Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

After listening to Lockhart's report, Dumbledore nodded.

"In fact, I also noticed it when I was at the scene." Dumbledore said, "Although the attacker was very careful, I smelled a faint earthy smell at the scene. I can say with certainty that it was a snake. .”

Lockhart was shocked—I was still thinking about how to spoil more content without suspicion, but you directly revealed the answer to the mystery?

Thinking of this, Lockhart quietly made a joke:

"Snakes? If that's the case, the impromptu motives of the attackers to attack Mrs. Norris would be explained - from the jaguar and Sen's, to the house cat and cauliflower snake, to Gryffindor and Slater." Lin, I have never seen a cat and a snake not fight after meeting.

When I was traveling in Tibet, the people there told me that the Orientals call this situation "the fight between the dragon and the tiger", and when the two meet, the winner must be decided."

Dumbledore also smiled: "It's just that the power gap is too great this time...Look at this."

While speaking, the principal took out something from his sleeve.

Lockhart looked at it and saw that it was an amber scale, and the scale

The lines on it are very blurry.

According to the usual proportions, the snake would probably be taller than this room when it stood up straight, and judging from the fact that the color of the scales is not bright enough and the lines are not clear enough, it is about to shed its skin. " Dumbledore added.

Lockhart couldn't help giving Dumbledore 32 likes in his heart - this is the boss!

The reason why Little Tom chose to show his cards a while before the final exam is probably because he found that the basilisk was about to molt, so he kept holding back.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Lockhart sent a suggestion without losing the opportunity, "Before the snake sheds its skin, it is the period of time when the snake has the worst vision, the most inflexible body, and the slowest perception. I suggest setting up an investigation team immediately. Now smoke the pipe with vinegar, wine, and sulfur to get the snake out and kill it."

But Dumbledore sighed.

"That's why I came to you, Gilderoy...can you keep it a secret? It's important."

The day after Hallow's Eve was Sunday, and when Lockhart held a club party, the students did ask about yesterday.

"It's really bad, there's no clue at all." Lockhart said to them, and he could tell that it was a very powerful black magic, and it couldn't be cast by the students. We couldn't draw any conclusions. "

Cedric frowned: "But no matter who opens the secret room and obtains something, that person must avoid the sight of all teachers and students in the school. If Mr. Filch can be sure that no one has entered the castle during this time , then you just need to find someone who doesn't have an alibi... Oh, I'm sorry, Potter, I'm not talking about you, I know you went to the death day party."

Harry didn't take it lightly: "It's okay, Digory

But as soon as the words were spoken, Harry immediately thought of something again.

"Do you know that I went to the Deathday Party? How many other people know about this?" He asked in surprise.

"A lot of people... no, that's not accurate, Nearly Headless Nick blatantly advertised that he had a 'guest of honor' at his party, the fat friar has told us about it, and I guess the other ghosts know too up. ’ Cedric said truthfully.

After Harry finished listening, there was a smile on his face that he didn't know whether it was relief or happiness.

"Yeah, that would be nice," he murmured under his breath.

After the three of them came out of the death day party last night, Harry heard the voice that no one else could hear again, and then he was attracted to the scene where Mrs. Norris was attacked, and successfully made himself misunderstood.

Because this fact was too weird, Harry didn't tell anyone except the two little friends, and "the chamber of secrets was opened" kept several people silent. Even without discussion, they chose to hide it from the outside world. .

According to Hermione's analysis, someone must have secretly opened the secret room during the school's Easter banquet, just like Quirrell secretly let the troll in last year, so the attacker is likely to be someone who was not there.

As for the attacker's target, Hermione had the same analysis as Professor McGonagall.She also thought that the attackers' target should have been someone who was also not in the Hall in the first place, and it was likely to be Harry.

"So, the attackers knew early on that we were going to the Deathday Party," Hermione said to Harry solemnly.

Harry was upset because he only remembered talking about it with a few friends and teammates who got along fairly well in the Gryffindor common room.

If the heir of Slytherin was in Gryffindor, then Harry would feel betrayed, and his own life was threatened.

