Hermione, let's start a revolution from Hogwarts!

She longed to hear the answers she wanted to hear from here, even just comfort...

“Maybe you’re just overthinking it, Ginny. You have a vivid imagination. Besides, how could sleepwalking kill all the roosters? That’s no small feat,” Riddle comforted her.

"But now everyone thinks Ron is involved, even Hermione thinks..."

“Hermione?” Riddle interrupted her before she could finish writing, “I mean, she’s your friend, your classmate, how could she doubt you?”

"I don't know, I just feel like she's avoiding me."

Ginny's words were like an alarm bell, putting Riddle in a difficult position.

“You’re just too tired, take a rest,” he coaxed. “If you don’t mind, I can let you go to the world of dreams to rest again. I have to say, I really like the dreams you imagine.”

Hearing this, Ginny breathed a sigh of relief, put the diary on her person, and fell asleep with worries.

(The Chamber of Secrets arc is officially coming to an end. As for Lockhart... hehe, the fox is going to use him to highlight the point of divergence between the protagonist and Hermione.)

Chapter 118 Cooperation with Dobby

Riddle couldn't wait any longer.

On the night Justin was murdered, Draco met with Ginny while holding the last bottle of Polyjuice Potion.

The girl stood listlessly by the fireplace in the lounge, holding the open diary with utmost respect. Her appearance, as if controlled by an Imperius Curse, sent chills down Draco's spine at first glance.

“There isn’t enough time,” the diary read. “Our souls haven’t fully opened up to each other yet, so I need your help.”

It's now three months ahead of Riddell's original plan, but there's nothing that can be done about it.

Draco had no choice but to agree.

So the next day, Hermione cautiously approached Ginny's room, intending to question her, but the problem was that no one was there.

At first, she thought Ginny had kidnapped her roommates, but that wasn't the case, because from the second-floor corridor, the entire castle echoed with Headmaster McGonagall's warning, amplified by magic.

"All students, return to your respective colleges immediately! Class leaders, please take immediate action!"

Hermione didn't do that. Instead, she went against the tide of hundreds of people and ran to her headmaster.

“Miss Granger, what are you still doing here?!” McGonagall was pale, her eyes glancing every now and then at the students who were hurrying away.

“It’s Ginny too…” Hermione wanted to say that she might be a suspect.

“Yes, something else has happened.” But Professor McGonagall’s words made her eyes widen in disbelief. “The Slytherin heir has dragged Ginny Weasley into the Chamber of Secrets… Good heavens, this is never going to end.”

Hermione stood there numbly.

It seemed that reality had played a cruel joke on her—she had initially thought Ginny was in cahoots with Draco, but now she was the victim.

Hermione was then taken to the faculty lounge by the acting headmaster, where she saw Nietzsche chatting with professors; some looked like they had just woken up, while others were clearly terrified...

"What happened?" Mrs. Hooch, the flight instructor, rushed over.

“The heir of Slytherin…” Professor McGonagall said sadly, “When Filch was cleaning the walls, he saw that the previous text had been updated with a warning, which read: Her remains will be kept in the Chamber of Secrets forever.”

Professor Sprout covered his mouth and swayed as if he were about to faint.

This is how to do?

The mandrake will not be fully mature until around June, which is already summer, but the basilisk in the secret chamber will not wait for them to prepare the resurrection potion.

Besides... no one knows if the Weasley girl will be lucky enough to escape death.

“That line of text is deliberately misleading others to search for it. We must stop it. If necessary, I will temporarily send the students home tomorrow…” Professor McGonagall pondered for a moment before making the difficult decision.

Then, she planned to gather her forces and take over the secret room.

Nietzsche paced back and forth in the faculty lounge, his thoughts lingering on the character of 'Ginny'.

He had been wondering: since opening the Chamber of Secrets required Parseltongue, why would Draco approach a girl who grew up in a wizarding family that liked Muggles?

Regarding the issue of Quiró last year, only Nietzsche thought of one thing—control.

“Where is Headmaster Dumbledore?” he asked.

"He's still dealing with Fudge and the Board of Governors at the Ministry of Magic," McGonagall said reluctantly.

“Don’t worry, Ginny can’t possibly be killed so quickly.” Nietzsche’s calm voice soothed the professors’ anxiety. “She’s key to controlling the basilisk; someone might need her to become something…”

Snape gave him a rare look of appreciation.

The more urgent the situation, the calmer Slytherin appeared.

"How can you be so sure?" The dean gripped the back of the chair tightly.

"If someone needs to suddenly possess a unique ability, it is control... and Ginny is the intermediary between the Slytherin heir and the outside world; she cannot be petrified by the Basilisk."

But Nietzsche didn't finish his sentence.

The second half of the sentence is: But he might be killed by his successor.

The good news is that at least it won't be killed with just one look like others; at least it has time to breathe.

At that moment, the door to the lounge opened again, but it wasn't Dumbledore who entered; instead, it was Lockhart, yawning and grinning. He had no idea what had happened and assumed there was some new activity going on.

"Sorry, I just took a nap..." Lockhart greeted everyone with a grin.

