A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Dumbledore couldn't help but clap his hands in admiration.

“It was Hermione who deduced it,” Harry said, not taking credit, while Hermione waved her hand shyly.

Then came the second attack. At this point, Harry felt a strong urge to voice their suspicions about Malfoy. Surely Dumbledore could find out something?

But just as he mustered his courage, Snape and Professor McGonagall pushed open the door and walked in. Seeing the three of them looking so disheveled, Professor McGonagall clutched her chest. "Oh my god, what have you all been through? Professor Snape said you recklessly challenged the monster in the Chamber of Secrets… If that's true, I'll definitely deduct your punishment…"

“Minerva,” Dumbledore interrupted her, “and Severus, you’ve come at the right time. Let us hear their adventures before we make our final judgment.”

As a result, two more people joined the audience to hear the story.

Harry opened his mouth, but swallowed his doubts about Malfoy. He began to recount the crucial information he learned from Hermione that Parseltongue could control snakes—that's what Slytherin did—and then from Hagrid about the existence of Aragog the Eight-Eyed Spider and its fear of the Basilisk.

“And those dead chickens!” Ron reminded him.

“That’s right, a lot of Hagrid’s chickens died, and he thought it was the fox who did it,” Harry added. “That’s pretty much how we pieced together the truth about the Chamber of Secrets.”

“I’d like to know more about how all of this happened tonight?” Dumbledore nodded approvingly, then asked.

Then Harry continued, recounting how they slipped out of the Great Hall to talk to Professor Hyp—Snape hissed—and heard the Basilisk's voice again. So they rescued Justin, and Harry told the others to seek help from the professor while he kept an eye on the Basilisk to prevent it from attacking the others.

“That’s a noble act, Harry,” Dumbledore said softly.

“But what I saw was only a reckless and arrogant adventure. Headmaster Dumbledore, you have given them too many privileges.” Snape said sternly, playing the role of pouring cold water on their enthusiasm.

Felix watched with great interest. Snape's dislike for Harry Potter was utterly undisguised, yet he was the first to step forward when Harry was in danger...

Thinking back to what he had investigated, a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

“We cannot make hasty judgments, Severus.”

Afterwards, Ron and Hermione each shared parts of their experiences. Hermione didn't have much to say; she had only wandered around the empty castle for a few minutes before running into Professor Hyp.

Ron's story is much more exciting. He not only attacked the professor (Lockhart) but also stole his wand. In a panic—which Ron tries to embellish as a sudden inspiration—he went to the bathroom, realized that Harry did not have a powerful magical golem with him, so he simply jumped down and became a "delivery hero".

“By the way, Headmaster,” Ron said somewhat nervously, “Professor Lockhart’s wand was swallowed by the basilisk. Should I pay him back?” His own wand was still half-damaged.

“That is indeed a problem. Gilderoy has been having some bad luck lately… I’ll speak to him,” Dumbledore said casually. “If he’s lucky, his wand is still lying intact inside the basilisk.”

After the three young wizards had finished recounting part of their experiences, Professor McGonagall said weakly, "What you did tonight far exceeded your duties. I should add that you broke at least a hundred school rules along the way—but how did you defeat the Basilisk?"

Harry recounted how he and Ron met near the scabbard, went into the Chamber of Secrets together, and then encountered the Basilisk. At this point, Harry suddenly realized he should have stopped near the scabbard, but he hadn't thought of it at all.

Am I really like Snape said, a reckless and stupid lion?

The story continues, and the two's unexpected visit crosses the basilisk's psychological line—it attacks Harry and Ron frantically until Fawkes pecks out the basilisk's eyes, only then do they barely have the courage to face it.

“Professor Hyp’s magical puppet was a great help.” Harry glanced gratefully at Felix, who simply smiled without speaking, his gaze fixed on the tattered, dirty Sorting Hat. Harry continued, giving Hermione a strange look; he had no idea when she had arrived.

Finally, he recounted how, with the help of the three of them, he made his final leap and killed the basilisk. Thus, the story came to an end.

Felix clapped his hands. "What a wonderful adventure! I think your story could fill a book."

“Felix,” Snape drawled, in his characteristically emotionless voice, “perhaps you see a reflection of yourself in them…”

“No, Professor Snape,” Felix said casually, “I’m completely different from them. They’re all excellent Gryffindors, while you and I,” he glanced at Snape, “are standard Slytherins, aren’t we?”

"The Sorting Hat can testify to this."

He reached out and, with remarkable ease, picked up the Sorting Hat and put it on his head.

Chapter 65 Dumbledore's Successor?

When the trio emerged from the school hospital, their faces beamed with joy—just moments before, Dumbledore had awarded each of them two hundred points for their outstanding courage and they had shared the school's Special Contribution Award.

Of course, some points need to be deducted from the bonus points—past violations of school rules will not be investigated, but some of today's actions—the trio violated the ban by going out and each of them lost 20 points, Ron's inappropriate behavior towards Professor Lockhart lost 50 points, plus a month of confinement.

Even so, they still managed to score 490 points for their college in one go.

This basically means that Gryffindor has secured the Academy Cup in advance.

“I think it’s worth it!” Even Ron, who was going to be locked up for a month, had no objections.

If we could win the Quidditch Championship again, this year would be perfect... Harry thought greedily, but there's still a chance!

At the end of the conversation, Harry spoke privately with Dumbledore. In this private conversation, he mustered the courage to voice a long-standing question: had he been sorted into the wrong house? After all, the Sorting Hat strongly suggested that he would have achieved great things if he had been in Slytherin.

Dumbledore's words completely reassured him. He pointed to the Gryffindor sword on the table and said to him, "Only a true Gryffindor can pull it out of the hat."

He also figured out why he could speak Parsley: according to the headmaster, Voldemort had transferred some of his powers into his body that night.

