After the professors left, Evan, Hermione, Colin, and Ginny hurriedly went to the ward to see Ron.
Ron apologized to Evan and told him that he didn't remember anything.
Madam Pomfrey didn't let them stay very long, according to her, Ron needed to rest. The impact of the imperious curse on the soul isn't easy to recover, poor Ron probably needs to spend the upcoming Christmas in bed.
Evan was surprised he thought they would find out more.
Evan wanted to tell Dumbledore about Tom Riddle and the diary but ended up saying nothing. He didn't know how he could explain what he knew about Voldemort and Horcruxes. This information is secretive, and so far, even Dumbledore is just guessing.
The situation is becoming more and more complicated, so Evan had to do things himself.
It wasn't Ron who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Trying to control a weak-willed wizard is fairly easy, and anyone under Tom's control can use the imperious curse on Ron. Ron had contact with a lot of people, Evan can't investigate them one by one.
So, he is back to square one.
Ron who was under the imperious curse used a corrosive curse and the killing spell, which means Tom has become suspicious of him and wants to get rid of him. Evan shifted his suspicions to everyone around him, but almost everyone was suspicious.
In the next few days the school increased its vigilance, professors often patrolled the corridors and escorted students.
Slytherin's heir was bad enough but now there is the imperious curse.
The young wizards were unaware of the truth, they were discussing Ron's disappearance. People kept peeking into the hospital wing to see if he had been attacked, Madam Pomfrey had to put a curtain around the bed.
Professor McGonagall announced that Ron's wand backfired and was struck by a very bad curse but no one believed it.
People agreed that Ron had been attacked, rumours spread through the school, and the young wizards were talking about who the heir of Slytherin was.
People were certain that Harry was the heir, especially after he exposed, he was a Parselmouth at duelling club. It made Harry feel horrible, he wanted to talk to Justin about what happened but he was avoiding Harry.
On Friday evening, Evan and Hermione were in the library preparing the next issue of the Hogwarts magic when they saw several Hufflepuff students whispering about something.
Evan and Hermione looked at each other and crept closer.
"Anyway, I told Justin to hide in his room and not to let Potter find him," said a burly boy, "I mean, if Potter is out for him, he'd better hide for a while."
"But why…."
"Since Justin accidentally told Harry he was a muggle born, Harry will most likely come after him." said a boy
"Yeah!" said a few Hufflepuff students while nodding, "but Ernie, are you sure he's Slytherin's descendant?"
"You still don't understand, he's a Parselmouth, and everyone knows that is the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a good wizard that can speak to snakes?"
"But he seems friendly, not like a dark wizard." said a girl with golden hair.
"Hannah!" said Ernie seriously, "He can speak the language of snakes and every time an attack happens, he is the first to appear at the scene."
After hearing this they began to whisper.
"Do you still remember the words written on the wall?" said Ernie, "The cat didn't allow Potter to enter the girl's bathroom on the third floor."
"And Penelope had met Potter outside the bathroom, and then she was petrified along with Moaning Myrtle,
"But why does Potter have to go to a lady's bathroom?"
"Who knows, maybe he is practicing evil magic in there, or the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is in there," said Ernie
Evan had been eavesdropping and was shocked, who would have thought that Ernie's nonsense was actually correct.
"Come on, Ernie, that doesn't make any sense." hesitated Hannah, "In addition to Potter, Granger, and Evan could fit the bill too but they can't be the descendants of Slytherin since their parents are muggles."
When they heard Hannah's words, several girls hurriedly nodded.
"They are Potter's helpers!" said Ernie, "Evan isn't a normal first year, he even runs a newspaper and his curses, I would say no first years are his opponents."
"But I think he is handsome...…."
"Don't be fooled by his appearance, Hannah!" said Ernie as he lowered his voice, the Hufflepuffs moved closer together, "Look at Ron, who was recently attacked, he tried to stop them before but was attacked."
"But Professor McGonagall said it was caused by his wand."
"A wand backfiring isn't going to keep people in bed. And one more thing, think about how Harry defeated the one who must not be named."
He whispered in a barely audible voice.
"No one knows how he survived when he was attacked. You've all seen Evan's article, he should have died so only truly powerful dark wizards can escape that spell. That's probably why he who should not be named tried to kill him.
"Only Hufflepuff is left now, and I dare say the next attack…."
Hermione couldn't stand it anymore, she walked out from the back of the shelf and Evan hurriedly followed. The scene he saw next was hilarious. He saw each Hufflepuff become terrified and Ernie's face became dark.
"You, you heard us," Ernie hurriedly said, "I might as well tell you that you can go back nine-generations to see my bloodline is as pure as anyone, so...…"
"Disgusting!" said Hermione as she turned away in disdain.
"I don't care what kind of ancestry you have!" said Evan as he leaned over and squinted at Ernie, "Listen, if you're still spreading this rumour in public, even if I'm not Slytherin's heir, I can make you like Filch's cat."
