School life continued on, but it was much more strictly monitored than usual. With the assistance of his mini-map, Pro barely managed to sneak away. Sitting in the Room of Requirements lounge, Pro shook the bottle of poison in his hand as he thought about the benefits or consequences he could gain from the usage of the poison.
"Using the poison to kill a powerful wizard may potentially give me some great reward, or it may give me nothing at all. Still, if it works, it means I have taken out someone I have to worry about. However, it is simply too difficult to poison a living human's drink or food and expect them to consume all of it."
"Even if I somehow get past that first hurdle, I still need to choose someone carefully. Killing off some important character may lead to a hazard later on. I may want to get rid of that dangerous, scheming headmaster, but if he is dead, there won't be anyone to raise Harry into a savior to block the bald dark lord."
"As for other characters ... I'm sure there's reasons to kill them and reasons to not. Probably everyone would have different opinions. It's really difficult to choose. On the other hand, maybe this item can be applied to something else. After all, it states that it works on all sentient beings ... will it work on a horcrux?"
Storing the poison back into his inventory by deselecting it, Pro stretched before he got up and began to head back to the common rooms. Although he sneaked away from the group, he still had to head back to Gryffindor tower before 6 o' clock.
Strolling down the quiet corridors, Pro eventually returned to the common room. After days of fermenting, the initial excitement over the attacks was gone, and now it was replaced by worry and fear about the future.
Although the common room was crowded, the gloomy mood permeated throughout the common room. Gryffindor house mates gathered in small groups and talked in soft whispers. Some dully sat in corners alone with pale faces, staring into space or trying to focus on studying while others were entertaining themselves with food or games.
Sweeping his eyes through the room, Pro locked onto the lonely Hermione who was still diligently reading her books. He smiled a bit as he walked over and plopped himself down next to her.
Hermione glanced up at him and gave him a smile, "Pro, you're back. You shouldn't wander outside so much during these times. We may get attacked again, especially since we managed to escape last time. So, we should spend more time on studying and reviewing for the upcoming exams."
Pro's lips twitched as he gave Hermione's face a soft pinch, "As expected of my Hermione, you can still study at times like this."
Hermione pouted and slapped away Pro's paw that was pinching her face, "Of course. Unless the school closes down, exams aren't going to disappear."
Pro shrugged and didn't answer. Hermione stared at him as she pouted, "What's up with that suspicious look of yours again?"
"Nothing, just thought you would be helping those two out," Pro said as he nodded his head towards the direction where Harry and Ron were huddling together while talking in whispers.
Hermione also looked over before she bit her lips, "Pro, you know that Professor McGonagall told us not to say anything ... I really want to tell them. If they ask me again, I just might ... but they haven't come talk to me ever since that day. Ron's been saying that I don't consider them as a friend and he's been dragging Harry away from us."
Pro sighed before he furrowed his brows as he stared at Ron. Pro honestly felt there was something wrong with Ron. According to the book, he should be a burden or an idiot most of the time, but he seems a bit different in reality. There seemed to be something off about him, but Pro can't seem to figure out what.
"Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure they will be able to manage without your help, at least for this year."
"Really?" Hermione mutter back with a lonely voice.
Pro glanced around before he leaned in towards Hermione and whispered softly, "I mean, you should know your ending before this. So, if this is a test, they should be able to pass it without you."
Hermione bit her lips as her face blanched a bit. Recalling the deadly adventure the other day, Hermione still felt a bit scared. Pro reached out and grasped her hands, giving them a squeeze to reassure her.
"Just don't worry. Have some trust in them."
"Mmm," Hermione nodded and gave one final glance at the two boys before she returned to her reading.
Night came and Pro was suddenly woken up by a disturbance in the dorm. Squinting and staring through the darkness in the room, Pro saw two boys sneak out.
"Well ... could've been a quest for me. Could also get XP from killing spiders ... but no thanks. I might not be as lucky as those two who magically get saved by a broken old car."
Turning over, Pro went back to sleep. Anyways, the rest of the events of this year had nothing to do with him unless he gets targeted again. Now that Dumbledore is 'gone' due to Lucius Malfoy's intervention, he probably won't end up schemed against as long as he doesn't mess with what Dumbledore had planned.
Of course, he may have already made the boss mad with his last intervention. Although Pro hadn't heard any substantial news so far, Pro had a hunch that something bad may have happened to the last victim. In the original story, she was petrified along with Hermione, but Hermione wasn't there this time. So, who knows what happened.
"Well, I'll worry about that later. Now, I just need to wait for Harry to open the Chamber of Secrets before I sneak in after he deals with everything. After all, it can help me complete my quests. Still the thing I should focus on shouldn't be these ..."
It didn't take long before the announcement for exams came out. To the dismay of all the students, even if students die, they can't escape from the exams. Well, Pro had a hunch about the ending of these exams already.
