It was the first time for Harry to enter Albert's dormitory. He looked around the dormitory of the Hogwarts genius with wide eyes and was surprised to find that it was no different from his own dormitory.
If there was any difference, it was probably the cat climbing frame on the wall. He had seen something similar at Mrs. Figg's house next door to the Dursleys.
I almost forgot, Albert has a very fat cat, I think his name is... Tom.
Yes, Tom, the same name as Riddle.
A creaking sound came from behind. Harry turned his head and saw Albert had just closed the dormitory door.
The dormitory suddenly fell into silence, and Harry felt his heartbeat quicken.
"You want to ask me about Hagrid?" Albert asked straight to the point.
"Hagrid asked me to come find you before he was taken away by the Minister of Magic," Harry admitted honestly.
"If you want to ask whether Hagrid is the heir of Slytherin, my answer is: no." Albert probably understood why Hagrid asked Harry to come to him. He hoped he could explain it clearly to Harry and didn't want Harry to misunderstand him.
"Fifty years ago, Hagrid was indeed expelled from Hogwarts School for an attack, but that attack had nothing to do with Hagrid."
Seeing that Harry seemed to want to say something, Albert raised his hand to interrupt him, signaling the other party to listen to him finish.
"Hagrid was expelled from school more because a student died in the attack that year, and someone needed to be held accountable for it. At that time, Hagrid happened to have a big spider in his cupboard, and when he was caught by Riddle, he let the spider run away, so it was normal for him to take the blame. He can only blame himself for his own death."
After hearing what Albert said, Harry opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. He had never thought that the reason Hagrid was expelled from school fifty years ago was actually because of this reason.
Harry was relieved to learn from Albert that Hagrid was innocent. In fact, Harry was worried that Hagrid was the real culprit of the attack, and he didn't know how to face Hagrid.
However, Harry was still a little confused. Just as he looked up to ask, he met Albert's gaze and turned his head away involuntarily. Meeting Albert's eyes reminded Harry of when he faced Snape. The feeling of being seen through made Harry very uncomfortable.
"You don't suspect Hagrid is the murderer, do you?" Albert looked Harry in the eye and answered all the questions he wanted to ask: "Is it because the attacks stopped after Hagrid was driven away?"
Harry nodded stupidly.
"Actually, the answer is very simple." Albert sat down on the edge of his bed and motioned Harry to sit down and talk. "You should have seen in Riddle's memory that the school was facing the crisis of closure due to the attack. The perpetrator of the attack did not want the school to be closed, so..."
"so… ?"
"So we need to find someone to take the blame for all the crimes, and then stop the attacks, and the matter will naturally come to nothing." Albert told Harry the cruel truth, "The Ministry of Magic is now using the same old trick to take Hagrid away, just to make Hagrid take the blame, hoping to quell the attacks again."
"They know Hagrid is innocent, how could they do this." Harry was stunned for a moment after hearing Albert's words, and his brain was quickly replaced by anger.
"Of course they can. If sacrificing an insignificant person can calm the situation, who cares?" Albert stared into Harry's eyes and asked, "If locking up Malfoy can calm the attacks, are you willing?"
If locking Malfoy up could calm the attacks, Harry was willing to do so. As for the truth, sometimes the truth was not necessarily important, but Harry could not say it.
"You don't have to try to quibble." Albert waved his hand to interrupt Harry who was about to speak, and continued: "So, Hagrid, who has a criminal record, has been locked up again."
"Just like fifty years ago, they can't catch the real culprit, and this consequence may lead to the closure of Hogwarts School again." Albert showed a strange smile, "The Ministry of Magic will also be blamed, so the Minister of Magic needs someone to take the blame, otherwise he will be unlucky as well."
"Why?"
"This is politics, Harry. Politics is the dirtiest thing in the world, nothing else." The smile on Albert's face was a little creepy, making Harry feel inexplicably uneasy. "If one day you stand against the Minister of Magic, you will understand what I mean. Believe me, that day will not be too far away."
Harry was speechless. What was this
"Is this... a prophecy?"
"You can think so." Albert did not deny it and continued, "But you don't have to worry about Hagrid's matter. He won't take the blame this time."
"Really?" Harry couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He was willing to believe Albert's words, and he had no choice but to believe them.
"Whether it's Colin, Nearly Headless Nick, or Hermione, they all saw the basilisk. If you pay attention to the expressions on their faces, it shouldn't be difficult to guess this." Albert looked at Harry's blank expression and had to explain, "Once the attacked students wake up, the matter of the basilisk can no longer be concealed."
Harry nodded.
"There is no way Hagrid could control a basilisk. I think Hermione should have told you that the only thing that can control a basilisk is... a Parseltongue."
"snake… "
Before Harry could finish his words, Albert spoke first. He was feeling very suffocated because Albert always finished his words, leaving him with nothing to say.
"How do you know for sure that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk?" Harry asked loudly. In fact, he also believed that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was a basilisk. However, Harry felt that if he didn't say something, he might go crazy.
"How do you know for sure it's a basilisk?"
"Yes." Harry nodded.
"The pet spider that Hagrid keeps in the cupboard is a monster called an acromantula. They still live in the Forbidden Forest and are terrifyingly large. Maybe you've heard from Ron that Fred and George were almost eaten by those acromantula." Albert paused, "Sorry, I've gone off topic. Hagrid once asked his spider named Aragog what the monster hiding in the school was. Well, you don't doubt that the acromantula can speak human language. Aragog refused to tell Hagrid what the monster in the castle was, just like everyone was reluctant to mention the name of the You-Know-Who. It only revealed that the monster was the spider's natural enemy."
"Natural enemies of spiders?" Harry had heard Hermione mention that.