After Ernie heard these words from Evan, he was completely and utterly terrified.
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They didn't mention what happened in the library to Harry but everything that happened spread like wildfire.
Now almost everyone is dodging them.
It is like they have grown fangs and they are dripping poison.
On Monday morning, while Evan, Harry, and Hermione sat together, people were whispering and pointing fingers at the three.
"It's funny but I'm sorry about what Ron did," said Fred as he walked over
"Yeah, Harry" followed George, "You make everyone terrified and this is what Snape has always wanted."
"This isn't funny!"
Evan was now in a horrible mood, in addition to being questioned, the Hogwarts' Magic newspaper's sales have lowered even more.
"Cheer up, Evan," said Fred as he patted Evan shoulders, "our items are also selling poorly, but there isn't anything we can do."
"In this difficult time, we need a little laughter," said George.
After they finished breakfast, Fred and George came in front of Harry and shouted: "Give way to the heir of Slytherin, the most wicked Wizard!"
"This isn't funny," said Percy with an angry look.
"Get Percy, Harry is tense," said Fred
"Yes, he will go to the Chamber of Secrets and drink tea with his toothless servants." laughed George.
This is what Fred and George considered a joke, Ginny wanted to stop them.
Harry doesn't mind, at the very least, the twins think it was ridiculous to think he was Slytherin's heir.
But their antics seemed to have angered Draco, each time he saw them doing this, his face looked like he was going to kill them.
When they went to see Ron in the Hospital ward, they told him about everything that had happened.
Ron seemed to have recovered well, Ron said, "You know how much Malfoy hates others outdoing him in any way, now Harry you know."
"It won't be long before the Polyjuice potion is done," said Hermione in a satisfactory tone.
"I wish I could leave, but Madam Pomfrey has insisted that I stay here until the end of Christmas."
"Don't worry we will stay with you Ron"
After three days the semester will be over.
Given what has happened most of the wizards have chosen to go home. The snow inside the castle was mostly untouched by anyone.
This caused Harry to let out a sigh of relief, he was free to walk around without anyone messing with him saying he the heir of Slytherin. Evan has also stopped his research, he still hasn't found a spell to reproduce the crow of a rooster, what was even worse was Hagrid's rooster was almost dead.
Hagrid said that either a fox or a vampire was attacking his Rooster.
Hermione insisted that it was weird, he didn't know if she had noticed anything as of yet.
In the morning when they went to visit Ron, they saw several people discussing things related to the Chamber. After lunch, Evan and Harry practiced duelling while Hermione went to the library to read a book.
Except for a few of them, Colin, Ginny, Fred, and George stayed at school, they were making a snowman outside the castle.
Percy didn't care about the student's behaviour; he often went to the school hospital.
Ron was surprised that he was so concerned about him since he came to the hospital to see him more than anyone else, even though Ron had little to say to him.
Percy was frequent to the school hospital and he proudly told others that he stayed for Christmas only because he was an excellent student, and helped the teachers during this turbulent period and watching Ron kept him from getting into trouble.
At dinner, Evan saw Malfoy with his two lackeys Crabbe and Goyle but he was surprised to see that Justin actually stayed for the holiday.
Justin looked horrible, he looked even more so after he saw them, it looked like he was still worried that Harry was going to attack him.
Harry wanted to apologize but he has never succeeded.
When Justin saw Harry approaching, he took a few slices of bread from the table and ran out as fast as he could which made Harry's mood become terrible.
The next morning Evan was awakened by Colin.
"Evan, thank you for giving me a magic camera, it must have been expensive!" shouted Colin in a surprised tone.
Evan saw Colin sitting on his bed while opening his gifts, he seems to have a few in front of his bed too. His parents ordered him a Nimbus 2001 it seems they want him to participate in sports.
Colin gave him a picture of everyone standing together that has helped with the Hogwarts' Magic newspaper.
Lockhart's gift was also a picture, but it was a signed picture of Lockhart, Evan was prepared to give it to Hermione. Hagrid gave him a large thing of fudge but it was almost as hard as a rock.
Ron gave him a book called How to Better Manage a Magic Newspaper, and Harry and Hermione sent him a book to, Basic rules of Quidditch and the secret of Duels: A detailed list of spells. it seems that him reading a lot has left a deep impression on their minds.
Fred and George sent some of their latest joke products to him, and as the two agreed in Diagon Alley, Ginny gave him a black diary of superb quality.
Evan would have almost preferred to make it a Horcrux later.
Mrs. Weasley predictably gave him a hand knit sweater with a card, thanking him for helping Ron. They had learned what happened from Dumbledore, and if Evan had been killed by Ron, the consequences would have been disastrous.
When Evan finally finished opening the pile of presents, Harry and Hermione had already come to the common room with the Polyjuice Potion.
The three of them went to the school hospital to find Ron and go over their plan.
After making sure there were no flaws, they decided to act tonight, and get a clear answer out of Malfoy.