Chapter 77

"Your memory is much better than I imagined, Gao Er." Ma Erfu said, "There is indeed news that the Board of Governors strongly supports Professor Sineipu to serve as the next Headmaster. But now it seems, this is also something that hasn't even started."

"Indeed, we have been calm for too long." Ma Erfu concluded, "Looking at it more optimistically, if the first time was a prank and the second time was Zhang Qiu playing along, then there won't be any more attacks in the future, and we might not need to keep discussing the Chamber of Secrets. We can exchange magic in the future."

"Alright, let's stop here for today. Wish everyone a Merry Christmas."

Cui Ge and Lu Na said goodbye first, followed by Jin Ni and Yi Fu.

Harry and Neville, playing Crabbe and Gao Er, remained in place blankly. Vocabulary surged in Gao Er's mind several times before he spoke cautiously.

"By the way, Ma Erfu." Harry asked, "Weren't we talking about Harry at the beginning? Why did we forget him later?"

Harry had thought about the strategy before; this question was used to test whether Ma Erfu knew Harry was present.

"Now it seems, Harry is just a pawn of Deng Buliduo." Ma Erfu said, "After we think clearly about these macro games behind the attacks, the specific attacker and the methods of attack are actually not important. We don't need to worry about them."

"But what about those innocent victims?" Harry couldn't help but say, "For example, Colin, he missed a whole term for nothing. Do you think it's reasonable?"

"That's how society runs, Gao Er." Ma Erfu said contemptuously, "You have to thank me for meeting me, otherwise I'm really worried about whether you and Crabbe can survive in this school."

In Gao Er's confused eyes, Ma Erfu continued slowly, "Admittedly, we Slytherins are better at weaving conspiracies, but Gryffindors have no sense of proportion when they do bad things. My father told me that in his year, a student was tricked by a Gryffindor into contacting a werewolf and almost lost his life."

"This Chamber of Secrets is the same." He walked out with a cold face. Harry pricked up his ears to listen; he felt Ma Erfu was almost about to say the key information, "I can almost conclude that the Chamber of Secrets was opened by Jin Ni. She and Yi Fu dream of killing Zhang Qiu."

"Then why don't you expose her." Harry's confusion was magnified several times by Gao Er's intelligent tone, "If you already know."

"Because that's no good for us, you idiot!" Ma Erfu scolded, "Just let that old bee get out. Look at what he did last year; on the last day of the term, he found an excuse to give Gryffindor 150 points. Is this what a Headmaster should do?"

Harry originally felt Deng Buliduo's handling was very smart, giving Neville the reward he wanted most. But looking back now, his temporary point addition would cause great dissatisfaction in Slytherin, and this was still a stuttering situation. If he said directly that Neville prevented the resurrection of Voldemort—your interest representative—Slytherin would probably hate him even more.

"Just let Jin Ni continue attacking; Harry will never suspect it's her. When Deng Buliduo is driven away and Sineipu becomes Headmaster." Ma Erfu said happily, "Our good days are coming."

"I want to have my father write a letter to Headmaster Sineipu." Pan Xi also began to imagine, "Expand the student dormitory by another double; I think four people to a room is still too crowded."

"I still want to know." Neville, playing Crabbe, said, "How did you conclude that Jin Ni opened the Chamber of Secrets? I can't figure it out no matter how I think."

"If I opened the Chamber of Secrets, that annoying Granger would have been in the hospital long ago; if Cui Ge opened the Chamber of Secrets, Colin would be fine now." Ma Erfu said casually, "As for you two, I would never suspect you, because you definitely wouldn't even be able to find where the Chamber of Secrets is."

Harry clearly remembered that Ma Erfu and Hermione had a conflict on the Quidditch pitch. He was right; if there was a chance, Ma Erfu would definitely find a way to retaliate against Hermione. And Cui Ge and Lu Na, Harry could also see that they were immersed in their own world and wouldn't attack the completely unrelated Colin. After ruling out the impossible, the remaining unbelievable answer was actually the truth.

Perhaps Ma Erfu's conspiracy was actually very simple. The diary that answered every question knew how to open the Chamber of Secrets. He just needed to let the diary circulate, and the rest would be left to fate. And in fact, their current plan was almost very successful. The Ministry of Magic and the Board of Governors cooperated and began to target Deng Buliduo in the school, so Voldemort had plenty of time to lay out his plans outside the school.

"I want to go to the kitchen." Harry said. He felt the effect of the Polyjuice Potion was about to wear off, so he had to find a way to get away.

Ma Erfu snorted and acquiesced.

