Chapter 59: Ma Erfu's Sincerity

When Harry woke up in the warm sun on Sunday, he found Zhang Qiu sleeping on the bedside. It seemed she hadn't left all night, which made Harry feel quite embarrassed. And the treatment effect seemed very good; he didn't feel any pain at all on his body at this time, and his hands and feet were even more flexible than before the injury. After some simple checks, Madam Pomfrey announced that he could be discharged.

Amidst yawns, Zhang Qiu said she was going back to the dormitory to rest, so Harry came to the library alone to investigate the situation of house-elves. He noticed that in the modern Wizarding World, only the homes of ancient noble families would have house-elves, because these creatures are passed down from generation to generation and are very rare today. If one wants to investigate a certain house-elf, then asking pure-blood nobles is relatively the most convenient.

Harry first returned to the dormitory to ask his two friends who could barely be considered "pure-blood nobles." Luo En's family definitely didn't have house-elves, and Neville said his family didn't have them either. Luo En only knew that the Lovegood family didn't have house-elves, and Neville only knew that the house-elf of the Crouch family was named Winky. These messages couldn't be said to be completely useless, but they were indeed of no help to Harry's investigation.

Having no other choice, he could only cast his gaze toward Slytherin. Most old-fashioned pure-blood nobles were studying at Slytherin. And Harry only had two friends who weren't friends in Slytherin: Cui Ge and Ma Erfu. Compared to the strange Cui Ge, Harry would rather seek help from the hypocritical Ma Erfu.

After lunch, Harry walked straight toward the Slytherin long table. Ma Erfu was sipping a cup of grape juice in small sips, and Pan Xi was eating a piece of strawberry cake beside him.

Seeing Harry walk over, Ma Erfu greeted with a smile: "Harry, you look good, congratulations on being discharged."

"Thanks." Harry was polite to him. "I think I have some things to discuss with you, it's related to nobility."

"Let's go out and talk." Ma Erfu drank the juice in the cup in one gulp. Pan Xi seemed to hesitate for a moment, then abandoned the cake and followed out.

"If it's related to nobility." Pan Xi said. "I hope I can also help you."

The three came to the corridor, found a bench with no one, and sat down. Harry hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth: "Actually, I mainly want to ask about some things related to house-elves."

"Oh, are you preparing to revitalize the Potter family?" Ma Erfu seemed to have gained some interest. "Currently there are no wild house-elves, but the Black family is a bit dilapidated, their family's house-elf might have the possibility of being transferred."

"In other words, current house-elves are basically one-to-one with families." Harry said.

"That's right." Ma Erfu said. "If a noble goes to visit someone else's house and can accurately call out the name of their house-elf, this shows that the relationship between the two families is very good."

"Since you look like you have a good relationship with people." Harry complimented. "Then I want to ask, do you know whose house Dobby belongs to?"

"Wait." Pan Xi said nervously. "How do you know about Dobby?"

"Wait." Ma Erfu stopped her. His expression changed for a while, and eventually he sighed and said sincerely: "Harry, I know you can investigate it yourself, so I won't beat around the bush with you. Dobby is my family's house-elf. I don't know why you are asking this, but as long as it's something I know, I guarantee I won't lie."

"Dobby, it," Harry hesitated. He thought if Ma Erfu was willing to tell the truth, then there was nothing he couldn't say about what he encountered. "It caused me some trouble during the summer vacation, warning me that someone was conspiring against Hogwarts, wanting me not to go to school. I estimate that this Bludger was also likely done by it. I feel it might know something."

"I'm very sorry, I know nothing about this. As for the so-called conspiracy, after all, my father was once coerced to work for the Dark Lord, perhaps this triggered Dobby's wild imagination." Ma Erfu said. "What caused its misunderstanding might be that notebook. My father found this magical item from home, and then suggested I bring it to school to share with classmates."

"Wait, you brought the notebook?" Harry had always thought that Tang Mu's notebook was Tang Tang Nade's work. Ma Erfu said this, and he felt that all his original guesses were probably wrong.

"That's right. Logically speaking, it's just an ordinary magical item." Ma Erfu said. "However, you seem to have doubts about it? Actually, I have some doubts too. Perhaps the notebook really has something to do with the Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry had just overturned his previous conclusion, his thoughts hadn't been sorted out yet, so he pondered silently without speaking.

