Chapter 104

As the performance of the Troupe of Dancing Skeletons ended, so did the Halloween dinner.

Ethan, Cho Chang, and Penelope followed the crowd out of the auditorium, surrounded by people discussing hot pot and the Troupe of Dancing Skeletons.

Suddenly—Aaaaaaah!

A shrill scream attracted everyone's attention.

The young wizards immediately began to panic and rushed toward the source of the scream.

What happened now?

Today's Halloween dinner was really enjoyable. They had hot pot, watched the Troupe of Dancing Skeletons's performance, and now, after it was over, they could join in the excitement.

But when everyone arrived at the scene, they were stunned into silence.

Could it be that the Halloween curse striked again?.

The troll that was supposed to appear last year had been interrupted by Ethan and left unresolved, likely handled by a professor.

This year, Ronald had taken Voldemort's Horcrux diary. The plot had changed, so nothing should have happened.

While enjoying hot pot, Ethan had even seen Ronald, but Harry was still absent from the Gryffindor table.

Ethan wasn't surprised. Harry was probably invited by the ghosts to their banquet, just like in the original story. Why didn't he bring Ronald? Ethan didn't know.

Feeling puzzled, Ethan pushed through the crowd to the front.

"Filch and his cat?"

Penelope, following behind Ethan, frowned at the scene before her, a little incredulous.

She then glanced at Ethan suddenly. A few days ago, Ethan had mentioned that a monster might appear in Hogwarts Castle and had warned them to be careful.

I didn't expect something to happen so soon...

And it was Filch again.

But Penelope and Cho Chang exchanged a look and said nothing.

The young wizards around them were also filled with horror.

There had been deaths at Hogwarts before, but even when Ethan had fought hard last time, no one had died.

Ethan glanced at Harry, who stood alone in the middle of the water-covered corridor, looking confused and helpless.

In front of Harry lay Filch, unconscious in the water, his oil lamp placed not far away.

Hanging upside down in front of Filch was Mrs. Norris, her right paw outstretched. Ethan could see Filch's expression—angry and worried.

It seemed Mrs. Norris had been petrified first, and when Filch came to investigate, he too had been petrified.

The scene looked exactly like this.

Ethan could tell that Mrs. Norris and Filch weren't dead. How lucky.

Seeing the basilisk's eyes through another medium would only petrify someone; they could be saved by reversing the petrification.

In other words, they must have seen the basilisk's eyes through the reflection in the stagnant water.

Was this really just a coincidence, or did young Tom not want to kill anyone yet?

Just earlier at dinner, Ethan had seen Ronald enthusiastically enjoying hot pot, so little Tom couldn't have been controlling Ronald to control the basilisk.

The diary was in someone else's possession... did Ronald really start studying?

Ethan quickly dismissed this thought. If Ronald had stopped playing wizard chess and Quidditch to study, Ethan would have suspected he was possessed by someone.

There was only one possibility: after the Skeleton began their performance, all the lights on and off the stage had been turned off. It wasn't easy for the young wizards to leave the stage at that time, and Ronald must have seized the opportunity.

"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE."

Draco Malfoy, who had also squeezed to the front, coldly read the bright red words written on the wall, word by word.

Just as he was about to add something, he suddenly seemed to realize something and quickly swallowed his words.

Then, he hurried to the back.

Hiding behind his two followers, Draco finally let out a sigh of relief. He had almost blurted something out in front of Harry. Luckily, he didn't.

Ethan ignored Draco. He may act arrogant, but he's actually too timid. He's incapable of accomplishing anything, not even of being a proper villain. At best, he's a comedian.

The sound of low, approaching footsteps caused the young wizards to part and make way.

Snape, with his black cloak trailing behind him, walked in with a gloomy expression. As usual, he was the first to arrive.

After surveying the scene, his eyes locked onto Harry, and his voice was devoid of emotion.

"Potter, did you do this?"

What kind of luck does this kid have? Whenever there's trouble, it's always him.

Snape had suspected something was up when Harry was missing from dinner.

Then the scream happened, and Snape's first thought was that Harry was involved again. He rushed to the scene, and sure enough, it was connected to Harry.

"No, Professor, I didn't do it. Really, you have to believe me." Harry frantically waved his hands, unable to hide the panic and fear on his face.

After attending the deathday party of Headless Nick, he had heard that voice again on his way back.

It was all about tearing, killing, and hunger.

