章 27: Chamber of Secrets
Halloween is a holiday when most students would choose to have a day of fun or rest in their dormitories. However, on the morning of November 1st this year, the Hufflepuff common room was crowded with students, and there weren't enough seats for everyone. They were whispering and discussing among themselves.
"What the heck is the Chamber of Secrets? I heard it has been opened."
"I think I heard my father mention the Chamber of Secrets before, but I thought he was just trying to scare me to sleep early!"
"I've heard that the spell on Mrs. Norris is a powerful dark magic, and even Professor Dumbledore doesn't know what to do."
"Who told you that? How can Professor Dumbledore be clueless?"
"The Weasley brothers from Gryffindor, their younger brother went with Professor Dumbledore to check on Mrs. Norris."
"I think Ronald Weasley is suspicious... and Potter and Granger, why were the three of them, Gryffindor students, seen near the basement entrance? And their relationship with Mr. Filch has always been poor."
"Yes, wasn't that Weasley boy confined by Mr. Filch in September?"
Opinions from first-year freshmen to seventh-year students were expressed, although they seemed to diverge further and further.
Suddenly, there was a commotion at the entrance, and a plump witch climbed up.
"Professor..." The students hurriedly surrounded her. "Professor Sprout..."
"What is this Chamber of Secrets?" Hannah Abbot asked impatiently.
"How is Mrs. Norris?" Cedric Diggory asked with concern.
"Um... Professor, what's a dumb gun?" Justin Finley innocently touched his head.
"Alright... let me answer one question at a time!" Pomona Sprout, with bloodshot eyes as if she hadn't slept all night, addressed her students. After examining the petrified Mrs. Norris and taking care of the mandrakes in the greenhouse, she chose to come to the Hufflepuff common room to comfort her students.
"Mrs. Norris is not in a life-threatening condition; she has been petrified. Mandrakes can easily cure her... As luck would have it, we have a batch of Mandrakes growing in our greenhouse!"
The students cheered.
"So, the Chamber of Secrets, Professor!" a sixth-year girl quickly asked. "It's just a prank, right? That Weasley's prank?"
"The Chamber of Secrets!" Professor Sprout's voice turned serious. "It's not a prank..."
"There's a legend, just a legend... Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin, the four greatest wizards of their time, built Hogwarts together..."
"In the early years, the founders worked harmoniously, searching for young people showing magical signs and bringing them to the castle to train... But slowly, differences arose among them. Slytherin believed that magical education should be limited to pure-blood wizarding families and was unwilling to accept Muggle-born children, thinking they were unreliable. This led to a fierce argument, and Slytherin eventually left the school."
"So, there's a strange legend about the Chamber of Secrets... The story goes that Slytherin built a secret chamber in the castle, and the other founders knew nothing about it. Slytherin sealed the chamber so that no one could open it until his true heir comes to the school. Only that heir can open the chamber, unleash the horror within, purify the school, and eliminate all those unworthy of magic!"
While speaking, Professor Sprout sighed.
"This... is just a legend!" a trembling Heloise Midgen said.
"We used to think it was just a legend..." Professor Sprout said solemnly. "But then, 50 years ago, when I was a second-year Hufflepuff student, the Chamber of Secrets was opened once!"
"What!" Many girls stepped back in shock.
"A Ravenclaw student died, killed by a terrible dark magic. No one knew the cause of her death... Later, Armando Dippet discovered the 'true culprit,' and we all thought it was over..."
"Ah..." Susan Bones suddenly screamed as if she had seen something terrible, and then she ran several steps forward in fright.
Several girls nearby also screamed and fled, thinking that the horrifying monster from the Chamber of Secrets had come out and reached the Hufflepuff common room.
Professor Sprout frowned and quickly discovered the culprits. Taking out her wand, she almost lazily said, "So many obstacles!"
She caught two small creatures running on the ground, trying to escape from the Hufflepuff common room.
"I'm sorry, Professor!" Jon Hart hurriedly approached, hugging the glass cage.
"Jon, releasing your pets to scare your classmates is not appropriate behavior!" She put two South African Red Spiders into the glass cage, her voice reproachful but not harsh.
"I'm sorry, Professor..." Jon quickly explained, "But I really didn't mean it... they escaped!"
"I fed them Professor Kettleburn's Calming Draught before, and they were very calm... But since last night, they suddenly became restless again, and giving them the Soothing Draught didn't help. They accidentally escaped when I opened the cage slightly... I almost lost them!"
"Really!" Professor Sprout's expression gradually turned serious upon hearing his explanation.
After half an hour, Jon went to the owlery again.
He spent nineteen galleons and seven sickles, buying five ounces of powdered Erumpent horn and a whole African tree snake skin.
Potion-making was truly an expensive endeavor; these two ingredients nearly depleted his family's savings.
Fortunately, at Hogwarts, there were no mandatory expenses, so not having much money was not a big issue.
Returning to the castle, as he passed by the place where Mrs. Norris had been attacked, the words on the stone wall still glowed brightly.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened."
"Enemies of the heir, beware!"
Jon snorted coldly and touched the alarm clock of the rooster hidden in his robe. Without further delay, he set off.
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