Chapter 60: The First Round Table Meeting

That evening, Ma Erfu and Pan Xi brought Harry to an empty classroom. Ma Erfu suggested he put on the Invisibility Cloak, which could reduce some concerns for those coming to the meeting.

Not long after, Cui Ge, Lu Na, Jin Ni, Ivy, Crabbe, and Gao Er also arrived at this classroom one after another. Under the hosting of Ma Erfu and Pan Xi, the eight people formed a circle and began to speak in turns.

"Everyone should have heard the rumors about the Chamber of Secrets." Ma Erfu said first. "In fact, there is evidence that the opener of the Chamber of Secrets this time is related to the notebook we have been using, so I hope everyone can carry out a self-examination, talk about what happened when you used the notebook, discuss it, and see if the opener of the Chamber of Secrets is really among us."

"Let's speak in turns starting from Pan Xi on my left." He said.

"When I used the diary, except for daily study problems, I talked most about life matters. Tang Mu encouraged me to express my heart boldly. It is precisely because of this point that I became a couple with Ma Erfu under his matchmaking. I am very grateful for the diary for this matter, but if you say who opened the Chamber of Secrets, then I won't agree. We finally managed to date sweetly for a while, why should we be disturbed by messy things?" Pan Xi finished this paragraph and began to look at the others present with burning eyes.

"If you ask me, Lu Na is very suspicious." Pan Xi said sharply. "As everyone knows, Cui Ge fell in love with you at first sight and spared no effort to pursue you. And you, crazy every day, don't know what you are doing. You don't go on a date when you meet a boy who likes you, always running around alone, this behavior is too strange. I think Lu Na needs to explain it well, my speech is over."

"Pan Xi's accusation is completely nonsense." Cui Ge refuted. "In the process of using the diary with Lu Na, except for homework, what we talked about most was Lu Na's whimsical ideas: she wears radish earrings every day, uses butterbeer bottle caps to make necklaces, so many cute points worth paying attention to and exploring, yet you only use the word 'crazy' to summarize them, don't you feel too arrogant?"

"Everything Lu Na does has traces to follow, it's just that you aren't willing to understand. For example, the earrings, they aren't radishes, but Dirigible Plums, which can help her better accept abnormal things; and the bottle cap necklace can help drive away Nargles, these inspirations all come from Ravenclaw's diadem. Do you know how smart she is? You don't know, you only care about yourselves." Cui Ge finished a long string of words angrily, then he also began to look at others.

"I feel Ma Erfu is the suspicious one." Cui Ge said. "If Slytherin is resurrected, who among us would he be most satisfied with? Undoubtedly, it is Ma Erfu. You are the most ideal Slytherin heir, very likely having accepted Slytherin's inheritance from somewhere else, and now you are hypocritically coming to carry out an investigation. My speech is over!"

"I sometimes run out alone, just to enjoy some quiet occasionally." Lu Na's ethereal voice rang out. "I think Cui Ge said one point very well, even if we opened the Chamber of Secrets, what benefits could we get? On the contrary, analyzing from the perspective of motivation, I also suspect Ma Erfu. My speech is over."

"I actually feel that Ma Erfu might not necessarily be the opener of the Chamber of Secrets. Before he found us today, no one had ever suspected the notebook had anything to do with the Chamber of Secrets. If he were Slytherin's heir, there would be no need to hold this self-examination meeting." Jin Ni opened her mouth. "However, perhaps the opener of the Chamber of Secrets is not among us. Ma Erfu, the evidence you found might have been given to you by the real culprit; he wants us to suspect each other and find a scapegoat for him. Anyway, that's what I think, my speech is over."

"Then let me say, when Jin Ni and I used the diary, most of the questions were about studies. We also asked Tang Mu for some speaking skills, these can all be verified." Ivy took over the conversation. "I think the relationship between Pan Xi and Ma Erfu can be proven by Tang Mu, but Lu Na says she occasionally runs out to enjoy some quiet, which is something Tang Mu cannot prove. I think everyone's statement should only take the part that can be proven. I just want to say this much."

"Uh, I feel it's a bit complicated this way." Crabbe said. "It's very difficult for me to think about who among you is lying, but Gao Er and I definitely didn't lie, nor did we open the Chamber of Secrets. You can use any method to investigate us. As for the usage process, we mainly asked questions; Tang Mu is very formidable, although he has to think for a long time for some questions, he can eventually give us a good answer."

"Oh, my speech is over." He added.

"Alright, Crabbe seems to have said everything I wanted to say." Gao Er said. "However, I have an idea. Since we don't know who opened the Chamber of Secrets, why don't we ask Tang Mu? Maybe he knows. All I want to say is this."

"Actually, I have already asked Tang Mu, he said that before the Chamber of Secrets was opened, someone asked him a lot about the Chamber of Secrets." Ma Erfu said. "From this discussion, I think Lu Na and Ivy have put forward some constructive opinions, that is to say, we suspect others must be able to state his motivation for opening the Chamber of Secrets, and the suspected person must use definite evidence to explain his doubts. I'll say this much first."

