Chapter 84: 84: Hagrid's Accident and the Whereabouts of the Diary
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Hearing John's question, Hermione, torn between two friends, reluctantly replied, "Harry's studying in the library."
She wanted to tell John that Harry was suspicious of him but was afraid that both friends would be lost at once.
As soon as John heard "library," he immediately stood up.
This time, he was determined not to let Harry slip away.
He just needed the Parseltongue to open the Chamber of Secrets—Harry, just open the door for me already!
'Mother fu...' When John arrived at the library, Harry was nowhere to be found.
Now, John was completely speechless. Was Harry part mouse or something? How could he hide so well?
John pulled out the Marauder's Map and saw that Harry had already returned to the Gryffindor dormitory.
"That was fast."
Putting the map away, John rubbed his forehead in frustration.
This Harry, who usually enjoyed sneaking around at night, was now suddenly playing by the rules.
As John walked toward the Slytherin dungeons, he ran into Ernie Macmillan, who was loudly declaring something.
"The heir of Slytherin has been found—it's the gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid!"
John almost tripped over an uneven stone and exclaimed in shock, "Who did you say?"
Ernie Macmillan, delighted to see John, repeated, "Ah! I said Rubeus Hagrid! I just saw Ministry officials heading to him; they've taken him away."
The news left everyone at Hogwarts in disbelief. Could the bumbling Hagrid really be the heir of Slytherin?
John quickened his pace, managing to reach Hagrid before he was taken away.
The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, had personally come with his team, and among them, John spotted Lucius Malfoy.
Hermione and Ron rushed over as well, pleading with Dumbledore, "Professor Dumbledore, they must be making a mistake!"
"I'm sorry, miss, but we need to take Rubeus Hagrid away immediately," Fudge replied. Despite his generally affable demeanor, he could be firm when it came to matters not threatening his position.
Dumbledore stood nearby, his face somber, while Hagrid looked dejected.
Hermione, growing increasingly anxious, asked, "Where are you taking him?"
"To Azkaban. Apologies, but something similar happened before," Fudge responded, glancing at his watch, showing signs of impatience.
Lucius Malfoy wore a smug smile, as if everything was unfolding according to his plan.
John, with a serious expression, reassured Hagrid, "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there."
"Get him out? Heh~ This young wizard seems unaware of the dangers of Azkaban," Lucius Malfoy sneered, looking down at John with disdain. "Unless you plan on going in yourself, you'll only see him in your memories."
John met Lucius's gaze calmly and said, "Is that so? Then we'll see about that."
This confident response made Lucius's expression darken.
He seemed to have another thought, then smirked mockingly before leaving with the Ministry officials.
Ron couldn't believe it—they had just taken Hagrid away like that. He looked to Dumbledore, "Professor Dumbledore, you have to do something."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, but for now, all we can do is wait," Dumbledore replied, then turned to John, curious about how he planned to rescue Hagrid.
John, watching the departing Ministry officials, had a strange gleam in his eyes and a cold smile on his lips. He muttered to himself, "The Ministry of Magic doesn't belong to just one person."
This incident caused an uproar at Hogwarts, and Harry saw it too. Strangely, he didn't step forward to help; instead, he just muttered to himself, "I should help."
Back in the dormitory, John sent out a few letters via owl.
After some time, a miracle happened—Hagrid, who was supposed to be sent to Azkaban, was instead detained at the Ministry of Magic.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
Word spread that Lucius Malfoy was furious about it.
In response, he and other members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors temporarily suspended Dumbledore. Lucius had thought that once Dumbledore was out of the way, everything would go according to plan. He hadn't expected anyone to interfere.
Recently, Damocles Belby, who had just been awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, put pressure on the Ministry, and Rufus Scrimgeour of the Auror Office also advocated for Hagrid's detention rather than imprisonment.
This derailed Lucius's plans.
And all of this was due to the letters John had sent out.
Lucius could never have imagined that the young wizard he looked down upon had such significant influence.
...
"Twenty sets of protective charms and strike rings for the Auror Office, huh?"
John looked at the conditions set by Rufus Scrimgeour. They hadn't known each other for long, so it wasn't surprising that Scrimgeour wouldn't help for free.
