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He handed a golden chain to Kyle and said, "I've never bought anything with this kind of decoration in any store I know of, including Diagon Alley."
"Nothing similar?" Kyle frowned.
"No." Cedric thought for a moment and continued, "But I didn't go to Knockturn Alley to ask. My father wouldn't let me go there..."
"It doesn't matter, this is enough." Kyle shook his head and said, "Few people in Knockturn Alley tell the truth. It's useless to go there."
"You make sense..." Cedric and Kyle walked into the auditorium together. "I was just about to ask, what on earth is this thing."
"I don't know either." Kyle said, "I picked this up, and I think it has something to do with the recent attacks. That's why I asked you to help find out what it is."
"You mean... the secret room?" Cedric paused for a moment. Perhaps realizing that his voice was a little loud, he quickly lowered his voice and asked, "Are you sure?"
"It's just a guess. Maybe it's just a decoration on clothes."
"Can I see it again?"
"Of course." Kyle glanced at the thing in his hand and handed it to Cedric. "You can take it, but be careful not to get too close to the fireplace, otherwise it might change back."
"Is this transfiguration?" Cedric looked at Kyle in surprise. He hadn't noticed it at all before.
Not long after the two sat down at the long dining table, the banquet began.
Dumbledore was wearing a light blue robe and was chatting with Professor Trelawney, who taught Divination.
But speaking of divination classes... Kyle suddenly remembered that he seemed to have never attended a divination class since the beginning of the school year.
I heard from people in the same grade that he was almost becoming a teaching prop in the Divination class. Professor Trelawney was very dissatisfied and said directly before the holiday,
"I'm sorry. If he doesn't come to Divination class again, he will leave us forever next semester."
In this regard, Mikel and Ryan even advised him to take some time to take a divination class.
Kyle originally wanted to go, but as luck would have it, divination and ancient runes conflicted, so he had to give up one.
He definitely couldn't give up on the ancient runes. Without Riddle as his tutor, he could only ask Professor Babeling for help with the problems he encountered with the runes... and only once a week.
Because except for class time, no one knew where Professor Babeling was at other times, and her shadow could not be seen in the entire castle.
So Kyle had no choice but to give up the divination class and didn't go.
I guess when the second half of the school year starts, his name will probably become a "teaching tool" in the divination class.
Next to Dumbledore was Professor McGonagall with a serious expression and Lockhart with a beaming face.
Lockhart looked particularly happy. He even took out a bottle of whiskey and wanted to have a few drinks with the other professors.
Everyone refused. Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, seeming to be very unhappy about his drinking of strong liquor at school, but Dumbledore didn't care, so she didn't know what to say.
After the banquet was over, a dazed Lockhart stood up and repeated what he had said to the professor.
There was a burst of cheers all around.
Lockhart also said that he would publish a new book about Hogwarts and the Chamber of Secrets, in which all the students would become the protagonists.
The cheers grew louder.
However, there were still a small number of students who did not move. They no longer believed anything Lockhart said and just thought he was drunk.
After returning to the Hufflepuff common room, some students began to sit on the sofas and catch up on their holiday homework as usual.
Kyle handed his homework to Mikel.
"Thank you." Mikkel said happily, "I'm only five inches away from finishing my Potions homework. I can't finish it!"
While he was doing his homework, Kyle asked, "Did you notice anyone in Slytherin behaving abnormally recently?"
When Mikel said he was going to the Slytherin common room to get information, he wasn't just talking, he really went there.
What's even more outrageous is that he succeeded. He used the excuse that his face was swollen from being stung by a three-tailed bee, and successfully mixed into a group of Slytherin students who had just finished the Care of Magical Creatures class. He followed them into the common room and secretly wrote down the password.
But later for some reason, he was discovered, and because of this incident, Snape deducted 50 points from Hufflepuff.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 315 Valentine's Day Surprise
"honestly……"
Mikkel put the finished Potions homework aside, thought for a moment and said, "I feel like they are all abnormal."
Kyle was stunned for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Do you know what they usually talk about?"
This time, Mikkel didn't even do his homework and put down his quill. "Every time I go to their common room, I can hear people loudly discussing who the successor is, and they also say they want to help him purify the school."
"Ha... help the monster in the secret room to purify the school?" Mikkel became more and more angry.
"From the tone of their voice, it's as if we are all pests. No wonder so many people dislike Slytherin.
