I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 301 A Shocking Secret: The Curse of the Weasley Family

"Oh my God!"

At that moment, Harry and Justin, who were standing nearby, noticed the scar on Ron's back and screamed. They got up and went over to him.

"Ron, you—" The wound seemed to be bleeding, and Harry stared in disbelief, "Don't you feel any pain?"

"It hurts?" Ron, lying on the ground with his chin hitting the floor tiles, barely managed to turn his head, looking puzzled. "What hurts?"

"He gripped my hand so hard it hurt."

The red-haired boy gave Owen a resentful look.

"Not this—" Harry said, somewhat amused, as he reached out and poked Ron's wound on his lower back. "Here, doesn't it hurt?"

"I don't think so. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? It looks like someone cut a piece of flesh off you!" Justin glared at him and growled in a low voice.

"How can you not feel pain? And there's blood!" Harry added.

"That's not blood." With that, Owen released Ron, slowly stood up, and sat back down on the bench. "It's a kind of magic, a highly corrosive form of black magic."

"Dark magic?" Harry's eyes widened at the sound, then a surge of anger rose from his feet to the top of his head. That was his best friend, the most important person in his life. Someone dared to attack Ron in the castle, and with dark magic no less!

The next second, Harry practically roared at Ron, demanding, "How dare someone attack Ron!?"

In an instant, he thought of a certain Slytherin wizard.

Or perhaps a wizard from another school was jealous of Ron and Koyatl being together and thus launched a sneak attack?

Many of the young wizards in the Great Hall were drawn to Harry's roar.

Everyone was a little scared when they saw his wide-open eyes.

However, to Irving's ears, it was the deep sense of camaraderie in that voice that was most touching.

"That goes without saying. Wasn't he attacked? Or did he cut his own kidney?" Owen muttered, then looked around. Instantly, all the questioning gazes shifted elsewhere. "The question is, where is the killer, and—"

And—that woman.

Irving picked up the warm porridge in front of him and took a sip.

He had previously thought Ron's body had been hollowed out due to excessive kidney consumption. Now it seemed—that Koyatl was quite problematic.

Could it be that she's colluding with a fairy?

That shouldn't be the case! She's been in England for so long, how could she possibly have time to hook up with a vixen?

Moreover—she didn't seem like the type to associate with fairies. It was common knowledge that the older the family's bloodline, the more they looked down on these humanoid intelligent beings. Even a half-blood like Umbridge looked down on centaurs. As for Koyatl, she had the blood of the founder of Iphamoni flowing through her veins. Apart from a few even older families, no one could rival her in terms of bloodline. How could someone like her associate with 'greedy and base' fairies?

And what benefits can fairies offer?

It was nothing more than some mithril swords and magical armor, the kind of things that would be hard to sway even for ordinary wizards, let alone for a noble court beauty like Koyater.

"What's wrong?" Ron, who was lying on the ground, got up.

Harry quickly helped him mend his clothes.

"What is he doing—" Justin looked at Ron in great confusion. Although the wound wasn't really that exaggerated, how could Ron not have noticed that he was injured?

"He must have been cursed with a forgetting spell," Owen explained. "Looks like I really need to have a 'good talk' with Koyatl."

Having said that, Owen gave a cruel smile. No matter what, this woman was problematic. He had previously refrained from directly searching her memories because of Dumbledore's warning, but now—he was too lazy to play hide-and-seek with her anymore.

"So what happened?" Seeing Owen's increasingly serious expression and Harry and the others frowning, Ron realized that they weren't joking with him; something really serious was about to happen.

"Wait—what are you going to talk to Koyatl about?" Ron hurriedly sat down on the bench, looking at him seriously.

Irving calmly met his gaze and then began to recount the recent disaster facing the Weasley family.

The fact that Percy, Charlie, and Bill were all attacked.

As he meticulously and painstakingly revealed the recent events and the shadows lurking near the castle, the young wizards present couldn't help but show expressions of shock.

"What?" Ron's eyes widened, his bulging eyeballs looking like they were about to pop out.

He stared at Owen in disbelief. If he hadn't actually felt a thumb-sized indentation on his abdomen, he would never have believed Owen's words.

"Percy really..." Ron suddenly became worried. "I thought he didn't want to have much contact with his family after he became an official, because he was afraid we would embarrass him."