Trying to investigate, he had come to this spot, only to find Filch and his cat under attack. Then, the crowd from the banquet had emerged and found him here at the scene.

"Ethan, Ronald, you believe me, right? It really wasn't me. I..."

Seeing Snape's disbelief, Harry turned his pleading gaze to Ethan and Ronald.

"I... I believe you."

Ronald's face was pale, and he stammered.

The others around him thought he was just scared by Filch's appearance.

"Professor Snape, I don't think this has anything to do with Harry. He just happened to be here."

"Can you prove it?"

Snape's cold eyes shifted to Ethan.

He had been waiting for an opportunity to deduct points from Ethan for a long time. He didn't expect Ethan to walk right into his hands now.

This was the boy who had cost Slytherin the record for the longest consecutive house championship since the founding of Hogwarts.

Ethan was too clever. Snape had never found an excuse to deduct points from him—he answered all questions correctly and brewed flawless potions. Over time, Snape had begun to act like Ethan didn't even exist. He never expected Ethan to make such a mistake today.

"I can't prove anything, but do you really think Harry is capable of doing this? That's the truth."

Harry was truly not capable of doing such a thing now.

Snape laughed directly, looking at Ethan with sarcasm. "Potter really doesn't have this ability, but you do. So, are you saying that you're the murderer?"

Ethan didn't expect Snape to be so shameless.

He had been sitting in the front row of the Ravenclaw table, right under the professors' noses. I don't believe he doesn't know this. "Many Ravenclaw students can prove I didn't leave the auditorium during dinner."

Harry looked at Ethan gratefully. He's using himself to draw attention away from me—and he's right. I don't have that ability.

At that moment, Dumbledore rushed in with the professors.

All the professors who arrived at the scene fell silent. Such a vicious incident hadn't occurred at Hogwarts in many years.

Only Lockhart wandered around, trying to make himself noticed.

"It must have been a spell that killed them—it was probably a Transmogrifian Torture. I've seen others use that spell many times. It's a shame I wasn't there; I happen to know how to break the spell and could have saved them..."

"Stop, they aren't dead yet," Dumbledore interrupted Lockhart's performance. How did I end up hiring such a person as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?

Lockhart fumbled for an excuse. "I didn't see it clearly just now. You know, it's been so long—I couldn't tell at first glance."

Embarrassed, Lockhart tried to bluff his way through, but now, aside from his fans, no one was paying him any attention.

After carefully inspecting Filch and Mrs. Norris, Dumbledore turned to the young wizards gathered around and said:

"Everyone, return to your dormitories in an orderly manner, led by your prefects. Harry, you come with me."

Lockhart hurriedly interjected.

"My office is closest, Headmaster, you could..."

Before he could finish, Dumbledore cut him off: "Thank you, Gilderoy."

The silent students parted to make way for Dumbledore and his group, with Lockhart still muttering something from the side.

Hermione hesitated several times, wanting to approach Dumbledore, but ultimately held back.

Her information source was Ethan, and Ethan's source was the magical creatures of the Forbidden Forest. Entering the Forbidden Forest is forbidden, and there would be punishment if found out.

Hermione was used to being punished for rule-breaking, one of Hogwarts' unofficial rules. But if she approached Dumbledore, Ethan would undoubtedly be implicated. And she was the witness.

Ethan could end up in detention, and Ravenclaw might lose points. I can't accept that, she thought. Finally, Hermione decided to keep the secret to herself.

"Ethan, will this happen again?"

Hermione hadn't followed the Gryffindor group back to the dormitory but had pulled Ethan aside into a corner.

Even if Filch wasn't dead, something was seriously wrong. Otherwise, he would have been cured on the spot to calm the students.

Although she had chosen to keep quiet, Hermione still didn't want such incidents to continue happening on campus.

"If it happens again, Dumbledore will definitely take it seriously and handle it."

Ethan was already thinking about finding a way to deal with the basilisk. Even though it wasn't very useful, it was powerful enough to be worth capturing.

"I think so too."

Since Dumbledore was aware of the situation, Hermione felt reassured that he would handle it, leaving her less to worry about. After coming to this conclusion, she jogged to catch up with the Gryffindor group.

Ethan took out the Marauder's Map again—but there was still no basilisk on it.

Over the past few days, Ethan had checked the Marauder's Map several times, but the basilisk never appeared. Perhaps the map doesn't show magical creatures, or maybe it's for some other reason.

Ethan only knew one way to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, but a ghost was lurking along that route. He had to find a way to deal with it.