123: Chapter 123 Hagrid is taken away

"They have driven Dumbledore away." When Nott entered, the small notebook in his hand was almost soaked with sweat. "The Board of Governors signed a temporary suspension order. The reasons are the continuous attacks, the panic among parents, and the Principal's failure to eliminate the danger in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor McGonagall is acting as interim head, and the Ministry of Magic will send people to inquire."

The noise in the Common Room cut off instantly. Draco stood by the window, back to everyone. Upon hearing this, his shoulders twitched, but he did not turn around.

Pansy clutched her chest. "What do we do now?"

Zabini hadn't finished unfolding his note. "My mother says The Daily Prophet will publish it tomorrow. The headline is already drafted: Hogwarts Principal Leaves Due to Chamber of Secrets Crisis."

Flint muttered in the distance, "With Dumbledore gone, the Heir of Slytherin can finish cleaning up..."

A silver cup flew from Draco's hand, grazing Flint's ear and smashing against the stone wall. The cup hit the ground and rolled twice. Everyone in the Common Room looked at Draco.

"Say that one more time, and I will write you into my testimony for the Board of Governors." Draco turned around, his face devoid of its usual arrogance. "I will say that you openly support the attacks on students and are trying to drag Slytherin into suspicion of murder. Do you guess my father will protect you, or protect the reputation of the Malfoy Family?"

Flint opened his mouth, but Adrian Pucey immediately pressed him down. "Shut up."

Allen moved his gaze from the silver cup back to the pipe diagram. "Progress is fast."

Draco sat back at the table, his hand still shaking. "Don't praise me. I want to smash that cup into my father's face right now."

Zabini said in a low voice, "You finally look like a normal person."

Draco glared at him. "Shut your pretty mouth."

Nott flipped to the next page. "There's one more thing. The Ministry of Magic people have taken Hagrid away."

"Hagrid?" Pansy frowned. "Why him?"

"An old case." Nott pressed the news onto the table. "Fifty years ago, the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a student died, and Tom Riddle identified Hagrid as the one who released the monster. Now that the Chamber of Secrets has reopened, the Ministry of Magic needs a culprit they can present to the parents."

Allen's quill stopped. "Who took him away?"

"Minister Fudge, accompanied by Aurors. Lucius was present." Nott said, "Before Hagrid left, he said a few words to Harry and Weasley: 'Follow the spiders.' The news was heard by a second-year Gryffindor, who shouted it out before being chased back to the tower by Percy."

Draco froze. "Spiders?"

Allen wrote "Hagrid" on the diagram and drew a line to the Forbidden Forest. "Aragog. Hagrid raised an Acromantula; it knows the truth from fifty years ago. Harry will go to the Forbidden Forest to find it."

Pansy shook her head immediately. "That's crazy. It's forbidden to be out after six o'clock, and Dumbledore is gone, yet they're going to the Forbidden Forest?"

"Hermione is lying there, Hagrid has been arrested, and Dumbledore has left the school; Harry won't just sit in the tower and wait." Allen said, "Ron is afraid of spiders and will resist, but he will follow."

Draco sat up straight. "Then should we stop them?"

"Don't stop them." Allen circled the Forbidden Forest. "The Forbidden Forest is dangerous, but Aragog won't kill Harry directly. It will tell them that Hagrid is innocent and the deceased is in the Girls Lavatory. The clue will lead back to Myrtle."

Nott looked at him. "The Acromantula won't kill Harry?"

"If it wanted to kill him, something else would interrupt." Allen didn't explain about the Ford Anglia. "Let them walk this path. The Professor is currently suppressed by the Board of Governors; Harry must overturn Hagrid's old case himself."

Zabini burned the note. "You are making Potter do what the Professor should be doing."

"Without Dumbledore, the school will force children to act as witnesses." Allen said, "The administrative efficiency of the magic world has always been like a drunk slug."

Pansy rubbed her temples. "What about Ginny?"

Nott turned the page. "Ginny missed two classes today and didn't eat dinner. Percy looked for her, and she said she had a headache. Fred and George thought she was scared by what happened to Hermione. There is no diary by her pillow; the diary is with Snape."

Allen looked toward the entrance of his Portable Space. The Void didn't make a sound, but it pressed its tail tip against Ginny's name. The blue light of the cracked pocket watch flashed every few hours, as if someone were knocking from deeper inside.

"The diary has been away from Ginny for too long; the control will become rough." Allen said, "She will break down more and more. Tom will either force her to steal it, or use the residual control to make her write in blood, creating a final threat."

Draco asked, "Will Snape destroy the diary?"

"Dumbledore might have taken some judgment with him before he left, but there was too little time. If Snape doesn't realize it's a Horcrux, he will at most seal it." Allen closed the pipe diagram. "Tom has an opportunity."

The password for the prefects came from the underground corridor, the Common Room door opened, and Snape walked in. His black robes carried the dampness from outside the entrance hall, and his face looked worse than in any Potion Class.

"From tonight on, Slytherin students are not allowed to leave the Common Room unless escorted by me or a prefect." He stood on the steps, and all the students automatically sat up straight. "Anyone, under any excuse, approaching the second floor or the Forbidden Forest will be docked fifty points and confined until the end of exams."