"Perhaps you are not very willing to believe me." Ma Erfu said. "But no matter how much I despise Mudbloods, I won't make a joke of Hogwarts. Because I myself don't fully know whether my father and the Dark Lord reached some secret agreement. Let's believe Dobby for now and admit that the Dark Lord has a conspiracy against Hogwarts."

"We all know that Slytherin wants to clear out all Mudbloods, so the Dark Lord is undoubtedly the one who most hopes for the Chamber of Secrets to be opened. In other words, the conspiracy against Hogwarts you mentioned is very likely the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. And the reason I suspect the diary is precisely because this diary might have something to do with the Dark Lord." Ma Erfu continued. "I collected some miscellaneous items of the Dark Lord at home, and this diary was among them. During the summer vacation this year, he came once and took those things away, except for this diary, saying it wasn't his thing. My father found this was a good learning tool, so he let me bring it to school to share with classmates. He also said that Hogwarts might have some problems this year, but told me not to worry and just study with peace of mind."

Ma Erfu said these words and looked at Harry with clear eyes, as if seeking his opinion.

"So, your family's relationship with the Dark Lord is quite good?" Harry asked.

"I don't like the Dark Lord very much, but my father's attitude is a bit subtle, and I don't want to argue with him." Ma Erfu said with a calm demeanor. "For the sake of our friendship, I think it's better not to discuss this issue too much."

"Alright, then back to the notebook matter, Zhang Qiu tested a spell on it last time, making us suspect that it is an item with a soul." Harry said. "This is very suspicious."

"Anyway." Ma Erfu said. "This diary is just an item. Even if it is the culprit, it can't grow hands and feet to open the Chamber of Secrets itself. If you say it has a soul, then it at most bewitches or manipulates the person using the diary. But this diary was checked by the professor and there was no problem, so we don't need to think of it as too evil."

"This is precisely the point I suspect. Why would Tang Tang Nade claim that this thing has no problem?"

"Professor Tang Tang Nade said it is not a Dark Magic item, and wizards don't necessarily have to use Dark Magic to do bad things." Ma Erfu said while taking out the diary again.

"Tang Mu, what do you know about Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets?" After writing this line, Ma Erfu spread out the diary and looked at its response with Harry.

"That's just a legend. If you really want to know, you can go ask Professor Binns." The diary replied as such.

"No, I mean, do you know any other news about the Chamber of Secrets." Ma Erfu wrote again.

"I can't tell you. I once told another student some rumors, true or false, and then the Chamber of Secrets was opened. I don't want the tragedy to repeat itself." The diary's reply looked very intriguing.

"Are you saying the Chamber of Secrets was opened before?" Harry grabbed the pen and wrote.

"It should have been not long ago. Unfortunately, that little wizard who came to ask didn't tell me who he was." Words emerged on the diary; it seemed to know what Harry wanted to ask.

"We are investigating this matter, hoping to stop the Chamber of Secrets from harming people again." Ma Erfu wrote. "Just tell us the rumors again."

"Let me think." The diary replied with this sentence, and then after a long time, it finally emerged new handwriting.

"The news I know is that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets might be a giant spider, and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in the Forbidden Forest. Slytherin's heir is not necessarily in Slytherin House, and it seems the Chamber of Secrets was opened a long time ago."

"These are just news I heard from students, not necessarily true." The diary added.

"You see, Harry." Ma Erfu said. "If someone obtained some news from other channels, then combining these words, perhaps they could find the location of the Chamber of Secrets. I suspect the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets this time is among the eight people using the notebook."

"Alright, I believe you didn't do bad things, and what you said is the truth." Harry said half-believingly. "But just from your truth, the possibility that you are kept in the dark is also very high."

"That's right, so I'm thinking, a relatively possible situation is." Ma Erfu said. "Tang Mu accidentally learned this information during the circulation of students through the ages. And the Dark Lord knew this point, so he let me bring the notebook to school to share with classmates. He hopes to let the Chamber of Secrets be opened again, but doesn't hope that a Slytherin student becomes the opener. He wants to find a scapegoat, and I didn't think much at first, so it might be a bit late to investigate now."

"If the student wasn't bewitched by the diary, but went crazy and wanted to open the Chamber of Secrets himself." Harry said dissatisfiedly. "Then what is he thinking? You know, the opening of the Chamber of Secrets has no benefit to anyone."

"This might have to be asked to the person himself." Ma Erfu said. "I plan to organize a self-examination meeting tonight, I hope you can come to listen." ===== CHAPTER 60 =====