"I looked through the information in the library and found out that the monster that the Acromantula is afraid of is the Basilisk." Albert glanced at Harry and said to himself, "You probably don't know that spiders can't close their eyes completely. Once they encounter a Basilisk, they will be killed directly by the Basilisk's gaze."
Harry felt that he had learned something new today.
"Hermione once told me that you hear sounds that no one else can hear, and you've been shown to be a Parseltongue, so that sound must be the hissing of the Basilisk."
Harry nodded in agreement.
"Everyone knows that the symbol of Slytherin is the snake, and Parseltongue is one of the marks of Slytherin. If the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is still alive after a thousand years, then only the basilisk fits the bill, even though this dark creature is not common."
Harry had nothing to say. Albert's evidence was very good to prove that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was the basilisk. In fact, he also believed that the monster was the basilisk.
"Have you already..."
"You want to ask me who the prisoner is?"
Harry continued to nod.
He found himself nodding a little too frequently today.
"I can only tell you that this matter is related to the Malfoy family." Albert glanced at the wooden door and continued, "Hermione once told me that a house-elf caused you a lot of trouble. It also told you that the most terrifying thing would happen in Hogwarts School."
"It's Dobby!"
Harry couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief that he could finally speak.
"Lucius Malfoy expelled Dumbledore from the school at this time." Albert speculated maliciously, "This matter must be related to him, otherwise he would not go to such great lengths to do so."
"Besides, house-elves are only found in old large manors or castles. The Malfoy family is very rich, so it's not surprising that they have house-elves serving them."
"Malfoy isn't the murderer, have we asked him?" said Harry dryly.
"I didn't say he was the murderer." Albert shook his head and said, "Lucius Malfoy would not let his son do such a stupid thing. He should have mastered some way to open the Chamber of Secrets, and did something to trigger the current attack. As for what method? I have some guesses, but I don't intend to tell you, because even if I tell you, you won't believe it."
"How do you know I won't believe it?" Harry said stubbornly.
"Oh well!"
Albert simply said "shut your ears and plug your ears", filling the ears of the people eavesdropping outside the door with an unidentifiable buzzing sound, preventing Ginny from hearing what he was saying next, causing her to throw Riddle's diary away.
"Riddle's diary, don't you find that diary very unusual?" Albert reminded, "I know you once got it and saw what happened fifty years ago. I can tell you that it is difficult for ordinary wizards to achieve that level, especially using a diary. When the diary was stolen, I suspected that the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets was in Gryffindor College."
"This is impossible!" Harry was so shocked that he was speechless. He couldn't understand how Albert came to such a conclusion.
"Back then, it was Tom Riddle who caught Hagrid." Albert reminded, "You should know that Tom also didn't want the school to be closed, so he used Hagrid as a scapegoat. As long as the murderer is caught, the school will not have to be closed."
Harry quickly recalled what he had seen in Riddle's memory, and had to admit that Albert's words made sense.
"Have you found the location of the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Harry.
"I roughly guessed where the secret room is. However, to open the secret room, you need Parseltongue." Albert said mysteriously, "If you are very curious, you can ask the student who was killed by the basilisk that year, and you will find the entrance to the secret room."
Harry was very confused. He didn't understand where Albert wanted him to find someone, and wasn't the person dead
"She came back as a ghost." Albert reminded. "Have you ever suspected that I was the murderer?"
"You are indeed suspicious. After all, you are the only one in the school who speaks Parseltongue. But I don't think it's true. If it were, Dumbledore would have discovered it immediately. After all, you are his savior." Albert shook his head and said, "Okay, our conversation is over. Remember to keep it a secret for me!"
"Who do you suspect?" Harry demanded. "Do you already know who the perpetrator of the attack is?"
"It's meaningless even if I tell you, because you won't believe it, just like you don't believe what I said just now." Albert shrugged: "Go find it yourself, maybe my guess is wrong."
After saying that, Albert walked to the door and opened it abruptly.
With a cry of "ouch", a group of people fell to the ground.
Harry stared in amazement at the group of people falling to the ground.
"Have you heard enough?"
"Haha, we just..." Fred was racking his brains for an excuse.
“… a little curious,” George added.
"I didn't expect that you investigated so many things quietly and were unwilling to tell us." Li Jordan tried to divert Albert's attention.
"You already knew who did it, why didn't you tell Professor McGonagall?" Ron asked puzzledly.
"Young man, you are too naive." Albert reached out and patted Ron on the shoulder and said, "Without evidence, it's slander and defamation. And even if I tell you, you may not be willing to believe it."
"How do you know we don't believe it?" Ron retorted.
"If Harry told the Minister of Magic that the mysterious man was still alive, how do you think he would react?" Albert thought for a moment and asked back.
"He should believe this. Professor Dumbledore also knows..."
“Wrong, wrong, wrong!”
Albert interrupted Harry with three typos, "Unless the Minister of Magic brings a group of people to see with their own eyes that the You-Know-Who is still alive, everyone will just think you're crazy, and will be happy to believe that you are a lunatic. You will soon find that the Daily Prophet will also start reporting that there is something wrong with your brain."
Looking at the stunned Harry, Albert patted him on the shoulder and said, "So, if I go and tell Professor McGonagall who is the real culprit of the attack, do you think Professor McGonagall will believe me, or will she think that I was just frightened by the attack, and that I was stimulated and my mind started to become confused."
Fred and George both couldn't help laughing.
"Everything must be based on evidence, otherwise no one can convince anyone!" Albert shrugged and said, "So, I won't publicly accuse anyone of being the real culprit of the so-called attack. That will only make others think that I am a mad dog that bites people indiscriminately."
Harry was silent.
Do professors really believe what they say
It's difficult.