"I feel Lu Na can explain again why she left Cui Ge and ran out." Pan Xi said as such. "If you insist that you are a girl who will often ignore reason because of some emotions, then I have to suspect whether you are clear-headed, and whether it is possible that you opened the Chamber of Secrets very irrationally out of some reasons that are difficult to understand, such as curiosity, knowing that opening the Chamber of Secrets has no benefit to anyone. This is what I want to say."

"From this point of view, Lu Na seems very difficult to refute, because if she admits that she is a person who often ignores reason because of some emotions, then Lu Na opening the Chamber of Secrets doesn't need any definite motivation. Above."

"However," he continued, "looking at Ma Erfu from the opposite perspective. As I said before, Ma Erfu is the most likely to obtain Slytherin's inheritance, and the motivation for opening the Chamber of Secrets is Slytherin's instruction. By comparison, is the possibility of Lu Na 'irrationally' opening the Chamber of Secrets probably not that big? Above."

"Then I'll tell you, when I run out, I have been studying the movement trajectory of Hogwarts' stairs. I think there might be a spell left by Ravenclaw hidden in it." Lu Na said a legitimate reason. "Compared to Slytherin's inheritance Chamber of Secrets, I am actually more interested in Ravenclaw's diadem, and the spell in the stairwell is likely the key to finding the diadem. I didn't want to tell you these secrets of Ravenclaw originally, but now I have to say it to prove myself. My speech is over."

"I think everyone knows clearly that the opening of the Chamber of Secrets has no harm to us; those present are either pure-blood or mixed-blood." Jin Ni said. "But what benefit does the opening of the Chamber of Secrets have for us? Absolutely none. I believe everyone doesn't want to be disturbed by these boring things in the originally interesting school life, right? I still insist that the opener of the Chamber of Secrets is outside our eight people, this is my point of view."

"If we look at it from this angle, I am the person who least hopes for the Chamber of Secrets to be opened." Ivy said. "My father is a Muggle, and my mother is a Muggle-born witch."

"Ah? Aren't you Harry's sister?" Jin Ni said with some surprise. "And your every move has a temperament, just like a real old-fashioned pure-blood noble."

"Actually, I am Harry's cousin, we live together in the home of a Muggle noble relative. I hope the opener of the Chamber of Secrets is not among us, so that others might misunderstand that I am pure-blood or mixed-blood like Jin Ni, then I can still be safe." Ivy explained. "Among us, perhaps the only ones who don't know each other's background are me and Cui Ge. I think Cui Ge needs to explain his family background, because as far as I know, Slytherin's descendants went to America, and Slytherin's own wand is buried in Ilvermorny School."

"I think Jin Ni might have the motivation to open the Chamber of Secrets." Crabbe said some useful information rarely. "Tang Mu told me that she doesn't like Zhang Qiu very much. Everyone doesn't know much about Zhang Qiu's background either. If she attacked her, it could be very easily explained as Slytherin's heir not being able to distinguish the bloodline of foreign wizards. I am considering it this way."

"Right, I believe the opener of the Chamber of Secrets hopes more to get rid of people they hate by some means." Gao Er took over the conversation. "Among us, the only one who has hostility toward others might be the group of Jin Ni and Ivy. They don't care about bloodline, they just hate Zhang Qiu. In this way, Ivy's Muggle bloodline instead became the best cover; people don't believe that you or Jin Ni could be the opener of the Chamber of Secrets, because you wouldn't put yourself or your best friend in danger."

"Then the matter is very clear. I think Jin Ni and Cui Ge need to speak one more round each." Ma Erfu said. "Cui Ge, you have to make your family composition clear, and Jin Ni, you have to make the reason for not liking Zhang Qiu clear."

"I'll say it first, my father is Professor Tang Tang Nade's younger brother, an American wizard, he has been missing since I was very young." Cui Ge said. "And my mother is a Yingzhou witch, she raised me alone. Before I was ten, I lived in Yingzhou, until this year when Professor Tang Tang Nade recognized me as a relative, I followed him to England."

"I believe you are not very likely to be Slytherin's heir." Ma Erfu said. "The only one worth suspecting is your mother, but Yingzhou people shouldn't have anything to do with Slytherin."

"Then let me talk about the reason for disliking Zhang Qiu." Jin Ni opened her mouth hesitantly. "Mainly because I feel she is too close to Harry, you see, Harry goes to the library to accompany her to do homework every day, but is indifferent to his own sister."

"Right, we all feel she snatched Harry away." Ivy echoed.

"From this point of view, I feel perhaps, just for jealousy and opening the Chamber of Secrets to engage in terrorist attacks, there should be no such necessity..." Ma Erfu pondered. ===== CHAPTER 61 =====