It was the owls that calmed down the young wizards. In the blink of an eye, over a hundred owls streamed into the Great Hall, and circled over it hooting.
It was just like the daily morning owl shower, but even more spectacular.
In fact, it was dinner time. How could there be so many people writing at such a time? Furthermore, the day after was the first day of the Christmas Holiday. Almost all the young wizards were going back to their homes. No matter how they looked at it, there were no letters or parcels to be sent to them at this time.
This was really abnormal. Harry looked at the owls distracted.
The werewolf attack on Evan and Hermione, the professors’ disappearance, and the sudden emergence of over a hundred owls, it all made him get an ominous feeling, as if something bad was about to go down.
Harry wanted to know what news these owls had brought, but there was no letter for him.
Fred and George stood on the table, waving their wands. They tried to catch an owl, but Percy hurried to stop them.
The owls huddled together, all flying towards Slytherin’s long table. They all had envelopes in their mouths, and they raced to be the first to deliver their letters.
The other three Houses quietly looked at them. All of them extended their necks hoping to get some clues from the expressions on the Slytherins’ faces.
Harry saw that Malfoy received his envelope as if he got a great honor.
He smirked at the envelope in his hand and sarcastically scorned his face. Harry clenched his fist as he saw Malfoy reading the letter in his hand. At first, he looked terrified. But then, a malicious smile appeared on his pale face.
Harry didn’t just focus on Malfoy; he also looked around him to see the other Slytherin students’ reactions.
Several of the senior students nodded and they were all children of some of the most powerful pureblood families. Among them was Marcus flint, the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and its class leader.
He stood up from his seat, and that gave the signal to all Slytherin students to do the same.
None of them spoke; all of them kept quiet and looked fearful.
Under the horrified eyes of the other three Houses’ students, they started walking out in an organized manner. Everyone’s demeanor was both intense and exciting.
Everyone wanted to ask them about what exactly happened, but no one actually dared to do so.
Percy looked pale as if he wanted to stop the Slytherin students. He moved forward slightly but eventually didn’t take any action.
It all looked really abnormal. Seeing how the Slytherin students started leaving one after another, the Great Hall burst with the buzzing of the murmuring students. The mood was becoming more tense, and everyone had that kind of feeling which one has before a storm.
By now, even the dumbest of students could feel that something bad was about to happen.
“Malfoy, what are you trying to do? What kind of plot are you making this time?” Harry stood up and shouted at Malfoy, who was about to leave the Great Hall.
He couldn’t tell why, but he was extremely angry.
The truth about his parents’ death, the fact that they were betrayed by their best friend, the fear for Evan and Hermione who were attacked by the werewolf, and the repression and discomfort brought by the Slytherins’ abnormal behavior were all converged to make him furious.
He looked at Malfoy angrily and wanted to pounce on him.
The Slytherin students who were on the move stopped when they heard Harry’s voice. All of them held their breaths and looked back and forth between Harry and Malfoy.
“Don’t you know, Potter?!” Malfoy said quietly, and his mouth laughed maliciously. “That’s pitiful. It seems that you are not qualified to know this news.”
“Keep talking, Malfoy, and I’ll give you a real news!” Harry growled loudly and pulled out his wand against Malfoy.
Gryffindor and Slytherin students all pulled their wands out. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students who were familiar with the scene leaned back to give them more space.
“Stop, that is enough!” Percy walked to the center of the Great Hall. The badge of the Head Boy on his chest glowed under the candlelight. He said to the Slytherin students, “Quickly, get your wands down or I’ll start taking points away!”
“Say that to someone who cares, Weasley!” Malfoy looked sarcastically at Percy who was standing in the middle of the crowd.
“Five points from Slytherin. I don’t like your attitude Malfoy. You need to show the Head Boy of the student body more respect!” Percy looked extremely indignant. His ears were red. “Now, hurry back to your table before I deduct another 5 points!”
“We’ve all finished eating, and you still want us to stay here, Head Boy?!” Malfoy sneered. He looked past Percy at Potter and said provocatively. “Want to know what we’re about to do Potter? Come along then. But you ought to be mentally prepared, or you won’t be able to stand it!”
As he finished his words, he followed the rest of the Slytherin students out of the Great Hall.
Harry hurriedly went through the crowd to catch up with Malfoy. The other students all looked at each other and then followed them out of the Great Hall.
Everyone was curious: What do the Slytherins really want to do?
They walked out of the Great Hall, passed through the empty Entrance Hall lit with torches. They then climbed the stairs, reaching a long dark corridor where no sound was heard except for that of their footsteps that fell on the floor simultaneously by the hundreds.
Slytherin students took everyone to the third floor and Harry did not understand why they were there.
He glanced at the girl’s bathroom at the end of the corridor, which was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
Do they know the secret? Even if they did, it would be completely irrelevant. He had already killed the Basilisk himself during the last semester. Even though it was a weapon left by Salazar Slytherin himself to his heir, Harry knew that there was no use for a dead Basilisk.
But what shocked him was that he saw that they weren’t heading there. Instead, they all walked straight to the door of Professor Lupin’s office and stopped. Their faces all looked focus and tense.
They pulled out their wands again and carefully faced the door as if there were monsters inside.
Seeing what they were doing, Harry was even more confused.
What kind of game are the hateful Slytherins playing? Does professor Lupin have a Troll or something like that in his office?
He still remembered that the Professor told him in the morning that he had something to do and that he had to leave Hogwarts. He shouldn’t be there at all! All the students were just staring at an empty room!
