A wave of murmurs spread through the crowd. Although this time there were no blood-red letters, there were actually animal bones regurgitated by a snake.
This was terrifying! Everyone—whether a wizard from a pure-blood family or a Muggle-born—felt the same instinct: their families needed to be informed immediately.
And judging by the sheer amount of it, there was a massive pile of bones on the ground, still sticky with digestive fluids.
The thought of possibly being swallowed by a snake and then spat out in this state was enough to make the bolder students feel nauseous, while the more timid ones had already started crying.
"Tonight, everyone will stay in the first-floor hall. The prefects and some professors will take turns on night watch. Hogwarts needs to undergo a full-scale search."
Dumbledore knew he couldn't calm the students down by simply telling them to return to their dormitories—it would only create more panic and lead to a wave of messages being sent to their families, which would make things harder to control. To ease their fears, the best course of action was to gather everyone together, let them stay in a safe, shared space, and have the professors search the school. Actions, after all, spoke louder than words.
The prefects of the four houses each organized their younger housemates, and the entire group moved in a grand procession to the first-floor hall.
Dumbledore drew his Elder Wand and gave it a wave—at once, the hall lit up brightly. With another wave, all the tables and chairs automatically moved to the sides. A final wave, and four rows of sleep sacks, color-coded to each house, were neatly laid out.
This was the first time Regulus Black had seen the legendary Elder Wand, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited.
According to legend, it was the wand Death himself crafted from elder wood—the most powerful wand in existence, but also the most disloyal. If a master ever lost a duel, the wand would no longer serve them properly. Voldemort had struggled with it for this very reason—failing to understand its true nature, he had tried to wield it by force, only damaging it in the process.
But now was not the time. To claim the Elder Wand, he would have to wait until after Dumbledore's death. This wasn't something that could be rushed.
Although it seemed like a simple task—moving furniture and laying out sleep sacks—Dumbledore's arrangement of the hall was actually laced with enchantments. The residual magic had already formed a protective barrier: anything attempting to enter without going through the main entrance would trigger an alarm—and possibly an attack.
At the front door, several professors and prefects were stationed on watch. Whatever creature might try to enter, it would face over ten wands ready to strike.
"The male and female prefects from each house will take turns on guard. Regulus! You'll stay and assist them."
Dumbledore then appointed a few lower-ranking professors to remain behind as well, and led the core staff—the main subject professors—on the search.
To search all of Hogwarts in a single night? That was laughable. The immense castle hadn't been built in a day. It was originally founded a thousand years ago by the four founders, and over time, generations of wizards had modified and expanded it. Though the outer structure hadn't changed much, the interior had long since become a labyrinth. Even Dumbledore himself had admitted that there were secrets within the school even he didn't know.
Secret passages and hidden chambers connected Hogwarts like a pocket dimension. Even Regulus Black's system-provided map couldn't display every single path. If someone were to attempt building a fully transparent 3D map, they'd likely go mad trying to represent all the secret spaces and passageways.
However, the system's map did have one advantage—it was based on the concept of portals. Each secret passage or hidden room would simply show its exit location, like the one that had taken him and Hermione from the first to the eighth floor.
And the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, as Regulus had known for a while, was located in the second-floor girls' bathroom.
He had always known this—but the issue was Parseltongue, and so the matter had been shelved.
If only he'd thought ahead when finalizing the settings for the Horcrux [Slytherin's Locket] and included Parseltongue as one of its traits.
At the time, the traits he chose were: "Additional control over serpent-type creatures and draconic bloodline," and "Additional ownership of Forbidden Forest land deed and racial covenant."
Regulus Black could now freely control serpent-type creatures. That huge pile of animal bones had been the result of dozens of snakes devouring and then regurgitating the animals. The whole process was quick—but it harmed the snakes' lifespans.
To be able to completely control snakes, and yet be unable to open the chamber simply because he couldn't speak Parseltongue—how ridiculous was that?
Even Regulus himself found it laughable when he thought about it.
"Black! A lot of kids still can't sleep—why don't we organize something to liven things up?"
Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in golden silk pajamas, had also been assigned by Dumbledore to stay behind. Noticing Regulus in a daze, he leaned over and made this completely awful suggestion.
He clearly wanted to stir things up. Can't sleep? Then get hype? Hype your damn head.
"I know some of you can't sleep. If you want to get up, raise your hand."
A faint smirk appeared on Regulus Black's lips. He wanted to see just how many troublemakers there really were.
Immediately, many hands shot up across the hall. Though they were lying in their sleeping bags, a quick count showed over thirty hands.
Most of them were from Gryffindor, with a few from Hufflepuff and Slytherin.
"Very well! Stupefy!"
Regulus Black waved his wand, and a surge of magic burst from its tip, hitting the raised hands with perfect accuracy.
All the previously raised hands immediately dropped, followed by the sound of snoring—deep and peaceful. The other students who were also unable to sleep but hadn't raised their hands were startled, lifting their heads slightly to sneak glances at their now-slumbering classmates.
Gilderoy Lockhart's smile froze on his face. Yes—it was that awkward but politely forced kind of smile.
"You see, the children are all asleep. Clearly, they were exhausted and frightened today. We should focus on our duties instead."
Regulus Black gave Lockhart a firm pat on the back before walking over to the eight male and female prefects.
The eight prefects were still stunned by Regulus Black's earlier move. Wands in hand and pointed at the assistant professor, they were unsure of what he wanted.
Regulus sheathed his wand and with a quick flick of his wrist, pulled out four cards. The backs bore the Hogwarts crest; the fronts showed two groups of words—Sleep and Watch Duty.
"Each house sends one person. If you draw 'Sleep,' go to bed. After midnight, those on duty will wake you to switch shifts."
With a wave, the cards floated into the air, shuffling themselves as if guided by invisible hands. Then they turned face-up toward Regulus and hovered in place.
The eight prefects exchanged looks and quickly agreed on a "ladies first" approach—only the female prefects stepped forward to draw.
In the end, Slytherin and Ravenclaw would take the first watch, while Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were assigned the second half of the night.
After witnessing Regulus Black's earlier mass-casting of Stupefy, the four prefects who drew 'Sleep' wasted no time climbing into their sleeping bags, while the remaining four found places to sit for their watch.
Above the hall, the ceiling was now glittering with starlight—as if it didn't exist at all, revealing a clear night sky filled with stars.
Aside from a few students whispering quietly because they couldn't sleep, the hall had fallen into silence.
"Ron, what do you think about what happened today?"
Harry Potter couldn't sleep. He stretched out his hand from the sleeping bag and nudged Ron beside him.
"I think those were bones regurgitated by the monster from the Chamber after it had eaten."
Ron hadn't fallen asleep either. He had considered raising his hand earlier, but hadn't expected the outcome to be like that—Assistant Professor Black had used Stupefy in a sweeping, indiscriminate fashion. Sure, the spell had put them into a deep sleep, but if they needed to be moved later, waking them up would be a real problem.
"Then that means someone has already opened the Chamber and released the creature inside. Based on what the professors have said, the monster should be a type of serpent."
Harry activated what little brainpower he had and began piecing things together.
"The only thing we don't know now is: what kind of serpent is it exactly? Since even Dumbledore is this nervous, it must be a really powerful one."
Well done, Ron - he was already close to the correct answer.
"You should read more books when you have time. Otherwise, your brain will shrink."
A quiet chuckle drifted over from the Slytherin side. The hall was so silent that even soft voices could be heard.
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