Chapter 55: Research on Blood Words

After returning to the dormitory, Harry found that Neville hadn't returned yet, and he began to discuss this matter with Luo En. Luo En, hearing that this might be the Dark Lord's conspiracy, also had a solemn expression and began to think carefully.

"Actually, Harry." Luo En said. "I feel we can't fall into a passive position; we have to take the initiative to do something."

Do something? The first thing Harry thought of was to destroy Voldemort's conspiracy, so that Deng Buliduo wouldn't worry about Hogwarts and would stop Voldemort's activities outside the school as soon as possible.

However, he quickly realized that he couldn't influence Deng Buliduo's thoughts and actions, and besides, he couldn't be sure if this was a trap aimed at Deng Buliduo. Although the person Voldemort hated most might be himself, the one he wanted to eliminate most should be Deng Buliduo.

"We have to find a way to find the murderer." Harry said. "Prevent subsequent attacks."

Luo En nodded. "That's what I think too. Did you find anything at the scene just now?"

"Obviously the Chamber of Secrets is a main clue." Harry said. "But there are still some doubts, such as why there was water on the ground? And why hang the cat on the torch bracket? Why petrification?"

"In fact, if the cat wasn't petrified, it would be very difficult to hang it there." Luo En followed Harry's train of thought. "So it's very likely that petrification was to hang it up. But what was the purpose of hanging it up? To keep the cat from getting on the water on the ground? But where did the water come from?"

"Petrification, hanging the cat, having water." Harry analyzed calmly. "There must be at least one of these three things that is unavoidable and must be done; otherwise, the murderer didn't need to do the other two things. He could have completely knocked out or killed the cat, and then just thrown it on the ground."

"Indeed, if I were the murderer." Luo En said. "I think as long as the blood words were written, and then the cat was killed and thrown on the ground, there was no need to make it like this."

"If the murderer had to petrify the cat for some reason, and he happened to find a pool of water on the ground, and out of kindness hung the cat up so it wouldn't get on the water, do you think this is possible?"

"Even Merlin wouldn't dare to play like that." Luo En laughed. "Obviously this is impossible."

"Then, for some reason, the murderer had to hang the cat up, so he used a petrification spell, and then splashed a floor of water? Or was the water already there?"

"Ignoring the doubt about the water, I thought of an explanation." Luo En said. "Filch always wants to hang up students who make mistakes. If this is a prank aimed at Filch, then it's not hard to understand why the cat must be hung up. But if this is the case, the biggest suspects—George and Fred—they have been eating in the Great Hall all along."

"Yes." Harry said. "This might be a direction the murderer wants to mislead us. However, we have to think this way: today is Halloween, there is a banquet in the Great Hall, and there is Nick's Deathday Party downstairs. The castle should be clean and tidy, and the appearance of this pool of water is very suspicious."

"In other words, the murderer had to create a pool of water. And petrification was to hang the cat, and hanging the cat was to mislead the matter into a prank aimed at Filch." Luo En summarized.

"This is the most likely situation. Then, why did the murderer have to create a pool of water?" Harry fell into deep thought.

"Is it possible," Harry said while pulling the Invisibility Cloak from under the bed, "that the water dripped from the murderer's body? I want to go back to the scene to see."

Luo En and Harry secretly returned to the scene together. They noticed that the scene had been cleaned up, leaving almost no clues. He found some scorched marks on the ground, but this didn't explain anything in the castle illuminated by torches. Harry tried his best to recall the location of the water, and he found a restroom.

"Is this a girls' restroom?" Harry whispered. "Can we go in and see?"

He gently twisted the handle through the Invisibility Cloak. Harry vaguely heard a burst of sobbing. The two, wearing the Invisibility Cloak, quietly opened the door and entered the restroom. Inside was a huge washbasin, and beside it were several toilets.

"Someone." A somewhat resentful female voice rang out, and then Harry felt a large basin of water poured over his head. Although it was separated by the Invisibility Cloak and didn't wet his clothes, this feeling was not pleasant.

"You sneaked in to mock me!" The female voice screamed shrilly. "Sneaking to see Moaning Myrtle's ugliness, boo-hoo! I hate you!"

Harry then noticed that a ghost was poking her head out from a stall. He didn't dare to take off the Invisibility Cloak.

Greeting him was another large basin of water poured over his head. Myrtle cried and scolded: "Thieves, liars, get out, let Moaning Myrtle cry to death here alone, wu..."

"Grandmother once said that men cannot do two things: waste food and make girls cry." Neville's voice suddenly sounded from somewhere. "Harry, I know you're here."

