Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

069 Discoveries and Incongruities

The wand in Bryan's palm suddenly began to spin rapidly like a windmill, and kept in this state without stopping. It was as if an invisible force was pulling it in different directions, making it impossible to control.

"What does this mean, Professor Watson!" Hermione exclaimed, her voice trembling with anxiety. She looked nervously at Bryan, who was holding his wand with a tight grip, and then at the small section of exposed water pipe that was barely visible in the dim light of the corridor.

"This means," Bryan said calmly, his eyes narrowing as he gazed at the metal pipe, "that Salazar Slytherin has imposed so many powerful spells on his Chamber of Secrets and that snake, including preventing positioning. This made my plan to find this secret room directly through magic come to naught. To be honest, this matter is quite troublesome. Hogwarts Castle has gone through thousands of years, and no one knows what happened to the sewer pipes in the castle. How many times have they been rebuilt, modified, or even abandoned? Maybe even the original design drawings of the castle have been lost now."

Bryan's words made Harry and Hermione feel a surge of disappointment. They had hoped that this would be their breakthrough in solving the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. Ever since the incident started, they had been trying to find clues and evidence, but they had always hit a dead end.

In the darkness, Harry frowned and stared at the water pipe. For some reason, ever since he was in the office just now, when Professor Watson guessed that the sound he had heard all this time was made by a snake, he had always felt a slight sense of incongruity. It was as if he had forgotten something important, something that could help them crack the case.

"Then what should we do now, Professor," Hermione asked worriedly, not noticing Harry's strange silence. She was always eager to learn and help, and she hated feeling helpless and clueless.

"Do we need to tell Headmaster Dumbledore about this discovery?"

"Not for now, Miss Granger–" Bryan rejected her proposal without hesitation. He was joking when he said that he did not necessarily have to be the first to discover the secret room, but he did want to be ahead of Dumbledore Otherwise, when Dumbledore took away the magical creature in the chamber, what would he use to report? He also wanted to get some commission for his efforts.

Bryan jumped off half of the wall that he had blasted open earlier, and waved his wand to restore it to its original shape. He did not want to leave any traces of their intrusion.

"The pipes inside the walls are connected to the sewage treatment system of the entire castle. Unless there is no other way, I try not to drill into the pipes one by one to search for them under the bubble-head charm. That would be too time-consuming and unpleasant. In the next few days, I plan to go around the library more and see if I can find some useful information. First, I want to find out what species the snake in the secret room is, and second, I want to see if I can find the architectural drawings of Hogwarts Castle when it was first built. Although there is a high probability that the location of the secret room will not be marked on the blueprints, but at least through some clues, maybe I can narrow down its approximate location."

"Is there anything I can do to help, Professor Watson?" Hermione asked expectantly. She loved reading and researching, and she felt that this was an opportunity for her to prove her skills and intelligence.

"Of course, Miss Granger–" Bryan led them to the first floor, and when he heard her question, he smiled warmly. He appreciated her enthusiasm and curiosity. "I heard from other professors that finding the key information from the vast amount of text is your specialty, Miss Granger. You can participate in the two tasks I just mentioned, but I try not to take up your usual study time. You still have your classes and homework to attend to. If I can't find the answer before next Saturday, you can come to the library and help me out then–"

Ron had missed all this excitement because of the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical class in the second half of Friday. He had been bitten by an eight-eyed spider that Professor Watson had brought in as a demonstration of how to deal with dark creatures. He had spent almost two full days on the bed in the dormitory, recovering from the venom and pain.

"I'm beginning to agree with Malfoy's evaluation of Professor Watson, Harry–" Ron said weakly, staring at the curtains of his four-poster bed with a resentful expression. "Who would a normal person carry that kind of thing with them, and show the little wizards how to deal with that terrible dark creature? That should be an Auror's job!"

Harry had told him everything that happened tonight, hoping to cheer him up a bit. But Ron seemed to be more envious than impressed. His eyes flashed with longing, and he hurriedly asked,

"Did Professor Watson tell you in detail how to hide the magic power in your eyes?"

Harry felt a surge of annoyance at Ron's thick-headedness. He said impatiently, "It must not be a simple magic, Ron, even a genius like Professor Watson, who designed the magic himself, must have took quite a while to master it. Do you think he would just tell me how to do it in a few minutes?"

Ron curled his lips, looked at Seamus, Neville and Dean who were chatting and laughing together on their beds, and said in a more serious tone, "Look, Harry, I don't think you have to worry so much about that old madman Slytherin and his chamber. Whatever snake he hid in there, it won't dare to come out as long as Professor Breen is still in school. He'll protect us from any monster. And once Colin and Justin recover from their petrification, this whole thing will blow over "

Harry frowned and whispered,

"I'm not saying that Professor Watson's theory is wrong, Ron. He's probably right about the snake traveling through the pipes and only I can hear its voice because I can speak Parseltongue. But there's something that doesn't add up. Something that I've overlooked. And I wish Professor Watson could find the chamber before the Board of Trustees forces him to leave Hogwarts. Because if that monster ever attacks again, who will stop it then?"

As Harry said this, a sudden flash of insight struck him. He remembered something that he had seen in Tom Riddle's memory, something that contradicted Professor Watson's theory. He jumped out of his bed and ran to his desk, where he rummaged through his schoolbag for Riddle's notebook.

He had suddenly remembered something. He had actually seen the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, in the memory that Tom Riddle had shown him! It was a huge, hairy creature, with tangled black legs, many shining eyes, and two pincers as sharp as knives. In any case, the thing did not look like a snake at all.

How could that be? Was Riddle lying to him? Or was there more than one monster in the chamber? When he opened the notebook, Harry raised his eyebrows and looked serious.

Professor Watson's conjecture didn't sound like a problem. It perfectly explained why no one could hear that terrifying voice except him. And moving through the pipes was a clever way for the monster to avoid detection.

But the unknown past that Riddle revealed to him also had an irrefutable fact. That was, after Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts, there were no more attacks in the school. Even Riddle himself had received a special award from the school for his contribution.

"Harry, I think you'd better throw this notebook away. I always feel that this Tom Riddle is a bit evil–" Ron, who was sitting on the bed, frowned and watched Harry spread the notebook on the table. He then picked up the quill and dipped it in ink.

"Don't be silly, Ron. Riddle's memory tells us something very valuable, doesn't it?" Harry said without turning his head. Almost the moment the ink dripped onto the book, it immediately disappeared into the blank paper. Then an elegant handwriting appeared.

"–Hello, Harry Potter. I thought that after knowing the truth about the Chamber of Secrets incident, you had forgotten me in a corner of the bookshelf. And what awaited me was another fifty years of darkness. Don't you think Hagrid should stay in this school? Have you told anyone else the truth about what I remember?"

Harry blushed slightly, but he didn't have time to exchange pleasantries with Riddle. He went straight to the point and told him what he had found out tonight.

"–Riddle, do you think you made a mistake? In my opinion, Professor Watson's guess is more reasonable. Besides, I didn't see the monster you showed me in your memory. But it's obviously not a snake."

This time, the notebook didn't immediately answer Harry's question. It seemed that what Harry said also caused it to fall into confusion. The paper remained blank for two minutes. Then a messy handwriting appeared.

"Can you tell me more about that Professor Watson?"