Chapter 55: The Mysterious Monster

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"That's how—that's how I died!"

Moaning Myrtle burst out of her toilet with a wail, splashing water everywhere.

"I died right in this stall—"

"Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses, saying I looked like a four-eyed dog, so I locked myself in here to cry."

"Then a boy came in speaking something I couldn't understand. I opened the door to tell him to use the boys' bathroom—and then I saw these enormous yellow eyes, and that was it."

Could stone-petrify ghosts, kill Myrtle, had yellow eyes, looked like a snake...

"A Basilisk!" the Fat Friar declared decisively. "In my day, these monsters still roamed the surface. One look into its eyes meant instant death. But it fears the rooster's crow—that's fatal to it."

Nearly Headless Nick's face lit up with realization as he slapped his thigh:

"Yes, that makes perfect sense!"

"Salazar Slytherin's heir would be able to speak Parseltongue, of course he could control the Basilisk to kill!"

"And since I was already dead, I couldn't die again—only be petrified!"

The mention of Parseltongue immediately made Jane think of Harry.

But how could the protagonist possibly be releasing a Basilisk to petrify people?

If anything, this seemed more like a power-up designed for Harry.

After all, sometimes the advantages given to protagonists were just this inexplicable, defying logic.

"Where exactly did you see the Basilisk's eyes?" she asked Myrtle.

"Around there, I think." Myrtle pointed to the sink in front of Jane.

Jane and the ghosts leaned in to examine the sink, which appeared ordinary.

But she realized this was the tap she couldn't turn before.

It was made of brass, identical to the others in appearance, but upon closer inspection, she noticed a tiny snake engraved on its side.

She knocked on the sink and noticed the porcelain basin produced a peculiarly hollow sound, quite different from the solid thud of the others—surely there must be a space underneath.

"This must be it. I'll need to make some preparations."

All three ghosts nodded, promising not to reveal their discoveries to avoid alerting the culprit.

Now only one question remained: who was the heir, and where were they?

—And this was precisely what Jane was most interested in finding out.

...

Hogwarts students were surprised to see Jane back in class again.

Some curious ones approached to ask where she'd been all this time.

She replied in an almost suggestive tone:

"You know, I've been busy lately, so many things to do around the school..."

The student turned pale and hurried away trembling.

What a terrifying person!

Busy controlling the monster in the Chamber!

Busy targeting Muggle-born students!

No one dared approach her now, fearing to provoke her wrath.

But the Slytherin students' eyes were filled with secret reverence when they looked at her.

Daphne and Theodore sat on either side of her like two guardians.

After Potions class that day, Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached her.

"Could we... have a word with you alone..." Harry's pleading voice grew smaller under Daphne's glare.

Jane agreed and asked Daphne to return to the dormitory first.

"What is it?" she asked.

Harry, eager to prove himself, repeatedly emphasized that although he was a Parselmouth, he wasn't the Heir of Slytherin and had no desire to transfer from Gryffindor to Slytherin.

He was surprised to see Jane smile and speak in an odd tone:

"Of course you're not, Harry."

"You belong in Gryffindor. Only Gryffindor can lead you to glory."

Harry stared at her dumbly, his emerald eyes misting over, even fogging up his glasses.

He removed his glasses and ran his fingers through his hair, pressing his temples tightly:

"Thank you... thank you for believing in me..."

Since his classmates had discovered he was a Parselmouth, everyone would avoid him in the corridors as if he might transform into a monster at any moment, sprouting fangs and spitting venom; but behind his back, they would point and whisper about him.

The fact that the Sorting Hat had almost put him in Slytherin also kept him up at night.

But Jane firmly stood by his side, convinced he belonged in Gryffindor!

Her words were like a beacon in the darkness, like sunshine in the cold winter!

This was undoubtedly a huge relief to him.

He knew Jane must know something!

Hermione pulled Harry aside, trying to calm him down.

The bushy-haired witch was clearly more rational, and wanting to help both Jane and Harry, she revealed their plan:

"Yu, we still suspect Malfoy."

"He's always wanted to drive out Squibs and Muggle-borns from Hogwarts, and his whole family's been in Slytherin."

"During Quidditch practice recently—when you weren't there—he called me a Mudblood."

Ron nodded vigorously, anger rising as he recalled the scene:

"His father's an evil dark wizard, maybe they've had the key to the Chamber for centuries!"

"We think Malfoy might be framing you and Harry!"

Jane did want to get some information from Draco, given his natural antagonist qualities.

However, she had provoked him too much at the start of term, and they hadn't spoken since, making reconciliation difficult for now.

If the protagonist trio could gather information for her, it would save her the trouble.

"What were you planning to do?" she asked them.

"After all, I... did have some arguments with Malfoy at the start of term."

Ron and Hermione wore "I knew it" expressions:

"We're planning to brew some Polyjuice Potion, transform into Crabbe and Goyle, sneak into the Slytherin common room, and ask Malfoy some questions."

Hermione pulled out her hand-copied Polyjuice Potion recipe, complaining it was the most complex potion she'd ever seen:

"Powdered bicorn horn and boomslang skin are only in Snape's private stores."

"We might need to cause a distraction in class to steal them—"

Jane didn't adopt her suggestion about causing a distraction, as she had the advantage of being closer to the source.

"I'll handle the ingredients. I have detention with Professor Snape tomorrow anyway."

Hermione's eyes lit up as she began chattering:

"I knew you were braver than them!"

"Ron got scared just hearing about it and nearly backed out, complaining about breaking school rules!"

"If you ask me, petrifying students and threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than breaking school rules!"

Ron protested loudly, insisting he wasn't afraid of breaking rules, he just didn't want to drink anything with Crabbe's toenails in it.

After agreeing on a meeting place, they dispersed in different directions.