[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-hogwarts-learning-panel":3,"chapter-hogwarts-learning-panel-hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-309":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Hogwarts Learning Panel",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2250547,4210,"Chapter 309: The Story of the Chamber","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-309",309,"\u003Cp>He cleared his throat, letting out a soft sound like a piece of chalk snapping, and continued:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It was in October of that year that a specialized team of wizards from Sardinia—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stumbled to a halt. Hermione raised her hand again, waving it in the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss Granger?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“May I ask, sir, aren’t legends always based on some kernel of truth?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Binns stared at her, utterly astonished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Binns said slowly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“yes, I suppose you could put it that way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared hard at Hermione, as if he had never properly examined a student before,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“but the legend you refer to is an extremely sensational, even absurd tale…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, the entire class was hanging on every word Professor Binns spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His clouded eyes surveyed them, seeing every face turned toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry could tell that this unusual intensity of interest was making Professor Binns deeply uncomfortable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, very well,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he said slowly,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“let me think… the Chamber… you all surely know that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago—exact date uncertain—by the four greatest wizards of the age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The four houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Together they built this castle, far from the watchful eyes of Muggles, for in that era, magic was feared and wizards suffered great persecution.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Binns’s words made everyone lean forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At first, they were good friends, working toward the same goal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They labored in harmony, searching far and wide for young witches and wizards showing signs of magic, bringing them to the castle for proper training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But gradually, differences arose between them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rift between Slytherin and the others widened. Slytherin wanted Hogwarts to be more selective in admitting students. He believed magical education should be reserved solely for pure-blood families. He refused to accept Muggle-born children, considering them unreliable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After some time, Slytherin and Gryffindor quarreled bitterly over this issue, and Slytherin left the school.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips like a wrinkled old turtle,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Reliable historical records tell us no more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And the Chamber, Professor?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione felt they were nearing the truth and asked quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Chamber is precisely the kind of bizarre legend that obscures the true facts. The story claims that Slytherin built a secret chamber within the castle, unknown to the other founders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to this legend, Slytherin sealed the Chamber so that no one could open it until his true heir arrived at the school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only that heir could unlock the Chamber and release the horror within, to purify the school by cleansing it of all who were unworthy of magic.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tale ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The class fell silent—not the usual drowsy, sleepy silence of Professor Binns’s lessons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I see…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione’s face turned pale; everything connected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man named Tom Riddle was Slytherin’s heir, and he had wanted to release the monster—but Wizard Sean had stopped him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But who was Tom Riddle?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The diary, Hermione, the diary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry was no better off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hogwarts had hidden such a monster—if not for Wizard Sean’s solitary nightly battles, would the Basilisk have been unleashed already?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let me tell you, the thing doesn’t exist.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Binns was tidying his notes, saying,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There is no Chamber, and no monster.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the way to the Hope Hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ron trembled as he chattered on:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old lunatic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I didn’t know he came up with this pure-blood nonsense. I wouldn’t enter his house even if you paid me in gold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, if the Sorting Hat had put me in Slytherin, I’d have turned right around and taken the train home…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry believed he wouldn’t dare—Mrs. Weasley would almost certainly drag him back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he knew Ron held no prejudice against Muggle-born wizards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We have to find Ginny.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione fixed them with her gaze,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And as for the Basilisk’s fang, Harry—look there…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry turned his head and saw, resting calmly on Wizard Sean’s desk, a massive tooth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s terrifyingly strong… I’d bet if Slytherin the old lunatic were alive today, he’d change his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time he reached that age, Wizard Sean could take on ten of him…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ron was already imagining what had happened in the Chamber,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I keep feeling something’s missing… where’s Wizard Sean?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione and Harry both stood up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this hour, Wizard Sean should have been reading in the Hope Hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even at breakfast—he’d never been absent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they rushed toward the girls’ second-floor bathroom, they spotted Ginny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ginny, why are you here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ron pretended to talk to Ginny, while Hermione’s eyes instantly locked onto the old book that didn’t belong among the new ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Harry, look at that…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry followed her gaze, crept closer to Ginny, and quietly slipped the old book into his pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The process went surprisingly smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if the book had wanted to reach his hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry immediately recognized it as a diary; the faded date on the cover showed it was fifty years old.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flipped it open eagerly—on the first page, only one name was legible, written in blurred ink: T.M. Riddle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Ah, yes, goodbye.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ron was nudged, ended the conversation quickly, and the three hurried away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the moment they saw the diary, Ron shouted:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I remember! I know that name… Riddle received the Special Contribution to Hogwarts Award fifty years ago.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ron, we can deal with the rest later.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry gripped the fang and raised it to stab.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait, Harry—we haven’t found Wizard Sean. It might be useful.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione stopped Harry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had now reached the entrance to the girls’ second-floor bathroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Peeves had wreaked havoc there recently, and no one had dared enter for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as they slipped inside, Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry and Ron could see tears welling instantly in her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then they spotted the petrified Alchemical Toad in the sink.\u003C\u002Fp>",988,"2026-06-19T10:00:41.888Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","c5d72767ff70ace0e5ff58af890271d80dac0ddd6da66cf998e5d85ed4d73913","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-310","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-308",526,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhogwarts-learning-panel-cover.jpg"]