"All students must return to their college's common room by 6 p.m., and no student is allowed to leave after this time.

You will be escorted to each class by a professor, and you are not allowed to wander around the castle alone until the professor is here.

Quidditch training and matches postponed and no more activities in the evenings......"

All the students sat at the long table in the auditorium, silently listening to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was genuinely scared.

Before the holidays, the Ministry of Magic was closely watching the situation at Hogwarts.

After the attack on Professor Carreddy Bubbaji, a Muggle researcher, there was even a proposal to temporarily close Hogwarts in an all-out effort to find the Chamber of Secrets.

Although the proposal was later rejected by more people, the idea was brought up again in the days leading up to Christmas as the attacks grew.

And that time, there were significantly fewer vetoes.

The reason why the Ministry of Magic is so quiet is not only because of Dumbledore, but also because the students are not harmed.

But this luck can't last forever.

The immediate calm was only temporary, and the previous attacks were like barrels of explosives piled up, ready to explode at any moment.

In the dark, some people are already ready to move.

Professor McGonagall was certain that if a student was attacked, or if the number of attacks increased to a certain number, they would take advantage of the problem and detonate all the barrels of explosives.

No one knows what will happen then.

Also, Professor McGonagall doesn't want to see any students hurt.

Now is the most critical time.

The mandrakes are about to ripen, and when the petrified people or ghosts wake up, they will be able to learn about the chambers and monsters.

I believe that the heir of the secret room must also know this, and in order to protect himself and hide those secrets, he will either stop there, or he will become even more crazy.

And the petrified dwarf proves that the man did not choose the former......

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath, the expression on her face more serious than ever.

Although all the people who have been attacked so far have been petrified, this does not mean that the monster in the secret room will only petrify others.

After all, fifty years ago, when the secret room was opened for the first time, some students died without knowing it.

This kind of thing must not happen a second time.

She looked at everyone and said in a somewhat suffocating voice, "I want each of you to obey the rules, even if it's for your own safety!"

Anyone who violates the rules will have all House Points forfeited and will be disqualified from Quidditch. ”

"I also urge everyone who thinks they know something to come forward.

Every clue now, no matter how insignificant, has the potential to help us find the culprit who orchestrated these attacks. ”

Professor McGonagall finished and hurried away.

As soon as she left, there was a burst of chatter in the auditorium.

After deducting all the house points, he was disqualified from Quidditch, and he had never been punished so severely.

"Thankfully, Professor McGonagall just postponed Quidditch......" Harry said with some rejoicing.

"You ......," Ron said, glancing at Fred and George.

The two of them couldn't guess what he was thinking.

"We're definitely not going to be discovered, even if it's for Quidditch." Fred said.

"Yes, yes." George laughed, "Don't think about catching the villains as heroes like last year, that's not what you should do." ”

"We didn't want to be heroes!" Ron said, stalking his neck.

Beside them, Harry and Hermione were eating with their heads down, not speaking.

At the Hufflepuff table, Kyle didn't speak either.

There is a discussion about who the heir is, and every time they say a name, Kyle observes that person's expression.

But everyone looked normal, the only thing strange was Lockhart.

He was quiet, not boasting about how many greeting cards he had received, or boasting about his accomplishments that he had said countless times.

He didn't even take care of his hair, he had messy blonde hair on his head, and he poured wine glass after glass, which was like two people who were in high spirits at noon.

Half an hour later, dinner time was over.

Professor McGonagall re-entered the auditorium, joined by the other three Deans.

Professor Sprout walked over and sent the Hufflepuff students back to the common room.

"Unless you go to class, you have to stay here and don't go anywhere."

She counted the numbers and didn't leave until everyone had passed through the barrel door.

"Doesn't Professor Lockhart already know who the successor is?"

As soon as Professor Sprout left, someone couldn't wait to say, "Why can't the professors just arrest that person!" ”

"You still don't get it?" Someone said disdainfully: "He's just bragging, in fact he doesn't know anything, and he doesn't know, just like he behaved in the dueling club." ”

"Nonsense!" Someone retorted, "You've all read his books...... Think of the amazing things he did. ”

"It's just that he said it himself, and he did it."

……

The people in the common room quickly split into two factions, arguing over Lockhart's affairs.

Kyle, Connor, and Cedric are not involved in this pointless argument, and they make their way around the crowd and sit on a few couches in the corner.

"Kyle, did you find anything?" Cedric asked.

"Nope." Kyle shook his head.

"That guy hid it too well." Connor sighed, "Every time there was an attack, no one saw it, it was like it happened out of nowhere...... Could it be that the monster in the chamber is a ghost that can walk through the castle at will? ”

"Ghosts can't petrify people, they just look scary." Cedric looked at Kyle again, "Where did you find that golden chain from before?" ”

"One...... Very secluded place. Kyle hesitated for a moment, but still didn't say anything about the chamber.

It wasn't unthinkable for him to tell Professor Dumbledore about the location of the Chamber of Secrets and Riddle's news.

In fact, he had this idea when the diary mysteriously disappeared and the attacks were frequent, but he never made up his mind.

Maybe it's reluctant to give up the basilisk...... Kyle will always subconsciously avoid this idea.

Now that he thinks about it, he always feels that something is wrong, but he can't tell...... After all, the basilisk is indeed valuable, and it can be piled up into a hill in exchange for Garons, and it is normal to be reluctant.

Kyle rubbed his forehead, feeling inexplicably irritable.

"Speaking of clues, Kyle, remember that thing you gave me for Christmas?" At this moment, Cedric suddenly got up and trotted to the dormitory.

"You wait for me."

In about a minute, he returned, with an extra stack of parchment in his hand.

(End of chapter)