Snape angrily walked up the spiraling, splitting staircase toward the headmaster's office on the eighth floor.

He had to accept the embarrassing fact that Ning An really had nothing to do with Calidora's disappearance.

This overturned all previous conjectures and inferences, and things suddenly reached an impasse again.

The sound of footsteps on the marble floor was heavy, as if the oil paintings on both sides of the wall could be felt, and the Potions professor's displeasure hid one after another.

"Lemon orange juice."

Approaching the two large stone statues at the door of the Headmaster's office, Snape shouted a mournful command.

The door guarded by the statue opened, and Snape walked in anxiously and anxiously, climbing a spiral staircase, and found that there were two people standing in the quiet headmaster's room, and he knew them.

"Ah, Snape - it's been a long time since I've seen you, my son is pretty obedient at Hogwarts, isn't he? You're his Potions professor, and he thinks highly of you. ”

Lucius? Malfoy turned around and saw Snape walking in.

He flicked his long pale blonde hair and made a gesture of hugging, as if he was very familiar with Snape, but the cold look in his gray-blue eyes revealed his true attitude.

"Oh, long time no see, Lucius." Snape replied coldly, he was usually like this, so no one thought it was strange.

Standing next to Lucius was a short, stocky man, none other than the current Minister of Magic, Cornelly? Fudge.

Fudge was dressed as usual in a neat pinstripe suit, a bright red tie tied very neatly, a long black cape, purple pointy boots, and a dark green top hat on his head.

But he was now standing in front of Dumbledore with a grim face, his gorgeous clothes eclipsed by the light of another great wizard.

Fudge glanced up at Snape, didn't say anything, still turned his head and said something more to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore's expression was calm, and he said to Fudge in a deep voice, "I understand, Mr. Minister, but before we leave, can I say a few more words to Snape?" ”

"Of course, of course, I'm sure the removal and investigation are only temporary, Dumbledore—" Fudge said with a sympathetic look.

After saying that, the two walked side by side towards the outside of the office, and before Lucius went out, he also cast Dumbledore with a contemptuous glance.

"Finally get this old wizard away, and then I can recommend a wizard close to the Malfoy family to take over as headmaster, but Fudge probably wants to arrange for his cronies in the Ministry of Magic—" Rolling his eyes, Lucius kept thinking about his own little calculations.

The wooden door on the inside of the office closed slightly, and Dumbledore stood at his desk, looking calmly at Snape.

"The result? Severus? ”

"It's terrible, things are not what we think, Ning An really doesn't know anything about those things." Snape began to walk around the room again in annoyance, and he looked at Dumbledore with some anxiety:

"Why don't you seem surprised at all? Also, what conspiracy are Lucius and the others engaged in? ”

"It wasn't a surprise to me, but I don't think we have any more time to dwell on it." Dumbledore was still talking, he seemed very calm

"As for Lucius and Fudge - they're here to inform me that the Board of Directors has just removed me from my position as Headmaster, and that the Ministry of Magic has asked me about the serial petrification events at Hogwarts."

"You're leaving Hogwarts?!" Snape stopped and asked Dumbledore in a low tone.

"Don't say that, Severus, remember I said that I would only leave if all the people in this school had betrayed me."

"But how can you just leave!? The secret room is still being opened, the school is still full of dangers, and you just walked away? ”

Dumbledore came to the perch of the phoenix Fawkes, stretched out his hand, and gently stroked the beautiful bird, Fawkes had grown back into a beautiful and noble phoenix since the last Nirvana.

"Don't worry, Severus, Hogwarts has no shortage of people who have the courage to solve problems, and I always believe in them." Dumbledore's words were full of confidence, and he shot at Snape with sharp eyes that seemed to be able to see through people's hearts.

"But I want to ask you to promise one more thing." The old wizard's voice became serious, and he removed his hand from Fawkes, tucked into the moon-white wizard's sleeve robe, and faced Snape.

"What's the matter?"

"I want you to open the door here at a critical moment."

"Why? What are the key moments? Snape vaguely understood something, but he still wished Dumbledore had spoken more clearly.

"To help Harry." The words came out of Dumbledore's mouth calmly, but it made Snape's breath shorten, and he was right, and it was.