It was the owls that calmed down the young wizards. In the blink of an eye, over a hundred owls streamed into the Great Hall, and circled over it hooting.
It was just like the daily morning owl shower, but even more spectacular.
In fact, it was dinner time. How could there be so many people writing at such a time? Furthermore, the day after was the first day of the Christmas Holiday. Almost all the young wizards were going back to their homes. No matter how they looked at it, there were no letters or parcels to be sent to them at this time.
This was really abnormal. Harry looked at the owls distracted.
The werewolf attack on Evan and Hermione, the professors’ disappearance, and the sudden emergence of over a hundred owls, it all made him get an ominous feeling, as if something bad was about to go down.
Harry wanted to know what news these owls had brought, but there was no letter for him.
Fred and George stood on the table, waving their wands. They tried to catch an owl, but Percy hurried to stop them.
The owls huddled together, all flying towards Slytherin’s long table. They all had envelopes in their mouths, and they raced to be the first to deliver their letters.
The other three Houses quietly looked at them. All of them extended their necks hoping to get some clues from the expressions on the Slytherins’ faces.
Harry saw that Malfoy received his envelope as if he got a great honor.
He smirked at the envelope in his hand and sarcastically scorned his face. Harry clenched his fist as he saw Malfoy reading the letter in his hand. At first, he looked terrified. But then, a malicious smile appeared on his pale face.
Harry didn’t just focus on Malfoy; he also looked around him to see the other Slytherin students’ reactions.
Several of the senior students nodded and they were all children of some of the most powerful pureblood families. Among them was Marcus flint, the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and its class leader.
He stood up from his seat, and that gave the signal to all Slytherin students to do the same.
None of them spoke; all of them kept quiet and looked fearful.
Under the horrified eyes of the other three Houses’ students, they started walking out in an organized manner. Everyone’s demeanor was both intense and exciting.
Everyone wanted to ask them about what exactly happened, but no one actually dared to do so.
Percy looked pale as if he wanted to stop the Slytherin students. He moved forward slightly but eventually didn’t take any action.
It all looked really abnormal. Seeing how the Slytherin students started leaving one after another, the Great Hall burst with the buzzing of the murmuring students. The mood was becoming more tense, and everyone had that kind of feeling which one has before a storm.
By now, even the dumbest of students could feel that something bad was about to happen.
“Malfoy, what are you trying to do? What kind of plot are you making this time?” Harry stood up and shouted at Malfoy, who was about to leave the Great Hall.
He couldn’t tell why, but he was extremely angry.
The truth about his parents’ death, the fact that they were betrayed by their best friend, the fear for Evan and Hermione who were attacked by the werewolf, and the repression and discomfort brought by the Slytherins’ abnormal behavior were all converged to make him furious.
He looked at Malfoy angrily and wanted to pounce on him.
The Slytherin students who were on the move stopped when they heard Harry’s voice. All of them held their breaths and looked back and forth between Harry and Malfoy.
“Don’t you know, Potter?!” Malfoy said quietly, and his mouth laughed maliciously. “That’s pitiful. It seems that you are not qualified to know this news.”
“Keep talking, Malfoy, and I’ll give you a real news!” Harry growled loudly and pulled out his wand against Malfoy.
Gryffindor and Slytherin students all pulled their wands out. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students who were familiar with the scene leaned back to give them more space.
“Stop, that is enough!” Percy walked to the center of the Great Hall. The badge of the Head Boy on his chest glowed under the candlelight. He said to the Slytherin students, “Quickly, get your wands down or I’ll start taking points away!”
“Say that to someone who cares, Weasley!” Malfoy looked sarcastically at Percy who was standing in the middle of the crowd.
“Five points from Slytherin. I don’t like your attitude Malfoy. You need to show the Head Boy of the student body more respect!” Percy looked extremely indignant. His ears were red. “Now, hurry back to your table before I deduct another 5 points!”
“We’ve all finished eating, and you still want us to stay here, Head Boy?!” Malfoy sneered. He looked past Percy at Potter and said provocatively. “Want to know what we’re about to do Potter? Come along then. But you ought to be mentally prepared, or you won’t be able to stand it!”
As he finished his words, he followed the rest of the Slytherin students out of the Great Hall.
Harry hurriedly went through the crowd to catch up with Malfoy. The other students all looked at each other and then followed them out of the Great Hall.
Everyone was curious: What do the Slytherins really want to do?
They walked out of the Great Hall, passed through the empty Entrance Hall lit with torches. They then climbed the stairs, reaching a long dark corridor where no sound was heard except for that of their footsteps that fell on the floor simultaneously by the hundreds.
Slytherin students took everyone to the third floor and Harry did not understand why they were there.
He glanced at the girl’s bathroom at the end of the corridor, which was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
Do they know the secret? Even if they did, it would be completely irrelevant. He had already killed the Basilisk himself during the last semester. Even though it was a weapon left by Salazar Slytherin himself to his heir, Harry knew that there was no use for a dead Basilisk.
But what shocked him was that he saw that they weren’t heading there. Instead, they all walked straight to the door of Professor Lupin’s office and stopped. Their faces all looked focus and tense.
They pulled out their wands again and carefully faced the door as if there were monsters inside.
Seeing what they were doing, Harry was even more confused.
What kind of game are the hateful Slytherins playing? Does professor Lupin have a Troll or something like that in his office?
He still remembered that the Professor told him in the morning that he had something to do and that he had to leave Hogwarts. He shouldn’t be there at all! All the students were just staring at an empty room!