"That might be part of the reason." Owen curled his lip, speechless at this clueless guy. This was probably something that the Oblivion Curse couldn't cover up.

What has this guy been thinking about lately?

Unusually, Ron didn't argue with Irving, but instead asked urgently, "What do we do now?"

"First—" Owen said seriously, "you need to check if George and Fred, oh! and Ginny, have been attacked."

Then he turned to Harry and said, "Go find Sirius. He should be in Moody's office right now. Ask him if he's made any discoveries lately."

"As for me, I'm going to have a chat with Dumbledore!"

With that, Owen got up and ran towards the auditorium exit. As he approached the door, he suddenly remembered something and turned back. "About that Koyatl, she definitely has some issues. Keep her calm and don't reveal that you already know these things."

He said to Ron.

Then, they rushed out of the auditorium again.

"Damn weather, why is it still snowing? Is this never going to stop?"

Owen, who was running down the corridor, bumped into a group of third-year wizards. They were wearing sky-blue bow ties and carrying mechanical models of various planetary orbits. They looked like they were on their way to an astronomy class.

Outside the window, it was still snowing lightly. This time, the snowflakes were like tiny grains of sand falling from the sky. Although they weren't big, the faces of the young wizards were still full of complaints.

After two months of continuous overcast skies, astronomy class has finally changed from observing stars to memorizing and writing papers.

Every day, they had to remember who discovered the star, its size, distance, and dimensions, or calculate its orbit. A single lesson was comparable to advanced mathematics for Muggles, which made many young wizards miserable. Rather than idly wielding quills, they preferred to stay at the observatory at midnight in the cold to observe the stars.

At least that would be more interesting.

"Yes! This year is really strange, the winter is so long."

As Irving sprinted past, doubts arose in his mind.

Yes, this winter is indeed a bit strange. I've never seen such a large and long-lasting snowfall in the Scottish Highlands.

This lingering worry didn't stay in his mind for long. Soon, as Owen climbed the stairs to the principal's office, he forgot all about the winter.

Push open the door to the principal's office.

Those familiar gazes remained.

The principals' gazes, projected from the ceiling, focused on Irving.

"A young wizard has been attacked," Owen stated bluntly.

Under the ceiling, Dumbledore sat at his desk admiring someone's writing—letters made of parchment, the slightly creased corners of which showed he had probably turned the pages countless times.

"What happened?" The old headmaster put down the letter. His long, silvery-white hair and beard, his wise blue eyes behind his half-moon glasses, and his hooked nose all stopped and looked at him.

"It's Ron. Percy should have already told you about what he's been through lately!" Owen walked over and plopped down on the edge of the table, which was covered with countless glittering magical artifacts. "This time it's Ron. He was attacked near Hogwarts. It's estimated to have happened at least a week ago, since he hasn't left the castle this week."

"Of course—if someone breaks into the castle, that's another story."

He grabbed a cup of the new milk tea on the table—Phoenix Four Seasons Spring—took a sip, and then, as if exhaling bubbles, exhaled a ball of flame, which was shaped like a phoenix named Fox.

"A fairy?" The old headmaster frowned slightly.

"I think so," Owen said, then looked at Dumbledore. "Aren't you all-powerful? Don't you have any hidden connections among the goblins?"

"I think—it's not true," Dumbledore said matter-of-factly.

"That's a real shame," Owen said, somewhat disappointed, before jumping off the table.

The old headmaster suddenly looked up at Owen and said, "Tell me your theory. I think you must already have an idea."

"There are some." Owen didn't choose to hide it. "I just looked at the Ron family's genealogy. Of the four heirs after Merlin, three are Ron's elders. This is obviously abnormal. If the fairies attacked Ron and his family for any purpose, it can only be to find the true heir."

"Otherwise, why would they have appeared at this particular time of year?"

With a complicated expression, Owen walked to Dumbledore's desk and picked up a letter opener from one corner of his pile of letters.

It's important to know that from the time he was recognized by Chiron, to the time he first witnessed ancient magic by opening the cave, to the time he entered the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, all of this happened within a year.

If we only consider the time it took for him to open the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, only a few months have passed since then, which coincides closely with the time it took for the goblins to begin appearing near the castle.

It was obvious that those guys were after him, but they didn't know that the heir had changed families.

