Chapter 87: Harry's discovery
Neither Harry nor Ron knew how they had spent the night.
Sherlock didn't impose any punishment on them. Hogwarts was about to close the school. Whether it was deduction of points or confinement, it would have no effect on punishment.
So Harry and the others were put back into the Gryffindor lounge, but the guilt in their hearts still kept them awake all night.
By the next morning, when they went to the auditorium for breakfast in the black circle, Dumbledore also came into the auditorium.
He announced the closure of the school in front of all Hogwarts students.
This caused an uproar in the auditorium, some people were rejoicing, some people looked in disbelief, and some people were shouting that Hogwarts couldn't close the school.
But they didn't have the right to call the shots. After Dumbledore announced that Hogwarts was completely closed, and the Hogwarts Express would send them home tomorrow, he left the auditorium.
The back of his departure gave people a feeling of despair and loneliness.
After he left, the students continued to talk loudly, Gryffindor was blaming the Slytherin House, saying that the Chamber of Secrets was what they did, and the two Houses almost fought in the auditorium.
In the end, under the forcible intervention of Professor McGonagall and Snape, the two academies obediently returned to their lounge to pack their things.
Naturally, there will be no class today. After breakfast, every student is ordered to stay in the lounge not to go out at will.
In Harry's bedroom, Dean was chatting with Seamus about what he was going to do when he got home, Neville was sitting on the head of the bed in a daze, and Harry was discussing with Ron about leaving Hogwarts. Before that, go see Hermione again.
"I heard Percy say that those petrified students will be sent to St. Mungo's Magic Hospital to wait for the mandrakes to mature. I just don't know if the professor will notify Hermione's family."
Ron said sullenly.
Harry got off the bed.
"Let's go, let's go to Professor McGonagall and talk to her, we remember seeing Hermione one last time."
Ron glared at him.
"You're crazy! Professor McGonagall won't agree." Then he looked at Dean and the others, and said in a low voice, "If you really want to go, we can sneak in an invisibility cloak in the middle of the night... ..."
Harry shook his head in rejection.
"No, I don't want to bother the professors like that anymore, Ron, if we just reported everything to the school in the first place, then Hermione wouldn't have any of this. Let's go to Professor McGonagall. , ask her to allow us to go."
Ron finally sighed.
"Okay, I hope Professor McGonagall will agree."
They left the dormitory together. Professor McGonagall was in the Gryffindor common room. The deans of each academy guarded the students in the common room of their respective academies to prevent anyone from sneaking away.
"We want to see Hermione, Professor." Harry lowered his head, "After Hogwarts was closed, we probably won't see her for a long time, so we want to go before leaving school tomorrow. Look at her for the last time, okay?"
Ron also pleaded honestly at this time.
"Please professor, we just want to see Hermione."
Professor McGonagall stared at them. She didn't get angry or drive them back. There was a strange trembling in her voice.
"Okay." She looked at Harry with tears in her eyes, "I can understand how you feel as a friend...if you want to go, I can let you go to the school infirmary and come to Why don't you tell Madam Pomfrey that I let you go."
Harry and Ron had surprised looks in their eyes. They didn't expect that they were not hindered by Professor McGonagall.
They left the Gryffindor lounge, trotted to the school infirmary, and told Madam Pomfrey that Professor McGonagall had given them permission to visit Hermione.
Madam Pomfrey let them in, but reluctantly.
"She can't move her whole body now, and she can't hear you talking. It's pointless to visit her."
She was right, looking at Hermione's still face, Ron's mood was very low.
"If we had listened to her earlier, she wouldn't be lying here now, and Hogwarts wouldn't be closed tomorrow."
Although Harry was in a bad mood, he was attracted by Hermione's clenched right hand.
There was a little white corner exposed, and Harry leaned in only to find that she was holding a ball of paper in her hand!
He patted Ron's arm, signaling his own discovery.
"We're going to take it out." Ron whispered.
Then he deliberately moved the chair to block Madam Pomfrey's sight, allowing Harry to move more easily.
This process took him several minutes, and he finally took it out of Hermione's hands without tearing the note.
They spread out the note and saw the words on it.
This is a sticky note with two words vaguely written on it.
"The Basilisk~www.NovelMTL.com~Pipe".
Ron looked at these two words at a loss, but a bright light suddenly flashed in Harry's mind!
He grabbed Ron's arm suddenly.
"Here's a clue Hermione left us!" said Harry excitedly, "that monster is a basilisk! No wonder! No wonder I hear that strange noise every time someone is attacked, because I'm a parsley I can understand Snake. It's moving through pipes in the castle, and that's why no one noticed it when it attacked!"
Ron also got excited with him, but when the two were discussing and preparing to tell the professors everything they had discovered, they calmed down and found out.
Even knowing the true identity of the monster and the way it moves in the castle doesn't help the current situation in the slightest.
Because through these, they have no way to find the entrance to the secret room.
The Hogwarts Castle is so large that it can accommodate students in the next seven years, and it still looks empty. There are seven horizontal and eight vertical pipes connecting all over the place. It is undoubtedly a huge project to investigate the openings of these pipes.
But even if it was a small discovery, Harry and Ron planned to report it.
Last night, Sherlock's words could be regarded as scolding them to wake them up. Their self-righteousness will only harm everyone.
So, Harry and Ron hurriedly left the school hospital and returned to the Gryffindor lounge to tell Professor McGonagall what they found.
But found that Professor McGonagall had left the common room, and the person in charge of guarding the room became a prefect.
Percy wouldn't let Harry and Ron go out again.
Before he left, Professor McGonagall explained to him that no one could leave the lounge before leaving school tomorrow morning to take the Hogwarts Express.