The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Ms. Grey shook her head. "I just came back from Sir Nicholas's 500th anniversary dinner. What happened?"

“Someone petrified Filch’s cat,” Scott began, “and left writing on the wall.”

He recited the words to Mrs. Grey: “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Beware of those who oppose the Heir.”

Upon hearing this, Lady Grey's expression finally changed. She almost blurted out, "The Chamber of Secrets? Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets?"

“That’s right, Ms. Grey.” Scott frowned slightly, a worried look on his face. “I’ve also heard the rumors about the Chamber of Secrets and the heir in Slytherin. You may not know, but I’m a Muggle-born wizard.”

He looked up, and Ms. Grey was still looking at him with indifferent eyes.

Scott continued, "I just wanted to ask you if that rumor is true. The rumor is that the heir will release the monster left in the Chamber of Secrets by Slytherin to purge Muggle-born students."

At this point, Ms. Gray finally spoke again.

"I don't even know if the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin actually exists," she said.

Then, her eyes became somewhat vacant, as if she were lost in distant memories.

Scott did not give up.

"Rumor has it that Slytherin parted ways with the other three founders of the house because of their differing attitudes toward Muggle-born wizards. Could he really have secretly left behind such a secret room and a monster at Hogwarts?"

He asked somewhat embarrassedly.

“I mean, if the rumors are true, the other three founders wouldn’t agree to him doing this, would they?”

“Of course they wouldn’t agree to that!” Ms. Gray said. “But nobody knows for sure whether Slytherin actually built the Chamber of Secrets.”

Her tone was wistful, "The four houses were each the territory of those four great wizards. Even though they were friends, they wouldn't dare to disturb the other houses. And back then, they didn't suspect each other."

She seemed to have already opened up, and without Scott asking, she began to speak on her own, "The rumors about the Chamber of Secrets have been around for a long time. In the beginning, some people suspected that Slytherin had secretly built a secret classroom to teach his chosen students in private. They thought he was teaching evil dark magic."

Scott nodded to himself; it seemed this was the original version of the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets legend.

Ms. Grey's story didn't stop there, "Of course, after Slytherin left, no one mentioned it again. Until fifty years ago..."

She suddenly stopped talking at this point.

"Excuse me, what happened fifty years ago?" Scott pressed.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t tell you this,” Ms. Gray said, “but you are a Ravenclaw student, and I don’t want to see you lose your life because you’re pursuing the answers on your own.”

“Thank you!” Scott smiled gratefully.

Ms. Gray said, "The rumors you've heard all started fifty years ago. Back then, a Ravenclaw student died tragically, and people didn't even know the cause of her death."

Scott nodded.

He knows the answer to this question. The Ravenclaw student who died fifty years ago is the ghost now living in the women's restroom on the second floor of the main building—"Moaning Myrtle the Crying".

"After that student died, rumors about the Chamber of Secrets and the successor suddenly appeared and even intensified."

Ms. Gray selectively told Scott some truths he already knew.

This seems to be the second version of the locked-room mystery, Scott thought.

"So, your name is Trollope?"

Scott nodded. "Scott Trollope, ma'am."

“Troop,” Mrs. Grey said, staring intently. “As far as I know, Slytherin has no heir.”

Scott asked her in surprise, "But I've heard that a certain pure-blood family in the British wizarding world is descended from Slytherin?"

“Those are descendants of his daughter’s husband’s family, and have nothing to do with the Slytherin family,” Madam Grey said. “When Slytherin left Hogwarts, he didn’t even take his daughter with him. Nobody knows where he went. In short, he never appeared again.”

Scott wanted to ask more questions, but Ms. Gray turned away and refused to communicate.

Scott could only politely thank him softly and turn to leave.

However, as he walked out of the common room, he heard Ms. Gray's voice again behind him.

"Don't pursue things that are beyond your capabilities."

However, when he turned around, the ghost lady who belonged to Ravenclaw had already vanished without a trace.

Scott smiled and walked out of the common room.

As he walked down the stairs, he recalled his conversation with Ms. Gray.

Although he didn't gain much from the conversation, he still learned something.

First, he learned the truth about the rumors circulating in the secret room.

The so-called "Slytherin's successor" was probably, as he suspected, a fabrication by Voldemort to glorify himself.

