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Chapter 318: Tense Atmosphere
Chapter 318: Tense Atmosphere
"All students must return to their respective House Common Rooms by 6 pm, and no student is permitted to leave after this time.
You will be escorted by a professor for every class, and no one is allowed to wander the castle alone before the professor arrives.
Quidditch practices and matches are postponed, and no activities will be held in the evenings..."
All the students sat silently at the long tables in the Great Hall, listening to Professor McGonagall's speech.
Professor McGonagall was genuinely afraid.
Even before the holiday, the Ministry of Magic had been closely monitoring the situation at Hogwarts.
After Professor Quirrell was attacked during Muggle Studies, some even suggested temporarily closing Hogwarts to focus on finding the Chamber of Secrets.
Although this proposal was later rejected by more people, as the attacks increased, the idea was brought up again a few days before Christmas.
And this time, the number of people voting against it had significantly decreased.
The reason for the Ministry's silence, apart from Dumbledore, was that no students had been harmed.
But this luck couldn't last forever.
The current calm was only temporary, and the previous attacks were like a pile of explosive barrels, ready to detonate at any moment.
In the shadows, some people were already restless.
Professor McGonagall was certain that once a student was attacked or the number of attacks reached a certain threshold, they would take advantage of the situation and ignite all the explosive barrels.
No one knew what would happen then.
Additionally, Professor McGonagall didn't want to see any students get hurt.
This was the most critical moment.
The Mandrakes were about to mature, and once the petrified people or ghosts woke up, they could provide information about the Chamber and the monster within.
The Chamber of Secrets Heir must also be aware of this, and to protect himself and conceal the secrets, he would either stop or become even more reckless.
The petrified Dwarf proved that he hadn't chosen the former...
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, her expression more serious than ever.
Although all the victims of the attacks so far had been petrified, it didn't mean that the monster in the Chamber could only petrify others.
After all, fifty years ago, when the Chamber was opened for the first time, a student had died under mysterious circumstances.
Such an incident must never happen again.
She looked at everyone and said in a somewhat suffocating voice, "I hope that all of you will abide by the rules, even for the sake of your own safety!
Anyone who violates the rules will have all their House points deducted and their House's Quidditch participation rights revoked."
"Additionally, I urge anyone who believes they have some information to come forward.
Every clue, no matter how insignificant, may help us find the criminal behind these attacks."
After Professor McGonagall finished speaking, she hurriedly left.
As soon as she left, the Great Hall erupted in a buzz of whispers.
Such severe punishments as deducting all House points and revoking Quidditch participation rights had never been imposed before.
"It's a relief that Professor McGonagall only postponed the Quidditch matches..." Harry said with a sense of relief.
"You..." Ron glanced at Fred and George, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
The two of them could easily guess what he was thinking.
"We definitely won't be discovered, even for Quidditch," Fred said.
"It's you," George laughed. "Don't be like last year, thinking of catching the bad guys and being a hero. That's not something you should do."
"We don't want to be heroes!" Ron said, his neck stiff.
To the side, Harry and Hermione were both eating with their heads down, not speaking.
At the Hufflepuff table, Kyle was also silent.
All around, people were discussing who the Chamber of Secrets Heir might be, and every time a name was mentioned, Kyle would observe the person's expression.
But everyone seemed normal, except for Lockhart.
He was unusually quiet, not boasting about the number of greeting cards he had received or bragging about his countless achievements.
The image-conscious Lockhart even ignored his hair, sporting a messy mane of golden locks, and was downing one drink after another, a stark contrast to his spirited self from earlier in the day.
Half an hour later, dinner time was over.
Professor McGonagall re-entered the Great Hall, accompanied by the other three Heads of Houses.
Professor Sprout approached and escorted the Hufflepuff students back to their Common Room.
"Unless you're going to class, you must stay here and nowhere else."
She counted the students until everyone had passed through the barrel door, then left.
"But didn't Professor Lockhart already know who the Heir was?"
As soon as Professor Sprout left, someone eagerly spoke up, "Why can't the professors just catch that person directly!"
"Don't you get it?" someone scoffed, "He's just boasting. In reality, he can't do anything and doesn't know anything, just like how he performed in the Dueling Club."
"Nonsense!" someone rebutted, "You've all read his books... think about the amazing things he's done."
"It's just what he says he did."
...
The people in the Common Room quickly divided into two factions, arguing incessantly about Lockhart.
Kyle, Conna, and Cedric didn't engage in this meaningless debate. They navigated around the crowd and sat on a few sofas in the corner.
"Kyle, did you find anything?" Cedric asked.
"No," Kyle shook his head.
"That person is too well hidden," Conna sighed, "Every time there's an attack, no one sees anything, as if it happens out of thin air... Could the monster in the Chamber of Secrets be a ghost that can move freely within the castle?"
"Ghosts can't petrify people, they're just scary-looking." Cedric turned to Kyle again, "That golden chain you had before, where did you find it?"
"In a... very hidden place," Kyle hesitated for a moment, still not revealing the Chamber of Secrets.
He had considered telling Professor Dumbledore about the Chamber of Secrets' location and Riddle's message, especially when the diary mysteriously disappeared and the attacks became more frequent. But he had never made up his mind, or rather, whenever this thought emerged, it would inexplicably disappear.
It felt like being a Muggle who had wandered into the range of a Banishing Charm, always getting distracted by other things.
But Kyle himself was completely unaware of this, he just felt that something was amiss, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. In the end, he could only attribute it to his reluctance to part with the Basilisk... After all, Basilisks are valuable, and exchanging them for Galleons could create a small mountain of gold, so it was normal to feel reluctant.
Kyle rubbed his forehead, feeling inexplicably irritable.
"Speaking of clues, Kyle, do you remember that thing you gave me at Christmas?" At this moment, Cedric suddenly stood up and ran to the dormitory.
"Wait for me."
About a minute later, he returned with an additional stack of parchment.
(End of Chapter)
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