The days at Hogwarts

"The instructors are Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. Lockhart's name is not on the list!" Lee Jordan, who squeezed to the front row, read out the content of the announcement loudly, "This event will show you how magical plants can be used in duels..."

Ron could hardly hide the excitement on his face. "Great! The headmaster and Professor McGonagall must have seen through Lockhart's true identity. We don't have to endure this disgusting live-action drama anymore!"

After the Cornish elves caused trouble in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Lockhart stopped conducting physical exercises in class and turned the Defense Against the Dark Arts class into a real-life drama of Lockhart's wonderful adventures, which disgusted the young wizards.

Harry has played a variety of bizarre characters, including a Romanian villager, a Himalayan snow monster, a vegetarian vampire and a reformed werewolf...

"Professor McGonagall will also be on the field. Will she use the Animagus?" Neville asked.

"Professor McGonagall did not use Animagus when she demonstrated the application of Transfiguration in a duel. Perhaps Animagus is not a magic suitable for dueling." The little wizard on the side guessed.

"By the way, how are you preparing for the Animagus class exam? Professor McGonagall said that the exam will be held after we return to school after the Christmas holiday." The young wizard asked Neville.

Neville was not very confident: "I don't know, there are still many things I don't understand..."

In the corner of the lounge, Hermione and Loren looked at each other and sighed helplessly.

Hermione put down the notebook in her hand, her voice soft and coquettish: "I also want to participate in the activities of the duel club!"

Loren patted her shoulder and consoled her: "Harry can't attend the event, so just consider it as taking care of his feelings. There will be more in the future, and we will definitely be able to attend next time..."

"Oh~"

On the day when the Dueling Club held its fourth event, almost all the young wizards crowded into the auditorium an hour in advance to get a good front-row seat to watch the game.

Harry and Ron took the opportunity to sneak out of the castle and went to ask Hagrid for clues about the Chamber of Secrets incident.

Loren and Hermione stayed in Myrtle's bathroom, watching over the Polyjuice Potion. Loren felt a little bored and planned to go back to the dormitory to get some snacks to kill time.

Walking out of the bathroom and onto the stairs, he met Lockhart at the corner of the stairs.

"Hey, Loren!"

After seeing Loren, Lockhart's gloomy face broke into a bright smile, "Look what I found? You didn't go to the Duel Club activities. It seems that you also think that the Duel Club is not exciting enough without me, right?"

From the time he first entered the school until now, he has always had a good impression of this little wizard, and now this impression is even stronger.

Loren complained silently in his heart, don’t you know whether it’s attractive or not...Except for a few of us, all the little wizards in the school should have gone to participate in the club’s activities.

"Hello, Professor Lockhart." Loren nodded, dealt with it and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Lockhart grabbed him and said, "The clever and visionary little wizard should be rewarded. I want to show you something more exciting - yes, that's right, the manuscript of my new book."

Hearing the manuscript of the new book, Loren remembered what Lockhart had mentioned about Grandpa Bates. He suppressed the idea of ​​refusing and let Lockhart take him to the office.

Along the way, Lockhart kept complaining about the exclusion of his professors and the unfair treatment he received from Dumbledore:

"I just mentioned that I was sure I could find out the location of the secret room, but Sprout kept asking me. What I meant was that I had done a similar puzzle-solving expedition before. It was in the snowy mountains of the Himalayas. I was looking for a hidden oriental magic academy. You know, it's easy for me."

"Also, Professor Flitwick kept asking me questions when I said I was sure I could find out what the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was. They didn't understand what I meant at all. I meant to say that if we find the Chamber of Secrets, I can easily deduce what the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is based on the traces in the Chamber of Secrets..."

"You know, I don't mind. On the contrary, I'm looking forward to fighting the monster. But there are too many little wizards in the school, and little wizards like you are too weak. If I fight with the monster in the castle, many of you will get hurt..."

Lockhart kept muttering all the way, but Loren said nothing. During the conversation, the two of them entered the office and sat in front of the desk.

The desks and chairs in the office were still the same, there was a huge floor-to-ceiling mirror next to the desk, and the air was filled with a strange smell of shampoo. On the walls and bookshelves, there were portraits and photos of Lockhart everywhere, all of them with bright smiles.

