68 Chapter 68: The Chamber of Secrets has opened!

"Peverell..." Harry repeated, letting the name of his ancestor wander over his lips. He had no idea why, but it felt important. "I have never heard of it. Can't you tell me more about them, Baron?" he asked, hoping for more information.

But the Bloody Baron remained silent, ignoring Harry and his friends as he floated towards another part of the hall. The other ghosts kept their distance, making way for him.

"That was strange," Hermione remarked, watching the departing ghost. "Did any of you hear the name Peverell? It sounds completely unfamiliar. I probably never read about them."

"No, I've never heard of them," Padma shook her head.

However, Tracey and Daphne remained quiet, lost in thought. After a moment, Daphne spoke up tentatively, "I may have heard of them. Well, any child growing up in the British Wizarding World may have heard of them." She explained, uncertain.

"What do you mean? How could it be that famous, and none of us have heard of it?" Harry asked, feeling utterly confused. How was that supposed to work?

"Well, they may not have heard the name Peverell, but they most likely have heard the story associated with it. My grandmother told me and Tracey the old version of the tale when we were kids," Daphne explained. Peverell was a name still known among the old wizarding families. "The Peverells are associated with the famous children's story of the Three Brothers. In fact, that was their last name."

"I know that tale! But wait, isn't it just a story? How could it be related to Harry's family?" Padma asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"That's what's confusing," Tracey interjected. "The possibility of it being real is quite scary."

"How does that story go? What is it about? Tell me, I have never heard of it," Harry eagerly requested, wanting to learn more. If it was related to his family, he needed to know.

Just as Daphne was about to share the story, Hermione abruptly exclaimed, "Oh, no! Turn back, turn back! I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle."

"Who?" Harry asked as they hurriedly retraced their steps.

"She haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the first floor," Hermione explained.

"She haunts a toilet?" Harry questioned, finding it hard to believe.

"Yes, really. Let's go! Trust us! It's been out-of-order all year because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place. I never went in there anyway if I could avoid it; it's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you," Tracey added, pulling Harry towards one of the tables.

"Is that food?" Padma inquired when they reached one of the tables, successfully avoiding Myrtle. The table emitted a repugnant smell. Large, rotten fish lay on elegant silver platters, while cakes were charred black as coal on serving dishes. There was a disgustingly maggot-infested haggis, a slab of cheese covered in fuzzy green mold, and an enormous gray cake shaped like a tombstone with thick, tar-like icing that read, "SIR NICHOLAS DE MIMSY-PORPINGTON DIED 31ST OCTOBER, 1492."

They watched with morbid fascination as a plump ghost walked through the cake with his mouth wide open.

"Can you taste it if you walk through it?" Harry asked the ghost.

"Almost," the ghost sadly replied before drifting away.

"I expect they've let it rot to give it a stronger flavor," Hermione commented, her knowledge evident, as she pinched her nose and leaned closer to inspect the putrid haggis.

They moved away from the table, unable to bear the stench, and attempted to socialize with different ghosts from all over the world. Unfortunately, they ended up encountering Moaning Myrtle again, thanks to Peeves, who enjoyed tormenting the poor ghost.

Their first encounter with Myrtle turned out to be awkward, as she was bullied into tears by the castle's poltergeist.

After Sir Nicholas was once again rejected from joining the Headless Hunt, they didn't stay for long. They had already spoken to most of the interesting ghosts. In the end, the most fascinating encounter was with the Bloody Baron.

The ghost they all truly wanted to talk to, the Grey Lady, the secluded ghost of House Ravenclaw, was nowhere to be found. She seemed to avoid not only the living but also the deceased. Disappointed, they left, unable to learn more about their own house ghost.

Since it wasn't too late yet, they made their way towards the Great Hall, walking through the castle's cold, stone corridors. However, before they reached their destination, they heard something strange.

"...rip...tear...kill..."

A cold, murderous voice. Harry strained to listen, trying to determine its source.

"Harry, what're you—?"

"...so hungry...for so long..."

"I hear a voice. Listen!" Harry urgently exclaimed, causing the others to freeze and watch him.

The voice grew fainter, moving away, seemingly upwards. Fear and excitement mixed within Harry as he stared at the dark ceiling. How could the voice be moving upwards? Was it a phantom for whom stone ceilings were inconsequential? "This way!" he shouted and began to run up the stairs, into the entrance hall. It was no use hoping to hear anything there; the clamor of talk from the Halloween feast echoed out of the Great Hall. Harry sprinted up the marble staircase to the first floor, with the others following him.

"What's going on?" Padma asked, her worry evident.

But Harry ignored her and followed the voice further down the corridor. "It wants to kill someone," he said, faintly making out the words.

He ran, following the voice as fast as he could, towards the second-floor corridor. Suddenly, he lost track of it. Even with his sharp ears, he couldn't determine where it had disappeared to.

Suddenly, Hermione pointed to something. "Look!"

There was a shining object on the wall ahead. They approached cautiously, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches. The words read: THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

Beneath the writing, Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, hung by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring.

But Harry was more captivated by the words than the cat. The Chamber of Secrets sounded incredibly intriguing. Finally, he had something else to do this year besides forming contracts in the castle. He wondered what secrets it might hold.

"Sigh He has that look again," Daphne sighed from beside him.

"What look?" Harry asked, confused.

"The same dumb look you had when Dumbledore told us at the feast last year not to go to the third-floor corridor. You're planning something foolish again, aren't you?" she scolded him angrily, while the other girls could only nod.

Before he could respond, the sound of many footsteps echoed in the distance. Filling the Corridor suddenly with chatter. But it died suddenly when the Students that suddenly gathered here saw what was on the Wall. Before they all stared at them with shock.

Like any sane Person in such a Situation would do, Harry calmly replied, "Oh Hey, what are all of you doing here? Did you also want to use the Bathroom?"

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