Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 146 Solve the mystery
Weekend morning.

The cold wind howled outside the window.

Melvin half-opened the window, and the cold, fresh air rushed into the room, waking him up.

It was deep winter, which happened to be the time when snakes hibernate. The basilisk stayed in its stone nest and refused to come out. He didn't speak Parseltongue, so in order to coax the basilisk to go for a ride to Gryffindor Tower, he spent a lot of effort. He could only catch a batch of spiders, barbecue them, and put them in the pipe to lure them.

I almost ran into Myrtle who was fooling around back to the bathroom.

It was already early morning when I finished my work last night. Plus, it was the sleeping season, so even though I was conscious, my body was still a little lazy.

The wind carried fine snow powder that fell on my body, making me feel cool. The ground was covered in white, the Black Lake was frozen, the Forbidden Forest was wrapped in silver, and Hogsmeade in the distance was completely invisible.

Melvin's breath turned into a cloud of white mist and disappeared quietly. He closed the window and walked into the bathroom, washed, brushed his teeth, and changed into pajamas.

Judging from the calculation, Hermione and the others should be able to locate the basilisk quickly, and the exact location of the Chamber of Secrets will also be soon...

A good show is about to begin.

Another great play is still in rehearsal.

Since last month, the Muggle Studies classroom has become the drama club's activity room on weekends. Script discussions, line readings, and rehearsals are all done here. Even if there is nothing important to do, the students of the drama club like to hang out here and chat.

When Melvin arrived at the classroom after breakfast, the drama club had already gathered. Neville and Marietta were standing in front of the podium, while students from other clubs were sitting below, summarizing the experience of the last rehearsal and discussing areas that could be changed and optimized in the script.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen."

The drama club student turned around and looked at the professor in surprise.

Neville and Marietta were still a little reserved and gave him a shy smile: "Good morning, Professor Lewinter."

"How was rehearsal?"

"There are a few lines that need to be revised. Neville finished revising them last night and is now asking for feedback from the students."

"Rehearse the revised script for me."

"what?"

"What are you still standing there for?" Melvin urged with a smile, "I'm in a hurry. I have another good show to watch. Hurry up."

"oh oh……"

The members started to work in a hurry. The actors hurriedly put on the simple costumes they made, and other students set up the stage and put up decorations, which looked quite professional.

Melvin saw many familiar faces.

The actor who plays Knight Cadogan is Cedric of Hufflepuff, who is originally a handsome young man. Putting on a set of silver-white armor that he had brought from who knows which floor, he looks more heroic. With a lance in one hand and a wand in the other, he looks even more handsome and outstanding.

He looks much better than Sir Cadogan in the portrait.

No one knows how Marcus from Slytherin was chosen, but together with Roger from Ravenclaw, they play two pure-blood wizards who taunt the knight in the middle of the story. They have a very annoying villain temperament.

The person in charge of stage coordination was Percy from the Weasley family. Perhaps because of his experience as a prefect, he directed everything in an orderly manner. However, the actress who played the heroine was his girlfriend Penelope, which made his expression a little grumpy.

The production of props mainly relied on the handiwork of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff members, with Qiu Zhang and Luna contributing a lot. The most important wyvern in the story was Luna's idea. Curtains were hung with a few branches and then decorated with Transfiguration. At first glance, it really looks lifelike.

Compared to these outstanding older classmates, Neville and Marietta seemed less important.

But Melvin knew the specific situation. These people were selected and appointed after consultation between them. Many controversial issues were decided by the two of them. Occasionally, when there were strong arguments and difficult decisions, they would bring up their professor.

After several months of training, the two may not be as good as Percy and Cedric, but they have made obvious progress.

With the cooperation of all parties, the stage was soon almost completed.

"No matter how ferocious the dragon is, someone has to stand up to it!"

"Mount my steed and charge!"

"..."

The drama produced by students without relevant experience was not as good as Nick's Ghost Theater. Moreover, with Melvin watching, many actors and students adjusting the stage were nervous, and some mistakes were inevitable.

Several girls' voices trembled when they read their lines, and Cedric spoke too fast, so the performance was only average.

Melvin sat in the audience and did not interrupt the entire performance. When the curtain fell, the members gathered together, anxiously and expectantly waiting for the professor's evaluation.