"With so many young wizards in the school, I am only willing to share the joy of my new book with you. Although there are still some places that need to be revised, I believe you can learn a lot of useful things from it." Lockhart sat opposite Loren and handed him a stack of manuscript paper. His face was filled with excitement and an eager smile. His desire to show off was almost written on his face. It seemed like it was an extraordinary honor to read the manuscript to others in advance.

Loren didn't want to read these self-boasting contents. He only wanted to know the part about werewolves: "Professor Lockhart..."

He was quickly interrupted. The blows and pressures of the past few days made Lockhart eager to show his grand blueprint. He could not suppress his excitement, and explained with a flushed face and dancing hands:

"During the Christmas holidays, I plan to visit another best-selling author, Rita Skeeter. Have you heard of her? She is proficient in another writing method, which is more exciting than me. I plan to persuade her to promote the inspiring Muggle threat theory, the terrifying werewolf army, and the conspiracy of the Muggle king..."

"With the information about real Muggle werewolves, there will be many people willing to believe my argument. Maybe I can use this matter to go into politics and join the Ministry of Magic. If it goes well, I can even become the Minister of Magic in a few years!" Lockhart trembled with excitement.

Loren remained silent. If Lockhart followed his approach, Grandpa Bates' information would be exposed and he would never have peace for the rest of his life.

Although he wanted to get rid of Lockhart right now, that would leave traces and cause trouble. What he should do now is to stabilize him first, as long as he gets him involved in the basilisk's affairs...

He looked up at Lockhart, with a strange light in his eyes. Loren whispered, "Professor Lockhart, did you know that Headmaster Dumbledore plans to search the Chamber of Secrets during the Christmas holidays and catch the monster in it?"

Lockhart paused. "Yes, really? They didn't tell me."

"Yes, professor, I think you can also participate in it, and perhaps your book can add another exciting adventure." Loren's voice was very soft, but every word was transmitted to Lockhart's mind.

Chapter 206 Hagrid is Arrested

The third Friday of December is the day when the little wizards leave school to go home for the holidays.

In fact, there was still nearly a week until Christmas. In order to give the little wizards who were far away from home some time to travel, and because the reformed curriculum was not as intense as before, Professor McGonagall simply gave them a week off.

The festive atmosphere became more intense, and the hall was decorated magnificently. Hagrid brought in a dozen silver-frost covered Christmas trees from the forest, and a thick ribbon of mistletoe and holly crisscrossed the ceiling.

Percy battles wits and courage with Peeves to put up the streamers. It is said that the professor will release some decorative magic on Christmas Eve.

Out of consideration for their own safety, almost all the young wizards chose to go home, leaving only a few Weasley siblings, Loren and Hermione in Gryffindor.

Outside the Great Hall, the corridor leading to the entrance hall was crowded with young wizards dragging their suitcases. They were going across the lawn to the station, boarding the Hogwarts Express and starting their journey home.

At the Gryffindor table, Seamus Finnigan shrugged his shoulders and played Thunderbolt with Harry and Ron in a gloomy manner. He and Neville agreed to get on the bus together, but Neville left a box full of candy wrappers on the bed, so he went back to the dormitory to get the candy wrappers, while Seamus was killing time here.

Hermione spread out her notes, sorting out and reciting the knowledge of the Transfiguration Club, filling in the gaps.

Loren sat next to her, tilting his head to read her notes, his head almost completely resting on the girl's shoulder.

Hermione's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were rolling to the sky. She had clearly put the notes between the two of them, but this guy still moved over here, which was very annoying.

"Bang"

Another muffled sound was heard, and Simo's hands were already numb from the explosion.

He weakly put down the cards, leaned on the table, looked at the four people around him and muttered: "I don't want to go home, I want to stay in school for Christmas!"

Ron said in surprise, "Who wouldn't want to go home for Christmas? We want to go back but we can't."

"I think it would be nice to celebrate Christmas in the castle." Harry looked at the decorations in the hall with anticipation.

