A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 155 The Truth Brought by Dobby

That night, Harry tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep despite the snoring of his roommates.

He was still thinking about what had happened during the day—whether it was the big win against Slytherin or seeing his arch-rival Draco Malfoy being scolded by his father, it all made him very happy.

But a sudden wave of loneliness washed over him, and he also wanted to experience what it was like to be scolded by his parents.

Everyone else was looking forward to summer vacation, but he was the only one resisting it. He even considered staying to keep Hagrid company, or perhaps going to the Burrow would be nice too.

"Harry Potter!"

A barely audible call rang out. Harry recognized the voice; he quickly put on his glasses and looked at the small, thin figure standing in the doorway—

He has huge brown eyes and a nose that is shaped and sized like a big tomato.

"Dobby, Dobby, it really is you!"

Harry glanced around quickly. They were all fast asleep, even Ron's pet, the fat grey rat Scabbers, was comfortably sleeping on its owner's pillow.

He gently lifted the covers, climbed out of bed, looked at the magic wand on the bedside table, hesitated for a moment, and then picked it up.

"The fireflies are twinkling."

Harry led Dobby to the common room, where there was only dim light. He chose a cushioned chair to sit down.

"Please sit down, Dobby. You have something to tell me, don't you?"

As he got closer, he noticed that Dobby had changed his clothes—no, he hadn't changed them; it was still the same old pillowcase, but the elf had somehow added two sleeves and something that looked like trouser legs.

"You changed into new clothes—no! Dobby, you, you…" He pointed at Dobby, unable to speak. He had learned from Ron that house-elves couldn't wear normal human clothes; there was only one possibility—

"Yes, Mr. Potter, Dobby, Dobby is free!" the little elf cried out joyfully, his big eyes brimming with tears.

“How could that be—oh, I mean, congratulations, Dobby,” Harry said, “but you were with Lucius Malfoy all day, weren’t you?”

"Dobby wasn't sure either. Maybe his little master's failure during the day had upset him, and when he got home that night, he scolded Dobby harshly... Dobby was used to it, but he never expected that his master would actually try to kick him out!"

Harry opened his mouth as if to say something, but the house-elf had already finished speaking: "Never thought... this is something Dobby has always dreamed of..."

He loosened his fingers, and a gorgeous button lay quietly on his slender palm.

"Master, no, Lucius Malfoy gave Dobby a button that he had ripped off himself... He angrily made Dobby leave Malfoy Manor forever."

"So you're free, and you don't belong to anyone," Harry said.

"Yes, Dobby is a free elf now." Dobby blinked his big eyes. "All thanks to you, the great Harry Potter, for defeating Draco Malfoy on the pitch!"

Harry sensed the impermanence of life; his victory over Slytherin could have such a profound impact on Dobby.

"I didn't expect that either, and of course, I'm honored," Harry said modestly. "By the way, Dobby, you shouldn't be bound by your identity anymore, right? I have a lot of questions for you."

"Just speak up, more than you try your best."

"So, is the Chamber of Secrets really Lucius Malfoy's conspiracy?" Harry asked, bringing up the question the three of them had been discussing during the day.

"That's right, he brought the Dark Lord's relic: a cursed diary to Hogwarts through Ginny Weasley."

"Wait! Ginny?"

"...Yes, at Flourish and Blotts."

A sudden realization struck Harry, and he said with certainty, "He fought with Mr. Weasley, and I remember he picked up Ginny's textbook and taunted her! Lucius must have secretly slipped the diary in there, didn't he?"

“Absolutely right, Mr. Potter,” Dobby said, bowing.

"So you stopped me from returning to school and attacked me on the sports field because of that relic—was it the one that opened the secret room?"

Dobby lowered his head and said softly, "You're right. Dobby overheard Malfoy's words, Mr. Potter. You have no idea how dark life was for house-elves during the Dark Lord's reign. Things are actually much better now than they were..."

Harry found it hard to imagine what life was like for house-elves back then.

He comforted him, saying, "You've finally gotten over your hardships, haven't you?" But Harry suddenly remembered something and almost jumped up. He said in a trembling voice, "Then now, is that diary still in Ginny's hands?"

"Will she be in danger?"