Still, he continued to diligently study with Hermione in his free time. Although grades may not matter for this year, he still need outstanding grades if he wanted to keep a certain time-turner. Plus, any excuse to spend time with Hermione is always welcomed.
As the plot continued, the bragging Lockhart did his best to reassure everyone. Of course, he didn't manage to dissipate anyone's worries. Instead, he managed to draw all the aggro of the professors as if he was intended to do so. Poor bloke still didn't realize that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is used as a sacrifice by Dumbledore almost every year.
Then, Pro realized that he had forgotten something. It was a very small thing, but it had a great impact on the plot. Harry and Ron were caught sneaking to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, but they didn't have the excuse to visit Hermione anymore. They were brought back early. The news broke out that Ginny Weasley was taken to the Chamber of Secrets, but Harry still had no idea what he had to face.
It was then that Pro remembered that the one who broke the news to them about the basilisk was Hermione. It was a piece of paper from a book, and it was held in her petrified hand; however, Hermione is safe and sound now. She also obediently listened to Pro and didn't bother the two boys.
Now, all the Gryffindors were in a depressed mood as many tried to comfort the Weasleys. Hermione was not reading her books for once. Instead, she was fretting about on her chair as she peeked at the two boys from time to time.
Seeing this, Pro sighed and knew that he shouldn't hold her back any longer, "You can go tell them if you want to."
Hermione looked over at him with surprised eyes before she calmed down and whispered, "But Professor McGonagall told us ..."
"Don't worry. It's not the first time we broke rules anyways. We should help them out. After all, we are friends."
"That's not what you said before," Hermione replied with a pout.
"Well, it's different now. Look at them. After Ginny was taken away, do you think they have the mind to calmly think about what to do next?" Pro persuaded, but he knew inwardly that they actually did.
After moments of thought, Hermione finally nodded, "Alright ... then, Pro, will you come with me?"
Nodding, Pro decided it was time to fix the plot holes. Although he managed to change it, he didn't want any accidents. He didn't want to end up having to deal with a basilisk and dementors at the same time next year.
Walking over to the two pale boys, Hermione suggested that they have a talk. She then explained to them what they were told not to say. Of course, she smoothly replaced McGonagall with Dumbledore in her explanation.
The two boys got the final piece of the puzzle and Harry managed to connect all the dots somehow. It was a miracle how the reckless boy's brain works. It gets boosted to 'almost' Hermione level at critical times in the plot.
"Now we know this, we should go find a way to solve it, but how? Should we go tell the professors?" Harry asked with a frown.
"The professors won't believe it. I tried persuading Professor McGonagall before about the basilisk, and she didn't believe it," Hermione added.
"Blimey! You already knew about this and you didn't tell us? Now, my sister has been taken, can you be any later?!" Ron growled as he glared at Hermione.
Pro stepped in front of Hermione as he stated, "Don't blame her. I told her not to tell. After all, the professors said they would handle it. But now, Hermione saw that Ginny was taken and she wanted to help. So, we decided to break the rules ... even if we ended up expelled."
Ron gawked a bit as he stared at Hermione, "Really? Hermione would break the rules ... are you sure this is Hermione you are talking about Pro?"
Hermione blushed a bit as she glared back. Harry butted in a this point as he asked in a commanding tone, "We shouldn't worry about that now. We should be figuring out how to convince the professors!"
Ron also nodded in agreement.
Pro glanced at them and realized that they were still missing a critical key point, Lockhart. He cleared his throat as he mentioned, "How about going to Lockhart? He has been clamoring about solving the Chamber of Secrets. Maybe we can get him to help?"
"Why Lockhart?" Harry asked with a disgusted face.
Ron was silent for a moment before he mumbled, "Great idea! Go to the least reliable one out of all the professors."
"Well ... easiest to persuade," Pro answered.
Well, it was originally Ron's idea to go to Lockhart. Pro shrugged as Hermione also looked at him with a confused face.
"I bet the professors should have told him to take care of it as well. After all, he is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Pro continued.
The group glanced at each other. Hermione continued to stare at Pro before she persuaded, "I agree with Pro."
Pro glanced at her and she smiled back. Her eyes looked at him with a playful look, but Pro could feel the intense belief radiating out of it. She was young, but her mind was maturing into a perfect wife already.
"Well, if the two bookworms agree, nothing could go wrong right?" Ron mumbled as he gave Harry a shrug.
"Alright, let's go to Lockhart after classes," Harry affirmed in a commanding tone.
With that, all the pieces of the puzzle were fixed back into place. Pro intended to go in after the battle, but it seems that he may join in the fight at the start. What dangers are awaiting Pro? Will the fate of the characters change with the additional numbers? Let the answers be revealed in the Chamber of Secrets.