108: Chapter 108 Fear Deepens

"From today on, all Hufflepuff students in years one through three must be escorted to class by a prefect."

In the Great Hall during breakfast, Professor Sprout was checking her register. The younger Hufflepuffs immediately moved behind their prefects, and when the line passed the Gryffindor table, they deliberately steered clear of Harry.

Ron slammed his cup down on the table. "Fine, stay away then. When the monster from the Chamber of Secrets comes asking for directions, let it wait in line."

Hermione pressed down on his wrist. "Ron, don't start."

Harry watched Ernie escorting the students away and said in a low voice, "They're afraid of me faster than they are of the monster."

At the Slytherin table, Draco's silver spoon stopped in mid-air. Zabini picked up his teacup. "Don't stare too long."

"I'm just confirming he's still alive."

Nott opened his small notebook. "Alive, but socially half-dead."

Pansy whispered, "After Justin was petrified, all of Hufflepuff turned against Harry. Even Nearly Headless Nick has fallen. Now even the ghosts are spreading rumors that Parseltongue can command the dead."

Crabbe looked stunned. "Do ghosts count as dead?"

Goyle thought about it seriously. "I suppose so."

Draco suppressed his anger. "Is that the point?"

Allen sat at the very edge, holding a piece of toast between his fingers. His gaze drifted across the Great Hall and landed on Ginny.

She was keeping her head down, her red hair covering half her face. Her dark circles had deepened, there were ink stains on her wrists, her schoolbag was pressed tightly against her knees, and the corner of the black diary was covered by a piece of parchment.

Allen withdrew his gaze. "Ginny hasn't eaten anything."

Nott immediately wrote it down. "Dark circles deepened, ink stains on wrists, schoolbag never leaves her side."

Draco leaned in half a step. "Just tell a Professor. She's about to break."

Allen looked at him. "Tell them what?"

"About the diary. The youngest daughter of the Weasley Family is being controlled by a black diary. The monster from the Chamber of Secrets is coming out of the pipes. The Basilisk can petrify people. Isn't that enough?"

"Evidence?"

Draco froze. "We know."

"And if a Professor asks how you know?"

Draco's expression darkened. Lucius, Flourish and Blotts, the Malfoy Family heirlooms, Nott's intelligence, Peter the prisoner, Spatial Perception—none of these threads could be laid out in the open.

Zabini put down his teacup. "The Professors won't be afraid of us telling the truth; they will investigate the source."

Nott nodded. "Especially Professor Snape."

Draco released his silver spoon. "So we just watch?"

Allen looked toward the Gryffindor table. Hermione was spreading a thick book out in front of Harry and Ron, with clipped notes tucked into the pages.

"Wait for Hermione to find out."

Draco frowned. "Pinning our hopes on Granger?"

"She will investigate, Harry will listen, and Ron will make a fuss. When the three of them move, it's cleaner than us stepping in."

Pansy clutched her book tightly. "What if Ginny kills someone first?"

Allen raised his eyes, and Pansy immediately shut her mouth.

"The diary doesn't want to kill anyone yet. It wants panic, it wants Harry to take the blame, it wants Dumbledore to be forced out by the Board of Governors. If people die, the school will be closed, which would end the game early."

Draco stared at him. "You talk like you know it."

"I know Lord Voldemort's logic."

The people at the table stopped simultaneously. Nott's pen hovered for a moment, and in the end, he only wrote a "T".

At the staff table, Professor Snape's gaze swept from Gryffindor to Slytherin, lingering on Allen for half a breath.

Allen yawned and lowered his eyelids, looking so sleepy he might bury his face in his plate.

Draco waited until Professor Snape moved his gaze away before asking, "Can you really sleep?"

"Yes."

"Right now?"

"The more chaotic it is, the more you should sleep."

Zabini chuckled. "Sounds like avoidance."

Allen put the toast back on his plate. "People who are awake are prone to doing stupid things."

Morning classes were broken up by patrols. Filch was mopping the floor between the second and Third Floors, and the portraits were spreading words like "Chamber of Secrets," "snake," "Potter," and "Heir of Slytherin" throughout the corridors.

In Charms Class, Professor Flitwick had just asked the students to practice the Shield Charm. As soon as Harry raised his wand, the Hufflepuff students in the front row immediately shrank toward the edge of their desks.

Professor Flitwick reminded them in a high-pitched voice, "Mr. Potter is practicing standard defensive gestures; he is not summoning a snake."

Ron muttered in the back row, "Thank you, Professor. Finally, someone is talking sense."

