Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 62 The Sudden Appearance of the Notebook

Percy Weasley and Penelope Crivart, a Gryffindor prefect and a Ravenclaw prefect, became the victims of the second attack.

Like Lady Lorris and Sir Nicholas, both of them were petrified.

Filch found them outside an empty classroom, holding hands, with broken glass scattered on the ground.

Unlike the first attack, the young wizards were not only more panicked, but also focused a significant portion of their attention on the relationship between the two.

Gossip is something that will always be of great interest to some people, no matter the time.

Of course, this is not good news for the Weasley family.

Arthur Weasley and Mrs. Molly received the news quickly and rushed in shortly after breakfast began; Mrs. Molly even had tears on her face.

Professor McGonagall seemed to have been waiting for their arrival. Before they could even speak, she went to greet them and headed straight for the school hospital.

Upon arriving at the school hospital and seeing the petrified Percy, Mrs. Molly could no longer hold back and burst into tears. Even Mr. Weasley's eyes reddened, and tears flowed silently down his face.

"I'm so sorry, Arthur," Dumbledore said softly in the university hospital. "I failed to protect them."

"It's not your fault." Mr. Weasley shook his head, while Mrs. Molly, standing beside him, threw herself onto Percy, grabbing his stiff hand, tears falling onto him.

"They're still alive, aren't they, Dumbledore?" Mr. Weasley asked, gently patting Mrs. Molly on the back.

"Yes, they've just been petrified." Dumbledore nodded. "I assure you they'll recover once the mandrake matures."

"I believe you," Mr. Weasley said softly, looking into Dumbledore's eyes, before turning his gaze to Percy.

A moment later, Ron and Ginny also rushed in.

Even though he and Percy had never gotten along, Ron still shed tears of sadness, while Ginny was already sobbing uncontrollably and was being held in Mrs. Molly's arms.

Hermione arrived a little later; Harry, who was still in the school hospital, was also awakened by the series of cries and stood helplessly to the side.

"Percy... about last night?" Harry quietly pulled Hermione aside and asked in a low voice.

Hermione nodded, somewhat surprised. "You didn't know?"

Harry's face was full of regret: "Last night... I slept too soundly."

"Alright." Hermione gave Harry a scrutinizing look, not bothering to find out what he was hiding, and continued, "I heard they only discovered it this morning, and they've been like this ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley just arrived."

Harry felt a lump in his throat as he looked at the heartbroken Weasleys.

"Hermione, I want to ask... have you discovered anything during this time?"

"No." Hermione shook her head. "I simply didn't have time for the... the potion at the most crucial moment."

"Okay," Harry scratched his head and replied softly, "I feel like something's not right. Aren't the monsters in the Chamber of Secrets supposed to only attack Muggles or half-blood wizards? How come Percy is also..."

"Can't you see?" Hermione asked, sounding impatient. "They're holding hands; it's obvious Percy's been dragged into this."

"I remember that Senior Penelope wasn't a pureblood..."

"I see..." Harry nodded, frowned, and then asked, "Hermione, um... how much longer? I think we should speed things up..."

"It'll be ready soon, just a few more days..."

The two talked quietly in a corner, while the Weasleys wiped away their tears, said a few more words to Dumbledore, and then left.

Ginny didn't say anything, just waved slightly as a greeting, and left dejectedly.

Ron's eyes were still red as he and Hermione went to Harry's bedside. His fists were clenched tightly, and his voice was trembling with sobs.

"I will make Malfoy pay!"

"Ron, we haven't decided yet..." Hermione began, but Ron interrupted her, "What do we need to decide!"

"Everyone knows we don't get along with the Malfoys. Dad even got into a fight with Malfoy's father in Diagon Alley before school started!"

"Percy is lying there now, who else could it be but him?"

Harry calmed the agitated Ron down a bit and relayed Hermione's words.

"...Percy might have been implicated. Let's wait until the potion heals before trying to get more information out of him." Seeing that Ron's emotions had stabilized a bit, Harry continued, "It won't take more than a few days. Let's wait a little longer, Ron."

"...I will make him pay the price..."

Ron continued muttering to himself, and Harry could only try to comfort him. As for Hermione, she had just been rebuked by Ron and was standing to the side, arms crossed, sulking.

Harry looked at his two friends and suddenly felt a little tired.

It turns out that being a bond between friends is such a complicated thing...

The attack on Percy and Penelope had a profound impact on the young wizards. Both were upperclassmen, and Percy was a pure-blood. This caused great concern among the upperclassmen and Slytherin pure-bloods who had initially remained indifferent.

The next morning, countless owls flew into the Great Hall, and almost every young wizard received a letter from home. Dumbledore's seat was particularly overwhelmed by a flood of red, howling letters.

However, Dumbledore never appeared; it was Professor Snape who moved the roaring letters away.

Judging from the somewhat gloating expression on Snape's face, he was probably sent to the headmaster's office.

Saving the young wizards from the barrage of howls was perhaps Snape's most admirable achievement this year.

Compared to the others, Ike was not in a hurry at all, seemingly becoming the most composed young wizard in all of Hogwarts.

His experience in the locked room taught him that his Parseltongue could influence the Basilisk to some extent. Even if he were to encounter a Basilisk controlled by Little Voldemort, Ike was confident that he could slightly affect the Basilisk's actions, giving him ample time to escape.

Should we confront the basilisk head-on?

Even though he wished he could grind Comrade Xiao Fu to dust, Ike's choice was still to run away.

Of course, reducing him to ashes is out of the question; Ike still wants to get the location of the Slytherin treasure from Voldemort.

Even if it's very likely that Comrade Xiao Fu in the notebook doesn't know either, there's still a certain probability that he does.

After calming the panicked Stuart and Terry, Ike was the first to leave the Great Hall.

Tuesday's first period of Defense Against the Dark Arts was a rare relaxed class. Lockhart now only had students perform passages from his books in class, and didn't care what books the students who weren't performing were reading. Ike was thinking of using this time to take another look at his book, "An Explanation of Ancient Runes."

However, when Ike passed by Myrtle's bathroom, he suddenly stopped.

At the entrance to the restroom, a black notebook lay forlornly on the floor.

I picked it up; it was a diary, the cover of which had faded.

I subconsciously turned to the first page, only to see a name written in blurry ink:

TM Riddle!

Second update delivered~ Requesting recommendations and monthly tickets~

I'm begging you!

(End of this chapter)