A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 295 The Tool Person is Online

Dumbledore's story is enough to fill seven books, forming a series.

But the principal was unwilling to tell anyone, and William did not pursue the matter further.

With William's careful comforting words, Dumbledore finally regained his composure.

William hesitated for a moment, then changed the subject and continued to ask Hagrid questions.

"What does the opening of the secret chamber have to do with Hagrid?"

"You should know that Hagrid was expelled from school back then, right?"

William nodded slightly. He knew about this when he first enrolled, but Hagrid refused to tell anyone the reason.

"Fifty years ago, Hagrid was just like you, a naive and inexperienced third-year wizard, but he kept a... giant spider at school."

"..." That's exactly the kind of thing Hagrid would do!

Although William and Hagrid had a good relationship, to be fair, his dismissal was entirely justified.

Is an eight-eyed giant spider something you can keep in a school?

William was no longer the clueless little wizard who had just enrolled.

Back then, Hagrid even wanted to take him to pet Aragog's leg hair... pet his leg hair?

Oh my God!

If William were to encounter an eight-eyed giant spider, he would probably just unleash a Fiendish Flame Curse on it and roast its spider hooves!

"But I still don't understand, what does his expulsion have to do with the locked room?"

"Fifty years ago, the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and a girl died... Nobody knew the monster was a basilisk, and then a student reported Hagrid for raising an eight-eyed giant spider, and he just happened to become the scapegoat."

"Fifty years ago... Tom Riddle reported it?" William was taken aback.

“That’s right.” Dumbledore nodded. “Looking back at this now, it’s easy to see the problem.”

But at the time, everyone except me was convinced that Hagrid was the killer.

William nodded.

That's right,

At that point in time: one was an outstanding student, a top student favored by all the professors, and the class monitor;

One is a big, goofy guy who likes to keep strange creatures, and he actually keeps a little monster at school...

You're a professor, who do you believe?

Let's look at this again today:

One is a ruthless Dark Lord; the other is a diligent key keeper who has worked at Hogwarts for decades...

The answer is self-evident.

But the reason this case has never been overturned is quite simple... there is no evidence.

Can you still capture Voldemort for trial?

Even if Voldemort were captured, he would have a reason: "You can't say I was bad when I was in school just because I became bad later."

Don't shove any plugs into my nose!

Moreover, most of the people who experienced this event have already passed away... and those who are still alive are at least in their sixties or seventies.

No one would want to overturn the verdict on something that happened half a century ago.

and many more……

In some ways, Hagrid's arrest wasn't a bad thing. Since he wasn't at school, another attack naturally proved he wasn't involved.

There are only five victims so far, but the obsessive-compulsive diary needs to reach seven!

William shared his thoughts, but Dumbledore shook his head.

"William, I believe the sixth victim has appeared."

"Who?"

Lockhart.

"How is that possible?"

Dumbledore said calmly, "Not many people know that I used to write poetry, but Tom Riddle from fifty years ago happened to be one of them."

How did he know?

Tom inquired about my preferences everywhere, trying to please me and flatter me.

"That sounds weird."

It's more than just weird; the principal practically said, "He's just trying to lick my boots!"

It turns out that Voldemort was a sycophant back then.

"It's not what you think, William." Dumbledore squinted. "The Tom of that time was completely different from the Voldemort of later years; you could say they were two completely different people."

Tom knew all the professors' hobbies: he loved to delve into things, cultivate various connections, and was adept at using his outstanding appearance and amazing talent to cover himself up.

I've said it more than once: the young Voldemort was more terrifying than he was later... not in terms of magical skill, but in his greater ability to manipulate people and carry out his schemes.

William nodded... That's true. A brute isn't scary; what's scary is when that brute starts using his brain!

"So you believe Lockhart knew you were a poet because your diary told him?"

"That's just one reason," Dumbledore said in a low voice.

"And the magic Lockhart unleashed on Valentine's Day... was an improved version of the Dark Mark."

Of course, there are many wizards who can cast the Dark Mark, and I can cast it.

During the Wizarding Wars, my favorite method was to use the Dark Mark to lure the Death Eaters over.

Holy crap... Heartless!

I wonder what kind of horrible sight those Death Eaters would have been if they had been drawn there and discovered that Dumbledore was standing under the Dark Mark.

"Tom invented this magic when he was in school."

To create a sense of ritual, they would leave this mark on campus after playing the prank.

"So, you think this is a diary reminiscing about the past?"

"Yeah, old things like to do that, don't they?" Dumbledore shrugged.

"In addition, Lockhart reported Hagrid to the Ministry of Magic, claiming that he had caught the attackers of the Chamber of Secrets..." William continued.

"It's probably the diary that instigated it; it's trying to use the same old tricks to frame someone and divert attention."

William received information from Rita that Lockhart had reported to the Ministry of Magic that Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets.

This is also why Lockhart believed he would catch the attacker when school started at Christmas, because the diary gave him a clue.

"Indeed, all signs indicate that the diary was once in Lockhart's possession..." Dumbledore said with a sigh, his arms crossed.

"Then, based on Ron's experience, Lockhart should be the sixth victim."

William raised an eyebrow; he noticed the principal had used the word "once".

"I do suspect it was in the past." A hint of seriousness flashed in Dumbledore's eyes.

"The diary gave me such an obvious signal that he had no reason to stay with Lockhart."

Just like how he exposed Ron, he left immediately... He's a cautious guy.

"It was a diary... how did it get lost?" William said.

"Yes, we must pay attention to this issue. How did the diary leave Ron back then, and how is it leaving Lockhart now?" Dumbledore asked.

"This means there's a mole within Hogwarts?!"

"Yes, very likely!" Dumbledore nodded. "There might be another wizard working on the diary."

Both of them remained silent.

After an unknown amount of time, Dumbledore suddenly instructed, "William, when the phoenix appears, I need you to go to the Chamber of Secrets and rescue Harry."

"Uh-huh?!"

William was stunned. What the heck... was he going to become the principal's tool again?

As expected, it was bound to happen!

It's not up to William's will!

……

……

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(End of this chapter)