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"What do you an go?"
Professor Flitwick grabbed Lockhart, who was already inching toward the door.
"Didn't you say you knew exactly what monster is in the Chamber of Secrets?"
"I—I really can't… just let go, alright?" Lockhart's voice trembled.
He had only wanted to show off, not actually volunteer to die.
"Hmph. Let you go?" Snape let out a cold laugh. "If you run, tomorrow every paper in the wizarding world will read: Gilderoy Lockhart, Hypocrite and Liar."
"Indeed," Professor McGonagall added sharply. "You insisted this matter should have been entrusted to you from the beginning. So it will be. You go tomorrow, or the truth spreads."
"Good news awaits you!"
"Don't disappoint us!"
The professors added one after another.
Lockhart's face turned as pale as parchnt.
"I—I still need to prepare… but yes, yes, I'll go. Tomorrow."
Seeing their attention ease for a mont, he took the opportunity to bolt out of the room.
Once he was gone, the professors' expressions instantly returned to grim.
"Well, that idiot's out of the way. We should prepare the announcent…"
McGonagall wiped her eyes and strode out.
…
Darren, Harry, and Ron returned to their lounges in near silence.
Ginny was gone. The school was shutting down.
None of them knew what to do next.
Back in Slytherin, Darren sat with reddened eyes.
Snape had dragged him back personally.
Darren had originally planned to act the self-sacrificial saint and sneak into the Chamber.
But Snape wasn't having it.
"I want you to understand your limits," Snape said coldly in the middle of the lounge while every Slytherin stared at Darren. "The Chamber of Secrets is dangerous even for professors. A child running in blindly only adds chaos."
Darren lowered his eyes, face pale and trembling.
"Professor… but Ginny—Ginny may have been taken because of . I told her to go to the hospital wing. It must have happened then. It's all my fault."
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
[Ding, Father 100]
He looked fragile and guilty, the perfect picture of a boy blaming himself.
Snape, however, did not soften.
"Tomorrow, after the students leave, the staff and Ministry forces will search the entire castle. You will not interfere."
Darren sighed inwardly.
So he wouldn't be able to farm Father Points by heroically trying to enter the Chamber.
Would Harry have to go alone?
He returned to his dorm, defeated.
But the next morning—nothing.
No chaos.
No attempt from Harry and Ron.
Darren stared at them.
They looked depressed.
"Professor McGonagall stayed in the Gryffindor lounge all night," Harry muttered. "Even the Invisibility Cloak wouldn't fool her."
True. The teachers were finally being smart.
But… was the school really just going to leave Ginny?
"All students, board the carriages imdiately!" McGonagall announced.
Darren exhaled and prepared to leave with everyone.
Until—
A wand pressed into his back.
"Don't move. Potter—Darren Potter—after you get on the train, you will find a way to sneak out and return here. If you don't…"
Lockhart's whisper was venomous.
"I'll announce to the entire wizarding world what spell you used that day. Fiendfyre. A student using Fiendfyre—imagine the headlines."
Darren froze.
"What do you want?" he whispered. "If you want to do sothing bad, I would rather die!"
[Ding, Father 10]
Lockhart flinched for a second, but fear of the professors outweighed guilt.
"They expect to find the Chamber," he hissed. "I can't. I won't. So you will. You go in, find the girl—or her bones—and I will swear an Unbreakable Vow not to reveal anything."
Lockhart clenched his teeth.
He had tried to run that morning.
But the professors had blocked every exit, watching him like hawks.
He overheard them agreeing to expose him if he didn't act.
His only way out was Darren—soft-hearted, easily threatened Darren.
"And don't think I believe that nonsense about your spell being 'improved through love'," Lockhart sneered. "Fiendfyre is Fiendfyre. Those professors only defend you because you're a Potter."
He smirked triumphantly.
"You go in with , boy. I'll take the credit. You take the risk."
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