As he spoke, Irving held the letter opener in his right hand, pressed it against his left palm, and gently slid it, causing bright red blood to gush out.

The dark red blood resembled an expanding gemstone. The somber crimson hue was like a rare treasure. Then, he took out a glass bottle he always carried and dripped the blood into it.

Therefore, each member of the Weasley family had a cut, which shows that the flesh and blood of the true heir must be different from that of ordinary people.

Owen picked up the glass and stared at it for a long time; Dumbledore was also looking at it.

However, with the naked eye alone, he couldn't see anything different about the blood.

So, Irving gave the bottle to the principal and asked him to study it. Could the heir be some kind of Tang Monk's flesh, from which one could gain immortality by eating a piece?

"Huh—" Irving shuddered, unsure whether it was from the cold or from shock.

Owen was somewhat disappointed that he hadn't been able to get any information out of Dumbledore.

It feels like ever since he started handling things at the castle, Old Deng has just given up and laid everything to himself. He doesn't care about anything, doesn't worry about anything. He's always busy with something, but he's never doing anything productive!

Isn't he becoming a little too complacent?

Irving felt he needed to give Old Deng some work to do.

In the afternoon, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were taking Charms class together.

Today they were to practice the exact opposite of the summoning spell—the banishing spell. Because flying objects around the classroom could easily cause accidents, Professor Flitwick gave each student a large pile of soft mats for practice, so that even if they strayed off course, they wouldn't get hurt. The idea was good, but its execution wasn't going smoothly.

Neville was so inaccurate when he chanted spells that he would often accidentally send heavy things flying all over the house, like Professor Flitwick.

Our Gryffindor swordsman has achieved the honor of "beating the professor to a pulp," a feat that is unprecedented and unlikely to be surpassed by anyone for many years to come.

This class provided an ideal cover for secret conversations, as the young wizards were having so much fun that the classroom was filled with laughter that they completely ignored Owen and his friends, who were sitting in the last row and whispering amongst themselves.

Over the past half hour, Owen has recounted the events that took place in the Great Hall to Hermione in several segments.

"So, did something happen to George and the others?" Irving then asked in a low voice.

"No," Ron replied in a low voice as well. "I should be the first one in the castle."

"Where's Ginny? I haven't seen her for days," Hermione asked.

"She went with Fred to renovate the rooms, you know, she has a lot of opinions about George and Fred's renovation plans," Ron replied softly.

Just then, Professor Flitwick flew over them with a helpless expression, landing on a large cabinet against the wall.

"As long as we stay in the castle, nothing will happen," Ron said confidently, clearly relieved after learning that his two older brothers and sister were safe.

Besides, he didn't believe that the so-called goblins had the ability to infiltrate Hogwarts; if they did, they would have done so hundreds of years ago.

"Alright, we can forget about the attack for now." Ron suddenly grinned, a smile spreading across his pale face. Even in the freezing cold, his forehead was still covered in fine beads of sweat.

Sweat soaked the red hair on his forehead, causing it to become tangled.

Looking at Ron like this, Harry suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

He had no family—the only one he cared about was Sirius Black, and as for the Dursleys, they would have preferred him dead.

Harry couldn't imagine that if Sirius were attacked, or—something worse—he would do better than Ron.

He would certainly be more panicked and furious than Ron, and ultimately do something he would regret for the rest of his life because of his recklessness.

"By the way, Hermione, have you solved the mystery of the locket?"

With that, Ron waved his wand and cast a banishing spell. The spell, carrying the cushion, twirled and spun in the air before landing lightly in the box it was meant to be in.

"It's solved!" Hermione said confidently, yet with a hint of distress.

"It took me a long time to understand—'Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. Search! It's in the most inconspicuous places, yet they're everywhere in the castle.' Where does that refer?" she said, her eyebrows dancing with excitement.

"—Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. This must mean that Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, which he left at Hogwarts in his later years, is said to be openable only by the true heir of Slytherin, and the monster inside will kill any student the heir deems unworthy to learn magic—like me."

"Merlin's beard—if you're not worthy, then ninety-nine percent of the students in the castle should be expelled," Ron said in surprise.

Harry nodded frequently beside him.

"That's just a legend. Since the Chamber of Secrets can be used as a competition venue, whatever was inside should have been cleaned up by now," Hermione said with a straight face, but her raised eyebrows seemed to indicate that she was in a good mood.

