Chapter 70: The Third Round Table Meeting

On Sunday, December 6th at seven p.m., the third meeting began on schedule beneath Harry’s invisibility cloak.

“Since everyone is here, let’s begin,” Malfoy smoothly chaired the meeting. “First, each of you will report your findings in turn—you may ask questions during your reports—then we’ll take turns offering opinions. Let’s start with Pansy.”

“I’ll report on my and Malfoy’s investigation,” Pansy stated. “We found that in 1943—fifty years ago—the Chamber of Secrets was opened once. At the time, Headmaster Armando Dippet considered it a scandal and tried to cover it up. Though no record exists in official archives, some students from that era still remember: the story then was that Hagrid opened the Chamber, and the monster inside was a giant spider.”

“Question,” Cui Ge asked. “Hagrid is a half-giant—he looks nothing like a Slytherin heir. Do you truly believe he had the ability to open the Chamber?”

“Good question,” Pansy replied. “In fact, we believe Hagrid never truly opened the Chamber. Rather, the Chamber, neglected over time, released its monster. Hagrid has always had a pathological fondness for magical creatures—he may have tried to raise that spider, and the spider, beyond his control, attacked students. That may be the true story from fifty years ago.”

Perhaps Hagrid simply acquired the spider from somewhere else, Harry thought, like Norbert. Then, under the guise of his role as gamekeeper, he kept the grown spider in the Forbidden Forest, giving rise to those terrifying beasts.

“Question,” Gao Er asked. “Do you think the current attacks were carried out by Hagrid’s spider?”

“Very likely not,” Pansy said. “Neither attack resembles spider activity—everyone knows spiders lack petrification ability. Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility that the spider’s venom causes petrification. Overall, we have no definitive conclusion yet, but we lean toward believing this attack is unrelated to the Chamber and is instead a plot by an Xiaowai wizard targeting Dumbledore.”

“Any further questions?” After a brief silence, Pansy concluded her report. “Then please, Cui Ge, share your findings.”

“I’ll report on my and Luna’s investigation,” Cui Ge stated. “We believe the monster in the Chamber may be real. From the perspective of petrification, we suspect it is very likely a Gorgon. Gorgons live long lives and possess considerable intelligence. As an attacker, she would be an ideal ally; as a victim, her abilities perfectly match the circumstances.”

“Question,” Pansy asked. “Do Gorgons even exist as magical creatures? Why have I never heard of them?”

“Because they were deliberately left behind by Slytherin—perhaps even created by him,” Cui Ge replied. “Muggles have long passed down legends of Gorgons, even though no such creature exists in the wizarding world—yet the concept persists. Perhaps Slytherin bred a new magical creature using a Basilisk and a ghost, specifically designed to serve the Chamber.”

“Question,” Ginny said. “You mentioned Basilisk—why don’t you think the monster in the Chamber is a Basilisk?”

“Because gazing directly at a Basilisk kills,” Cui Ge answered. “Yet both victims were merely petrified. We believe Slytherin still held a sliver of goodwill toward Muggle-borns and didn’t wish to take their lives at Hogwarts—so he specifically created the Gorgon.”

“And,” Cui Ge blinked, “would you rather believe the Chamber holds a fifty-meter-long monster—or a petrifying, flat-chested, tsundere little girl with snake hair?”

“Any further questions?” Amidst the group’s odd glances, Cui Ge concluded his report. “Then please, Ginny, share your findings.”

“I’ll report on my and Ivy’s investigation,” Ginny stated. “We believe the monster is more likely a Basilisk. The Basilisk is a documented, real magical creature, and the serpent is Slytherin’s symbol—fitting his identity. Moreover, this explains how the attacker evades our sight: the Basilisk can move through Hogwarts’ drainage pipes, appear from unexpected places, strike victims with its gaze, and vanish without a trace. Based on this reasoning, we suspect the Chamber’s entrance lies within the sewers—we haven’t yet located it.”

“Question,” Cui Ge asked. “Then how do you explain why the victims were only petrified?”

