Hogwarts: Oh no, I've become Voldemort!

Harry strode towards the Gryffindor Tower, picked up his Nimbus 2000, and joined the bustling crowd crossing the arena, but his thoughts were still in the castle, searching for that voice. As he changed into his crimson robes in the dressing room, his only solace was that everyone was outside watching the game.

Amidst deafening cheers, the players marched onto the field. Oliver Wood leaped into the air, warming up by circling the goalposts. Ms. Hodge released the ball. The Hufflepuff team players, dressed in pale yellow, huddled together, making the most of the last minute to discuss tactics.

Harry looked towards the audience, where the white-haired Malfoy stood out, squeezing through the crowd towards Ginny and Ron. However, Harry didn't see Hermione.

Cyrus, panting, sat down next to Ginny and asked knowingly, "Finally found you. Where's Hermione?"

“She went to the library,” Ginny said immediately, recounting everything that had happened since she and Cyrus separated.

"She's alone? You shouldn't have let her go alone. What if she's in danger?"

"No way? How could the heir just happen to know Hermione's location?" Ron couldn't believe it was such a coincidence.

But just as Harry was about to mount his flying broomstick, Professor McGonagall suddenly ran across the arena, carrying a huge purple microphone.

His heart sank like a stone.

It seems another attack has occurred.

Sure enough, that was the sign that the monster had started to move.

Ron's face turned pale instantly. He stood up in a panic and started squeezing his way onto the playground: "It can't really be..."

Cyrus and Ginny quickly followed.

"The match is cancelled," Professor McGonagall announced into the crowded stands through the microphone. A chorus of boos and shouts erupted from the crowd. Oliver Wood looked dejected. He landed on the ground and, without dismounting from his flying broom, ran towards Professor McGonagall.

“But Professor!” he cried, “We must compete… in the Quidditch Cup… in Gryffindor…”

Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued speaking into the microphone: "All students must return to the college's common room, where the college administrators will provide you with more information. Please leave as soon as possible!"

Then she put down the microphone and gestured for Harry to come over.

“Potter, I think you’d better come with me…”

Harry was puzzled. Why did he always end up in trouble?

He couldn't understand how this attack could be connected to him when he was perfectly fine on the Quidditch field.

On the other side, nearly a thousand students were making a racket. Amid the bustling crowd, Cyrus, Ron, and Ginny struggled to break through the throng and ran towards them.

“Alright, maybe you’d better come too, Ron Weasley.” McGonagall looked at Ron, unusually relenting, but Cyrus and Ginny weren’t so lucky. “As for you two, get back to your house’s common room! Especially you, Malfoy!”

After saying that, she left with Harry and Ron, who were still confused.

Harry glanced back and saw Cyrus and Ginny standing alone on the lush green playground, with a crowd of people behind them.

He felt as if the world had been divided into three parts, and the deafening noise suddenly seemed far away. The angry Wood looked like a silhouette in a silent play.

"What happened?" Ginny asked with great concern.

“I’m afraid something unexpected has happened.” Cyrus pondered for a moment and said, “Let’s go back first. I’m sure Harry and Ron will tell us what happened when they return.”

“Hmm,” Ginny could only nod, “I hope Hermione is alright…”

-

“Hermione!” Ron exclaimed.

Their bad premonition came true.

This time, Professor McGonagall didn't take Harry and Ron to anyone's office; instead, she went directly to the university hospital.

Hermione lay there motionless, her blank eyes unnaturally open.

“She was found near the library,” Professor McGonagall said. “I doubt either of you can explain that.”

“Someone forced her to open her eyes.” Madam Pomfrey noticed Hermione’s strange expression immediately. She was clearly trying to keep her eyes closed, but her eyelids had been roughly pried open.

"This means that the attacker may very well have cast the spell through his gaze."

This clue easily led McGonagall to think of the Basilisk. While the other victims could be explained, Hermione seemed to have nothing that could prevent her from seeing the Basilisk. Yet, she was still petrified, not killed.

“I will escort you back to the Gryffindor Tower,” Professor McGonagall said somberly. “Anyway, I have to go and speak to the students.”

"All students must be back in their college's common room by 6 p.m. No student may leave their dormitory after this time. Each student will be escorted to class by a teacher. No student may use the restrooms without a teacher's accompaniment. All Quidditch practice and matches are postponed. No further activities will be held in the evening."

The Gryffindor students crowded into the common room, listening silently to Professor McGonagall speak. She rolled up the parchment document she had just read from, and then said in a somewhat choked voice, “I’ve rarely felt this distressed before, actually. The school will likely have to close unless the perpetrators who planned these attacks are caught. I urge everyone who thinks they know something to come forward.”

She awkwardly climbed over the portrait hole, and the Gryffindor students immediately started chattering.

“Two Gryffindors have already fallen, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, a Ravenclaw, and a Hufflepuff,” Lee Jordan, a friend of the Weasley twins, counted on his fingers. “Has any teacher noticed that all the Slytherins are unharmed? Isn’t it obvious that these things all came from Slytherin? The heirs of Slytherin, the monsters of Slytherin—why don’t they just kick all the Slytherins out?” he shouted, and the audience nodded frequently and applauded sparsely.

But Harry wasn't listening.