"To be honest, there are many shortcomings..."

Melvin briefly pointed out some shortcomings, looked at the frustrated members, and raised his voice slightly. "But it's much better than I expected. I probably won't be able to perform in time for Christmas, but I will ask Professor McGonagall to reserve a stage in the auditorium for the Easter dinner."

Many little wizards raised their heads with happy expressions, and some had a gleam in their eyes.

"What about the projection mirror?" asked Justin from Hufflepuff.

Melvin smiled gently and said, "That depends on how well you perform."

……

"boom!"

The thick book was slammed onto the table with a dull thud.

"I was saying I remembered reading it somewhere! It turned out to be this book—"

In the corner of the library by the window, Hermione sat on a bench and pointed to Harry and Ron across from her. "It's the natural enemy of the Acromantula. Its eyes are bright yellow. Considering what Harry said about the snake, it can only be this one!"

"Basilisk?"

Harry looked at the scribbled illustration in the book and read its title.

"Ok!"

Hermione nodded heavily. "Mr. Newt Scamander, the expert on magical creatures, said there haven't been any records of basilisk sightings in Britain for at least four hundred years. This statement interfered with my judgment. When you told me this morning that the Monster of the Chamber of Secrets was a snake, it immediately reminded me."

"The basilisk's eyes can instantly kill anyone or any animal that makes eye contact with them.

"Spiders fear basilisks because they have 360-degree vision and cannot close their eyes, which makes it easy for them to make eye contact with the basilisk...

Ron read the passage aloud quietly, somewhat uneasy. He looked up at the two of them and said, "I still don't understand why Harry was so sure that the Monster of the Chamber was some kind of snake when he heard Parsley last night?" "It wasn't just the sound I heard last night, but also Professor Levent's hints. He had me demonstrate a Parsley speech once."

Harry explained, then scratched his head. "Now that I think about it, the professor also gave me some eye hints during duel practice, but I didn't grasp the meaning."

"That's not important. Anyway, we've found the real culprit now! I should have noticed earlier that the basilisk was a monster bred by the famous dark wizard, the despicable Herpo. Salazar Slytherin speaks Parseltongue and is proficient in the dark arts, so it's normal for him to breed a basilisk..."

Hermione muttered to herself for a while, then quickly frowned: "But where is the basilisk hiding?"

Harry saw Madam Pince's eager gaze and knew they had attracted the librarian's attention. He lowered his voice and said:
"Let's ask Myrtle again. She's the only one who's seen the monster. She didn't know it was a basilisk before, but now that she knows the monster's true appearance, she might be able to think of some other clues."

"Makes sense!"

The three of them left the library and soon arrived at Myrtle's bathroom.

Myrtle had a reputation for having a strange temper, and few girls were willing to come to the bathroom on the second floor. But when they walked into the bathroom, the situation was not as bad as they had imagined. Since no one had used it for a long time, there was not much sewage on the ground, and there was no bad smell.

Harry and Ron tiptoed in, their expressions very unnatural, and looked back from time to time, always worried that others would notice them entering the women's room.

Pushing open the third cubicle, the toilet and water tank were quietly placed there.

"The ground is dry," Hermione said with a frown. "It seems Myrtle hasn't been here for many days, and Lavender hasn't mentioned who Myrtle has splashed toilet water on recently..."

"Is she not here anymore?" asked Harry.

Ron scratched his head. "Could it be that, like Nick, Professor Lewinter's philosophy has confused his mind?"

"..."

The three of them fell into silence.

Just as the investigation came to a standstill again, a translucent figure poked its head out from the wall. Its chubby, round face was half hidden by bangs and thick-framed glasses. The ghost girl stared straight at Harry and said in a resentful tone:
"It turns out it's you..."

"Myrtle! That's great!" Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "We thought you'd moved away."

They had questioned this victim last time when they investigated the Hagrid case. Myrtle was also present at the Deathday party, listening to Professor Lewynter's philosophy lecture with them. Perhaps because she died relatively late, she was still relatively young among the ghosts, so philosophy did not make her doubt herself.

Myrtle gave them a long look and said, "It's because you always come in the middle of the night and make some weird noises that scare me so much that I don't dare to come back."

Harry was stunned for a moment: "Who always comes here in the middle of the night?"