One day I couldn't help myself and punched an arrogant guy hard when someone was out, and that's how I got discovered.
But those people were running too slowly, and I only took three stairs to get away from everyone... Unfortunately, when I was running, I didn't notice that my scarf had fallen off, and was recognized by a third-year Slytherin, and I lost 50 points in one go."
Mikel pounded the table in annoyance.
Kyle shook his head in amusement.
Fortunately, Mikel ran fast at the time. If he was caught on the spot, he might have been deducted more than just 50 points.
But after hearing what he said, Kyle ruled out some suspects, such as Pansy, Millicent and Crabbe Goyle...
Judging from the personalities of these people, if one of them really released the basilisk, he would have shown off a long time ago.
Next, just focus on observing the remaining few people.
Kyle thought for a moment and continued, "Then do you know if any of them didn't attend the dinner on Halloween?"
"Halloween dinner?" Mikel quickly replied, "They should all be there."
"The person they talked about the most was Filch. If someone wasn't in the hall at the time, they would have been questioned by everyone, but when I went there, that didn't happen.
But it could also be that I arrived too late and they had already asked.”
"Is that so?" Kyle frowned and went back to the dormitory thinking.
……
Over the next period of time, Kyle paid special attention to several people from Slytherin every day.
But after observing for a month, he still didn't find anything wrong and everything was normal.
In early February, the snow gradually melted and the sun began to shine weakly on Hogwarts again.
During this period, there were no more attacks on the castle, and more people gradually believed Lockhart's words and became more optimistic.
And Professor Sprout was happy to say in class that the mandrakes had become moody and taciturn, which meant they were rapidly moving away from their childhood.
Just wait another month or two and those petrified will be able to fully recover.
Good news comes one after another.
Lockhart has been in high spirits lately.
Because of what was said at the opening party, more and more people began to believe that he was the one who stopped the monster in the secret room, and some people who had previously stopped being his fans became his admirers again.
"To boost morale and erase those bad memories from last semester, I've prepared a surprise for all of you."
In a Defense Against the Dark Arts class, he said cheerfully, "It still needs to be kept secret for now, so I can't say more, but I think you will like it."
Whispers began to be heard in the classroom, with people speculating what Lockhart's surprise was.
But soon, they found out.
The next day, Valentine's Day.
When Kyle walked into the auditorium as usual and prepared to have breakfast, he wondered for a moment if he had walked into the wrong door.
All four walls were covered with large pink flowers, and a lot of heart-shaped confetti kept falling from the ceiling. On the wall behind the teacher's table, there was a huge heart made of various flowers.
If you add some blessings, it will be a big wedding scene.
"I guess this must be Lockhart's surprise." Fred brushed the confetti off his head.
"I thought so too." Cedric looked up at the professor's table.
Lockhart, also wearing a bright pink robe, stood at the front and waved for silence.
The professors sitting next to him all had stern faces, especially Snape.
His position just corresponded to the left half of the huge heart behind, while Lockhart stood on the right half.
This strange location, coupled with the surrounding decorations, made Snape look extremely gloomy, as if he was stuffed with a bunch of cockroaches.
He was holding the wand tightly in his hand, and Kyle had no doubt that if anyone said the wrong thing, he would definitely chop a hole in the other person's head... using the magic sword.
The only one who could still laugh was probably Dumbledore.
He even changed the color of his robes, switching to a pearly white that better matched the surrounding accessories.
"Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!" Lockhart said happily, "So far, sixty-five people have sent me greeting cards, and I would like to express my gratitude to them... Yes, I took the initiative to arrange this little surprise, and there is more!"
Lockhart clapped his hands, and in walked twelve grim-looking dwarves, each with golden wings and a harp on his back.
Lockhart beamed and said the dwarves would be roaming the castle all day, delivering Valentine's Day cards for them.
"I know you can't wait, but please be patient, it's not over yet." Lockhart clapped his hands again.
"Everyone look up!"
Hundreds of owls crowded into the auditorium, dropping letters and packages to the students.
A bunch of notes covered with words were sandwiched in between and thrown down together.
Cedric picked one up curiously, and his expression changed after just one look...
"His blond hair was like cornmeal fresh out of the pot
His red lips are as tempting as a ripe tomato
......"
"What the hell is this!"
Cedric felt his stomach churning. He quickly threw the note away and rubbed his hands vigorously on the stool.