Flint muttered, "Professor, the Heir of Slytherin..."

Snape turned his head. "Flint, if you treat this word as a joke again, I will have you repot every Mandrake in the school hospital until you hear their screams the first time they mature."

Flint shut his mouth.

Snape's gaze fell on Allen. "Potter, Malfoy, Nott, Zabini, come with me."

The four of them stood up. Draco walked next to Allen and whispered, "If the Dean asks about my father, what do I say?"

"Say you're afraid." Allen said.

Draco almost stopped. "Are you crazy?"

"Fear is truer than sophistry." Allen looked ahead. "Snape wants to know if you've been used as a messenger by Lucius. If you are afraid, he will believe it."

After the office door closed, Snape first placed a wooden box on the table. The surface of the box was covered with seals, and Allen recognized the outline of the black-covered diary inside at a glance.

"You four are well-informed." Snape stood behind the desk. "Tell me, who else in Slytherin is still talking about the Heir of Slytherin?"

Nott reported a few names: Pucey, Flint, Adrian Pucey's cousin line, and two fifth-year students. Zabini added their kinship ties to the Board of Governors' documents. When Snape looked over, Draco's fingers gripped his cuffs.

"My father wrote me a letter." Draco said, "He said there would be changes at school and told me to stay away from Allen and the second floor. I didn't know he would bring the Board of Governors."

Snape looked at him. "What are you afraid of, Malfoy?"

Draco's throat moved. "Afraid that after he drives Dumbledore away, the Basilisk will bite us first."

The office went quiet.

Snape did not mock him. He turned to Allen. "Who taught you this?"

"Reality." Allen replied. "The Basilisk in the corridor won't read the resolutions of the Board of Governors."

Snape's hand pressed on the wooden box. "Do you know what this is?"

"A dangerous relic." Allen said. "It can respond to writing, can guide memories, and is related to Miss Weasley."

Draco held his breath.

Snape's gaze bore down. "Where did you find out?"

"Hermione researched it, Harry took it, Ginny is looking for it. Three lines are enough." Allen paused. "Professor, the diary cannot just be sealed. It will wait."

"Are you teaching me how to handle Dark Arts objects?"

"I am reminding the Professor that Tom Riddle let Hagrid take the fall fifty years ago. A notebook that can write won't lack patience."

Snape's hand tightened, and the seals made a slight sound. He didn't ask Allen how he knew about Tom's patience, because Hermione's data pages, Harry's statements, and the old case were enough to piece together part of the answer.

"Stay away from it." Snape said. "Stay away from Miss Weasley. And stay away from Potter, too. Especially you, Allen Potter."

Allen nodded. "I will go to sleep."

Snape sneered. "You had better sleep in a place where everyone in the Common Room can see you."

The four left the office. After the door closed, Draco finally let out the words he had been holding back. "The Dean can't do anything about the diary either?"

"He is trying." Allen said. "But he is being dragged down by the Board of Governors, Hagrid, patrols, and student panic. Tom chose a good time."

Nott looked toward the end of the corridor. "Will Potter and Weasley go to find the spiders tonight?"

"Not tonight." Allen said. "They need to recover from the panic of Hagrid being taken away, and they still need to find a chance to avoid the prefects. Tomorrow night or the night after."

Zabini asked, "Should we watch them?"

"Only watch the departure time." Allen said. "Do not follow them into the Forbidden Forest."

Back in the Common Room, Draco sat by the fireplace for a long time. Pansy handed him a cup of hot tea, but he didn't drink it.

"When I was young, my father told me that Dumbledore favored Muggle-borns, favored Weasleys, and favored Potters." Draco looked at the surface of the tea. "I believed him. Now he has driven Dumbledore away, but I wish the old man were still standing in the entrance hall."

Allen sat opposite him, opening the second volume of requirements for Snape's essay. "That is the difference between politics and survival. In politics, Dumbledore is an opponent. In survival, he is the hardest shield in the Castle."

Draco looked up. "My father removed the shield."

"Yes."

"What if someone dies?"

"The bill will be heavier."

Draco pushed the teacup away. "You said he would pay the bill."

"He will."

"How will he pay?"

Allen looked at the blue line in the Portable Space pointing to Ginny. "Get the diary first, then decide who to hand the bill to."

In the middle of the night, in the Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ron lay by the window looking toward the Forbidden Forest. The lights in Hagrid's hut were off, with Ministry of Magic seals left on the door.

Ron crossed his arms. "Follow the spiders. Why couldn't it be follow the butterflies?"

Harry stuffed his invisibility cloak into his schoolbag. "Hagrid wouldn't hurt us."

"Spiders would."

"Hermione would want to know the truth."

Ron closed his mouth. The name Hermione was more effective than any persuasion.

At the same time, in the Slytherin Dungeon, Allen woke up from a light sleep. The blue light of the cracked pocket watch lit up and then went out. Three hours later, it lit up again.

The Void tapped "Ginny" with its tail tip.

Allen propped up his body and wrote down a new record.

Dumbledore has left the school.

Hagrid has been taken away.

Harry will go to the Forbidden Forest.

Ginny enters the countdown to collapse.