Chapter 78

Harry didn't rush to find a teacher; he squatted down on the spot and carefully examined Jia Siting's appearance. From his stiff skin, it could be clearly seen that he had also been petrified.

However, unlike Colin, his expression was very shocked, his eyes wide open, which showed that he had seen something before being petrified. Harry tried to make Jia Siting's expression himself, and he felt there might even be a hint of fear in it.

Jia Siting very likely saw the monster that attacked him, Harry thought. After his petrification was lifted, he could serve as a witness to corroborate the previous reasoning. However, why was Jia Siting attacked?

Harry remembered what he heard on the playground that day. Many Hufflepuff students were worried that Harry would attack Jia Siting and were saying everywhere that Harry was very likely the opener of the Chamber of Secrets. There is a saying that if everyone suspects you of doing something bad, you had better have actually done that bad thing. Although Harry himself felt this logic was a bit wrong, it was hard to say if that person who acted on their own to do good for him—perhaps Jin Ni, perhaps someone else—would list Jia Siting on the attack list because of that matter.

Another person was attacked because of him, Harry thought painfully, but he also knew it was best to pull himself together now. Even if it really was Jin Ni who opened the Chamber of Secrets, he needed complete evidence to end all this.

"Professor! Professor! Is anyone there!" Harry shouted.

The first to arrive was Tang Tang Nade. After he arrived, he was also very surprised. After raising his hand to look at his watch, he frowned and didn't say a word. Then came Professor McGonagall in her pajamas, and Sineipu also came.

"What happened, Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked, "Who is lying on the ground?"

"Another victim, Professor." Harry said, "I found him lying on the ground on my way back to the dormitory; it seems he has been petrified."

Professor McGonagall's face changed drastically. She hurriedly took out her wand and pointed it at Jia Siting, but it had no effect, and Jia Siting didn't recover.

"It seems to be another attack event related to the Chamber of Secrets." McGonagall said worriedly, "We will carry him to the school hospital. Professor Fontroy, could I trouble you to send Harry back to the dormitory? I think the corridor might not be that safe."

"Okay." Tang Tang Nade said simply, then put his hand on Harry's shoulder and led him toward the Gryffindor dormitory.

"Professor, do you know anything? Who opened the Chamber of Secrets?" On the way back, Harry couldn't help but ask.

"There isn't much I can tell you; it's all some hearsay." Tang Tang Nade said, "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 isn't necessarily in Slytherin House, and it seems the Chamber of Secrets was opened a long time ago."

Harry froze, because he had seen this passage, seen it exactly as it was, in that diary.

So, the Eight-Person Group certainly wouldn't admit who asked the diary about the Chamber of Secrets. The one who asked about the Chamber of Secrets was Tang Tang Nade. He must have taken advantage of checking the diary to ask about the Chamber of Secrets casually. Or, he didn't ask casually; he was testing something.

Harry couldn't help but think of Deng Buliduo's trust in Tang Tang Nade. Perhaps Deng Buliduo and Tang Tang Nade knew everything about the Chamber of Secrets, and the spiders in the Forbidden Forest might be their retreat. If the real Chamber of Secrets couldn't be found for a long time, then they would wipe out the spiders in the Forbidden Forest and claim that the Chamber of Secrets problem had been solved.

Even, Tang Tang Nade was deeply trusted by Deng Buliduo and was a temporary worker as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It was possible that the attack was instructed by Deng Buliduo, and in order to guide Harry to investigate, he even specially released some spiders.

On the rest of the way, Harry kept thinking about these possibilities, and he remained silent. Perhaps feeling the atmosphere was too dull, Tang Tang Nade changed the subject.

"By the way, according to my prediction." He said, "Avalon will open between Christmas and Easter. With the end of King Arthur, the British Isles entered the era of the prosperity of Christianity. Those ancient Celtic legends were buried in the mists of Avalon, and now, a thousand years later, maybe it will really open?"

"Are you talking about the strange phenomenon above the Black Lake?" Harry didn't have much interest in playing puzzle games, but after all, this was the good intention of the Headmaster and the professor, so he still pretended to be very interested.

"That's right. I have checked the records of Avalon's arrival twice before, but it seems no one could enter it at that time." Tang Tang Nade blinked, "You can try it. What if you really succeed?"

Harry smiled politely. The story of Avalon was indeed written very carefully. After the holiday, he thought it would be better to go and take a look.

This might have been the holiday Harry spent with the most worries. The Wizarding World was not as dreamy and beautiful as he imagined. It was still a society composed of people, and in the process of chasing power, wizards still had to use those political means.

When Harry substituted his perspective into Deng Buliduo, he found that these attacks were actually beneficial to him, even a win-win for the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix. But the kindness in Harry's bones always made him unconsciously substitute himself into Colin and Jia Siting. He felt that all this was too unfair to them. In order to defeat Voldemort, who was hostile to Muggle-borns, it was acceptable to sacrifice some of the interests of Muggle-borns first. Compared to life, a term of classes was nothing. Harry could understand these things, and it was precisely because he could understand them that he felt so worried and powerless.

Zhang Qiu tried to comfort him by telling him the story of her master. Her master was a wizard as powerful as Deng Buliduo, firmly controlling the Ministry of Magic in the Heavenly Dynasty, and no one in the entire Heavenly Wizarding World dared to ignore his opinions.

This made Harry feel even more melancholy. Last year, Deng Buliduo kept saying that he wouldn't touch power, but the fact was, perhaps it would actually be better if he really became the Minister of Magic. Deng Buliduo was not perfect; he retreated in the face of politics, and perhaps he wasn't that confident in his own will.

Of course, Harry himself also knew that Deng Buliduo's personality was not as simple as he imagined. Today's Deng Buliduo was inevitably the sum of all his past experiences, and he had no power to blame him.

On Christmas Day, Harry's mood improved a little. Early in the morning, just after he woke up, he saw Luo En had already gotten up and said happily: "Now let's open the Christmas presents first. After the holiday, let's go explore Avalon!"

Luo En's optimistic appearance made Harry follow suit and become optimistic. Perhaps there wouldn't be a fourth attack, he thought, and slowly began to open the presents.

Hedwig brought Sir Crowley's Christmas present, a record. The letter said this was the last record Queen was about to release with lead singer Freddie Mercury and bassist John Deacon. This album was originally planned to be released in 1995, but Sir Crowley obtained a copy in advance through his connections.

Harry then remembered that their lead singer seemed to have passed away not long ago. What a pity; he quite liked this band. He put this "Made in Heaven" into the record player, and in the melodious and surging music, he felt much calmer, as if he was no longer worried about the Chamber of Secrets and politics.

Harry continued to open other Christmas presents. Yi Fu gave him a bottle of perfume, Neville gave him a valuable eagle feather quill, Mrs. Wei Silai sent a sweater as usual, and Luo En gave him a book: "Quidditch Through the Ages".

Harry casually placed the syrup Haige gave him on the stove, intending to roast it hot and taste a little.

"Oh Harry." When the music ended, Luo En said, "I just wanted to say, what is this music? It sounds so good."

"Some Muggle music; they call this rock." Harry answered truthfully.

"Really should let those Hufflepuff little idiots see." Luo En sighed, "How could Slytherin's heir listen to Muggle records?"

"Sometimes I really feel that the Muggle world has too many magical things. To be honest, I envy you for being able to receive these things." Luo En continued, "Look at my presents; they are all things that can be bought in Diagon Alley, because my father himself is the Director of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, so we have to set an example."

"Uh, then I want to know." Harry remembered that flying car, "Your father's Ford car..."

"Shh!" Luo En hurriedly made a gesture of silence, "This is illegal."

"Alright, what a pity, if there were no Statute of Secrecy." Harry imagined, "Things in Diagon Alley would also be very popular with Muggles."

"But the Statute of Secrecy is necessary." Luo En said, "The number of Muggles is far more than wizards. The witch-hunting actions in the Middle Ages are still fresh in my memory, and I don't want to live that kind of life of hiding."

"Soon." Neville suddenly appeared, spoiling the mood, "Let Voldemort develop, and we will have to start living a life of hiding."

"It's a holiday, can you say something happy?" Harry learned Zhang Qiu's sarcasm.

"The happy thing is, we can enter Avalon tomorrow." Neville said.

"Oh right, this is a great thing." Luo En's eyes lit up.

"I actually think the Christmas dinner is more worth being happy about." Harry said listlessly.

The dinner arrived as scheduled. The Great Hall looked beautiful. Not only were there two Christmas trees covered with frost, heavy decorations hanging from the ceiling, evergreen mistletoe decorated in a cross on the ceiling, but there were also snowflakes drifting down from the roof, adding to the festive atmosphere. Deng Buliduo led the singing of several of his favorite joyful carols.

With a few glasses of eggnog down his throat, Harry gradually recovered his mood. He listened to the students on the side discussing the holiday and magic happily, and from time to time someone discussed Avalon. Harry smiled self-deprecatingly; perhaps only he had been worrying about the Chamber of Secrets.