Chapter 41: Rumors

It was only after the teachers left that Ivan, Hermione, Colin and Ginny rushed to the living room to see Ron.

Ron apologized to Ivan and told him that he didn't remember anything.

Madam Pomfrey didn't let them stay long, according to her, Ron needed to rest. The impact of the Imperius curse on the soul is not easy to recover from, and poor Ron probably needs to spend next Christmas in bed.

Also, the final conclusions of the investigation surprised Ivan, as Ron was only under the control of the Imperius Curse, not as he imagined.

Ivan was surprised that he thought they would know more.

Ivan wanted to tell Dumbledore about Tom Riddle and the diary, but ended up saying nothing. He didn't know how to explain what he knew about Voldemort and the Horcruxes. This information is secret, and so far even Dumbledore is only guessing.

The situation was getting more and more complicated, so Ivan had to do things himself.

It wasn't Ron who had opened the Chamber of Secrets and his guesses were completely wrong. Trying to control a weak-willed wizard is easy enough, and anyone under Tom's control can use the Imperius Curse on Ron. And there were so many people Ron had been in contact with that it wasn't possible for Ivan to investigate them all.

So he was back to square one.

Ron, who was under the Imperius curse, used a corrosive curse and an unforgivable curse on him, which meant that Tom had suspected him and wanted to get rid of him. Ivan shifted his suspicions to everyone around him, but almost everyone was suspicious.

The next day, the school increased its vigilance, teachers often patrolled the halls and escorted students.

Slytherin's successor was bad enough, but now there was also an Imperius curse.

The young wizards did not know the truth, they were talking about Ron's disappearance. People were peeking into the hospital wing to see if he had been attacked, so Madam Pomfrey had to put a curtain around the bed.

Professor McGonagall announced that Ron's wand turned against him and he was hit by a very bad curse, but no one believed it.

People agreed that Ron had been attacked, rumors spread throughout the school, and young wizards were talking about who the heir to Slytherin was.

People were sure that Harry was the heir, especially after he exposed that he could speak Parseltongue in the dueling club. It made Harry feel horrible, he wanted to talk to Justin about what had happened, but he was avoiding Harry.

On Friday night, Ivan and Hermione were in the library preparing the next edition of Hogwarts magic when they saw several Hufflepuff students whispering about something. Ivan and Hermione looked at each other and walked over.

"I told Justin to hide in his room and not let Potter find him," said a stocky boy.

Another boy said, "But why....."

"Since Justin accidentally told Harry he was a Muggle, Harry will probably come after him," said one boy.

Some Hufflepuff students nodded and one of them said, "Yes! But Ernie, are you sure he's a descendant of Slytherin?"

Ernie shook his head and said, "You still don't get it, he can speak Parseltongue, and everyone knows that's the mark of a dark wizard. have you ever heard of a good wizard who can talk to snakes?"

"But he seems friendly, not like a dark wizard," a golden-haired girl said uncertainly.

"Hannah! He can speak snake language and every time an attack happens he's the first one to appear on the scene," Ernie said in earnest

After hearing this, they began to whisper.

Ernie continued, "The cat wouldn't let Potter into the girls' bathroom on the third floor, and Penelope had met Potter outside the bathroom, and then she was petrified along with Myrtle the Weeper."

One of the Hufflepuff boys asked, "But why does Potter have to go to the girls' bathroom?"

"Who knows, maybe he's practicing dark magic in there, or the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is in there," Ernie said.

Ivan had been eavesdropping and was shocked, who would have thought Ernie's nonsense was correct.

Hannah hesitated for a moment and said, "Come on, Ernie, that doesn't make sense. Besides Potter, Granger and Ivan can't be Slytherin descendants either since their parents are Muggles."

When they heard Hannah's words, several girls nodded hurriedly.

Ernie said, "They're Potter's assistants, Ivan isn't a normal first year, he even runs a newspaper and with those magic spells of his, I bet there's no one among the underclassmen who's a match for him!"

One of the girls said, "But I think he's pretty cool..."

Ernie lowered his voice, causing the Hufflepuffs to move closer, and said, "Don't be fooled by their appearance, Hannah. Look at Ron, he was attacked recently, he tried to stop them earlier but was attacked as well."

One of the Hufflepuffs said doubtfully, "But Professor McGonagall said it was caused by his wand."

Ernie whispered in a barely audible voice, "A wand accident isn't going to keep people in bed. And one more thing, think about how Harry defeated he who must not be named. No one knows how he survived when he was attacked. You all have seen Ivan's article, Potter should have died at that point. In my opinion, only a really powerful dark wizard could get away with such a spell. That's probably why He-Who-Shouldn't-Be-Named tried to kill him. Anyway, only Hufflepuff is left, and I dare say the next attack...."

Hermione couldn't take it any longer, she stepped out from behind the bookshelf and Ivan hurriedly followed her. The scene she saw next was hilarious. She saw every Hufflepuff panic and Ernie's face paled.

"You, you heard us," Ernie said hastily, "I might as well tell you that you can trace the nine generations of my family so you can see that my lineage is as pure as any, so..."

"You idiot!" said Hermione disdainfully as she walked away.

Ivan walked up to Ernie, narrowed his eyes and said as he looked at him, "I don't give a damn what kind of lineage you have! Listen, if you keep spreading this rumor in public, but I assure you that even if I'm not the heir of Slytherin, I can drop you like Filch's cat!"

After Ernie heard Ivan's words, he was completely terrified.