Chapter 145: Opening the Secret Chamber

Dumbledore's office was warm and cozy, surrounded by towering bookshelves packed to the brim with books.

At this moment, the old man was slumped over his desk, reading a book while munching on pumpkin pasties. The fireplace crackled with a warm glow, and he was living quite a comfortable life.

Ma Jun walked over unceremoniously, dropped heavily onto the seat opposite him, picked up a small pastry from the plate on the table, and began to eat it.

"Ah, it's you, Professor Ma. Well, judging by your expression, things seem to be going quite smoothly?" Dumbledore looked up and said with a smile.

"Exactly!" Ma Jun nodded. "I have preliminarily determined the location of the Chamber of Secrets' entrance!"

"What?" Dumbledore said with pleasant surprise, "Where is it?"

"Right in the girls' bathroom where Moaning Myrtle hangs out. Additionally, Harry also told me the detailed events of that night. I deduce that the monster inside the Chamber of Secrets should be a basilisk! I once read in a book about a creature called a basilisk. Anyone who looks directly into its eyes will die instantly. That is what happened to Myrtle. As for Mrs. Norris being petrified, she must have seen the basilisk's eyes through the reflection of the puddle on the floor!"

"So that's how it was..." Dumbledore murmured thoughtfully, though whether he was feigning ignorance or genuinely clueless was impossible to tell.

After a moment, Dumbledore continued, "Then, Professor Ma, how do you think we should go about finding the culprit?"

"There are no clues to be found among the students..." Ma Jun frowned. "The best method, and the only foolproof yet crude way, is to stake out the Chamber of Secrets. The moment the culprit tries to open it, we can catch them red-handed!"

"Who do you think the culprit might be?" Dumbledore inquired.

"From what it looks like now, if the basilisk is the one acting, then even an ordinary student could pull it off, as long as they can control the basilisk!" Ma Jun analyzed. "To be honest, the most suspicious person is Harry, because he is the only Parselmouth. But Harry wouldn't do something like this. As for the others, anyone could potentially speak Parselmouth; as long as they keep it hidden, we wouldn't suspect them at all!"

"To my knowledge, Salazar Slytherin himself was a Parselmouth!" Dumbledore mused. "Aside from him, I know of no one else in the school who can speak Parselmouth. After all, even in the wizarding world, very few wizards understand snake language."

"Well then, for now, we can only wait for the other party to slip up!" Ma Jun shrugged.

"That seems to be our only option..." Dumbledore said as well. "Let's keep this matter strictly confidential for now, and the two of us will jointly monitor the girls' bathroom! Sorry to trouble you, Professor Ma!"

An old man and a young fellow keeping watch over a girls' bathroom—did that not feel somewhat strange?

Ma Jun nodded helplessly in agreement, and then left Dumbledore's office.

……

In the days that followed, aside from perfunctorily strolling over to the girls' bathroom during his free periods, Ma Jun spent the rest of his time quite leisurely.

No further attacks occurred in the school, and the students gradually cast the petrification incidents to the back of their minds.

Soon, the Quidditch match arrived.

Ma Jun accepted Hermione's invitation to go watch the game together.

This sort of sports match was moderately entertaining, except that as Ma Jun watched, he couldn't help but maliciously wonder: when these kids sat on broomsticks, didn't their groins hurt terribly?

A minor accident occurred during the match when two Bludgers lost control and repeatedly attacked Harry.

This, of course, was the handiwork of Dobby the house-elf. That creature, yearning for boundless freedom and unbridled wildness, perhaps lacked a few screws loose in his head. He might have wanted to drive Harry out of school so he wouldn't be threatened by the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, but what he actually did almost ended up finishing Harry off.

Fortunately, it was a close call with no fatal harm; Harry only broke his arm and stayed in the hospital wing for a while.

By the time Christmas had passed, the Chamber of Secrets still had not been opened again.

It made Ma Jun somewhat impatient. He knew Voldemort's diary was with Ginny, and several times he had the urge to forcibly break into the girls' dormitory and steal it out.

Finally, the plot steered back onto its original track. At midnight on this day, Ma Jun found the person he was waiting for in the girls' bathroom.

Ginny Weasley, her small, frail figure walking stealthily through the pitch-black corridor, her expression vacant and dazed, cradling a black diary against her chest.

Clearly, this young girl was being manipulated by Voldemort and was heading out to open the Chamber of Secrets.

Like a creepy stalker, Ma Jun quietly tailed the young girl all the way to the girls' bathroom.

With Ma Jun's stealth abilities, probably only Voldemort himself, had he been physically present, could have detected Ma Jun's existence at such close range. Ginny, completely controlled, felt nothing at all.

After stepping into the bathroom, Ginny walked straight toward the sinks. Knowing nothing now, like a walking corpse, she muttered low words in Parselmouth toward the sink.

Following a dazzling transformation of the sinks, a passageway was revealed. Seeing that Ginny was about to enter, Ma Jun made his move.

He effortlessly cast a spell on Ginny; the latter froze instantly and collapsed unconscious onto the floor a moment later.

Ma Jun walked forward, picked up the notebook from the ground, gently stroked it, and then flicked his wand to release a beam of light into the air that shot out of the girls' bathroom and vanished.

Shortly afterward, Peeves burst in, giving a comical salute, "Respected Ma Jun... Whoa, what is this, a secret passage? Oh, it's... the Chamber of Secrets!"

"Peeves, I have a task for you now!" Ma Jun said to the astonished Peeves. "Go notify Professor Dumbledore to come here. Remember, do not disturb anyone else! Hurry up."

"Yes!"

Ever since he was disciplined by Ma Jun last time, Peeves had become Ma Jun's loyal lackey, and he vanished in a flash of smoke.

About five minutes later, Dumbledore led a group of professors as they hurried over to the girls' bathroom.

"Oh, Merlin, there really is a Chamber of Secrets! Incredible, that legend was actually true!"

……

"Professor Ma, well done!" Dumbledore stepped forward and looked down at Ginny on the floor. "This student is..."

"She seems to have been controlled by a dark magic, remaining in a daze all this time. After she used Parselmouth to open the Chamber of Secrets, I stunned her!" Ma Jun explained. "Right now, our top priority is to go down into the Chamber of Secrets and eliminate the basilisk inside! Once everything is resolved, we can investigate this student's situation."

"Quite right!" Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "Professor McGonagall, I must trouble you to take this student to the hospital wing and stay by her side. The rest of the professors will guard this place. I need to descend into the Chamber of Secrets."

"I'll go with you..." Ma Jun said.

"Hmph..." Professor Snape at the side let out a cold snort. "Young professor, surely you don't think a basilisk is something that can be easily dealt with. You'd better let me go instead!"

"The three of us will go together, and the remaining professors will hold the fort here!" Dumbledore stated.