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Although Harry and Ron did not tell anyone about Hermione's hospitalization, her disappearance soon attracted the attention of several Gryffindors.
They had long been accustomed to her chattering in the common room, urging Ron and Harry to do their homework, and now it was suddenly quiet, they were a little uncomfortable.
Ron insisted at first that he didn't know, but the Weasleys knew their little brother (older brother) so well that they got the truth out of him in a few words.
……
"So, Hermione is in the hospital wing?"
"Oh..." Ron groaned, covering his face. If he had known, he would have kept silent.
"Is this another attack?" Percy stood up suddenly from the sofa. "Don't leave here. I'll go and inform the professor!" After saying that, he was about to run out the door.
Ron and Harry hurried to stop him.
"It's not an attack, and it has nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets!" Harry said hurriedly.
"Not an attack?" Percy glanced suspiciously at Harry and Ron who were hugging his legs.
"That's not true!"
"I promise!"
After the two's earnest persuasion, Percy finally sat back down.
Fred and George looked at the nervous Ron with amusement, but didn't say anything. They just looked at each other and quickly completed some kind of communication.
……
On the morning of the third day of the holiday, when Kyle was about to leave after visiting Hermione, he ran into Fred and George acting sneaky at the door.
"What are you doing in the school hospital?"
"We have a cold!" Fred blurted out.
"Come here and get the stimulant." George coughed twice in a pretentious manner.
Kyle raised an eyebrow.
Their faces are all rosy, they don't look like they have a cold at all. They probably knew that Hermione was in the hospital and came here to inquire about the situation.
"What about you, Kyle? Are you visiting someone at the school hospital?" Fred asked.
"Oh, I'm here for the pick-me-up too," Kyle said loudly, pulling out a small bottle filled with red potion.
Hermione obviously didn't want anyone to know that she had turned into a cat.
In order to prevent these two people from trying to question me later, the best way is to pretend that I don't know.
"What a coincidence!" George laughed and said, "It's been cold lately, so please take care of yourself."
"Yeah, yeah, you too."
The three of them chatted awkwardly for a while, and then left.
By the time Fred and George entered the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey had already drawn a curtain around Hermione's room, so they couldn't see anything.
On the other side, Kyle returned to the castle and wanted to go to the library.
But as he neared the entrance hall, he saw Peeves chasing Myrtle around the castle with a bunch of balloons.
Ever since the attack on the Bloody Baron, Peeves has become completely lawless, chasing after this ghost or chasing after that student all day long, and only restrains himself a little in front of the professor.
And Myrtle is one of Peeves' favorite targets.
Kyle couldn't figure it out either, why Myrtle was afraid of Peeves' balloon, that thing couldn't hit her at all, okay?
But this is also a good opportunity.
After they flew away, Kyle immediately changed direction and came to the deserted bathroom.
According to past experience, Peeves and Myrtle's game of chase would last at least an hour, during which time he could go to the Chamber of Secrets.
Kyle used Parseltongue to open the pipe and jumped in, arriving at the end of the passage with ease.
The door of the secret room slowly opened, and Kyle took the wand and stepped carefully onto the black floor.
The stone that he had stuck next to the door before he left last time had disappeared, which confirmed that someone had come to the secret room during this period of time.
Kyle looked around carefully.
The good news is that there is no one else here except him, so he doesn't need to worry about anyone suddenly appearing and attacking him.
But under the Slytherin statue, there were some scattered snake shedding and an obvious drag mark.
There was still some lingering mucus on it, a bit like the marks left by a philoprogenitor caterpillar crawling across the floor, but much larger than that.
Seeing the drag marks and the snake slough, Kyle knew that the basilisk must have come out.
But who is it... Kyle stood up and thought carefully about everything that happened recently...
The Chamber of Secrets was silent and eerie. The snake eyes carved on the pillars and the statues of Slytherin seemed to be staring at Kyle.
But Kyle didn't care about it. He paced back and forth while thinking.
He had asked Myrtle several times before, but she always said she had never seen anyone else enter the bathroom.
But Myrtle's words might not always be true. Although she lived in the bathroom, she didn't always stay in the cubicle.
But why didn't the props he arranged move? Could it be that there was another entrance... or that the person who released the basilisk didn't enter through the door?
"Bang bang..."
Suddenly, another sound completely different from the footsteps was heard in the secret room.
Kyle was suddenly awakened and immediately drew his wand and pointed it in the direction of the door, but he soon realized that the sound came from under his feet.
Kyle lifted his foot and realized that he had accidentally stepped on a snake slough while pacing.
"Scared me."
Kyle breathed a sigh of relief.
But just as he reached out to pick up the snake skin, he suddenly found something else underneath.
A golden chain...
Kyle quickly picked it up.
The chain was less than two inches long, connected by several small golden snakes, and had signs of being torn on both sides, appearing to have been torn from something intact.
"Was this left by the person who held the diary?"
When Kyle saw those little snakes, he immediately thought of Slytherin.
Who can blame them for loving snakes the most? Whether it is clothes or accessories, this kind of decoration is indispensable.
If you pick up something with a snake pattern on it at Hogwarts, you can bet it belongs to Slytherin.
But... Kyle looked at the half chain carefully.
Although those snake buckles connected together are small, they are lifelike, and even the scales on the bodies are clearly visible. They look like they are alive. You can tell at a glance that this thing is definitely not a cheap one.
Slytherin... and money?
Draco Malfoy?
Kyle subconsciously thought of Harry's old rival.
But soon he shook his head.
No... Malfoy was in the Great Hall attending a dinner on Halloween and he didn't have time to release the basilisk to attack Filch.
Besides, Lucius Malfoy probably wouldn't let him get involved.
But who else could it be if not him...
Kyle stroked the chain and thought of several other names, Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson... or Crabbe, Goyle?
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 314 Agent Mikel
The Christmas holiday was over soon, and the students took the train back to Hogwarts. The originally quiet castle became noisy again.
After the holiday, the fear caused by the attack seemed to have eased a lot. Everyone seemed to be talking and laughing, not as anxious as before leaving school.
Maybe from their perspective, the professors had already solved the monster in the secret room during the holidays.
Or so Lockhart said.
The professor was the first to leave the school. He even left earlier than the students. He left in a hurry after the last Defense Against the Dark Arts class and did not even attend the final dinner.
No one knew what he experienced during the vacation, or what gossip he heard. When he came back, he announced loudly that… the secret room had been solved by him.
When Kyle was waiting for someone near the entrance hall, he accidentally saw him talking to Professor McGonagall.
"I don't think there will be any more trouble, Minerva."
Lockhart's voice was loud. "I think the Chamber of Secrets will never be opened again this time because I have found the true heir, but I decided to give him a chance. If he is smart enough, he will not continue to mess around."
Many people heard his words, some believed them and some did not, but no matter what, it at least provided some comfort.
But it is worth mentioning that five minutes ago, at the same location, Lockhart also said the same thing to Professor Flitwick...
Ten minutes ago, it was Professor Sprout...
Kyle was there.
No matter who he was talking to, Lockhart never changed a word of what he said, as if it was a line he had memorized in advance.
Soon, Professor McGonagall left, while Lockhart stood there, looking around, probably looking for his next target.
According to the order, he might be looking for Snape...but this task is a bit difficult.
I don't know whether Snape will ignore him or listen to him patiently...
Of course, it is also possible that he could be directly silenced by a tongue-lock or a shadowless strike to shut him up forever.
These are all possible.
Kyle really wanted to stay and take a look, but at this time, the person he was looking for arrived.
Cedric walked down the stone steps into the castle and came straight over when he saw Kyle.
"I asked for you."