Chapter 30: The Chamber of Secrets

Hermione, as she looked into the faces of the three boys, said sternly, "Explain yourselves, gentlemen!"

Ron, who looked slightly alarmed, said, "Explain what?"

Hermione said, "Professor Snape is right, none of you were telling the truth. First of all, you, Ron, were in the bathroom while Filch's cat was being attacked just outside the door!"

Ron looked incredulously at Hermione and said, "You, you're not suspecting it was me, are you?"

Hermione waved her hand and said, "Don't be silly Ron. Dumbledore said it was an advanced curse that we can't cast, what I'm asking is if you really didn't notice anything unusual."

Ron replied to Hermione, "I just talked to Ivan about this, I think I heard a hissing sound, but I'm not sure, Myrtle was crying really loudly."

Hermione turned her head to Harry and said, "Maybe that's a clue. Harry, can you tell me what you heard at the time?"

Harry explained quietly, "The voice said she was hungry, she wanted to kill, she was like a ghost in the way she was going from one floor of the castle to another. Then we saw Filch's cat petrified on the wall, so it must have been the owner of the voice."

Hermione frowned and said, "But who or what it was, I didn't hear anything at the time."

Harry said hesitantly, "Who knows? do you think I should tell the professors about the sounds I heard?"

Ron replied without thinking, "I don't think so! It's not a good sign to hear voices, even in the wizarding world!"

Harry sensed the doubt in Ron's voice, so he said, "You believe me, don't you?"

Ron quickly replied, "I believe you, but, you have to admit it's weird."

Harry replied, "I know it's weird. Everything is weird, you hear a hissing sound in the bathroom and then Filch's cat is attacked, what do the words on the wall mean? what does it mean that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?"

Ron said, "Maybe, we should look at it from another angle, the cat was attacked, but , who would be happy about that?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Harry said, "Except for Filch, everyone else would feel happy, and what does it have to do with the Chamber of Secrets?"

Ron added, "I mean who would be ecstatic about it, or who hates the cat the most"

Ivan, after seeing that Hermione was not involved in Harry and Ron's discussions, but continued to look at him, reluctantly said: "I think I know some information about the Chamber of Secrets."

After hearing her words, Harry and Ron turned around and looked at Ivan in astonishment.

Ivan looked at the three of them and said, "Have you read Hogwarts: The History?"

Harry and Ron shook their heads as they said, "No."

Hermione seemed to remember something, so she said, "Ivan, do you want to say...."

Ivan nodded and said, "Yes, it should be the secret room that Salazar Slytherin left behind. It is well known that Hogwarts was created by Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin who initially collaborated together, but over time a rift formed between Slytherin and the other founders. Slytherin wanted to be a bit more selective with the students who came to Hogwarts. He was unwilling to accept Muggle-born students. After a few years, Slytherin and Gryffindor had a falling out that caused Slytherin to leave the school, but left a secret room in the school that the other founders knew nothing about."

Hermione looked astonished and said quickly, "The Chamber of Secrets?"

Ivan nodded and said, "Yes, but Slytherin locked the Chamber so that no one could open it until his heir came to the school. Only the heir can open the Chamber of Secrets, releasing the horror from within, purifying the school and eliminating all who do not deserve to learn magic."

The darkened classroom suddenly became eerily silent, and the atmosphere was almost unbearably tense.

The three of them, Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were not speaking, waited for Ivan to move on.

Ivan whispered after a while, "The story is over."

Hermione quickly asked, "But, what is the horror in the Chamber of Secrets?"

Ivan shook his head and said, "I don't know, maybe it's some kind of monster that only the heir of Slytherin can control."

Ron said, "Well, it's very consistent with Slytherin's style, I already knew Salazar Slytherin was an old lunatic, but I didn't know he came up with this pureblood nonsense, I wouldn't go to his house even if he paid me. To tell you the truth, if the hat had put me in Slytherin, I would have taken the train home."

Hermione suddenly raised her voice, saying, "Wait! Think of the words on the wall, the chamber was opened by his heir, and Harry heard a strange voice, and found Filch's Cat petrified on the wall, then..."

He didn't go on any further, the other three already knew what he meant.

Ron said, "It's impossible for Harry to be the heir. If you want me to say it, the successor has to be Malfoy. They're all purebloods, so maybe he's a descendant of Salazar Slytherin."

Ivan also said, "Hermione, Harry has been with us all night, he wouldn't have time to do this."

Hermione said, "I know, but it's a bit weird that he can hear voices that we can't." Hermione said, as she turned her gaze back to Ivan.

Hermione then turned to look at Ivan with a stern face as she said, "And you haven't explained why you've been trying to get into Myrtle's bathroom lately."

Seeing the way they were looking at him, he didn't want them to believe that he was trying to peek into the girls' bathroom, especially the one where Myrtle the Weeper was.

Ivan laughed bitterly and said, "Well, to be honest, I have more information about the Chamber of Secrets."

Asked the three in unison, "What is it?"

Ivan said, "You know, to prepare articles for the history section of the newspaper, I look chronologically at events at Hogwarts. I saw that in one book there was a newspaper clipping that said that about 50 years ago the Chamber of Secrets was opened."

Ron looked terrified and shouted, "What? who opened it?"

Ivan shook his head as he said, "I don't know, it wasn't written, the article stated that a girl named Myrtle Warren died from an accident, but I'm not sure if her death was related to the Chamber of Secrets, but the girl is..."

Ivan pulled a yellowed newspaper out of his pocket and showed them a picture of the girl.

The three shouted in astonishment, "It's.... Myrtle the Crybaby!!!!"

Ivan quickly said, "Yes, it's her, that's why I wanted to ask her if she had noticed anything."