"Isn't it you?"

Myrtle was also stunned. "Someone's been coming to the bathroom in the middle of the night lately, creating strange mist and hissing noises. I thought it was some dark wizard or monster, so I was too scared to come back. When I came back, I hid in the next room. I heard you guys talking just now, and I thought it was you guys who came in the middle of the night..."

Harry looked thoughtful.

"Of course not us. Who would choose the girls' room for a night out?" Ron retorted with reason and evidence.

No one paid attention to his rebuttal. Hermione looked at the ghost floating in the air and said, "Myrtle, we have found out the monster that killed you. It's not an acromantula, but a basilisk. We came here to ask if you have any clues."

"Brassizor, it's a basilisk..."

When Myrtle heard that the monster was a basilisk, her eyes became melancholy and sad, and tears gradually filled her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

The short and fat ghost girl stared at the tiles on the wall in a daze.

I remember that year when I was bullied and insulted, I hid in the toilet and cried secretly, just wanting to relieve the grievances and resentment in my heart. I heard a boy's voice and thought it was someone who had the same experience as me. When I turned around, I happened to meet a pair of yellow eyes. From then on, my life stopped at the age of 12.

The Ministry of Magic could not find out the truth, and Mr. Dumbledore was powerless. In the end, he only found out about an acromantula and expelled a Gryffindor student.

Not knowing the real murderer, she blamed the people who insulted her. If it weren't for them, she wouldn't have hidden in the toilet crying, and if she wasn't in the toilet, she certainly wouldn't have died mysteriously.

A few years before she turned into a ghost, she took revenge on the person who had insulted her with hatred. She still remembers that person's name, Olive Hornbey.

He had been pestering her while she was in school, hiding in corners to intimidate her and disturbing her while she was sleeping. He would not let her go even after graduation and even made a scene at her wedding until Hong Bei moved away from Britain.

After Olive Hornby left, Myrtle Warren was completely lost. Because her parents were Muggles and could not see ghosts, she could only wander around Hogwarts forever, occupying this bathroom and becoming an annoying female ghost.

"Myrtle, Myrtle?"

Hermione called out several times, but Myrtle was lost in memories of the past, her expression dazed, as if she didn't hear anything.

The little witch pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to continue calling the poor victim. She turned and gave Harry and Ron a look, indicating that they should stop here today.

Harry and Ron nodded silently.

Just as they turned to leave the bathroom, Harry stopped, suddenly remembered something, and began to look around the room, the broken tiles, the old wooden door, and the stained sink.

"What are you looking for?" Hermione asked in a low voice.

Harry stepped closer to examine the contents of the bathroom, explaining as he searched. "Do you remember? Professor Lewynter asked me to demonstrate Parseltongue. Myrtle just said someone came here in the middle of the night and heard strange noises. I suspect that was Parseltongue. The Parseltongue password to open the Chamber of Secrets."

"You mean... the secret room is hidden here!"

Hermione connected many things as she spoke, muttering her own speculation: "No one else in the school has seen the basilisk, because the Chamber of Secrets is hidden in the bathroom, and the basilisk met Myrtle as soon as it walked out of the Chamber of Secrets.

“Her murder was an accident, and the true heir didn’t expect it, so he manipulated the basilisk to retreat back to the secret room.

"The murder case alerted the Ministry of Magic. The incident was so serious that the heir was afraid of exposing his identity and never opened the Chamber of Secrets again."

The three of them were very excited. Until now, all the clues were connected together, revealing the truth of the locked room mystery from fifty years ago.

They kept searching the bathroom, trying to find the mechanism to open the secret room. There were only a few things in the whole room, so they searched one by one and soon found a snake-shaped mark on the side of the copper faucet.

Harry calmed his rapid breathing, recalled Professor Lewynter's instructions, and leaned closer before whispering in Parseltongue, "Open."

As soon as he finished speaking, a white light emerged from the faucet and began to spin rapidly, taking the sink with it. Under the gaze of the three people, the white light gradually dissipated, revealing a wide water pipe opening.

It was pitch black inside.

The three of them looked at the changes happening before their eyes in amazement. Just as Harry was about to speak, a translucent figure suddenly floated past their eyes, flashed by, and disappeared into the thick pipe.

"Myrtle!"

(End of this chapter)