Hermione didn't smile. She folded a piece of paper into her book, with the corner of the paper revealing the word "Basilisk."

Allen sat in the back row of Slytherin, tapping his textbook with his fingertips.

She was almost there.

After class, Pucey and a few older students stopped Draco. He laughed, "Malfoy, you released a snake last night, and Potter talked to the snake. Did you rehearse that?"

Draco raised his chin. "If I were to rehearse, I would choose an audience smarter than you."

Someone nearby chuckled. Pucey's face looked ugly. "Don't think that just because your father is on the Board of Governors, you can control everyone's mouth."

Draco took a half-step forward, but Allen pressed down on his schoolbag strap from behind.

Allen looked at Pucey. "You can continue. Professor Snape is just coming around the corner."

Pucey looked back, but the corridor was empty. By the time he turned back, Allen had already walked past him.

Zabini followed. "Using the same old trick again."

Nott closed his notebook. "Because he's guilty."

Draco shook off his schoolbag strap. "Even if you hadn't stopped me, I wouldn't have done anything."

Allen didn't look back. "Mm."

"You don't believe me?"

"I do."

Draco was choked up. "You're even more dismissive than Crabbe."

Crabbe looked up blankly. "What did I do?"

In the afternoon, the Castle began temporary patrols. Percy led the Gryffindor lower years through in a line, the Hufflepuff prefects held lists, the Ravenclaw students discussed information about snakes, and the Slytherins were subjected to more stares.

Every time Allen passed the second-floor stairs, he could hear the sound of water sliding along the stone crevices inside the walls. A massive body turned over in the depths, and the pipes expanded the interior of the Castle, only to settle back into place a moment later.

In the evening, Nott brought back news. "Granger borrowed 'Most Dangerous Magical Creatures,' and she also checked the death records of Myrtle. She asked Madam Pince if any student had died on the second floor fifty years ago."

Draco sat up straight immediately. "She found out about the Basilisk?"

"Almost."

Nott pushed the small notebook to Allen. "Ginny went to the Girls Lavatory this afternoon. She looked even worse when she came out. Harry heard a sound in the pipes in the corridor, but Ron didn't hear it."

Zabini added, "The Board of Governors has also made a move. My mother wrote to say that Lucius mentioned at a tea party that if the Principal cannot guarantee the safety of the students, the Board must take responsibility."

Draco's fingertips gripped the edge of his cup. "He really wants to force Dumbledore out."

Pansy looked at Allen. "If Dumbledore leaves, who can suppress the Basilisk?"

Allen unfolded the second-floor route map and pointed his fingertip across four exits. "Suppressing the Basilisk and finding the Basilisk are two different things. With Dumbledore here, Tom will hide deeper. If Dumbledore leaves, the diary will get anxious."

Draco stared at him. "You want Dumbledore to be driven away?"

"I want the entrance to be revealed."

"That's too dangerous."

Allen raised his eyes. "How many times have you said 'dangerous' today?"

Draco gritted his teeth. "Because dead people will show up on the bill."

The Common Room went quiet. Pansy looked at Draco, Zabini's cup hung in mid-air, and Nott's pen tip hovered over the paper.

Draco himself was stunned. He usually cared most about the Malfoy reputation, Slytherin's points, and his father's attitude, but at this moment, the first thing that came out of his mouth was about dead people.

Allen looked at him for a moment. "That's why I told you to carry reflective objects, stay away from the second floor, and let Hermione find the answer."

Draco asked in a low voice, "What if that's not enough?"

Allen rolled up the route map. "Then I will make a move."

When this sentence dropped, everyone fell silent.

When night fell over the Black Lake, Hermione left the Library clutching three books. Harry and Ron were waiting for her at the corner, and the three of them talked while leaning against the wall.

"Basilisk. I still need to confirm, but it's very likely."

Harry asked, "If it's a Basilisk, why hasn't anyone died?"

"Indirect sight. The cat saw the reflection in the water, and Nick was blocking Justin."

Ron took a breath. "So we need to carry mirrors?"

Hermione nodded. "And we need to find the entrance."

The three of them hurried away.

In the shadows of another corridor, Allen withdrew his Spatial Perception. Inside his Portable Space, the void tail-tip tapped on the parchment with "Hermione" written on it.

The hound had finally caught the scent.

At the same moment, in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, Ginny sat on the edge of her bed, her hands trembling as she opened the black diary.

Ink floated up from the page.

"They are all suspecting Harry."

Ginny's eyes were red, and her quill fell. "I don't want to do this anymore."

The paper paused for a few breaths, then new handwriting emerged.

"Then let them see just how dangerous Harry truly is."