, but he didn't sleep deeply, waking up slowly after replenishing his energy.

He felt like he was leaning against a soft back pillow, which was fragrant, with the scent of laundry detergent and shower gel, and a faint milky scent.

Loren found himself leaning against Hermione's back, the girl supporting him like a backrest as he slept. Loren had the intention to continue to close his eyes and sleep, but the room was too bright and he couldn't fall asleep again after waking up.

"Are you awake?"

Hermione noticed the movement behind her, turned to meet his gaze, her tone was calm, and the blush on her cheeks showed that the girl's heart was not so calm, "You sleep shaky and always want to lie on the ground. I think The floor in the bathroom is not clean, so I let you sleep next to me."

The soft touch and the smell of the girl were like clear sunshine, completely clearing away the haze in Loren's heart.

"Thank you." Loren grinned, standing up and stretching his limbs, feeling a pleasant soreness in his muscles and joints.

While he was sleeping, Hermione had thought it through, and if Loren didn't want to mention it, she didn't. As if she didn't know anything about it, she talked about the progress of the polyjuice potion: "It can be brewed before the Christmas vacation. I have thought clearly about it. I will stay at school during the Christmas vacation this year. How about you?"

"Then I'll stay at school too." Loren squatted down and stirred the potion in the crucible with a stirring spoon. "Remember to write home in advance."

"Write it when you get back in the evening, you write it too, and let Hanhan send it back together."

"Um."

There were only a few sunny days. After that day, endless clouds quickly covered the sky. The clouds became thicker and thicker, and the weather became colder and colder. Soon, the first snow of the winter of 1992 enveloped Hogwarts, and it never stopped.

Surprisingly, even though the first event met the definition of failure on all levels, the Duel Club still started and even held the second and third events successfully.

For the second event, Lockhart invited Professor McGonagall to demonstrate the application of various sophisticated transformation techniques in duels. Carpets, wine glasses, and even an ordinary stone on the ground can be transformed into various ferocious beasts, becoming the key to the outcome of the duel.

In the third event, Lockhart invited Professor Flitwick, and the young wizards saw another style of fighting. All kinds of magic spells are available at your fingertips. They are not very powerful, but the timing and angle of release are very delicate, and the effect of each magic spell is perfectly exerted.

Of course, the most attractive thing is the duel between young wizards of the same grade. The young wizards from Gryffindor and Slytherin are trying hard to beat each other. If it were not for the supervision of the professor, a young wizard would be sent to the school doctor in every game. room.

But these have nothing to do with Loren, Harry and others. They are waiting low-key for the polyjuice potion to be released and do not participate in the dueling club activities at all.

It was not until the second week of December that Professor McGonagall began to count the names of those who stayed at school and did not go home for Christmas.

Most of the young wizards chose to go home for the holidays. After Harry publicly announced that he would stay at school during the Christmas vacation, some of the people who wanted to stay at school also went to their respective deans to modify their wishes.

Fred, George and Ginny decided to stay at school rather than go to Egypt with the Weasleys to see Bill. Percy had stayed, too, telling them rather sluttishly that he was only staying over Christmas because, as a prefect, it was his duty to support teachers during this turbulent time.

Thick, gray snowflakes were dancing in the sky, blocking every window. The castle seemed extremely dark, and the little wizards were willing to take advantage of the break to go outside the castle to get some fresh air.

Loren and his group stood at the pavilion in the middle of the garden to watch the snow. Because Harry was in the group, most of the little wizards passing by would carefully avoid this area.

Ron blew the blue flame in the glass bottle and saw a little Hufflepuff wizard looking frightened. He hurried around the pavilion and quickly ran away into the corridor.

He shook his shoulder and bumped into Harry: "It would be great if this atmosphere could be maintained until the next Quidditch match. They will fly around you because they are afraid that you will petrify them hahahaha..."

Harry didn't react at all. He scratched the snow back and forth on the top of the railing, making his fingers turn red from the cold.

Hermione was reciting the review notes of the Animagus teaching class. She exhaled a breath of white mist and asked Harry: "What on earth do you think? Let them spread rumors and do nothing. And you have been there for almost a month. I haven’t looked for Hagrid yet, do you really think Hagrid is the heir?”

Loren, who was addicted to the mirror, raised his head and said aloud: "Didn't I say that the monster in the secret room is a basilisk? Hagrid is raising an Acromantula. The basilisk is the natural enemy of the Acromantula. In Hagrid's case, With Aragog’s care, there’s no way he’s related to the basilisk.”

He has been trying to create illusions for others these days, but he has never been able to achieve the same effect as in the Forest of Dean.

Hermione patiently advised Harry: "If you really care about this matter, go and make it clear to Justin and tell him that you were trying to save him, not instigating the giant snake to bite his neck!"

"He won't believe me even if I tell you. As long as the principal and professors believe in me, everything will come to light when we catch the real heir." Harry said dullly.

"Harry, it's up to them whether they believe it or not. You just have to do your own thing."

After the unremitting persuasion of his friends, Harry reluctantly agreed to go to Justin to explain.