Considering the historical context, Scott believed that Slytherin himself at most distrusted Muggle-born wizards, and he worried that Muggle-born wizards would side with the Church, which was only natural.

Voldemort himself was the one who hated Muggle blood because he hated his own origins.

If Slytherin really wanted to eliminate Muggle-born students, they probably wouldn't have left so quietly back then.

Secondly, judging from Ms. Grey's statement, the Gaunt family, who once claimed to be descendants of Slytherin, were probably just like Voldemort, trying to glorify themselves.

It's ridiculous that Slytherin's daughters took their husbands' surnames after marriage, yet their descendants still try to claim credit for their mothers' family.

From this perspective, the relationship between Voldemort and Slytherin will take another turn.

Thinking about this, Scott found it quite interesting.

……

Chapter 055 The First Probing Plan

It was late at night. After Scott walked out of Ravenclaw Tower, he casually put on the hood of his black cloak.

He walked through a long corridor into the main building of the castle, and then released the raven that had been there to scout the way for him.

Fortunately, he didn't encounter anyone along the way and arrived at the agreed-upon classroom without incident.

When he pushed open the door, he saw two figures in the darkness turn around and look at him at the same time.

“George, Fred.”

Scott cast an illumination spell, reached out and caught the raven falling from above, looking at the two pairs of bright eyes with amusement.

"I remember we agreed to meet at 1 a.m.?" he said.

“We can’t wait!” Fred said with a grin.

George winked at him, "Not to mention us, you arrived way earlier than expected, Scott."

Scott casually closed the door and then cast a resistance spell on it.

The empty classroom was plunged into darkness once again.

Fred quickly lit a candle.

"To avoid the crazy Filch disturbing us."

Scott waved his wand toward the classroom windows one after another, and the heavy curtains on the windows all automatically tightened.

"That should prevent us from being exposed, right?"

He thought for a moment, then waved his wand a few more times, turning all the curtains into a deep black.

"It's better this way." He nodded in satisfaction.

“Well done, Scott,” George said. “After the cat incident, that old man Filch went completely mad and he thinks Harry did it.”

Scott walked over to the two of them and sat down in a chair next to an old school desk.

The three of them began to talk around a half-burnt candle.

“Tell me your plan, you clever Scott,” Fred said impatiently. “How are we going to find that damn heir?”

"Do you guys have any ideas? After all, you two have a lot of good ideas," Scott asked rhetorically. Of course, what he really meant were crazy ideas.

"We? We think we should keep a close watch on the Slytherin students' movements, using this secret weapon of ours!"

George pulled an old parchment from his pocket, spread it on the table, and gave Scott a smug smile.

“That’s right! That’s the secret to our continued success in the war against Filch over the past few years.”

Fred took out his wand and tapped it on the parchment.

"Okay."

He winked mischievously, then said to the parchment in a solemn tone, as if making a vow at a wedding, "I solemnly swear that I have not done anything good!"

Flowing black lines immediately began to appear where the tip of Fred's wand had touched.

These lines crisscross and extend swiftly to every corner of this parchment.

Writing began to appear at the top of the parchment, in large letters made of green arcs—[The suppliers of magical prankster aids, Mr. Moonface, Mr. Wormtail, Mr. Bigfoot, and Mr. Fork, proudly present the Marauder's Map.]

Marauder's Map.

Scott smiled; this was one of the reasons he invited the Weasley twins to join him.

"Wow!"

He exclaimed in surprise, having fully satisfied the twins' desire to show off, and then bent down to examine the contents of the parchment closely under the candlelight.

This map meticulously depicts every detail of Hogwarts Castle and its various locations.

What Scott really cared about were the tiny ink dots that moved along the map, each dot marked with a name in tiny letters.

This is a magical item that can monitor the movements of everyone inside Hogwarts.

He deliberately checked the situation inside the Gryffindor Tower and confirmed that Ginny was in her dormitory at the time.

"Incredible, this is truly a wonderful item," he murmured in admiration. "Where did you find this treasure?"

"Oh, thank you for the compliment, Scott."

George and Fred were absolutely thrilled.

“This is the treasure we found in Filch’s office.”

"It's hidden in the drawer of the cabinet!"

"Clearly, he didn't know it was a treasure."

"He probably thought it was a blank, tattered piece of parchment?"