"Welcome our Order of Merlin, Third Class." Snape's cold gaze cut like a knife across the other's face. "Didn't you always say this should have been handed over to you a long time ago? Now it's your time to shine."

Lockhart's gaze began to dart away, and he retreated repeatedly.

"That's a basilisk, and besides, I never said anything like that..."

"So the much-anticipated Professor Lockhart, all you can do is cast Oblivion Charms? Such underhanded tricks?" Snape said coldly. "That's your job, Professor Lockhart."

Nietzsche grew somewhat impatient with their argument.

what is this?

This is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, not the British House of Lords, where you can immediately shift blame to the opposing party when something goes wrong.

"Hermione, go to the common room and call Harry. We can't get to the Chamber of Secrets without Parsley's voice." He took off his wizard hat, threw it angrily on the ground, ignored Snape's cold gaze, and left the faculty common room.

McGonagall stared at the crumpled wizard's hat on the ground, as if she had thought of something.

“Alright, Professor Lockhart, what are you waiting for now?” she said, turning back to the principal’s office.

"I...I understand, I'll go back and prepare..."

But as soon as he left, Professor Flitwick couldn't sit still any longer.

“Minerva, you don’t really want that idiot to do this, do you?” he asked doubtfully. “You and I both know what kind of person he is.”

"Rely on him? I'm just looking for an excuse to get rid of him as soon as possible." McGonagall frowned and said, "Mrs. Hooch, Professor Sprout... you go and prepare the Hogwarts Train, Flitwick and I will go and explore the Chamber of Secrets."

As Nietzsche stepped outside the courtyard, the black dot that had been hovering in the air began to grow larger. The Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon spread its wings, glided down, and landed steadily on the ground.

Dumbledore is currently at the Ministry of Magic, so Malfoy is definitely present...

"Dobby!" Nietzsche snapped his fingers.

"Mr. Holmes?" Just as he expected, the house-elf appeared before him immediately and said excitedly, "Sir, you finally know how to summon Dobby. You still remember Dobby."

Before it could say a few words, a pair of orange-red vertical pupils appeared in front of its face.

Sparks and ash burst from Smaug's nostrils, causing Dobby to cling tightly to Nietzsche's trouser leg, refusing to let go even in the face of death.

"Don't eat Dobi, don't eat Dobi!" it screamed as it lay on the ground.

“Get up, it is my fire dragon.” Nietzsche pulled up his trouser leg and took a few steps back. “Dobby... I don’t need you to fight the basilisk. I just want to know one thing—can you apparite others freely?”

A simple, powerful house-elf goes and perishes together with a basilisk?

To be frank, this is such a waste.

Dobby, with his eyes bulging, was pondering Nietzsche's possession of the dragon... This once again refreshed his perception of him. After all, wizards who could raise dragons were rare, not to mention that Smaug wasn't even chained.

“Dobby can do it,” Dobby said blankly.

“Very good… I need you to take it into the secret chamber later.” Nietzsche looked up and examined it, then continued, “Is there any way to make it close its eyes?”

“Dobby has heard that some wizards punish dragons with eye-curse spells,” the house-elf said.

As expected of a servant of the Malfoy family, even a lowly house-elf is so knowledgeable.

Nietzsche glanced at Smaug, who was blinking and devouring the food on the ground, and finally gave up the idea. But then he took out a folded scarf from his pocket and a magic wand to cast a spell on it.

"Enlargement"

The original stack of thin scarves suddenly became as big as two blankets put together.

“Before that, remember to cover Smaug’s eyes…” Nietzsche crouched down and carefully explained the arrangements to Dobby, “Then you’ll be responsible for doing what you do best—staying in the shadows and protecting Harry Potter.”

“No problem, Mr. Holmes, no problem at all!” Dobby said, clutching the corner of his scarf.

Nietzsche never fought a battle he wasn't prepared for.

Chapter 119 Preparations Before the Battle in the Locked Room

Lockhart was ultimately kept on.

This was the responsibility of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and the only help McGonagall and the other professors gave him was a Sorting Hat...

"Oh no... I can't die here." Lockhart stared at the snoring Sorting Hat on his desk, muttering in despair, "How could this happen?"

He had come here hoping to add a shining touch to his resume and, incidentally, let those former professors see his achievements.

Unexpectedly, this year things have gone wrong. Perhaps running away like this will make him a laughing stock at school, but it's better than losing his life... After he's been quiet for a year or two, he can make a comeback.

However, the person who opened the Black Magic Defense office again was Nietzsche.

The boy glanced at the bookshelves and photo albums that had been cleared out, and then noticed the two suitcases filled with clothes at Lockhart's feet.

"What brings you here?" Lockhart forced a smile.

“Don’t worry, Professor McGonagall sent me to get the Sorting Hat…” He smiled and slowly walked over. “I just didn’t expect the professor to plan to flee before the battle even begins, which is a bit… but it’s not beyond my expectations.”

"Don't worry, you don't need another professor like me, right?"

Lockhart lowered his head vaguely and locked the two boxes.

The professor, who was once full of vigor, now had a bitter face and looked very haggard.

But he was wrong about one thing—Professor McGonagall and others didn't need people like him, but Nietzsche did, because once Lockhart left, many things that had caught up would fail.