Chapter 36: Serendipity
On the second day, Felix Harp arrived at the corridor where the attack had occurred the previous night, and quite coincidentally, he encountered Fletch.
The corridor had obviously been cleaned up, and the accumulated water on the ground had disappeared. By the wall bearing the words "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened," there stood an empty chair.
At this mont, he was facing away from Felix, laboriously scrubbing the words on the wall with a cleaning solution, but it seed to be in vain.
"Mr. Fletch."
Fletch turned around, his eyes bulging, his face sporting an unusual flush of red, and he mumbled sothing unintelligible. However, upon seeing Felix, he courteously greeted, "Professor Harp."
"I've co to examine the scene. Perhaps I can find so clues left behind."
During his ti at school, Felix didn't have much interaction with this Fletch. Back then, he didn't have the assistance of Madam Rosrta and relied solely on his exceptional Disillusionnt Charm to completely nullify Fletch's threats.
Fletch stepped aside, sowhat awkwardly standing to the side. Having just revealed his true identity as an Animagus yesterday, he didn't want to spend a second longer in the presence of this brilliant professor today.
"Well then, I'll be off, Professor. I have a little sothing to attend to..."
"You go on ahead," Felix responded with a nod. "Oh, by the way." He waved his wand, and the writing on the wall imdiately faded.
"Hmm?"
He was slightly surprised. He quickly approached the wall, examining the writing from top to bottom. "Seems to be a form of Compulsion Magic, but not a Permanent Sticking Charm." Felix used his wand to gesture on the wall, and soon, the writing vanished.
"Th-thank you," Fletch blushed, hastily said, and promptly left, not even taking his cleaning tools with him.
Felix began to search the surroundings, and soon enough, he found a hint.
He crouched down on the ground, tapping the ring on his left hand with his wand, and a large magnifying glass appeared in his hand.
Felix carefully observed the ground. There was a charred mark there.
"What is this? How did it appear?"
Felix lifted his head, gazing at the girls' restroom opposite. Without much thought, he quickly pushed open the bronze handle and entered.
It was a rather dim and damp place, with streaks of dirt on the walls and puddles on the floor. The tiles on a row of sinks were peeling off, and the only source of light ca from a few pitch-black candles.
Suppressing his discomfort, Felix's gaze continually road.
A voice suddenly echoed from the innermost cubicle, "Who's there?" Imdiately after, a gloomy-faced ghost rushed out, her pearly glasses covering most of her face.
She looked at Felix and clearly recognized this professor.
The ghost stared in astonishnt, looking sowhat incredulously behind her. Yes, this was indeed her territory, the girls' restroom...
"P-Professor?"
"Hello, Moaning Myrtle," Felix's voice was quite calm. He was here to investigate, and he had a valid excuse. Yes, that's right.
Myrtle stared at him dumbfoundedly for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a scream, flying back into the toilet with a splash of clear water.
Felix: "..." Was that really necessary? I just wanted to ask you a question, and I'm enduring the awkwardness here.
Felix Harp said, "Myrtle, I know you're here. Did you see the attack that happened yesterday...?"
"Nothing! I saw nothing!" Myrtle loudly shouted from her stall.
Soon after, he heard footsteps not far away, and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly cast a Disillusionnt Charm on himself, swiftly left the restroom, and brushed past a red-haired girl.
Being discovered by a ghost wasn't frightening, but being seen by students...
His once sterling reputation would be tarnished.
Over the next few days, he cooperated with several professors when he had no classes and searched the entire castle, but naturally, they found nothing.
One day in the Great Hall, while Felix Harp was having lunch, he continued pondering over this matter.
"The root cause of all this is Voldemort's Horcrux, but knowing that doesn't seem to help... I don't know who the Heir of Slytherin is, where the Chamber is, or where the Horcrux is hidden."
"Chamber, Slytherin, Heir, petrification... these are the obvious keywords. But how do they connect?"
Felix had a feeling that he was very close to the truth, yet it remained veiled.
"Slytherin... serpent?"
He strained to rember, attempting to unveil long-buried mories. He seed to glimpse sothing – "Harry" battling a giant snake. But the mory was quite hazy; he wasn't sure if he was recalling it correctly. In his recollection, "Harry" seed to have dealt with a large group of Dentors on his own.
How was that even possible? Even most adult wizards couldn't achieve that!
Furthermore, how could Dentors have attacked the school?
However, Felix Harp quickly reminded himself that in the magical world, anything was possible. Especially with a "main character" present.
"So, it's quite likely that it's true – a giant snake causing Madam Rosrta's petrification." Felix followed this conjecture through.
Yet he encountered another problem.
What snake possessed the power of petrification?
The only one Felix could think of was a basilisk, but these magical creatures were extinct.
"Unless Slytherin perford blood grafting... from his remaining notes, his research into magical bloodlines was quite extensive."
Even after finishing his lunch, he hadn't sorted it all out. However, he soon had a new idea: he began collecting rumors about the Chamber that had circulated at Hogwarts over the years and ticulously scrutinizing them.
Perhaps the truth was hidden within the rumors.
...
Three days later, Felix Harp stood opposite a tapestry on the 8th floor of the castle, bearing the words "The Chimaera Takes on Stupid Babanus," looking at a silver door appearing before him with a curious expression.
Could this be it?
With a slight hesitation, he lightly tapped his chest with his wand. A flash of light passed over his wrists, ankles, and chest, and then he stepped forward into the room.
It was an enormous storage room, piled high with all sorts of discarded items: broken quills, old books, damaged mirrors... He even saw the Golden Snitch with one wing missing.
He cautiously walked around, finding no traces whatsoever.
"A hidden room?" He found it difficult to believe that proud Slytherin would place the Chamber here.
"However, this room is certainly well concealed. Its magic must be quite fascinating. I'll have to study it another day." Felix Harp walked out of the room, reluctantly taking his eyes off the silver door, which had quietly vanished.
anwhile —
The trio was also diligently researching the secret of the Chamber, with this "diligence" mainly being attributed to Hermione Granger.
After days of fruitless searching and the "Hogwarts: A History" borrowing list being booked for another two weeks, this Gryffindor witch finally raised her hand in History of Magic class, benefiting everyone by obtaining valuable information about the Chamber.
Poor Professor Binns had to deviate from the curriculum, delivering a lecture on "Myths and Legends" to the eager gazes of the students, much to his chagrin. Following this episode, his typically sluggish, dry voice sped up — enhancing his class's hypnotic power even more than before.
The once lively young wizards fell once again, their faces rapidly becoming blank and vacant.
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