As Harry finished speaking, the world finally quieted down.
"...I'm not talking about you, that voice, it..." Harry noticed Hermione's dazed expression and hurriedly explained. But before he could finish, he saw the others nearby—everyone around was looking at him.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Harry was a bit confused, even if he yelled at Hermione to shut up, why would everyone else...
"Ha-Harry, are you a Parseltongue?" Nearby, Cormac MacLaggen asked incredulously.
"What? What's a Parsel..." Harry instinctively shouted.
"No, don't say anything, Harry, let's leave here first..." Hermione interrupted Harry's inquiry, pulling his arm and quickly passing through the crowd that had begun buzzing again, leaving the hall.
But the impact Harry left wasn't over; it radiated outwards from where he stood, and soon almost everyone in the hall knew Harry was a Parseltongue. Everyone started discussing it until Professor McGonagall released two fireworks to the ceiling, finally redirecting their attention.
"Didn't expect Harry Potter to be a Parseltongue," Ernie Macmillan whispered, "Is he the great-great-great-grandson of Slytherin? Then why was he sorted into Gryffindor by the Sorting Hat?"
"Perhaps..." Cedric wanted to say something, but William interrupted him, "Follow me." He grabbed the boy's shoulder and led him quickly towards the exit.
...
"...Wait, Hermione, what does it mean?"
In the castle's second-floor corridor, Harry finally couldn't stand the silent atmosphere anymore. He stopped, pulling Hermione to a halt as well, "What happened? Why do you all look at me like that? Like I'm a...a monster?"
"Harry, you're a Parseltongue, don't you know?" Hermione turned her head with a voice full of disbelief.
"What...I'm a what?"
"Parseltongue, you can speak to snakes, right?"
"Yes, and it's not the first time." Harry frowned, instinctively nodding, "I even met a Brazilian python that hadn't been to Brazil; it wanted to attack my cousin Dudley because I let it out of the glass cabinet. But it wasn't intentional; I didn't even know I was a wizard then..."
"...Well, a Brazilian python that hasn't been to Brazil, Harry, that's awful." Hermione clutched her head, helplessly squatting down.
"Hey, what's wrong? Can you just tell me directly, isn't speaking to snakes something at least half the people in the hall can do? It's nothing for a wizard..." Harry was getting impatient.
"No, I can't."
"Uh...I can't do it either."
"Squeak."
"What...William?"
Harry instinctively turned around, only to find two figures behind him...and a cat and mouse.
"Kabuda says it can't do it either." William bent down carefully, avoiding any physical contact with Harry, feeling odd being called 'mum' by a young boy. "Harry, you're a Parseltongue?"
"Snake...yes, I can speak to snakes..." Harry nodded a bit self-destructively.
"Hmm...so, is Potter perhaps related to the Gaunt Family?" William stroked his chin, "Have you checked your family tree?"
"?" Harry opened his mouth, wanting to say he hadn't even seen his father.
"Speaking to snakes, historically the most famous wizard with this ability—" Seeing Harry's puzzled face, William explained, "is called Salazar Slytherin. And this ability is hereditary."
"...Do you mean?"
"Yes, Harry, you might be a descendant of Slytherin." Hermione stood up, nodded, "This means you might be...the heir to the Secret Chamber."
"...But I am not." Harry's voice trembled.
"We know you're not, but others..."
"Tell me the details."
William interrupted Hermione's comforting, rubbing his chin, having a feeling that he was missing a clue.
"Um, what..."
"How did you suddenly speak Parseltongue just now?"
"Because..." Harry instinctively glanced at Hermione, then said, "I heard that voice again, the sound before each attack, it was annoying, and I couldn't hold back, so..."
"What sound?" Cedric, who had been listening for a while, instinctively asked.
"Don't interrupt." Pinching Cedric's mouth, William turned to Hermione, "…You heard it too?" He remembered last night, Hermione told him she and Harry heard it, he thought it was a special power of the protagonist group.
"I...well, no, I didn't hear it." Hermione struggled a bit but eventually admitted the truth.
"So, after hearing the voice, you instinctively spoke Parseltongue?" A look of realization appeared in William's eyes, but he continued, "Now try saying something in Parseltongue again?"
"Uh...shut up!" Harry frowned, attempting to say.
"That's English." William nodded, "Good, now it's all clear."
"Uh, what's clear..." Hermione was perplexed.
"This has nothing to do with wizards of your age, you two better hurry back to the common room..." William nodded to Cedric, and they both tacitly turned and left simultaneously.
"Wait—"
Hermione wanted to stop William, the mystery-talking scoundrel, but just a corner later, she lost sight of him.
…
In the Hufflepuff dormitory.
"So, what exactly did you understand?" After nearly half a year, the interaction between Cedric and William was now much more relaxed.
"Don't rush." William stood by the wall, a red-brick fireplace turned out, he grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, "Weren't you curious why I could defeat Snape?"
"...Uh, aren't we discussing Harry's Parseltongue now?"
"Follow me, I'll tell you."
"Hey, listen to me!"
"Room of—"
"..."
Watching William disappear in the flames of Floo Powder, Cedric took a deep breath, hesitated no more, grabbed some Floo Powder on the mantel, mimicking William's words, "Room of!"
"Cough cough—"
The green flames swallowed the boy, and as the scene before him finally stopped changing, he quickly stepped out of the fireplace.
"Tweet—"
With a pop, a yellow Diricawl suddenly appeared above the boy's head, then burped and disappeared again.
Cedric scratched his head in confusion, looking at the somewhat cramped room that, despite being night outside, was still flooded with sunlight from the skylight above. Pots along the wall were filled with various plants, the boy felt they looked familiar as if he'd seen them before. Then Kabuda slinked out of his trousers...
Wait, when did it go in?
"Don't touch anything recklessly, especially the Chomping Cabbage over there, unless you want to lose a couple of fingers. And the room inside, don't go in, I have a big dog—and...Dobby!"
"Dobby is here!" A house-elf in a child's sized suit appeared in front of the two.
"You even have a house-elf?" Cedric's expression of confusion deepened.
"Take care of this kid, make sure he's protected...I'll be back in a while."
William ignored the boy's questions, quickly instructing the elf while stepping into another room around the corner.
Leaving just the boy and the elf staring at each other.
"No, you..."
"Bang—"
Responding to Cedric was only the tightly shut door.
After closing the door, William sat at the desk, grabbed the diary from the nearby pile of books, and laid it open on the desk with his previously jotted nonsensical writings still visible.
Silently pondering for a moment, William began to write, "Voldemort, the Basilisk you released bit and killed more than half of the people in the school, even Dumbledore was bitten to death! Are you satisfied now, you cold-blooded person, I will never forgive you, never!"
This time, the words on the diary finally slowly disappeared, until after a while, a symbol appeared slowly—
"?"