Chapter 99: The Torchwood Agreement

"But the problem is, we still need to be on guard against the evil soul that is still roaming about, not to mention Malfoy's schemes and the person impersonating Neville who is hiding somewhere." On the way back to the dormitory, Luo En looked at his remaining fingers with some distress; he still remembered that these three matters had not been resolved.

"Not just that, the person who attacked Colin hasn't been caught either, and the secret that Colin accidentally stumbled upon has no way to be investigated now." Neville sighed as well. "We still have so much to do."

"There's no need to do everything ourselves; we can make use of Malfoy." Harry said with some smugness. "Zhang Qiu said this tactic is called 'driving the tiger to swallow the wolf'."

"Rare to hear a Chinese idiom I can actually understand." Luo En rolled his eyes.

Finding a nearby gap, Harry found Malfoy and told him he wanted to hold another meeting to discuss the new situation.

At first, Malfoy was a bit reluctant, muttering that there was no need to discuss everything with Hufflepuff, which made Harry instantly understand his thinking.

"You come and invite the people you trust; I suppose that would be those from the Self-Check Society, right?" Harry said with a smile. "Of course, you can add others too."

"Ha, that's a good idea." Malfoy's spirits rose visibly. "I've long wanted to invite you and Zhang Qiu to join us."

"Zhang Qiu might not be too willing." Harry really didn't want to have Jin Ni, Eve, and Zhang Qiu—these three girls—surrounding him at the same time; that feeling was too unbearable. "Then just me; I'll come and discuss the new conclusions with you all."

On another Sunday evening, Harry once again attended the meeting organized by Malfoy. It was still the same familiar faces, though Harry no longer wore his Invisibility Cloak.

"I came to tell everyone that the matter of the Chamber of Secrets has been resolved more thoroughly." At Malfoy's signal, Harry spoke first to share the latest news. "We found the Chamber of Secrets hidden in the school; there was indeed a basilisk inside, but it had been dead for a long time."

"Dead for a long time?" Lu Na said. "How pitiful; Slytherin perhaps didn't leave it enough food."

"Uh, in short, the Chamber of Secrets matter is basically over. I think everyone can also think about your plans for what comes next." Harry chose not to reveal the whole truth.

"That's what I think; even without considering the Chamber of Secrets and the diary, I think we have forged a deep friendship." As an aristocrat, managing connections was almost Malfoy's instinct. "I think we can still keep the salon gathering format, and we could even consider forming a secret society."

"But a society always needs a theme; do we have any common goals or ideals?" Harry felt this was a bit unrealistic, as the stances of everyone present were not quite the same.

"We could simply exchange some literature, or share life, or even magical knowledge." Cui Ge suggested. "How about we call it the 'Dead Poets Society'? Poetry conveys passion, dreams, and friendship; our youthful spirit can be entrusted to this."

"Can we change the name?" Jin Ni stuck out her tongue. "I don't like death."

"Let's start from this term's Chamber of Secrets investigation." Pan Xi said. "I think everyone actually loves this school and loves a fulfilling and interesting campus life. If anyone wants to cause trouble at Hogwarts, we absolutely won't agree to it."

"On this point, that is indeed the case." Malfoy nodded thoughtfully. "Although we come from different houses and families, and our ideas and pursuits are not exactly the same, no one wants to destroy this school."

Even Voldemort dreams of coming here to teach, Harry thought with some amusement.

"I propose setting the theme as love and peace; everyone meets weekly to share interesting things in life or exchange magical knowledge." Harry said. "And if any sensational things happen in the school, such as the Chamber of Secrets being opened, we must strive to resolve it and find the truth."

"You said it so well; I think that's exactly what we did this year." Gao Er said happily.

"Indeed, no matter what the adults have planned, we just want to enjoy these seven years at Hogwarts." Malfoy said in agreement. Harry could hear the subtext that Voldemort might be plotting something.

"Then we can think of a nice name next." Lu Na said cheerfully. "Actually, I can't wait to share some good news with you all."

"I think if we are still shouldering the responsibility of maintaining school peace, then why not call it Torchwood?" Eve said a name that sounded somewhat familiar to Harry.

"Legend has it that Queen Victoria once encountered a werewolf in a castle named Torchwood." Eve explained. "So she secretly established the Torchwood Institute to protect Britain from any supernatural occurrences."