As Lupine later said, Harry, like his father James, "always raised his trust in his friends to a higher than life level"

After hearing Cedric's admission that "this story has been spread everywhere", Harry felt comforted, because since even the Hufflepuff who was burrowed in the ground heard about it, the Slytherin at the bottom of the lake Naturally, Ravenclaw in the tower and the tower can also inquire about it, so this is said.

"Professor, may I ask, besides the three of us, who was not in the auditorium last night? He is most likely the attacker." Hermione asked Lockhart.

right in front of you.Lockhart thought as he glanced at Ginny Weasley from the corner of his eye.

Although the little girl was controlled by Voldemort and had forgotten her memory, she should have noticed something strange at this time, especially when she found that her hands were covered with unknown magic paint.

Lockhart knew everything, but couldn't say

There was no other way, Lao Deng asked Lockhart to "under the premise of ensuring the safety of the children" to disclose as little information as possible to the three saviors.

"They have to learn to find things by themselves, reason by themselves, and finally find the correct answer. Although there may be many detours in the middle, detours are also very important. We can't help them with everything." Dumbledore said .

Chapter 68 Pseudo-o Marauder's Map

Because of Dumbledore's special instructions, Lockhart had to pretend to be "I don't know anything" in front of the little wizard.

If in the Muggle world, if the police also made such a statement after the accident, I am afraid that everyone from the criminal police to the local police chief will be forced to resign. After all, under the modern criminal investigation, the so-called perfect crime has long since ceased to exist. You If there is no clue, it can only show that he is incompetent.

Harry and Hermione didn't doubt what Lockhart said, and the rest of the little wizards didn't seem to take it too seriously.

Although it was bad in nature, in the final analysis, only one cat was petrified from the beginning to the end of this attack, so it was still very easy for everyone to talk about, and it was not even as good as the response to the Quidditch game that just ended that morning. care.

Roger Davies and the others tried their hand at the Hufflepuff Chaser in a tight double-team with the Parkin pincer tactic they had just completed, driving them into uncharted territory.

Previously, almost all of Hufflepuff's tactical training was aimed at the traditional eagle-headed offensive tactics of the Eagle Academy, so the Pokov luring technique they carefully practiced was almost useless, and the backward pass was still immature. Skills also made mistakes again and again in the face of pressing, and it was only natural that they were defeated in the end.

Although Cedric caught the Snitch in the end, Ravenclaw had already led by 190 points at the time, so it still couldn't reverse the defeat.

It is worth mentioning that although the Hufflepuffs lost, their Seeker Cedric captured Ravenclaw's Qiu Zhang with his outstanding performance, and the Eagles "won the game" for a while. But lost the woman" was passed as a joke.

Although Lockhart thinks it seems a bit strange for little wizards to start dating at the age of 13 or 14

Not good, but given the wizarding world's tradition of establishing relationships while in school, he couldn't be bothered to say anything about it.

Especially when someone told Lockhart that the wizarding world in Russia is the same as the Muggle world, as long as the only child can marry at the age of [-], Lockhart's expression became even more exciting.

"Kodostorez actually allows students to get married at school? The evil Russians actually prey on minors!"

Lockhart desperately criticized every aspect of Russia with the self-consciousness of an excellent civil servant of the Great Empire.Whether it was the Soviet Union that had collapsed in Harry's school year, or Russia now, its existence seemed to them a sin.

Of course, he also deliberately overlooked one point? That is, people also think that a corrupt country full of homosexuals is not normal.Not to mention anything else, even Dumbledore and Grindelwald, their great friendship may make the "Slavic barbarians" incomprehensible.

In any case, the just-concluded Quidditch match became the best topic of chat in the Lockhart Club by virtue of elements such as "sports", "stimulation", and "sexual tidbits".

The fact that Filch's cat had been petrified wasn't worth mentioning when you counted the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin last week.Even for some students, the petrification of Mrs. Norris may be what they were looking forward to.

Except for Harry's trio who are still worried and Ginny Weasley's pale face, the rest of the students only mentioned some interest in the "chamber of secrets", as if how to live or how to live, has not changed at all.

It seems that it is still difficult to raise everyone's vigilance.