He couldn't shake the image of Hermione lying stiff and lifeless in her hospital bed. If the culprit wasn't caught soon, he'd be back in the Dursleys' house for the rest of his life. Tom Riddle had betrayed Hagrid because he faced the prospect of returning to a Muggle orphanage once the school closed. Harry now completely understood his feelings.

"What do we do?" Ron whispered in Harry's ear as the three of them huddled in a corner. "Do you think they suspect Hagrid?"

“We have to talk to him,” Harry said, determined. “I can’t believe it’s him this time. But since he released the monster last time, he must know how to get into the Chamber of Secrets. That’s a potential breakthrough.”

"But Professor McGonagall said we have to stay in the tower unless we're in the classroom—"

“I think,” Harry said, lowering his voice, “it’s time to take out my father’s old cloak again.”

“Then let’s go find Mr. Riddle first, and then we’ll go together.”

Chapter 69 Cornell Fudge

That night, Harry and Ron went to bed as usual. They waited until Neville, Dean, and Seamus stopped discussing the Chamber of Secrets and finally fell asleep before getting up, dressing themselves, and draping the Invisibility Cloak over their bodies.

When they arrived at the common room, they found Ginny already sitting on the sofa waiting for them.

“Let’s go, let’s go to the Slytherin common room first. I’ve managed to contact Mr. Riddle, he’ll be waiting for us at the door,” Ginny said immediately.

Walking through the gloomy corridor was not a pleasant experience.

Harry had wandered around the castle many times before, but he had never seen so many people after sunset. Teachers, prefects, and ghosts patrolled the corridors in pairs, checking for anything unusual.

While the invisibility cloak was useful, it wasn't always effective; once, he and Ron were almost discovered by Snape. He always felt that Snape seemed extremely sensitive to the invisibility cloak.

They finally arrived at the Slytherin common room, but there was no one outside the door.

"Where's Riddle? Did he get caught?" Ron asked in a low voice, sounding a little worried. There were just too many teachers on patrol tonight.

"Here it is!"

Cyrus overheard their conversation and abruptly revealed his true form in the air.

“I used a Disillusionment Charm, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to hide from the professors.” Cyrus reached out and lifted Harry’s Invisibility Cloak, then frowned. “Isn’t it a little small for the four of us?”

"Don't you know the Disillusionment Charm?" Ron asked curiously.

“But I can only guarantee that I won’t be detected when I’m still. If I start moving, the professors will notice something is wrong,” Cyrus said deliberately. Now, Malfoy’s body was useless.

What he wants is—Ginny!

“Ginny, let me possess your body. The fewer people we send, the less risk of being exposed,” he said. “Besides, given the current situation, if I keep possessing Malfoy, I’m afraid I won’t be able to meet with you normally until the end of the semester.”

Ginny didn't seem to resist at all; instead, she looked shy. But Harry had a question: "What about Malfoy?"

"I'll let him get a good night's sleep, and when he wakes up, he won't remember anything."

Ron didn't seem too keen on having someone possess his sister, but Ginny preemptively replied, "That's fine, Mr. Riddle is much stronger. He can protect you."

Cyrus quickly transferred from Malfoy's body to Ginny's, then stuffed the unconscious Malfoy back into the common room and left him there.

Then, the three of them left the castle wearing invisibility cloaks.

Harry and Ron both felt awkward. They had finally gotten used to Cyrus being Malfoy, and now she was Ginny—it felt so strange. But there was no time to dwell on that now.

It was a starlit night, and they hurried toward the window of Hagrid's house that was illuminated by light. Only when they reached his door did they remove their invisibility cloaks.

A few seconds after they knocked, Hagrid flung the door open. They were met with Hagrid pointing a crossbow at them, his large hound, Fangtooth, barking wildly behind him. This startled them; it was the first time Harry had ever seen Hagrid like this.

“Oh, it’s you guys,” Hagrid visibly relaxed, put down his weapon, and glared at them. “What are you three doing here?”

“What’s that for?” Harry asked, pointing to the crossbow as they entered the room. Cyrus, on the other hand, tried to keep his presence as inconspicuous as possible.

“It’s nothing…it’s nothing,” Hagrid mumbled. “I thought…it was alright…Sit down…I’ll make some tea…”

He seemed somewhat distracted; water spilled from the kettle, nearly extinguishing the fire in the stove, and then his large, rough hand trembled violently, knocking the teapot over.

"Are you alright, Hagrid? Have you heard about Hermione's situation?"

“Oh, yes, I heard,” Hagrid said, his voice slightly choked. He was clearly saddened by Hermione’s situation, but he kept glancing nervously out the window, as if something even more terrible awaited him.

"I think you don't need to worry too much, she'll be fine, she will..."

He poured some tea for Harry and the others, but forgot to put in the tea leaves. Just as he was about to put a thick slice of fruitcake on a plate, there was a loud knock on the door.

Hagrid was so startled that he dropped the fruitcake in his hand, his expression one of panic.

Harry and Ron were just as flustered as he was, and even Cyrus was a little panicked.

Because he knew who was knocking on the door.

"Quick, hide! It'll be terrible if we get caught sneaking out." Cyrus hurriedly pulled Harry's Invisibility Cloak over their shoulders. The three of them huddled tightly behind the sofa, Cyrus's breathing heavier than usual.

Dumbledore is coming in.

Hagrid saw that they were all hidden, so he grabbed his crossbow and yanked the door open again.

"Good evening, Hagrid."

Dumbledore walked in first, looking very serious, followed by a man with a very strange appearance.