aircannonsinc Chapter 292 Multi-legged Insects
Chapter 292 Multi-legged Insects
Over the next few days, there was much speculation around the school regarding the attack on Filch's cat lady, Norris.
Some people said that the culprit was a student who had a grudge against Filch, and there were rumors that a mischievous ghost had sneaked in during Halloween, but there were surprisingly few speculations about the three of us. At most, everyone just said that "the 'boy who lived' happened to be the first to find it", which made Harry feel relieved.
Filch was clearly annoyed by all the rumors, and he often wandered around the place where Mrs. Norris was attacked, wiping the writing on the wall with "all-purpose magic cleaner" in an attempt to erase it. However, the writing showed no sign of disappearing, and instead made the incident more clearly remembered by the students.
Looking at these words that could not be erased at all, Filch's eyes were filled with bloodshot. He had no place to vent his anger, so he began to find excuses to punish students at random. Almost no one expressed sympathy for him.
Filch's reaction became the catalyst for rumors about the Chamber of Secrets, and the direct trigger that accelerated the spread of the rumors was a question Hermione asked in the History of Magic class.
Since all the books of "History of Hogwarts" had been borrowed by students and reservations were scheduled for two weeks later, Hermione came up with an idea and went directly to ask Professor Binns, the longest-serving teacher at Hogwarts.
As a result, Professor Binns told us that the "Chamber of Secrets" was a hidden room built by Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, when he left school because of a conflict with other founders, and sealed some kind of "terror" there. This legend had spread throughout Hogwarts before dinner that day.
The three of us were discussing this legend on the way back to the dormitory to put our luggage.
"Does the 'Chamber of Secrets' really exist? Successive headmasters have been unable to find any clues, right?" Harry asked.
"That's magic from 1000 years ago, and a lot of magic has been lost now. Maybe some special conditions are needed to open the Chamber of Secrets, so it's not impossible that it hasn't been found." I tried my best to respond without arousing suspicion, while Hermione frowned and thought.
"But if even Dumbledore can't cure Mrs. Norris, the culprit may not be human. Perhaps the 'terror' in the 'Chamber of Secrets' is some kind of ancient magical creature?" said Hermione.
My god, Hermione is so smart! She was able to think of this possibility based on these clues. She is indeed the person who later became the first Muggle-born Minister of Magic...
Just as I was sighing for Hermione in my heart, we had unknowingly walked to the corridor where Mrs. Norris was attacked.
The scene was the same as it had been that night, except for the pine torches hanging in the corridor to illuminate everything, and the lonely chair that Filch had brought out leaning against the wall.
"Let's see if there are any clues," said Harry, throwing his bag to the ground and getting on all fours to start searching the corridor carefully.
"There's burn marks here! There, everywhere!" Harry cried.
"Really? What's with these burn marks?" I asked curiously.
"Look! It's weird there..." Hermione shouted softly.
Following her gaze, I saw a group of spiders of varying sizes, about 20 in total, and I took a step back in fright.
"Ugh...!" I almost yelled, but the sound became strange. Harry and Hermione were attracted by the strange behavior of these spiders and didn't notice my reaction at all.
The spiders scrambled to the crack in a small window on the wall and disappeared outside.
"Have you ever seen a spider act like this?" asked Harry.
"No, Ronnie, what's wrong with you?" Hermione asked confused.
It wasn't until all the spiders had crawled away that Harry and Hermione noticed my frozen face.
"I hate spiders..." I said with a trembling voice and Hermione looked at me in surprise.
"I didn't know you were afraid of spiders. Haven't we used them so many times in Potions?" said Hermione.
"I can still bear dying...but I really can't stand this kind of crawling..." I explained helplessly.
In fact, this fear has existed since my previous life. Not only spiders, but all multi-legged insects are scary to me, but spiders are the most unbearable to me.
"By the way, do you remember that puddle of water on the ground? Where do you think that water came from?" Harry obviously wanted to change the subject, probably because I looked unhappy.
"As I recall, it should be around here." I appreciated his thoughtfulness and pointed to a place three steps away where Filch had placed his chair.
"I think it was Moaning Myrtle who did it. Although there wasn't any today, she often causes water to accumulate in this area." I pointed to the door of the girls' bathroom next to the ground.
"Who's 'Myrtle'?" Harry asked, confused. Apparently, he had never been to the girls' toilet.
"Moaning Myrtle is a ghost at Hogwarts and this bathroom is her domain."
"She's very unstable, often hysterical, and she floods the toilet," Hermione and I took turns explaining.
"Could we go ask her if she saw anything that night?" Harry suggested.
"I think Professor McGonagall or another teacher should have asked her. The ghosts at Hogwarts cannot disobey their teachers and must answer their questions." I replied with a shrug.
This is true. Although Peeves is an exception because he is a Bolt demon, the restrictions are slightly looser, but ghosts generally cannot pose a threat to students, and the school has clear rules on this.
In the end, we found nothing except the scorch marks and spiders in the hallway, and we didn't go looking for Myrtle (I'm a little scared of her).