Lockhart wasn't sure whether Old Deng's hope that the savior would take the initiative and actively seek answers to the Chamber of Secrets was a failure, but he could see from Hermione's eyes that she hadn't given up her determination to find out.

It seems that the seventh part of Harry Potter is dubbed "Hermione Granger and Her Two Useless Men" by some people for no reason.

"Professor Lockhart, how much do you know about the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets?" Hermione began to ask.

Seeing her question, the rest of the dueling top students also focused their attention on Lockhart, showing great interest.

Lockhart sighed in his heart—Old Deng didn't let him say the key content, but he had to act like he was familiar with it.

"There are a lot of rumors about the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin. It has been around since I was in school. I only know part of it. If you want to hear it, I will tell you, but I can't guarantee that it must be true. of."

Lockhart deliberately put on a "I know a lot of things, but you have to ask me to tell you" posture, and successfully caught the attention of the students.

"Speak, Professor." The students all pricked up their ears.

Lockhart started his own statement after he sold out: "About this chamber of secrets, I can't guarantee that it must exist, but I can't guarantee that it doesn't exist, because there are still many secrets in Hogwarts, and this Secret is only one of them

Whenever we mention the history of Hogwarts, those who are rich in literature will use all kinds of gorgeous words to describe it, such as "great", "glorious", and "epic". But it must be mentioned that when the four founders established the school, it may be much more embarrassing than they imagined.

At that time, wizards everywhere were rejected and persecuted by the Muggle religious circles. Although the witch hunts only caught some wizards who were not skilled or had no family inheritance, it was still a very big loss to the wizarding world.The four founders had to find a quiet, remote area to build the castle. "

As he spoke, he cast a spell on his rug.

"Map spread!" he yelled.

The top students subconsciously looked under their feet, and saw a sudden change on the wool carpet in Lockhart's office—the wool dyed green, red, and gold changed their colors one after another, and the patterns changed. From a camel in a desert oasis to a map.

Without looking too much, they quickly recognized that it was a topographic map of the interior and surroundings of Hogwarts Castle.

Under Lockhart's show package, this map also has many bells and whistles functions such as weather forecasting, timing, stove reservation, communication, etc. Unfortunately, the biggest function of the Marauder's map - the name positioning system is not available.

No way, because the map is essentially Lockhart's failed attempt to make a Marauder's map.

Lockhart didn't realize how difficult it was until he actually got started, and it was even beyond his ability.

Although Hogwarts has been cast with an unmapping spell, as a professor, Lockhart has the right to invoke a part of the school's authority to draw this map-as long as it is not taken out of the school.

It is precisely because of this confidence that Lockhart has the confidence to make the Marauder's Map

Unfortunately, not only does the Marauder's Map require many spells, but it also contains a database of all current students and graduates of the school.

Lockhart wasn't sure if Lupine had borrowed it from the house scoreboard, or if the Blacks had invoked the school's authority as trustees, or entered it from the Sorting Hat as Gryffindors, but Anyway, without this, Lockhart couldn't make it display people's names.

So in the end, Lockhart could only ask Lucius Malfoy to smuggle a magic flying carpet from the Middle East, transform it into a map, and throw it in his office.If the situation is urgent, Lockhart can even sit on this flying carpet

Barrel runs away.

Although it may not be very practical, it is not a big problem to restrain these children.

"Look, everyone, this is our school." Lockhart pointed to the students' feet.

PSk, all debts are paid off.

Chapter 69 Limited Disclosure

Pointing to the panoramic map he had drawn, Lockhart continued to talk.

"As you can see, Hogwarts is located in an important location, surrounded by mountains and rivers. The only way to get in and out is to cross the Black Lake by boat, or enter through the viaduct.

If the Muggles attack, everyone only needs to blow up the bridge. 7 Muggles can only try to attack by taking a boat across the lake, and then they will be killed by those in the Black Lake who have made a contract with the founder Mermaids and giant squids dragged into the water.

The original purpose of the stairs, ubiquitous secret passages, and hidden rooms in the school is also to prevent the attack of the Muggle army, and wizards can choose to fly on a broom and enter from the tower... Of course, Muggles also have There is no way to fly, we will not mention these.