"Harry?! - You want to hand over such a dangerous thing to Harry? He spoke three times higher than he had been at his angriest, and the black cloak behind him shook from the trembling of his body, making him look more like an angry bat.

"I believe in Harry's courage - Severus, he is the one chosen by fate, and he must go through these trials." Dumbledore remained flat, and no one could peer into his thoughts, in the star-like mysteries behind his crescent-shaped glasses.

"Courage?! - Courage will kill him! You know, Dumbledore, why I'm here, why I'm investigating Ning'an, even using a truth potion - you know, I've done everything I can for Harry's safety. ”

Angrily coming to the window and turning away excitedly, Snape shouted a little uncontrollably emotionally, and he began to resent Dumbledore for arranging it as if he were the master of fate.

"That's why I'm begging you, Severus." Dumbledore had a rare look of pleading and exhaustion on his face, "Help Harry......"

"Of course I'll help him!" Snape walked up to Dumbledore again and said coldly.

The silverware in the room was spewing white smoke, the wall clock was ticking, and the portraits of the headmasters were snoring with their eyes closed, but no one knew if they were asleep or not.

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, his tall, thin body, towering like a tower, looking at Snape solemnly, he reminded in a deep voice: "Be careful of Ning'an-Severus, I want you to be careful of him." ”

Although he didn't understand why Dumbledore was still reassured about Ning An, even after taking the truth potion, Snape himself always felt that something was wrong, so he nodded earnestly.

A touch of the afterglow of the setting sun shone in through the stained carved glass window, and the phoenix Fawkes on the perch suddenly let out a mournful chirp, as if to bid farewell to his master.

"I'll be back soon—Fox." Dumbledore smiled and said to his closest companion, and with that, he walked with Snape to the door of the office.

——————————————————————————————

On the other side, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were muttering to each other in a remote corner of the library.

"Say it again, Harry, I forgot about that, oh my God, what do I think." Hermione looked at Harry nervously, rubbing her shaggy hair in annoyance and remorse.

"Hmm-"

Harry said, with a look of recollection, "I did hear a voice - I heard it every time before petrification, it kept saying things like killing you, hungry, and so on. ”

"This is it!" Hermione snapped her fingers and realized that she was too loud, and after looking around for a moment, she lowered her tone and whispered, "Where have you heard this?" ”

"Lockhart's office...... Death party...... I think I've heard it in the library. Harry thought to himself.

"What the hell are you talking about? What was the meaning of Harry's heard? Ron interrupted the conversation between the two and looked at them quizzically.

"Harry is a parseltongue." Hermione sighed and analyzed.

"yes, we all know - but Harry is not the heir of Slytherin!" Ron clearly misunderstood the direction, but Harry frowned as if he had thought of something.

"Don't worry." Hermione stopped Ron and continued to explain: "Harry is a parseltongue, so he can hear it, and the sound we can't hear is naturally snake language, and it just so happened that we knew not long ago that the monster in the secret room is the basilisk. ”

"You mean......" Ron pondered

"What I heard was exactly what the basilisk said before it attacked the students!?" Harry interjected suddenly.

"Yes." Hermione gave her an affirmative look and continued, "So there's only one problem we need to solve—"

Harry and Ron both looked at Hermione

"That is, how a giant basilisk roams Hogwarts and kills people as if it were no one."

"Did you come up with it?" Ron asked in a muffled voice.

"Of course! I was so stupid that I didn't even figure it out now. Hermione thumped her head in annoyance.

"It's stupid enough, I think the whole of Hogwarts is a bunch of big fools." Ron muttered quietly, thinking Hermione was bragging about discovering the secrets of the Chamber of Secrets.

Not hearing what Ron said, Hermione whispered excitedly, "It's the tube!" The answer is pipes. ”

"Pipes?" Harry and Ron frowned and shouted in unison.

"Yes, this big basilisk, walking back and forth in the tube, only the Hogwarts tube can go in all directions to accommodate such a huge monster, and the tube is very suitable for snakes to move."

"But what does this have to do with the Chamber of Secrets?" Ron still felt that the truth was still far away from them.

"It has so much to do with it!" Hermione clapped her hands and analyzed endlessly, "Think about where the entire Hogwarts tube ends up?" Professor Binns had told him that the secret room had been opened, and a girl had been killed! - Think about all this, if you connect it—"

"Bathroom!" Harry and Ron exclaimed in unison.