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When Professor Lockhart handed a handkerchief to Hermione, she visibly hesitated, and the tears in her eyes quickly ceased.
"Miss Granger, I understand your feelings, but rushing over like that is too dangerous. We still can't be sure what happened to Mr. Yodel."
At this moment, Professor Sprout also completed the evacuation of the students, followed by Professors Snape and McGonagall walking up. Seeing Tom's condition, Professor Sprout widened her eyes, and Professor McGonagall sighed.
"Go to my office; it's the closest," Professor Sprout said somewhat wearily.
Dumbledore approached, made a brief examination, then picked Tom up from the ground. Although the young wizards were no longer blocking the entrance to the Astronomy Tower, they didn't leave. They silently watched Dumbledore carrying Tom through the corridor.
"When I come back, I hope you all are sitting in classrooms and common rooms. If you don't want to sit in the classrooms, my office is always open—experience detention."
As soon as these words were spoken, the young wizards scattered immediately. Only Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione remained. Dumbledore instructed them to follow him to his office.
"Why is it that every time something happens, you three are present?" Professor McGonagall looked at the troublesome trio from her own house, feeling irritated. Last semester, they sneaked into the Forbidden Section at night and were caught by Madam Pince. At the beginning of the school year, two of them flew a flying car across the country. Now they were involved in this incident.
McGonagall felt a headache building.
"Professor, let us explain..." Ron attempted to explain, but McGonagall silenced them. They could only stand with Hermione, who looked mentally distraught, on the side. At this moment, Hermione tightly clutched a handkerchief, silent, with teary red eyes.
Dumbledore walked up to Tom, muttered something, and then tapped Tom with his wand, but there was no response.
"Tom hasn't died," Dumbledore said.
Everyone sighed in relief upon hearing this.
"But something has happened to him." Professor Sprout asked with a shrill voice.
"He has been petrified, and the reasons are quite complicated. I can't draw conclusions right away."
A heavy silence fell over the scene.
"Slytherin's heir is attempting to open the Chamber of Secrets," Lockhart suddenly spoke, "We need to be more vigilant. You-Know-Who might be back..."
The attention of the four heads of houses, Dumbledore, and the four students focused entirely on Lockhart.
Lockhart shrugged, "I've also read about the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's experiences. To be frank with you, under Dumbledore's contract, I only plan to fulfill one year. This way, I can retire with a legitimate reason, not letting any strange things happen to me."
Everyone present: ...
Even Snape reconsidered his career intentions—he really wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but Dumbledore asked him to teach Potions.
Snape quickly discarded the chaotic thoughts, "Alright, let's put aside the mysterious person. We have more practical matters to consider." He smirked, "Our Mr. Potter, shouldn't he explain why he and his friends appeared at this time? I remember, the Astronomy class for Gryffindor second years is not at this time."
Harry's heart pounded.
Harry appeared here for a reason.
This afternoon, he had no classes, and out of shame, he went to the library alone to study—consider it as catching up. He didn't want to appear as a Muggle in Lockhart's next pop quiz.
However, while reading, he heard a chilling and malicious voice, and compared to that voice, Snape's tone seemed as gentle as a nurse giving end-of-life care. Just hearing that voice, Harry felt like his breath was stopping.
"Come... come closer... let me tear you apart... kill you, I crave... your, flesh! Starving... for so long... it's time—slaughter!"
He listened to that voice, followed its direction, and encountered Neville and Ron looking for him in the library. So, three of them, driven by curiosity, followed the voice, and eventually, they found the petrified Tom.
Harry thought for a while but didn't completely reveal his experience.
"I read the timetable wrong."
Snape showed an unpleasant smile, "Potter, you didn't tell the whole truth. I think we should restore Mr. Yodel to a regular student until he's willing to tell us the truth."
Harry's hastily crafted excuse was extremely lame: one person might make a mistake in reading the timetable, but three people making the same mistake was too ridiculous—even if Neville had an extremely poor memory. No wonder Snape could detect Harry lying; it didn't require Legilimency to see through it.
Snape was a bit annoyed. He thought Potter's brain was simply broken. Why hide information here? It was just like his arrogant father. Why conceal information here, making it similar to that arrogant father of his!
Quietly observing the scene, Lockhart sighed without a word. Naturally, Tom was brought over by the transformed Tom. He knew that, this afternoon, Harry had no classes. So, he specifically finished the previous class ten minutes early and rushed to the library where he deduced Harry would be.
During the morning exam, although he appeared to be standing behind Ron, he also glanced at Harry's paper. As expected, hardly any answers were correct.
For a student who performed poorly in the exam and had a bit of free time in the afternoon, what would he do? Most students with a bit of self-esteem would go to the library to read some books, right? So, the probability of Harry going to the library was very high.
As for whether Harry might be lazy and stayed in the dormitory to sleep, there was nothing serious about that. If the petrified Tom was discovered by someone else, it wouldn't matter.
Tom found Harry in the library, and by mimicking the voice of the Basilisk, he attracted Harry's attention. Then he lured Harry to the Astronomy Tower, and the rest unfolded as planned. Of course, encountering Ron and Neville was unexpected for Tom.
The students who came for the class witnessed Harry and the others along with the "crime scene." What followed was a standard unfolding of the plot.
As Tom walked out, Snape followed.
"Is there something, Professor Snape?" Tom quietly activated his Occlumency.
"A few days ago, someone broke into my private potion storage and stole a batch of potions," Snape, personally affected by the theft of his potions, was still somewhat resentful. As for the so-called consensus: that Fawkes broke into his office and stole potions, Snape, as an adult wizard, didn't believe it for a moment—it was just a notification to Dumbledore of such an incident, and an attempt to recover some losses from a wealthy family.
Snape pondered the suspects and found no one particularly suspicious, so he changed his approach: exclude those who definitely wouldn't steal. First, exclude Dumbledore, then the old professors like McGonagall. Snape felt that, after spending so many years with them, he knew them well. They wouldn't steal his potions.
Due to the unique nature of the Polyjuice Potion, not many students could brew it. Those who could successfully brew it during their student days must be exceptionally talented.
So, Snape turned his attention to the newcomer, Lockhart. Initially, he thought Lockhart was just a talkative waste, and the incident at the beginning of the school year confirmed his inference. But unexpectedly, after being fined by the Ministry of Magic, Lockhart seemed to have transformed into a different person—becoming more normal and reliable.
If Lockhart remained the same as before, Snape would believe that Fawkes was the thief rather than suspect Lockhart.
Lockhart's behavior became increasingly suspicious. For example, today's exam paper—Snape originally thought it would be a "Lockhart's Hobby Big Questionnaire," but surprisingly, it turned out to be an actual exam.
This was quite absurd.
Combined with the fact that the Polyjuice Potion could allow someone to take on the appearance of another person, Snape felt that all the evidence pointed to Lockhart.
So, the conversation unfolded in this way.
Tom looked at Snape, "That's a pity. But I believe, Professor Snape, if you don't understand anti-theft spells, Professor Flitwick will be happy to help."
Snape's eyes became incredibly deep, and his seemingly empty, lifeless eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the heart. However, this time, he failed.
He couldn't see through Lockhart.
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