"Oh, that's a story Clara told." Harry was now almost certain that his childhood tutor Clara must have been a witch. "I think this might be true; after all, the Ministry of Magic has always been monitoring wizards' misuse of Muggle artifacts, so there probably is a department responsible for preventing Muggles from coming into contact with magical products."

"In fact, all matters related to magic are managed by the Ministry of Magic. What you're talking about should be the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office under the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; they also monitor Muggle-borns casting spells outside of school." Malfoy added.

"That's even better; this shows that Torchwood might just be a fictional organization, or it disappeared in the long river of history." Cui Ge said excitedly. "This means we can use this name; how cool is that? A name no one understands, which means secrets, an unknown mission, a mysterious ancient organization—I've already fallen in love with Torchwood."

"Actually, I think we don't necessarily have to do everything for Hogwarts; why not set the goal as protecting Britain? That sounds cooler." Gao Er rarely expressed some of his own thoughts.

"I think we shouldn't force Cui Ge; he is American after all." Malfoy said somewhat awkwardly.

"No, to love a person is to love everything about her." Cui Ge said emotionally. "If protecting Britain is Lu Na's wish, then it is also my wish."

"Not really, let's still start from protecting Hogwarts." Lu Na tilted her head.

"Alright, then let's establish a secret society based on the friendship of this school year." Malfoy concluded. "The name will be Torchwood, and the purpose is to eliminate all factors that threaten normal study and life at Hogwarts. As for our usual weekly Sunday meetings, we'll just share life and exchange magic."

"Actually, I have a topic I want to bring up right now." Harry and Lu Na spoke almost simultaneously.

"You go first." Lu Na shrugged.

"Alright, what I want to say is the part left out of the Chamber of Secrets incident." Harry said. "According to our investigation, perhaps there is a ghost, or some object that has entrusted an evil soul, circulating in the school. It is the culprit behind opening the Chamber of Secrets."

"You don't mean the diary, do you?" Pan Xi showed a suspicious expression.

"No, I believe there is some other object, and the diary is clearly not evil." Harry himself felt there was nothing suspicious about the diary. "Furthermore, there is a villain who attacked Colin because he stumbled upon a secret. I think if we let this murderer remain in the school, there's no guarantee they won't attack someone else for some other reason."

"This matter is indeed worth us keeping in mind." Malfoy agreed, giving him face. "Next, in our spare time, we can discuss the murderer of the Colin case and monitor whether any terrifying Dark Magic objects are circulating among the students."

"By the way, Lu Na, what is your topic?" Malfoy said.

"I mean, I think I might have found Ravenclaw's diadem." She said proudly.

Although the students present did not belong to Ravenclaw House, they were still shocked. At Hogwarts, everyone had heard of the relics of the four founders; among them, Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup were merely decorations, and Gryffindor's sword was just a sharp blade. Only Ravenclaw's diadem was rumored to contain astonishing wisdom.

"I have been studying the movement patterns of the stairs for a while." Lu Na said. "Their trajectories look like an eagle; I think there might be some code hidden there, or a spell gesture. In any case, I spent a long time tracing their paths."

"Indeed, I barely saw you at all throughout October." Cui Ge said with dissatisfaction.

"I followed that gesture to cast the spell, but it seemed to be missing an incantation. I think that might be Ravenclaw's motto: 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'." As Lu Na spoke, her expression began to become confused. "Next, I might have had a dream, but that dream was indeed very realistic."

"I suddenly saw a door in the corridor; walking in, it was a huge storage room with everything in it." She said. "There was a dilapidated, bubbling cabinet, and next to it were boxes and a bust of an old wizard. Right there, scattered about, were a wig and a diadem. Although it was dim and lusterless, I could be certain that it was Ravenclaw's diadem. I picked up that diadem; it was so exciting, I wanted to put it on and try it."

Everyone present held their breath, waiting for the rest of her story.

"Then I woke up, right in my own bed. I think this dream must be the revelation left by Ravenclaw; the diadem is hidden in some corner of the castle."

"I will accompany you to find it, pushing open every door in the corridor." Cui Ge said, holding her hand.

"I suggest you don't forget to keep an eye on the murderer who attacked Colin and the Dark Magic objects." Malfoy clearly didn't quite believe the little girl's dream.

"Let's use the hoofbeat principle and simplify the problem; I believe the diadem might also be related to those matters..." Cui Ge argued with a cheeky smile.

"Forget it, Malfoy." Harry said helplessly. "There's plenty of time; at least the monster in the Chamber of Secrets has been dealt with, and we can slowly look for this murderer." ===== CHAPTER 100 =====