She paused for a moment, then continued, "The puzzle that follows—is in the most inconspicuous places, yet they are scattered throughout the entire castle."

As she spoke, her cheeks suddenly became somewhat unnatural, as if she was too embarrassed to say what was about to come. "It was Myrtle who reminded me that the most inconspicuous place, yet one that is everywhere, is the castle's sewer system."

"Huh?" Ron and Harry were dumbfounded, but then they realized that the castle's pipes were everywhere, though not on every floor. And since the pipes were usually buried in the walls and floor tiles, they were naturally inconspicuous.

"I searched carefully and indeed found some unusual markings on the castle walls." (The marks left by Owen.)

"They were pointing to the girls' restroom on the third floor."

"The Myrtle's bathroom?"

"That's right, I've discovered that the sink in the very center of the bathroom is hollow. There must be a hole underneath it, but—" As she spoke, Miss Granger's face, which had relaxed slightly, suddenly twisted together again. "That sink must be enchanted. I can't move it no matter what spell I use."

"Is it possible that you opened it wrong?" Ron continued, seemingly trying to steer the conversation toward Hermione.

"If it was that old devil Salazar, he must have used some method that only he and his evil descendants knew to create that entrance."

“Ron,” Miss Granger frowned slightly, “No matter what, Slytherin was one of the founders of Hogwarts. You shouldn’t speak ill of him like that. Besides, according to ‘Hogwarts, A History,’ the castle didn’t have toilets hundreds of years ago. Wizards usually used Vanishing Charms to… cough cough, take care of certain needs. So that pool definitely wasn’t built by Salazar Slytherin.”

"But—it must have been built by his descendants." Ron persisted, his mouth still full of sarcasm towards Slytherin House, "It has a Dark Lord founder, which is why that house produces so many Dark Lords."

"Listen to his legend: he wants to purge all wizards unworthy of learning magic. How will he do that? Do you think the monsters in the secret chamber will politely escort a wizard like you onto a train?"

As soon as Ron finished speaking, Hermione's anger surged. She glared at him angrily and said, "How come wizards like me—don't Muggle-born wizards deserve names anymore? Have they all become 'wizards like me'?"

"Hmph! If that's really what you think, then that's great. Even wizards like me—" She looked absolutely furious. The more she investigated the so-called Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, the angrier she became. She couldn't understand why Dumbledore would allow such a place to be used as a competition venue. If she were the headmaster, she would have blown the Chamber of Secrets to smithereens the day after it was discovered, burying it forever underground.

"Someday."

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

Professor Flitwick narrowly avoided hitting the chandelier and announced the end of get out of class while flying in the sky.

Hermione quickly gathered the books on the table, then said in a slightly trembling voice, "Look, the winds of history will eventually blow away the shackles that weigh on wizards, and one day, those prejudices based on bloodlines will become nothing more than words in books!"

After saying that, she stormed out of the classroom in a huff.

After she left the classroom, Ron suddenly fell silent, then blankly packed up his books, and before Harry and the others could wait, he squeezed into the crowd and left the classroom as well.

"What's wrong with him?" Even the oblivious Harry noticed that Ron was acting strangely.

He seemed to be deliberately provoking Hermione, and kept changing the subject.

"Clearly, he's hiding a secret." Irving put the book into his pocket.

He silently made a mental note of it.

On January 19, 1995, Ron Weasley angered Miss Granger.

To preserve the overall situation and to uncover the secrets in his heart, they decided to hold back.

We'll settle the score later!

We need to observe this guy closely for a few days.

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According to the Ming Dynasty calendar, today is the Great Cold, the 20th. It is the coldest day of the year, and the Scottish Highlands certainly did not disappoint.

The heavy snow hasn't stopped since morning.

The terrifying snowstorm was whipped up by the gale, pounding against the windows with a loud, cacophony sound.

Irving was woken up around 5 a.m.

Then, when he tried to go back to sleep, he found that the sound in his ears was getting louder and louder, as if someone was drumming in his ears. He was still a little sleepy, but after closing his eyes for five minutes, he was wide awake.

At this point, Irving began to envy Nick's Anywhere Door.

If he had a magic door, he'd definitely connect it to Miss Granger's room. He could bring her over to sleep every night; he imagines she'd sleep soundly while he held her.

(End of this chapter)