Douglas vanished up the staircase in a few swift bounds, leaving the rest of the staff trailing behind, marveling at the energy of youth.
Back in the Great Hall, a wave of restless curiosity swept through the students.
They were desperate to follow and see what could possibly make Professor Holmes so anxious, but Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick, along with the prefects, quickly restored order.
When Douglas reached the staircase nearest the girls' bathroom, he found it had just shifted out of place.
Behind him, Dumbledore called out,
"Wait, Douglas!
What on earth is happening?"
At that moment, the staircase slid back into position—clearly, Dumbledore had exercised his Headmaster's authority.
Douglas offered only a terse reply:
"The Chamber... Voldemort!"
The three professors behind him froze in shock; Professor McGonagall even shuddered.
Dumbledore exchanged a grave look with Snape.
By then, Douglas had already leapt onto the moving staircase, and as it neared the corridor, he jumped off and sprinted straight for the bathroom.
Inside, the place was deserted.
He checked every stall—nothing.
Moments later, the other three caught up.
Professor McGonagall stared at him, incredulous.
"You're saying the legendary Slytherin's Chamber is in this girls' bathroom?
And that—Voldemort is inside the castle?
Just like last year?
Douglas, how could you possibly know this?"
She had already drawn her wand, her eyes sharp and wary—though whether her caution was aimed at Douglas or whatever enemy might appear was unclear.
Douglas swept his gaze around the tiled room.
He had no idea whether the culprit had already entered the Chamber or managed to escape.
When Professor McGonagall pressed him, he offered an awkward smile, then pointed at the tap engraved with a serpent.
"Take a look over there."
Both Snape and Dumbledore drew their wands, shooting Douglas a wary glance.
Douglas made no move for his own wand, instead folding his arms across his chest to show he had nothing to hide.
When the three professors saw the serpent-marked tap and the line of writing beside it—along with a detection device wedged in the pipes—even Dumbledore's expression darkened ominously.
"Professor Holmes," Dumbledore said quietly, "I expect someone here can explain what exactly happened tonight."
Douglas cleared his throat,
then quietly activated Occlumency, layering his mind with harmless memories and emotions.
Time to improvise.
"As you can see," he began, "I suspect this is the entrance to the Chamber...
Back when I was a student, curiosity got the better of me, and I asked Moaning Myrtle about her death.
According to her, right here in this bathroom, she saw a pair of yellow eyes...
She pointed me to this very sink.
That's when I noticed the serpent on the tap, and this inscription beside it...
Later—"
Professor McGonagall interrupted,
"Wait, Douglas—why were you in the girls' bathroom as a student?"
The other three exchanged glances—was this really the time? Still, it was a fair question.
If Douglas couldn't justify his presence here, everything else he said could be doubted.
Douglas managed a sheepish grin.
"Oh, you know how it is—sometimes, to avoid a bit of trouble, you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time..."
He shot a quick look at Snape.
Professor Snape snorted, but didn't press the point—accepting the explanation, at least for now.
Douglas pressed on,
"Where was I? Oh, right—so, after that, I did a lot of research.
There have always been legends about Slytherin's Chamber at Hogwarts.
Combining that with this inscription, I made a bold deduction:
That Voldemort was likely a Slytherin, and may have inherited Slytherin's legacy.
Which would explain the message:
'Welcome home, Mr. Voldemort.'
Clearly, he sees the Chamber as his home. That phrase might even be the password to open it.
"Looking at all the clues—Slytherin, snakes, Parseltongue, yellow eyes—I combed through every book I could find, and concluded the Chamber probably holds a basilisk...
"Of course, Moaning Myrtle died over forty years ago, so there's a lot I couldn't learn—like who originally opened the Chamber..."
Douglas wove half-truths with practiced ease, his story sounding perfectly plausible.
As for pinning his own youthful mischief on Voldemort, he felt not the slightest twinge of guilt.
Someone had to carry the blame, after all.
Snape frowned, clearly weighing the truth of Douglas's words.
Professor McGonagall pressed further,
"But why didn't you tell the staff about your discovery at the time?"
Douglas shrugged,
"Professor, everyone believed Voldemort was dead then.
And obviously, I'm not the Heir of Slytherin—even if I'd found the Chamber, I couldn't have opened it.
If word got out, and some Slytherin really did inherit the legacy, what then?"
Snape muttered something under his breath, but Douglas didn't catch it.
Instead, Snape turned and began prodding the serpent tap with his wand, as if being Head of Slytherin might grant him access to the Chamber.
Dumbledore seemed to recall something, clapping his hands softly.
"An excellent deduction.
Let me hazard a guess myself:
After our conversation before term, when you learned Voldemort was still alive and could enter Hogwarts by certain means,
you set up this alarm system here—to prevent him from accessing the Chamber?
"And your practical lessons for the younger years—I suppose those were inspired by the basilisk as well.
But how did you know Voldemort would definitely come to the castle and unleash the basilisk?
Last year was all about the Philosopher's Stone, and I doubt a basilisk could grant him immortality..."
Douglas felt the weight of Dumbledore's gaze behind those half-moon spectacles.
He was briefly tempted to make a joke, but thought better of it.
"In truth, Headmaster, I didn't know for certain...
You know the rumors about the Defence Against the Dark Arts post—since I was appointed, I've tried to take every precaution I could think of to avoid any... unfortunate accidents.
Especially with the Chamber entrance so close to my office, I thought it best to be careful.
"As for the lesson plans—pure inspiration, nothing more."
Dumbledore coughed awkwardly.
Professor McGonagall looked at him as if unsure whether to scold or praise.
Snape, still examining the entrance, let out a derisive snort.
But then they all noticed Douglas's expression grow serious.
"In fact, I didn't set up any detection device here at first.
It wasn't until rumors began circulating that I'd unleashed some monster on the school...
I knew I hadn't released anything, but I couldn't be sure it wasn't a basilisk.
So, just in case, I installed an early-warning system here.
"Clearly, my instincts were right.
Especially after what Hagrid said tonight—two of his chickens killed this term, both times matching up perfectly.
'The only thing that can scare off a basilisk is a rooster's crow—it's fatal to them.'
"So, I'm certain this isn't just some clever student stumbling onto the Chamber's secret...
It's almost certainly Voldemort himself, one of his followers, or the Heir of Slytherin..."
At this, the faces of the other professors all darkened.
~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~
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