The professors, who'd been out of the picture for a while, finally got their moment to shine.
When Audrina was dragged out of the Chamber of Secrets by the professors, she was barely clinging to life. Her hair was stark white, her face wrinkled like old parchment, and her skin sagged as if she were an eighty-year-old crone. The Diadem had drained her life force completely.
Carried out alongside her was the smaller Basilisk. Its body was perfectly preserved—bones shattered but eyes, fangs, scales, and flesh all intact. Though its deadly gaze no longer worked after its death, it could still be used to craft petrification potions or artifacts.
When the students saw the Basilisk, gasps and shouts filled the air. Even those who didn't know what it was could tell from its massive size and terrifying appearance that it was no creature to mess with.
When word got out that Dudley had taken down the beast and resolved the Chamber crisis, everyone was floored. That's our Dursley! His reputation at Hogwarts soared even higher. Even Gryffindors spoke his name with admiration.
The crisis was over. No more living in fear.
---
Meanwhile, the hero of the hour, Dudley, sat at his desk, scribbling a letter. As Hedwig flapped her wings and took off into the sky, Dudley stood on the castle's lookout tower, feeling the breeze brush his face, gazing into the distance.
Now, it was just a matter of waiting.
As the saying goes, some rejoice while others despair.
That very night, a certain someone lounging in his manor, enjoying the high life, received some very bad news. It was enough to make him lose all traces of aristocratic composure, jumping up in a rage.
Three days later, at dawn.
The students were seated at the long tables in the Great Hall, ready to dig into a hearty breakfast, when the doors burst open with a bang, slamming against the walls.
Lucius Malfoy stormed in like a whirlwind, heading straight for the staff table, his face pale with fury, his expression practically murderous.
This time, Minister Fudge wasn't with him. Lucius had come alone.
"Good morning, Lucius," Dumbledore said pleasantly, clearly in a good mood. "Have you had breakfast? Care to join us?"
Lucius glared daggers at Dumbledore, striding forward. He looked awful—haggard, bloodshot eyes practically blazing with rage. If looks could cast spells, Dumbledore would've been hit with a dozen curses already.
Gritting his teeth, Lucius hissed through clenched jaws, "Dumbledore!"
Just the night before, he'd received devastating news: the remaining eleven Hogwarts governors had unanimously voted, with approval from the Ministry of Magic and a ruling from the Wizengamot, to strip Lucius of his position as a governor.
Effective immediately.
The governors' vote, the Ministry's approval, the Wizengamot's ruling—if even one of those steps had faltered, Lucius would've kept his seat. He'd spent days trying to reverse the decision, pulling every string he had, but everyone—everyone—was resolute.
There was no room for negotiation.
Lucius couldn't wrap his head around it. Why?
After throwing around a fortune, he finally got a hint: Hogwarts.
Hogwarts. That meant Dumbledore, didn't it?
At that moment, Lucius was so furious he could've exploded. Gone was his usual polished demeanor. He didn't wait a second longer and charged to the castle.
"How dare you take my governorship!" he roared. "The Malfoy family has been part of Hogwarts' board for generations! Do you have any idea what we've sacrificed?"
Lucius would not let the Malfoy legacy lose such a prestigious position on his watch. Sure, governors had little direct power within Hogwarts itself, but the role carried weight in the wizarding world. Why else would a Malfoy cling to it so fiercely?
Dumbledore gave a helpless shrug. "Lucius, I'm afraid you've got it wrong. This has nothing to do with me."
"If not you, then who?" Lucius snapped.
Who had the influence to sway all eleven governors? Who had the clout to move the Ministry and the Wizengamot?
Lucius had already taken a massive hit when Voldemort rose to power, thanks to his own bad investments. It had cost the Malfoys a fortune just to keep him out of Azkaban.
Even then, Ministry officials who had it out for him kept finding excuses to raid his manor every other day.
Losing the governorship would be another blow to the Malfoy name's influence in the wizarding world.
"Lucius, mate."
A familiar voice rang out from the Slytherin table.
Lucius turned and saw a familiar figure: Richmond Carrow, the current head of the Carrow family. A young man who, right after graduating, had ruthlessly ousted the previous head and turned the family's failing business around with sharp, cutthroat precision, saving the Carrows from ruin.
Carrow spoke calmly, unfazed. "This was the decision of the remaining eleven governors."
"Why would you do this?" Lucius demanded, glaring at him.
Carrow didn't flinch under Lucius's fury. Others might fear him, but not Carrow. He'd uncovered evidence tying Lucius to that shady deal with Gilderoy Lockhart and the acquisition of Witch Weekly and Potions Press.
"Why?" Carrow stood up from the Slytherin table, meeting Lucius's gaze head-on. His voice was sharp as he snapped, "You have the nerve to ask why?"
He dropped the polite "uncle" he'd used out of respect for a senior figure. The moment Lucius had crossed him, they were enemies.
"You thought Professor Dumbledore was incompetent, didn't you? You used every trick in the book—threats, bribes—to get him sacked as headmaster and dragged off to face the Wizengamot."
"And the moment you got Dumbledore out of the way, that puppet master in the shadows made their move."
Carrow's presence was commanding, while Lucius's eyes darted nervously. Guilt was written all over his face. Of course he was guilty.
It was Lucius who had slipped Ginny Weasley that cursed diary from Voldemort. He knew it was a dangerous dark artifact.
Deep down, a twisted part of him had hoped it would work. Maybe the Weasleys would lose a daughter. They had so many kids—what was one less? It wasn't an unacceptable loss in his mind.
Lucius, with his single son, couldn't help but feel a bitter jealousy toward the Weasleys' large family.
But Carrow's next words crushed that hope.
"Because of your misjudgment, the Shafiq family's daughter paid a terrible price."
"She had her life force drained and is still lying in St. Mungo's, her fate uncertain."
"Lucius, you are fully responsible for this!"
---