The traces in the room were old, buried under layers of dust.
Senior Tom had already emptied this place fifty years ago.
Dumbledore's expression was complicated.
"I once thought I knew all the secrets of this castle."
"Clearly, I was wrong."
There was a hint of regret in his tone, his eyes filled with nostalgia. It was as if he could see, across the river of time, a handsome young man sitting here, cradling a book with an intense, fervent expression.
"That's always been Dumbledore," Snape sneered. "He believes he ought to know everything."
"Well," Snape continued with a cold smile, "do you know where the Dark Lord is now?"
Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Do you have any ideas?"
"He's hiding from me," Harry replied, shaking his head. "A basilisk is such a massive creature, yet I haven't sensed anything."
That was highly unusual.
Even if his Witcher senses were dulled, his Parseltongue abilities should have detected it. A snake slithering through the castle walls without uttering a single word?
Impossible.
"Perhaps last year's events made him cautious," Dumbledore mused quietly. "But a mere fragment of a soul cannot accomplish much."
"I'll have the house-elves keep an eye on everything in the castle."
Harry hesitated. "Make sure they pay special attention to Gryffindor's Ginny Weasley and Slytherin's Serv Sheffield."
Dumbledore was surprised. "Ginny Weasley? Isn't she only a first-year?"
"They both have peculiar patterns," Harry explained. "Neither attended the Halloween feast or the Quidditch match. They've been unusually solitary."
He had overheard during McGonagall's inquiries about absent students. Ginny claimed she wasn't feeling well and stayed alone in her dormitory before heading to the bathroom, with no one to verify her story.
Serv Sheffield gave a similar excuse and was equally unnoticed.
"I'll look into it," Dumbledore said, nodding gravely.
They left the Chamber of Secrets.
McGonagall, who had been waiting by the bathroom entrance, cast them a concerned glance.
After Dumbledore briefed her, Snape escorted Harry back to the Gryffindor common room, watching him enter before departing.
Most of the Gryffindors had already retired to their dormitories, but Ron and Hermione were still in front of the fireplace, struggling with their homework.
When Harry approached, Hermione looked up, her face tense. "Harry, is it resolved?"
"No," Harry replied, shaking his head. "He was sharp. Everything was relocated beforehand."
Both their faces fell.
"But we've confirmed the monster in the Chamber," Harry continued. "It's a basilisk. We'll need tools—its weakness is the crowing of a rooster."
Ron's expression twisted.
While he was decent at Transfiguration, he could only manage small animals like beetles or sparrows. Transfiguring a rooster seemed out of his league.
"Does this mean we need to keep a rooster in the dormitory?" Ron groaned. "Harry, you'll have to help me. My Transfiguration isn't good enough for this."
"Let's talk about that later. Where's Neville?" Harry glanced around before spotting Neville at another table. He waved him over. "Neville, can you come here for a moment?"
Neville walked over, clutching his parchment. His cheeks were flushed. "Harry, you'll have to wait—I haven't finished copying my notes yet."
"It's not about homework." Harry shook his head.
Neville let out a sigh of relief.
"I wanted to ask about the Halloween feast," Harry said, cutting to the chase. "Did you notice anything strange?"
Neville's face paled as the color drained from his cheeks. It was clearly not a pleasant memory.
"When did you and Ginny go?" Harry asked. "Be specific."
Neville furrowed his brow, recalling carefully. "We agreed to meet in the common room at seven, but she was a bit late—about ten minutes or so."
"Then we went to the feast together. Nothing strange happened on the way," he added.
"But the feast itself was awful," Neville grimaced. "It was all ghosts. There were even a group of headless horsemen. The food was rotten and smelled horrible. Ginny said she wasn't feeling well and left early."
"So you stayed an extra hour compared to Ginny?" Harry teased lightly. "Who says you're not brave? I probably would've left with Ginny."
Neville blushed deeply and shook his head frantically. "It wasn't an hour! Maybe twenty minutes tops—right after the fourth song by the band ended."
"When I came back, the corridors were eerily quiet. Normally, you'd hear noise from the Great Hall even on the Grand Staircase."
"And then I saw Mrs. Norris."
Hermione gave Harry a sharp look, sensing something.
Ron muttered, "Even twenty minutes is impressive. Just thinking about that rotten food—I couldn't have lasted a minute."
"Neville, are you copying Charms homework?" Hermione suddenly asked.
Neville nodded, sighing. "The Engorgement Charm is so hard. I've tried it so many times, but I end up like Seamus every time."
"Same here!" Ron chimed in. "How does anyone manage to cast it right on the first try?"
The two of them cast a resentful glance at Harry and Hermione.
It was their fault.
Because of them, everyone had to write a seven-inch essay on the charm, with no fewer than five hundred effective words.
"Charms class is Tuesday afternoon. You'd better start practicing," Hermione said, dismissing them with a wave of her hand.
Ron and Neville huddled together, grumbling over their homework.
Hermione tugged Harry's sleeve, leading him to the other side of the fireplace. Lowering her voice, she cautiously glanced at Ron's back. "You're suspicious of Ginny?"
"Caught that, did you?" Harry nodded.
"Only Ron wouldn't notice," Hermione muttered, frowning. "But why Ginny? She's just a first-year."
Harry lowered his voice. "Don't forget, Mr. Weasley and Malfoy had a scuffle over the summer. Maybe Malfoy did something then."
"Ginny wasn't present both times. She left the Halloween feast twenty minutes before Neville but returned to the Hall only ten minutes earlier than him."
Hermione's eyes widened in amazement. "You remembered all that?"
"Voldemort's soul fragments are still powerful," Harry replied, looking down at his hands. "I'll find an opportunity to test her."
"I'll keep an eye on her too," Hermione offered.
Harry opened his mouth to speak.
But Hermione cut him off. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. I'm a witch, after all. If Ginny's possessed by... him, there'll be signs."
"Should we tell Ron?"
Harry paused, glancing at Ron animatedly discussing homework with Neville, then at Percy, dutifully reading near the common room door. "Let's wait until there's actual evidence and tell Percy."
Ron was still young—only a year older than Ginny.
The next morning, the students reluctantly faced their Monday classes.
When they stepped out of their common rooms, they were stunned to find Hogwarts transformed overnight.
Each common room entrance was now flanked by two massive rooster statues.
Paintings along the corridors suddenly included noisy, crowing roosters.
Even the suits of armor had inexplicably become metallic chickens.
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Powerstones?
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