Dobby whispered, "No, the diary passed through three hands. First it was Miss Weasley, then somehow it ended up with Draco Malfoy, and finally, it fell into the hands of the equally great Mr. Felix Heap."

"Professor Hyp?" Harry stared in disbelief.

"Yes, but Mr. Hyp realized the evil of the diary, and he destroyed it, completely destroyed it! Right before Dobby's eyes..."

Harry felt like his brain wasn't working properly. The series of explosive news tonight left him bewildered, and he wore a blank expression.

……

Early the next morning.

"You mean, the root of all this is Lucius Malfoy? He hid the diary in Ginny's textbook, and Ginny was controlled to open the secret chamber, releasing the Basilisk and causing Mrs. Norris and Crevy to be petrified! Then the diary ended up in his son's hands, Merlin the Beard, he really brought this on himself! But the most outrageous thing is that Professor Hyp has now destroyed the diary!"

Ron had never spoken so much in one go before; he gulped down several large mouthfuls of pumpkin juice.

"That's it." Harry nodded, a thought flashing through his mind, and recounted his experience of unexpectedly encountering Draco while rescuing Justin. "He seemed a bit dazed, but I didn't have time to think about it at the time. So much happened afterward that I completely put that question out of my mind."

"That's really... Professor Hyp didn't let a word slip!" Ron said, his tone a mix of complaint and admiration.

Hermione drifted into reminiscence, adding, "When I was in the hospital, remember? Professor Hyp warned me the danger was over and we shouldn't investigate any further. I think he got his hands on the diary around that time, and maybe he destroyed it."

"And," the little witch counted on her fingers, "Professor Hyp must have told Dumbledore, and Dumbledore probably told your parents, Ron too." She trailed off, somewhat dejectedly, "though he didn't tell us."

"Cool~ So the adults did so many things behind our backs," Ron said.

"What are Dobby's plans now?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know yet. I guess he might be visiting a friend?" Harry said uncertainly.

Ron quickly finished his breakfast and left in a hurry.

"Where are you going, Ron?"

"I need to ask Ginny. It suddenly occurred to me, what if the diary has some effect on her—"

"You're right!"

……

Through Ginny's stammering description, they learned more information.

"You left your diary in the abandoned bathroom?" Harry asked, staring into Ginny's eyes in surprise.

Ginny lowered her head shyly, a bright blush on her face: "Yes, yes, Fred and George gave a lot of scary examples back then, and I realized it was inappropriate."

"That makes perfect sense! Malfoy was following us, but we had to urgently move the potions. He missed us, but found the diary instead," Harry said.

He broke out in a cold sweat. The blurry shadow he had seen must have been Ginny's lost diary, but he didn't have time to look closely because he had found Malfoy.

If he finds the diary and controls him, and gets caught on the way to open the secret room, he will have no way to defend himself. You know, he was misunderstood by everyone because of his parsnip-like accent back then.

"Ginny, are you feeling unwell?" Ron asked.

Ginny shook her head. "I took Luna's advice and went to the school hospital. Apart from being a little weak, I had no other problems. Mrs. Pomfrey gave me two bottles of medicine, and I recovered quickly."

"Oh, and she also mentioned that a boy had similar symptoms..."

The three looked at each other and said in unison, "Draco Malfoy!"

They spent almost half a Sunday piecing together the complete truth—

From Lucius's revenge, to Ginny being controlled to open the Chamber of Secrets and causing two attacks, to her throwing away the diary after discovering something amiss, only to have it picked up by Draco Malfoy, to Draco being caught by Harry while opening the Chamber and rescuing Justin, followed by their heroic feat of venturing into the Chamber and killing the Basilisk. Afterwards, the diary fell into Professor Hyp's hands and was completely destroyed, bringing the Chamber of Secrets incident to a definitive close.

"It's strange, Professor Hyp has such a strong presence in this whole thing."

"This shows that he really found out the whole truth."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat lazily by the Black Lake, feeling a sense of exhilaration as if they had finally solved a mystery that had been lingering in their minds for a long time.

They also felt relieved and were able to focus on preparing for the exam.

January has passed quickly, and the rainy season has arrived along with the exam season.

The second-year storyline is nearing its end, so update times may be irregular. Please understand! The author is trying to adjust.

2800 words.

(End of this chapter)