Because of the upcoming holiday, Harry felt a sense of relief and peace. At least no one would be murdered during the Christmas holiday, no little wizards would stare at him with strange eyes, and he would not hear those unpleasant discussions for a long time.

They could come and go in Gryffindor Tower at will, enjoy the entire common room, and play Thunderbolt loudly without disturbing anyone.

He didn't want to go back to face the Dursleys, but thought it was good to spend Christmas at school, not only because of the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk, but also because Sirius couldn't spend Christmas with him.

A few days ago, Sirius wrote to tell him a piece of news. He said that the Malfoy family had made a big move recently and sent invitations to many officials of the Ministry of Magic. He planned to find an opportunity to sneak in and find out where Malfoy hid those shameful things in the manor.

Seamus argued: "If you four are detained at the same time, there will definitely be wonderful adventures. Ah - I really want to be detained. But my mother said that if I don't go home for the holidays, she will write a letter and ask the professor to stuff me into the socks at the head of her bed."

Loren chuckled, "Your mother's feet are really big."

Hermione rolled her eyes and slapped him in the face: "You're rude."

"Seamus, let's go!" Just then, Neville's call came from the corridor.

Seamus looked around reluctantly at the decorations around him. Before leaving, he suddenly remembered something and whispered to them, "I don't know what you are going to do, but you must be careful of Crabbe from Slytherin. Many people in Slytherin House say that there is something wrong with him. I suspect he is related to the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir."

Slytherin has three young wizards staying in school, Malfoy and his two followers, Crabbe and Goyle.

After saying that, he ran away quickly, dragging his suitcase.

Loren looked at his back thoughtfully, and he didn't expect that Seamus, who was well-informed, had stumbled upon the truth. He looked at the colorful candles floating in the air. The big show prepared by Dumbledore was really going to end during the Christmas holiday.

Ron sorted the cards on the table and sighed: "Basilisk, Chamber of Secrets, Malfoy, Hagrid and the mysterious Tom Riddle, and now there's Crabbe..."

Hermione closed her notebook and looked serious. "Don't just focus on Malfoy. Maybe Tom Riddle passed the method to open the Chamber of Secrets to Crabbe. Let's sort out the information we got from Hagrid last time."

Speaking of Hagrid's reaction, Harry frowned tightly, with a puzzled look on his face, and began to talk about the situation in the hunting lodge at that time: "At that time, we took advantage of everyone participating in the event in the auditorium and slipped out of the castle..."

That day, they braved the heavy snow and rushed to Hagrid's cabin, where he welcomed them warmly.

Before Ron sat down, he couldn't wait to ask loudly, "Hagrid, Hagrid, do you know Tom Riddle?"

Hagrid's hand that was adding wood to the fire stiffened for a moment, and the giant's shoulders, which almost filled half of the room, suddenly slumped down, full of embarrassment and panic.

"You found out what happened fifty years ago, right?" Hagrid explained in panic, "It wasn't me, it really wasn't me, I just kept Aragog and never let him leave the cupboard. It wasn't the little girl who was killed by him..."

Yaya sensed his master's mood and came over to nudge his calf.

"Hagrid!" Harry shouted. "Listen to us. Dumbledore believes in you, and so do we!"

"Yes, Hagrid, we're here to investigate the man named Tom Riddle." Ron took the firewood from his hand, fiddled with the fire, and found a suitable place to put the firewood in.

The two of them tried to comfort the three-meter-tall mixed-blood giant and stopped him from crying.

Hagrid wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "Tom Riddle... He was an excellent student. Like Percy, he had a good relationship with almost all professors and students. After graduation, he seemed to have found a job in Knockturn Alley, and there has been no news of him since then."

"Knockturn Alley!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other and confirmed once again that Tom Riddle was not a good wizard. Which good wizard would look for a job in Knockturn Alley?

Harry glanced at his pink umbrella inconspicuously, then looked at the big man who looked careless and heartless.

He had only been mistaken for the Heir of Slytherin for two months, but Hagrid had been mistaken for fifty years. He felt sick to his stomach when he thought that for nearly fifty years, Hagrid had to pretend to carry that funny little pink umbrella.

That is the grievance that has not changed for fifty years...