This left Harry speechless.

“Living according to your own will is more meaningful than dwelling on the past that cannot be changed,” Dumbledore told him.

……

It was completely dark, but the shadow that had shrouded Hogwarts for two whole months had finally dissipated.

Ron suddenly spoke up, "What do you think Professor Hyp meant by what he just said? Like Gryffindor, Slytherin and all that..."

Harry reflected on his behavior that evening and remarked, "I guess it might be a quality that different houses value? Like Gryffindor's appreciation for courage, and Slytherin's advocacy for calm self-control."

“If you hadn’t said so, I would have almost forgotten that Professor Hyp is a Slytherin,” Ron muttered under his breath.

Hermione didn't speak. She recalled her first private runes lesson, during which Professor Hyp was particularly interested in the Sorting Hat, saying, "Perhaps I should find an opportunity to reintroduce myself to it?"

The little witch thought the professor was just making excuses to put on the Sorting Hat again...

When they returned to the common room, the three of them hid in a corner and exchanged information in detail. Hermione's words surprised them the most: the three professors had actually been standing by the side the whole time.

“How could they do this?” Ron said indignantly, having felt like he was going to die several times.

“With them here, we are not in any danger,” Hermione analyzed rationally.

"I just want to know why we're risking our lives to kill the basilisk while they just stand by and watch!" Ron was still full of complaints.

“I think Headmaster Dumbledore might be testing us. Remember last year?” Harry said thoughtfully. “Voldemort didn’t die. That’s what Dumbledore told me back then. He said that Voldemort would return one day.”

“Could it be that Dumbledore wants to groom us as his successors to resist the Void?” Ron said, his face beaming, as if just stating this deduction was enough to excite him. “Dumbledore is not young anymore, I mean, it’s about time he started to consider this issue, isn’t it?”

Dumbledore's successor sounds far more perfect than Slytherin's successor.

All three of them couldn't help but breathe rapidly.

Chamber of Secrets.

Dumbledore, Snape, Felix, and Professor McGonagall stood beside the basilisk's corpse. It was Professor McGonagall's first time there, and she couldn't help but look around the place.

“It’s like a dark and terrifying lair,” she whispered.

Felix touched the basilisk's pupils with his fingers—most of them had been destroyed by Fox, and black blood stained most of the snake's face; he had only managed to collect a few clean pieces.

He was very interested in the basilisk's ability to kill anyone it stared at, which was also one of the reasons he was extremely wary of it—but it was only wary; he had far too many ways to avoid making direct eye contact with it.

However, he was curious about what would happen if Dumbledore and the Basilisk looked at each other.

Could Dumbledore be killed by the Basilisk's gaze? When Felix saw the Headmaster's immense and terrifying magical power, he wavered.

Is the basilisk's "death stare" really effective against a wizard of this caliber?

Just like himself, he could easily withstand one or two stun spells.

Felix analyzed Dumbledore's strength while collecting various materials from the basilisk. Professor Snape was doing the same thing.

He accepts all kinds of snakes, whether it's venom, fangs, blood, or scales.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore was talking quietly with Professor McGonagall.

“Albus, I think we should publicize this properly and let the outside world see that we’ve solved the problem of the locked room, so they won’t make baseless accusations.” Professor McGonagall had naturally seen the previous reports and was quite upset.

“Minerva, I don’t object to that, but we’ll have to wait a few days…”

"why?"

"Lucius Malfoy has been very active on the school board lately, and he seems to think this is a good opportunity to kick me out of the school," Dumbledore said noncommittally.

“How dare he!” Professor McGonagall shouted angrily.

"From what I understand, Lucius has threatened many school board members, and he might target me in the next few days..."

"Dumbledore, what should we do?"

“We just need to wait.” Dumbledore’s gaze seemed to pierce through the ceiling of the Chamber of Secrets, seeing a more distant view.

Felix and Snape also drafted a preliminary plan for dividing the basilisk materials during a series of verbal exchanges.

He also found Lockhart's wand, and after washing it several times with the "Clear Water" charm, apart from the lingering strong odor, it was impossible to tell from its appearance what had happened.

Hopefully Lockhart won't mind.

They then moved the basilisk's corpse to an abandoned classroom and magically locked the door—they would dismantle the basilisk once the school announced the news.

When Felix returned to his office, he realized it was almost nine o'clock.

Hogwarts is still under curfew, and there are few people in the corridors, but it won't be long before it returns to its former liveliness.

Sitting on the sofa, Felix was still thinking about the secret room.

The secret chamber has been found, and the basilisk is dead, but there's still a Slytherin heir in the castle.

Or to put it more bluntly, in Felix's mind, it specifically refers to a certain young wizard who was controlled by Voldemort's Horcruxes.

How can we find him/her?

If he really causes big trouble, not to mention anything else, the fact that Hogwarts will be closed for two months for a thorough inspection is something he cannot accept.

Felix was pondering a strategy when a series of urgent knocks came from the door.

He pushed open the door and saw a young wizard who surprised him quite a bit—Draco Malfoy.

Strangely, Malfoy's face was very pale, and a fine layer of sweat clung to the tip of his nose. He was also tightly clutching a long scarf with dark green stripes in his hand—and at the other end of the scarf, about two meters away from him, he was dragging an ordinary black notebook.

It's clear that Malfoy is trying his best to keep himself away from that thing.

“Please come in, Mr. Malfoy,” Felix said, his gut feeling telling him that he would have a very fruitful night.

Chapter 66 Night Talk

Malfoy sat uneasily on the sofa.

Felix sat opposite him, first beckoning him a cup of hot cocoa and handing it to him, saying, "Sweets make people feel happy." Then, he waved his wand, causing the black notebook to float up and land on the small table between the two of them.

"Boom."