That very night, a piece of news from an unknown source spread like wildfire.
The legendary Basilisk of the Chamber of Secrets had supposedly been secretly executed fifty years ago, and the Chamber now stood empty — the Basilisk gone, yet a magical treasure personally left behind by Slytherin himself still remained.
When this rumor first spread within a small circle, it drew little attention — until, during dinner, the ever-restless Weasley twins stood up and put the question to Dumbledore.
"Oh, everyone's been rather taken with the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk lately," Dumbledore said, glancing at a certain good-for-nothing seated right beside him. "Even some professors have declared they'll find it."
Lockhart pointedly rose to his feet and gave the crowd a textbook gentleman's bow.
Once he'd finished preening, Dumbledore continued: "Fifty years ago, I served as the Transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts. As someone who lived through the events of that time, I can tell you all quite responsibly——"
He paused deliberately for a moment, and everywhere his gaze fell, he met eager, gossip-hungry eyes.
"Back then, Mr. Dippet — the Headmaster at the time — and I never found the legendary Chamber of Secrets that Slytherin left behind."
The words had barely left his mouth when a wave of sighs swept through the Great Hall.
"But — please, hear me out!" He raised his voice once more, at the same time casting a seemingly careless glance at a certain white-haired someone still busy scarfing down her food at the Slytherin table.
Prodded by his gaze, the white-haired loli straightened her spine sharply, then turned her head to flash him a perfunctory smile.
Only then did Dumbledore nod in satisfaction. "Though we never found the Chamber back then, near the Forbidden Forest we did discover the corpse of a reptile nearly a hundred feet long."
The entire hall was stunned.
Even the twins who'd asked the question exchanged an excited glance and pressed on: "Was that the Basilisk? Why would it have died near the Forbidden Forest?"
"Isn't it obvious? The Basilisk had been locked in the Chamber for years with no food, so naturally it had to sneak out to hunt — which is how it crawled all the way to the Forbidden Forest. After all, that's where the most animals are!"
Kate, hidden away in the crowd, answered loudly: "And what a Basilisk fears most is the crowing of a rooster — and the gamekeeper's hut near the Forbidden Forest just so happens to keep quite a few roosters. So that's how it met its end, isn't it?"
The Basilisk had died just like that?
It came out to forage because it was hungry, and then dropped dead simply because it heard a rooster crow?
The crowd still found it a little hard to believe, and everyone began murmuring among themselves.
"Professor!" With the situation growing shaky, Kate had no choice but to reluctantly stand up and keep helping Old Man Dumbledore steer things along. "So you mean, the Chamber no longer has a Basilisk, and only the magical treasure left behind by Slytherin remains?"
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow slightly. "In the records of the school's history, there is no mention of Mr. Slytherin ever leaving behind a Chamber, a Basilisk, or a treasure. Student Shafiq, please take your seat."
By placing all three of those things together, his words all but bound them as one — either all three existed, or none of them did.
And since the rumors of the Chamber and the Basilisk had each been confirmed in turn, how could the news of the treasure possibly be false?
How could a Wizard who truly loved magic ever resist the temptation of a magical treasure?
Just as no true pirate could ever resist the lure of the treasure left behind by the Pirate King!
And this treasure no longer even had a guardian!
The Basilisk was already dead; if someone were lucky enough to find the treasure, they might just walk away with one of Slytherin's own magical artifacts!
In an instant, nearly every young wizard's eyes lit up with a keen gleam.
Especially the young wizards over at the Slytherin table — they were practically boiling over with excitement.
Even Malfoy couldn't help gripping her knife and fork tighter. "A treasure left behind by Slytherin definitely belongs to Slytherin House!"
"That's right!" her two lackeys roared with considerable bravado.
Watching the people around her all fired up and raring to hunt for the treasure, Kate couldn't help but inwardly marvel at what a sly old fox Dumbledore truly was.
She had merely made Lockhart into a figurehead to spur a portion of the students into searching for the Chamber — but him? He'd gone and dangled a Pirate King's... no, a magical treasure right in front of everyone.
To these underage young wizards, something like that held far too great an allure.
What's more, this old codger had actually come right out and declared the Basilisk dead in front of everyone.
True, his words had been ambiguous — he hadn't outright said that corpse was the Basilisk — but after Kate's explanation, everyone present knew for certain it had to be the Basilisk.
This way, if the Board of Governors were to raise any objections later, he could always fob them off with some other explanation.
After all, aside from him, no one present had actually laid eyes on that so-called corpse beside the Forbidden Forest, so he could say whatever he liked — even Lucius would be powerless to do a thing.
After today, the students were sure to go all out, turning the whole of Hogwarts upside down. By then, forget the Chamber — they might even dig up the Horcruxes.
And a Chamber of Secrets uncovered amid such a public, all-eyes-on-it search — tsk, tsk, tsk — Kate could already picture the use it would serve down the line.