"Alright, but don't let her splash me." Harry lifted one side of the Invisibility Cloak, revealing his and Luo En's faces. They saw Neville; the hem of his robe was a bit wet, and he was standing at the doorway of the restroom at this time.

"Did you also find this restroom?" Neville asked.

"Yes, we judged from the water stains on the ground that the murderer might have come to commit the crime while wet." Harry summarized.

"Then perhaps I can provide a clue." Neville said. "When we were at the Deathday Party today, Peeves bullied Myrtle, and then she flew away crying. At that time, she should have returned to this restroom. Myrtle, can you talk about the situation at that time?"

"I didn't pay attention." She poked half her head out and sobbed. "Those nobles made me very sad, I ran back wanting to commit suicide, and then I remembered, I am, I am already dead! Ying..."

She flipped over and plunged her head into the toilet, splashing out a lot of water again.

"Perhaps." Harry said thoughtfully. "The murderer was hiding in this restroom at that time, and then before he was ready to commit the crime, he was caught off guard by Myrtle who returned and splashed him with water. Then, he went out to attack Mrs. Norris while wearing wet clothes, which led to that large pool of water left on the ground."

Luo En glanced at the surrounding ground and agreed: "Based on Myrtle's combat power, I think that pool of water might be considered small."

Another large basin of water was splashed over. "You mock me! You mock me! Wu..."

They walked out of the restroom tacitly. Neville cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, while Harry and Luo En continued to wear the Invisibility Cloak. Harry envied Neville for being able to learn such a high-difficulty spell, but he also knew that this must have gone through hundreds or thousands of practices.

"Why do you think the murderer wanted to hide in this restroom?" Neville said. "She seems to be specifically ambushing Mrs. Norris."

"She?" Harry was stunned for a moment. "Oh right, the school's restrooms have magical protection, boys can't enter the girls' restroom."

"It's also possible that some boy deliberately did this to hide himself." Luo En said. "Your Invisibility Cloak can avoid this restriction."

"My Invisibility Cloak is not some common item." Harry said. "But if you put it that way, indeed, he could rely on Polyjuice Potion, or secretly follow behind some girl..."

"Even if he secretly got in, he would be locked by magic when he came out." Neville said. "And, Polyjuice Potion is not some common item either."

"You think again, we deduced that the murderer's clothes were wet because there was a large pool of water stains on the ground, plus Myrtle returned early and made a commotion, so we determined that the murderer hid here in advance. But ideally, Myrtle would stay at the Deathday Party at least until the banquet ended, and the murderer could hide here for a long time." Neville said.

"I understand what you mean." Harry echoed. "Water stains and wet clothes belong to coincidences; the murderer couldn't have thought in advance to use this point to help himself escape guilt."

"Makes sense, we have to investigate the girls well after we go back." Luo En looked absent-minded when he said this.

They returned to the dormitory while wearing the Invisibility Cloak. At this time, the lights in the dormitory were off, and it was pitch black. Luo En kept grabbing Harry's hand, not letting him take off the Invisibility Cloak. He glanced at the beds, confirmed that Neville was sleeping on the bed, and then pulled Harry into the common room.

"Harry." He whispered. "Is there a possibility that the murderer is a boy. But he discovered Myrtle crying and returning to the restroom first, then thought of splashing water on the ground to guide us into the wrong investigation direction, thereby helping himself wash away his guilt?"

Harry was stunned for a moment and said: "Zhang also received an invitation from the Ravenclaw ghost, the people at the Deathday Party might..."

"No." Luo En's voice was lower, and he almost completely leaned to Harry's ear to let him hear. "I mean Neville."

"Impossible!" Harry was shocked. "How could you suspect..."

"Was that really Neville?" Luo En asked back. "I've been with him almost every day recently, and I can feel that the Neville just now wasn't right. And, when he mentioned Polyjuice Potion, his tone was obviously unnatural."

"But, we came back together..." Harry didn't dare to speak loudly either. He clearly remembered that when Neville returned, he said he was very tired and wanted to go back to the dormitory to sleep first. When they returned to the dormitory, what they saw was Neville already lying on the bed, and in the whole process, Neville hadn't lifted the Disillusionment Charm. Besides, is the Disillusionment Charm really something that a second-year student can master through hard practice?

Harry felt a bit creepy, as if the murderer disguised as Neville was monitoring their conversation beside him.

Both he and Luo En gripped their wands tightly under the Invisibility Cloak, vigilantly staring at the surroundings. But nothing happened, and eventually, the two had to conclude that the murderer had left, and went to bed in fear. ===== CHAPTER 56 =====