The Auror Office was very interested in the equipment John had sent over previously. Aurors had a dangerous job—you never knew when a Dark wizard might suddenly cast the Killing Curse at you.
The protective charms were a great solution, especially the Whomping Willow charms, which were highly sensitive and could react to even the slightest hint of malice.
"Damocles Belby, on the other hand, was straightforward, helping out without asking for anything in return."
Receiving Belby's letter made John feel a bit conflicted.
This kind of help without any strings attached left him feeling truly indebted.
He thought about it for a moment, then took out his notebook, turned to a particular page, and copied down some notes.
He enclosed these notes in an envelope and had an owl send them off. John believed that Damocles Belby would be interested in this research.
If successful, it could be a historical breakthrough.
"I was planning on reaching out to others, but it seems unnecessary now."
Closing the silver-covered networking notebook, John breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that even the Ministry of Magic wasn't entirely sure about Hagrid's guilt; otherwise, they wouldn't have been so lenient.
"I need to find the diary and get into the Chamber of Secrets as soon as possible."
John was worried that if he delayed any longer, something might go wrong.
In the following days, John began using the Marauder's Map to keep tabs on Harry.
It literally felt as though Harry also had the Marauder's Map, as he managed to avoid John with precision every time.
Over time, John realized that Harry was intentionally avoiding him. Although he didn't understand why Harry had suddenly become distant, he knew he wouldn't be able to catch up with him.
Given this, John decided to try a different approach.
He sought out Malfoy.
"Draco, it's time to put your skills to the test."
Malfoy was a bit confused by John's words, not fully understanding, but he did grasp that John wanted him to catch Harry.
Such an opportunity to make Potter look bad was something Malfoy couldn't pass up—he was more than happy to oblige.
However, before the plan could be put into action, a new development occurred on John's end.
Daphne approached John and started talking to him about Pansy's recent love life.
"It seems like she's in a relationship with an invisible person. I've caught her talking to herself several times. Always writing in a diary in hiding."
Daphne was frightened by her best friend Pansy's recent strange behavior, as if Pansy had been cursed.
The moment John heard that Pansy had been writing in a diary, his mind went into overdrive with alarm.
"Did you say a diary?"
John, feeling a surge of excitement, grabbed Daphne's hand and asked, "Do you know what she's been writing?"
Daphne blushed at the sudden gesture, but she wasn't the type to get lost in romantic thoughts; she understood the importance of the situation.
"I'm not sure; she never lets us see it," Daphne replied. She had tried to sneak a look, but Pansy guarded it fiercely.
After thinking for a moment, she hesitated and then added, "But I think the boy's name is Tom. I initially thought she was calling you Tom."
The words were a bit convoluted, but John was certain—this was the diary he'd been searching for all along.
What a stroke of luck, finding it so easily after such a long search.
A smile spread across John's face. "Where is she?"
"In the common room."
John immediately headed to the common room, dragging Malfoy, who had been planning to confront Harry, along with him.
"Pansy has a boyfriend—aren't you going to check it out?"
This statement made Malfoy bristle with anger. He had been there first; how could someone else swoop in and steal her away?
Forget about that scarhead Potter—Malfoy wanted to see for himself what made this guy better than him.
John, Malfoy, Daphne, Goyle, and Crabbe stormed into the common room. Pansy, who had been there daydreaming while staring at the giant squid outside the window, suddenly found herself surrounded.
John ordered Goyle and Crabbe to pin Pansy down on the sofa.
"Daphne, go to the dormitory and find the diary," John commanded.
Daphne immediately dashed off to the dormitory, and as soon as Pansy heard this, she began to struggle.
Seeing Pansy's reaction, John became even more convinced that Voldemort's diary was in her possession. He had been careless.
Daphne, who shared a dormitory with Pansy, started searching through her things as soon as she reached her spot.
Malfoy, feeling betrayed, looked at Pansy with deep disappointment. "I never thought you'd be this kind of person," he said.
The two had played together since childhood, and he had assumed they would always support each other. He never imagined someone would come along and steal her away.
At that moment, Malfoy wanted nothing more than to beat up this Tom guy.
If his father knew what was going through his mind, he'd probably laugh himself to madness.
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