“Neither victim looked directly into the Basilisk’s eyes,” Ginny replied. “Mrs. Norris saw it in a puddle’s reflection; Colin’s camera burned out—we believe he saw it through the viewfinder.”

No, Harry thought. Colin wasn’t looking at his camera when he was attacked. The attacker wasn’t a Basilisk—at least not when it struck Colin.

“Question,” Gao Er asked. “How did the Chamber’s opener avoid being petrified?”

“We deduce that Slytherin’s heir can speak to snakes,” Ginny answered. “The Basilisk deliberately looks only at the victims—and deliberately avoids the opener’s eyes—because the opener has spoken to it.”

“Any further questions?” After a brief silence, Ginny concluded her report. “Then please, Crabbe, share your findings.”

“I’ll report on my and Gao Er’s investigation,” Crabbe stated. “We investigated possible Slytherin heirs and, fortunately, found a note tucked inside ‘Hogwarts: A History’ in the library.”

Harry froze. Last year, after organizing the history books, he’d noticed one page missing. Could it really be that coincidence?

“The note mentioned the Peverell family and stated that Slytherin’s daughter married Cadmus Peverell. Following this clue, we reviewed the historical texts and found that Cadmus had only one granddaughter who married into the Gaunt family—and the Gaunts ended with Marvolo Gaunt. Theoretically, Slytherin’s bloodline should be extinct. But we considered that some families expel members who marry Muggles from their genealogies—so Slytherin’s blood may have flowed into the Muggle world. The heir is likely a Muggle-born.”

“Question,” Luna asked. “If the heir is a Muggle-born, why would he open the Chamber to purge Muggle-borns from the school?”

“Once a Muggle-born enters wizarding society, he desperately seeks to prove he is a noble wizard by distancing himself from other Muggle-borns,” Crabbe explained. “That’s precisely why he wants to open the Chamber—to prove he is not a foolish Muggle-born.”

“Question,” Ginny asked. “Why are you certain it’s a Muggle-born and not a half-blood?”

“It’s psychology,” Crabbe explained. “Tom told us: if the heir were a half-blood, he’d see himself as a wizard with Muggle blood—and wouldn’t hysterically target Muggle-borns; he’d sympathize with them. Only someone deeply ashamed of his Muggle origins would Fengkuang despise Muggle-borns to prove wizards are superior.”

“Any further questions?” After a brief silence, Crabbe concluded his report. “Then, uh, Malfoy, you go next.”

“Alright, let me summarize,” Malfoy said. “There are two possibilities: either the Chamber hasn’t been opened, and the attacker is an Xiaowai wizard; or the Chamber has been opened, and the attacker is a Basilisk or Gorgon controlled by a non-pure-blood Slytherin heir.”

“Let me first address our analysis of the Xiaowai wizard,” Pansy added. “First, if the Chamber hasn’t been opened, the Xiaowai wizard’s sole motive must be targeting Headmaster Dumbledore. And we must note: Hogwarts has powerful protective enchantments. A former student who tried to infiltrate concluded that unless one reached Dumbledore’s level, the best one could do was wander the Forbidden Forest.”

“Thus, if we assume the Chamber hasn’t been opened—or that the monster is merely Hagrid’s uncontrollable spider—then the Xiaowai wizard lacks the capability to carry out these attacks. Under this premise, our only suspects are house-elves or Snape,” Pansy continued. “The only house-elf worth suspecting is Kreacher of the Crouch family—but we wrote to several Zhiqingzhe , and Kreacher had alibis for both attacks. As for Snape, the timing this year is unsuitable, so we can largely rule him out.”

Indeed, if Snape truly had this plan, it would have been easier to execute last year with Quirrell’s help, Harry thought. I understand this logic—but these classmates might not grasp it.

“In summary, after hearing everyone’s findings and reevaluating our own theories,” Malfoy concluded, “we can confidently determine that the Chamber has been opened by a non-pure-blood Slytherin heir, who is now using its monster to launch attacks. With this Jidiao established, let’s brainstorm together—see if we can uncover more insights or ideas.”