So as one of the founders, Slytherin, I would not be surprised if there was a secret room somewhere in the castle.In other words, I would be more surprised if he didn't leave the Chamber of Secrets behind.

If there is no mistake in the school history, Salazar Slytherin often held secret meetings with the people he chose in the castle, and the meeting place was probably in the secret room.As for the rest, you can all find them in "Hogwarts: A School History", so I won't say much. "

"In other words, there is indeed a secret room." The students understood.

"It can only be said that the probability is very high."

Hermione raised her hand again: "Then, professor, where do you think the location of the Chamber of Secrets is?"

Lockhart shrugged regretfully: "I don't know...the school originally had an old architectural drawing, but Hogwarts Castle underwent a large-scale modernization in the 18th century.

It has undergone many small transformations before, so that drawing has no reference. "

"It's changed a lot after the transformation?" Hermione continued to ask.

"Yeah, for example, before that, Hogwarts didn't have toilets or bathhouses. If you want to take a bath, you can only go to the lake. As for the convenience, everyone can only solve it on the spot, and then use the disappearing spell to make it disappear." Go somewhere else, and as for which Muggle head or pot it's going to end up in..."

Seeing the disgusted looks on the girls' faces, Lockhart quickly changed his words: "Of course, it's inappropriate to say this now... especially since everyone is going to have dinner soon. In short, this transformation completely borrows the wisdom of Muggles , the principal at that time invited the famous architectural designer, Henry Hall to carry out the renovation, and the Gunter family was very dissatisfied with this.

- Ravenclaw freshman Samuel Mason in the first grade suddenly heard a familiar name: ""Is it Hall?I know him, he restored the Pantheon in Rome, and his portrait still hangs on the wall of my father's company. "

"Thank you for your supplement, Sam... It's a pity that after he completed the transformation design and got the gold, he was cast an oblivion curse by the head of the Gaunt family at the time, and took away all the design drawings. We have no way to get them now." We don’t know their whereabouts, but we still don’t know how the Gaunt family hid the entrance to the secret room.” The little wizards were thoughtful.

Lockhart wasn't sure if they could deduce anything based on the current intelligence, and now it seemed that the closest person to the answer was Harry Potter, because he knew he was a Parseltongue.

However, even if Harry knew that the attacker was a snake and moved through a pipe, he probably wouldn't be able to find Slytherin's secret room right now.

Because Hogwarts has too many pipelines.Unless you really go to war and use Lockhart's suggestion to "plug a part and smoke it with sulfur", you want to

Finding the Chamber of Secrets is still difficult.

Thinking of this, Lockhart glanced at Harry—it might be because of various accidents, the headmaster didn't know that he was a Parseltongue, but if Dumbledore knew about it, he might realize it immediately Harry is also a Horcrux.

"So Professor, can we find this secret room?" Eddie asked again.

"It's not impossible, but it's very troublesome, and it needs to go to war, and follow it bit by bit... Uh, investigation, considering that only one cat has been attacked so far, and it's not irreversible, I think it might be better to wait. The premise is that no one is killed in the attack, but if there are casualties, I will definitely report to the principal and explain to him the secrets I discovered."

"You found a clue?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Actually, you just need to think about things like clues to find out." Lockhart winked at her, "Think about why the murderer hanged Mrs. Norris and why he had to go to such lengths to write Write that line of magic words, you are so smart, you must be able to think of it."

Lockhart actually didn't say this to Hermione, but to Voldemort, because he knew that Ginny hadn't doubted the diary at this time, and she would definitely write such a thing in the diary.

He wanted to use this method to persuade Voldemort to restrain himself, at least not to kill people.

The two Slytherin students were taken aback by Lockhart's statement, but they restrained their expressions well when they heard "a big fight is needed".

"We'll go to the dean later and ask him to ask Lockhart. The Slytherin's secret room must be discovered by us Slytherins." One said quietly to his partner.

The companion nodded again and again, deeply agreeing.

"I didn't expect the school to have such a dark history." Eddie Camille of Ravenclaw said: Qi Jin Leitlin actually sneaked around the other three houses and made such a big move. Don't the people in the other houses not do you know? "

Although there were not many people, the two Slytherin students present all showed displeasure.