After Harry walked a distance, he suddenly felt his mind clear up a lot. He looked to the side again and found that Neville had also returned to his original appearance.

"Harry, do you think Ma Erfu discovered it?" Neville said.

"He should have discovered Ron, because of the dust on that table." Harry recalled Ma Erfu's expression, "He found an extra butt print on the dust, so he would know someone was sitting there invisibly. He must have thought it was me, so he was hinting at me."

"You mean?"

"I think he didn't discover we used Polyjuice Potion, so he told us some truth." Harry said, "Let me analyze it for you in detail."

"Voldemort has indeed been resurrected, but he wasn't resurrected using the Sorcerer's Stone; he used my blood that Quirrell tricked out of me last Halloween, so the effect might not be very good. In short, he still doesn't dare to publicly announce that he has returned." Harry started from the background he learned during the summer vacation, "Therefore, Voldemort is secretly contacting those members who supported him in the past. He needs to find a way to drag Deng Buliduo down so he doesn't disrupt his actions."

"Coincidentally, because Deng Buliduo's influence is too great, the Ministry of Magic also wants to appropriately weaken him." Harry then repeated the conclusion reached at this meeting, "So the Ministry of Magic cooperated with the Death Eaters, preparing to set up a conspiracy against him at Hogwarts, even at the cost of harming innocent students."

"And the content of this conspiracy is also very simple: Ma Erfu brings the diary to the school, and the diary contains information on how to open the Chamber of Secrets, and it might even induce students to open the Chamber of Secrets." Harry said his own thoughts, "So the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and Deng Buliduo had to deal with the siege of the Board of Governors, with no time to care about the Dark Lord active outside the school."

"What we have to do is," Harry sighed, "Since Deng Buliduo has placed his bet on us, then even if it really is Jin Ni who opened the Chamber of Secrets, we have to find a way to stop her. Because this matter is not just a struggle for the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but also relates to whether Voldemort's actions can be contained before he develops again."

"I don't think so," Neville said, "We aren't actually Deng Buliduo's winning move, just a casual move he made in his busy schedule. Even if the Death Eaters' plan succeeds and Deng Buliduo is driven out of the school, that's not a terrible thing. Can't Deng Buliduo just obstruct Voldemort's layout outside the school? And, if we solve the Chamber of Secrets problem perfectly after he is driven out of the school, can't he come back?"

"Makes sense." Harry thought about Neville's statement, "Rather, it's more like Deng Buliduo is waiting for them to drive him out of the school, so he can temporarily leave the Headmaster position for a while to deal with Voldemort's other conspiracies. And when we solve the Chamber of Secrets problem, he can come back at any time."

"Exactly, so we don't actually need to rush to expose Jin Ni—let's just assume the opener of the Chamber of Secrets really is Jin Ni." Neville looked at Harry with a meaningful look, "Because this is actually all within Deng Buliduo's plan."

"Oh, speaking of Ma Erfu." Harry remembered he still had one thing he just figured out that he hadn't told, "He might not have been very clear about this plan at the beginning. When he figured it out, as he said himself, destroying this plan would be no good for him. But perhaps out of conscience, he decided to hint at me appropriately, so that Harry stopping the subsequent attacks would be a good way for both of us."

"But what I can't figure out is why he emphasized time and again that you are a Parseltongue." Neville's eyes were a bit wrong, "Is there a possibility that Harry Potter opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Not sure, but it might not affect much." Harry said, "In short, it wasn't me who opened it, that's for sure."

They moved Gao Er and Crabbe out of the cupboard again and placed them near the kitchen, disguising them as if they had fallen asleep on the spot from eating too much, and then quietly slipped back to the dormitory. Although today's action didn't catch Ma Erfu's handle, Harry believed he was indeed closer to the truth.

If things were exactly as they analyzed, then there was indeed nothing to worry about regarding the Chamber of Secrets for now, and Harry could focus his attention on Avalon first.

Just the day after they let their guard down, on the last night before the Christmas break, Harry was on his way back to the dormitory from the library.

He stepped onto the stairs absentmindedly, then turned into another corridor. The corridor was very dark. The torches had been blown out by the fierce and cold wind blowing in from the broken window. When he was halfway there, he tripped over something lying on the floor.

When he turned to see what it was, he suddenly froze.

Justin was lying on the ground, cold and stiff all over, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, with an expression of extreme shock on his face.

Harry stood up. His breathing was rapid and heavy, and there seemed to be a constant buzzing in his ears.

He looked around in this remote corridor, only to see a row of spiders crawling on the ground.