Harry patted Hagrid's big hand: "Hagrid, we suspect that it was Tom Riddle who opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago. He is framing you."

Ron nodded, "Yes. Perhaps he is the heir of Slytherin."

"He's the heir of Slytherin!" Hagrid's pupils contracted violently, and he stood up suddenly, knocking down a bunch of rock biscuits.

"He is the heir of Slytherin... He... That man graduated from Hogwarts... No wonder, no wonder... No one knows... his name..." Hagrid seemed to have figured something out, and muttered some irrelevant words.

He seemed a little uneasy and wanted to pick up some tea to calm himself, but his strong arms kept shaking and the tea spilled, sending up a puff of white smoke from the fire.

Harry and Ron thought that he had suddenly learned the truth that he had been wrongly accused, and was so excited that he couldn't control himself.

"Hagrid, do you remember anything?" Harry asked curiously.

Hagrid took a few deep breaths, lowered his head and stared at Harry, staring at the scar on his forehead. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he was forced back. "Yes, I remembered something very important."

Harry exclaimed in surprise: "Tell us quickly, maybe we can catch the real murderer and Tom Riddle soon. We can help you restore your reputation!"

Hagrid almost bit his teeth to pieces. He touched Harry's hair and said cruelly, "This is none of your business. I will talk to Dumbledore. You are not allowed to get involved in the Chamber of Secrets anymore. Dumbledore will handle it."

Harry was stunned: "Hagrid, what are you talking about?"

"I said, this is not something you should get involved in, go back."

……

At the long table in the hall, colored candlelight sprinkled on Harry's face, illuminating his depressed expression: "Later, no matter how Ron and I persuaded him, Hagrid kept repeating this sentence."

Ron couldn't understand it either: "Yeah, doesn't Hagrid want to clear his name?"

Loren listened from the side, feeling mixed emotions.

Fool, Hagrid doesn't want to clear his name. He clearly knows that Tom Riddle is Voldemort, and he doesn't want you to get involved in Voldemort's affairs.

For their safety, that silly giant swallowed decades of grievances.

There was a sound of flesh and wood colliding, and Hedwig, cold all over, stumbled through the skylight and hurriedly landed in front of Harry, with snowflakes mixed in her snow-white feathers, and she kept cooing in a voice full of anxiety.

Knowing the situation was urgent, several people gathered around him. Harry unfolded the note Hedwig had brought:

Hagrid's Hut, come quickly.

Harry's heart sank, and without saying anything he ran out of the Great Hall and hurried towards Hagrid's hut. Hermione and Ron quickly followed.

Loren fell behind and picked up the note on the table and took a look at it.

The note was unsigned, and the handwriting was not very pretty, but rather stiff and neat. It seemed that the messenger did not want his identity to be discovered.

Loren had seen Hagrid's handwriting. It was crooked and full of natural wildness. To put it bluntly, it was like ghost painting.

In any case, this handwriting doesn't seem like something Hagrid could write.

"It feels like Dumbledore is causing trouble." Loren put the note into his pocket and chased after him with his wand in hand.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran through the vegetable garden to the greenhouse, skirted the Whomping Willow at top speed, and ran into the woods. They made their way through the trees and along the edge of the woods, and just as they were about to see Hagrid's front door, they heard voices talking.

Harry and Ron, panting to catch their breath, quickly hid behind a large oak tree and peered around the trunk.

Loren arrived last and was speechless when he saw the three men's sneaky figures clinging to the tree trunks and peeking from behind.

He took out his magic wand and tapped on each of them. Ripples like water spread to everyone's body, and their figures disappeared in the vast snow.

"Disillusionment Charm!" Hermione's voice gradually faded away. In Loren's magical vision, Hermione recognized the spell and quickly covered her mouth with her eyes wide open.

"Shh~" Loren commanded, "There will be footprints on the snow. Let's go around them carefully and get closer to see what's happening."

They approached the cabin slowly, rounding the fence that bounded the pumpkin patch. The door to the cabin stood open, and Hagrid, in his moleskin coat, was surrounded by strangers in uniform.

Ron lowered his voice and said, "That's an Auror. Looks like he's from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic."