Chapter 86

Professor McGonagall stepped out of the Fat Lady’s portrait, and the Gryffindor common room erupted into chaos, many whispering about the Chamber of Secrets.

“Donald might know something,” Hermione whispered. “I was right at the scene when I left the library today.”

“What?” Harry and Ron immediately crowded around her; Neville nervously glanced around.

“When I left the library, I saw Senior Penelope Creevey walking just ahead of me, then Donald rushed up to me—he’d clearly been waiting by the library door,” Hermione said in a voice only they could hear. “He said, ‘Thank goodness you’re safe; I should walk you back to your dorm, because the school isn’t safe right now.’”

“Then, just around the corner, we found Senior Creevey lying on the ground, her expression utterly bewildered—already petrified,” Hermione lowered her voice again. “When Donald warned me about the danger, Penelope was perfectly fine.”

“Did you ask him why?” Neville asked.

“I did. He said it was divination that told him,” Hermione replied. “It seemed odd, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.”

“So the fourth victim is Penelope Creevey—Percy’s rumored girlfriend?” Ron glanced back at Percy, who seemed to have already heard the news, sitting pale and stunned in a chair.

“Yes, she’s the Ravenclaw prefect,” Hermione added. “The attack happened just two or three steps past the first corner after leaving the library. Nothing was left behind—only the petrified victim.”

“I think Penelope and Justin were attacked the same way—they both saw something before being petrified,” Harry said. “The same thing terrified Justin, but confused Penelope.”

“Maybe it’s the Basilisk,” Ron said. “Justin’s only in second year—he was terrified by a ‘huge snake.’ But Penelope’s an excellent witch; she probably wasn’t afraid of snakes, just wondered, ‘Why is there a giant snake here?’”

“The Basilisk?” Hermione looked slightly startled. “But looking into a Basilisk’s eyes kills you—why was she only petrified?”

“We can’t seriously suspect a Gorgon,” Neville said helplessly. “I think we need to investigate further.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully, but another confusion rose in his mind: the diary was still safely locked in his trunk. If the same monster from the Chamber attacked Penelope, how had the Chamber been opened?

Back in the dormitory, Harry, filled with unanswered questions, took out the diary again. This time, he wanted to talk properly with Tom.

“Hello, Tom. I’m Dumbledore,” he wrote.

“Hello, Professor. I’m honored to serve you,” a flowing script slowly appeared.

“I’d like to know,” Harry wrote, “who you’ve spoken with before.”

He didn’t ask directly about the Chamber—he knew that would alarm Tom. He hoped to draw out information gradually, subtly.

Suddenly, with a loud pop, smoke surged from the diary and slowly coalesced into a human shape—a strikingly beautiful face. Harry swore he had never seen such a handsome boy.

“You’re lying. You’re not Dumbledore,” the face said. “I won’t tell you. Liars don’t deserve my honesty.”

A sudden, unexplained rage surged through Harry. It’s just a magical object—it belongs to me. It has no right to defy me…

Harry felt his head burning, his scar throbbing. He snarled, “Obey your master!”

Tom seemed startled. He froze for a moment, then retreated into the diary. Lines of text began to appear.

Harry himself was terrified—he didn’t know why he’d suddenly wanted to yell at Tom, or why he’d said those words.

But soon, the words on the diary captured his attention, and he began reading Tom’s records.

Draco Malfoy is a proud and snobbish boy who constantly tells me how superior he is and looks down on most other students. He considers Harry Potter one of the few worth befriending, because Harry is capable and can help him. Aside from that, only Pansy truly understands him—this girl has no flaws except looking like a pug, and Malfoy finds that tolerable. In contrast, Crabbe and Goyle have no virtues except loyalty, yet Malfoy doesn’t mind keeping them close—he believes a powerful, elegant noble needs reckless, blindly loyal servants to highlight his own superiority.

Pansy Parkinson adores Draco, even loves him. She thinks Draco is the perfect noble—handsome, elegant, cunning—the ideal match for a girl like her. Pansy knows Draco’s rules for friendship; she hopes to be useful to him, so I told her she could offer him emotional value, making him feel truly worshipped and needed—something a proud man cannot resist. Pansy did exactly that. Draco became very satisfied with her; they began dating, though it’s far from sweet, because their love sprouted from mutual interest.

Cui Ge is the person I find hardest to understand. His thinking differs greatly from most British people—he’s always full of passion, willing to sacrifice his own interests for justice. But Cui Ge is also the most goal-oriented. He desperately pursues Luna, partly because his uncle demands it, and partly because he finds Luna extremely beautiful. This may stem from his background—he told me he grew up on Yingzhou, raised solely by his mother. At age ten, he met his uncle in America, a man who is both powerful and wealthy. He didn’t want to disappoint his uncle, and Luna, too, comes from a single-parent home; they understand each other well. Both learned from childhood to cope with loneliness through unusual behavior.

Luna Lovegood is a firm and calm girl. From the start, she has always regarded Cui Ge as a close friend with whom she can talk about anything. She believes discussing romantic feelings at this age is premature. She lives entirely in her own world, offering opinions only on what interests her, and remains absentminded about everything else. She’s used to speaking bluntly and showing her true self. These traits seem adorable to Cui Ge, but I think they show her father never taught her the meaning of emotional intelligence. Perhaps only Cui Ge counts as her friend, because most normal people find Luna unbearable. Still, Luna herself doesn’t care.

Ginny Weasley is a bold and lively girl, but in front of the Harry Potter she admires, she becomes nothing but a shy, insecure child. Ginny’s books and robes are secondhand, handed down from her brothers, while Ivy’s things are all new—she lives in a luxurious manor with Harry. Ginny’s only safe topic with Harry is Quidditch and broomsticks, but Harry’s excellence makes her feel inferior. Besides, girls should be elegant and quiet like Ivy—how could Harry like a mudblood who doesn’t know manners? She can’t even match Ivy, let alone Zhang Qiu, who is so beautiful, gentle, and powerful, always helping Harry. Harry is deeply enchanted by her. This torments Ginny—she longs for Harry to look at her, yet fears he dislikes her.

Ivy Crowley is a naive and innocent girl, but when it comes to Harry Potter, her cunning runs deep. Ivy uses the diary to deceive Ginny, making her believe Ivy is Harry Potter’s biological sister, so Ginny won’t see her as a threat but as an ally. Then, Ivy skillfully guides Ginny to target Zhang Qiu. She knows that as Ron’s sister, Harry can’t ignore Ginny’s opinion—but Harry is a righteous man; he won’t like Ginny if she shows hostility toward others. Thus, when Ginny and Zhang Qiu destroy each other, and Harry grows disgusted with both, he’ll realize there’s another gentle, lovely girl waiting for him. The only thing that unsettles Ivy is blood status—she’s a Muggle-born, while Ginny comes from the pure-blood Weasley family.

Vincent Crabbe is a child with little intellect—he has almost no abstract thinking, leading to consistently inaccurate understanding of most things. Crabbe has his own simple philosophy of survival: cling to Malfoy. Limited by his abilities, he cannot accomplish most things alone, so his life appears monotonous—beyond eating and sleeping, he has little to do. Malfoy is not just his protector but his guiding light; without Malfoy’s orders, Crabbe never knows what he can do.

Gregory Goyle is very similar to Crabbe, which is why they became such good friends—they share the same lifestyle, even nearly the same mind. Unlike Crabbe, Goyle can effortlessly understand and absorb knowledge, but his thinking is sluggish; he cannot connect ideas or phenomena in his mind. As a result, Goyle performs better than Crabbe in regular classes, yet his spellcasting ability always lags behind Crabbe’s.

After reading Tom’s summary of the children’s diaries, Harry had to admit that among the eight, Ginny and Ivy were the most likely to have opened the Chamber.

He hesitated, then picked up his pen and wrote again: “Tell me more about Ginny and Ivy—how did their thoughts change, and what advice did you give them?”