As for Harry, who'd been fretting all this time that the Basilisk would appear and kill someone...
Kate stole a glance back at the somewhat crestfallen Harry, then turned her head and made a gesture toward Dumbledore up on the dais.
It was all her con anyway, so leave it to her.
The moment dinner was over, Kate went straight over to Harry — though he now looked clearly a bit emotionally unsteady.
"How can this be?" he asked in disbelief, gripping her shoulders. "I clearly dreamed of the Basilisk killing people, yet the Headmaster says it died fifty years ago. That's impossible!"
Kate let out a heavy sigh, deliberately glanced at the people around them rushing out of the Great Hall to search for the Chamber, and pulled him off to a secluded corner.
"Honestly, I only learned the whole truth today myself, Harry." She gazed earnestly into those anxious emerald-green eyes, while inwardly thinking that next time she might try gifting him a pair of emerald cufflinks.
Gemstones weren't worth all that much in the magical world, but at the very least they carried a certain meaning.
What meaning?
The meaning of a sincere apology for having hoodwinked Harry several times over.
This time she was about to do it yet again, so she offered a preemptive apology in her heart.
"I stopped by the Headmaster's office again today, and I happened to overhear the Headmaster discussing tonight's business with the portraits of the other headmasters — that's when I finally pieced together the whole truth."
Kate drew a deep breath and continued: "The scene you dreamed of really could have been the Basilisk of fifty years ago — back when it wasn't yet dead."
"But the Headmaster said…"
"That's right — the Professor lied!" Kate seized the momentum and cut in. "The Basilisk actually died last Christmas!"
Harry couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath, his eyes trembling.
He lowered his head in a fluster, straining to sort out the sequence of events in between.
"Let me just tell you, then," Kate sighed softly. "Before the term even began, the Headmaster sensed that the Heir of Slytherin meant to secretly open the Chamber and unleash the Basilisk."
"So, before the other party could make a move, he personally invited me to arrange every detail of the Christmas study tour, ensuring that all the students were sent out of Hogwarts."
"And during that very window, he lured out the Basilisk himself and killed it. The proof is that Hogwarts castle really did undergo some renovations after Christmas."
"Those were most likely the spots the Headmaster accidentally damaged while battling the Basilisk. Once the fight was over, he restored the castle himself."
"And the other witness is Hagrid."
"You can ask him whether, over Christmas, the Headmaster had all the ghosts and pets moved outside the castle for him to look after."
"Now, seeing everyone spreading talk of the Chamber, he suspects the Heir of Slytherin may be scheming in the shadows again — which is exactly why he publicly announced the Basilisk's death: to get everyone to help find the Chamber together."
"That way, the true culprit behind it all won't be able to stir up trouble through rumors anymore."
"Harry, even though the Headmaster deceived everyone, I think he only wanted to put us at ease. After all — a Basilisk that's only just died versus one that's been dead for fifty years — which of them carries the greater menace? You should understand."
Once she'd finished this half-true, half-false spiel, even Kate couldn't help but admire herself.
She was actually this good at spinning a story!
Looking at Harry again, he was utterly dazed — clearly the sheer density of information was more than his brain could digest all at once.
Not being able to digest it was precisely the point!
Kate hurried to strike while the iron was hot: "I'm telling this to you and no one else, so that you can lay your doubts to rest."
"Since you were able to dream of the Basilisk, it means you have some connection to all this. Maybe finding the Chamber later will still come down to you."
Her words had all but flattered Harry into a daze. Struggling to process what Kate had just said, he shakily raised his index finger and pointed it at himself. "I can find the Chamber?"
"If not you, I can't think of any other reason you'd be having those dreams." Kate nodded solemnly.
"You have to understand — it was precisely because you argued your case with Professor Lockhart that the whole school started taking the rumors about the Chamber seriously. I truly believe you must be the Chosen One who'll find the entrance and open the Chamber!"
This pep talk set Harry's blood boiling. Without even bothering to dig into why he'd had those dreams in the first place, he nodded solemnly: "Don't worry — I'll definitely find the Chamber!"
"Good," Kate said, finally at ease. Then, recalling something, she added, "About that notebook you picked up — I think we ought to have it examined. There might be some dark magic cast on it…"
Harry understood at once and hurriedly drew from inside his robes the diary he'd been carrying with him all this time, handing it over to her.
With the key items now in hand, she needn't worry about being fingered later as the one who'd made this diary.
Kate took the diary with satisfaction. Seeing that Harry had been bamboozled nearly out of his senses, she thought for a moment and decided to give him one more nudge:
"Myrtle was the one killed in that bathroom back then. Maybe searching from the very starting point would be a bit quicker."
"I understand!" Harry nodded vigorously, then, brimming with lofty ambition, dashed off toward the second floor.
Ah, what a sin.
Watching the Savior she'd all but bamboozled silly, Kate silently muttered a "Merlin's beard."
Oh, wait — Merry doesn't have a beard.
Never mind, then.
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