Chapter 174 Suspect List
"This is the result of my efforts during this time," Aaron explained triumphantly. "I precisely analyzed the family backgrounds of all the students in the school, excluding Muggle-borns, those with no relation to Salazar within ten generations, and Wizards who behaved normally during their time at school. In the end, only these twenty-three remained."
"Are these all the students you found who could potentially be Slytherin's heir?" Harry asked, somewhat confused. "Why isn't Harry Potter here?
Isn't he a Parselmouth?"
"Goyle, you're being a bit prejudiced," Aaron said meaningfully. "The heir will definitely be a Parselmouth, that's beyond doubt, but not everyone who is a Parselmouth is necessarily the heir.
Harry might have Salazar's bloodline, but he would never use that power to harm others."
"You trust him that much?" Harry avoided Aaron's gaze, feeling ashamed when comparing their actions.
"My judgment of people is quite accurate." Aaron walked to the middle of the wall, waved his wand lightly, and all the names that had been crossed out disappeared. The remaining names gathered from various parts of the wall to the center.
The twenty-three names suddenly grew larger, glowing with a green light.
"This is impossible."
Ron suddenly stood up, looking at one of the names in surprise.
Ginny Weasley, his own sister, was also on the list of suspects.
"Calm down, Crabbe," Aaron said helplessly. "I don't know if any of your friends are on here, but these are all carefully selected by me, so there shouldn't be any mistakes."
Ron paused, then quickly adjusted his expression.
He pointed to Ginny Weasley's name, which stood out to him, and asked, "Isn't this a mistake? How could a Weasleybe connected to Slytherin!"
Harry and Hermione, hearing this, also looked at Aaron incredulously, especially Harry. He had lived at The Burrowfor a month during the holidays and understood the Weasley family well.
Ginny was the youngest sister in the Weasley family, a true Gryffindor, and the Weasley family's ancestors had no connection whatsoever with Slytherin.
"To be honest, she's the last person I wanted to suspect," Aaron said with some regret. "I stayed at The Burrow for two days a few days before school started, and Ginny Weasley is a really nice little girl."
"Then you still..."
"Let me finish, Crabbe.
Firstly, Ginny is a first-year student. Based on my analysis, it's more likely that Slytherin's heir is a first-year, though I haven't ruled out older students either.
Secondly, you might not have noticed, but I've observed that Ginny has been quite unusual these past few days. Fred, George, Percy, and Ron, the four Weasleys, are always trying to cheer her up in various ways.
I actually hoped it was just academic pressure making her gloomy and out of sorts, but she was too tense before and after Justin was attacked.
To me, that kind of behavior looked like someone who had done something terribly wrong and was afraid of being discovered."
"Maybe it's just simple fear!" Ron offered a plausible reason for his sister. Encountering a murder in her first term of school, it was natural for a little girl to be scared!
"Perhaps, but if we rule out fear, Ginny Weasley's suspicion is the greatest."
"What about the others?" Hermione asked. "Why are the remaining twenty-two people on this list?"
"Draco," Aaron frowned in confusion. "You used to trust me a lot, but why so many questions today?"
"Curiosity."
Aaron shrugged, pointing at the names. "Besides Ginny Weasley, some of the remaining people are orphans who grew up in orphanages, whose family backgrounds are untraceable. They are either Muggle-born or half-blood, and it's unknown if they have Salazar's bloodline.
Some became taciturn or unusually agitated after the attacks began, and their contact with others greatly decreased. This could be simple fear, but it could also be worry about being exposed.
And a small portion have inherently bad personalities, are cynical, and have almost no friends. They could also be Slytherin's heir, but their suspicion is less than the first two groups."
After hearing Aaron's explanation, the trio, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, exchanged glances, unable to find any reasons to refute him for a moment.
He had spent several months filtering out this list, so it certainly had credibility.
"Besides the Basilisk and this list, what else do you know?" Harry asked.
Aaron glanced at him suspiciously, not understanding why these people were so talkative today, but still spoke, "The location of the Chamber of Secrets..."
"You found it?"
The three looked at him excitedly. If the Chamber of Secretswas found, they could tell Dumbledore directly. As long as the Basilisk was eliminated, Slytherin's heir wouldn't be able to cause trouble.
"What are you thinking?" Aaron rolled his eyes at the three. "Hogwarts has been searching for so many years and hasn't found anything, has it?
These past few days, I've searched most of Hogwarts: classrooms, the library, the hospital wing, even the Professor's offices, but found nothing.
I've ruled out many places, but a small portion remains, which has narrowed down the scope!"
"Where else is left?" Harry asked eagerly. Aaron, being only one person, had limited places he could search, but if the three of them had enough clues, they might be able to find the Chamber of Secrets.
"Why are you in such a hurry?
Goyle, I'm not criticizing you, but you really should learn from Draco. Being calm won't do you any harm."
"Uh... mainly Malfoy wants to help you."
Hermione immediately nodded, "That's what good friends should do."
"Alright! But even I would have a hard time checking the remaining places!" Aaron sighed deeply. "Firstly, there's the Principal's office. I haven't checked Dumbledore's office, but the possibility is small.
Secondly, there's the Forbidden Forest. Magical creatures like to gather there, but it's too dangerous and the area is vast.
Then there's the Black Lake. Slytherin House symbolizes the water element, and the Black Lake is Hogwarts' largest body of water.
And there are the common rooms of the other three Houses, but these places generally don't welcome students from other Houses.
Finally, there's..."
Every time Aaron mentioned a location, Harry's heart sank a little more.
He had wanted to help, so that even if Aaron discovered it later, they would have their own explanation.
'We accidentally tricked you, but we also helped you find the Chamber of Secrets, and it was all for Hogwarts!'
With this reason, if not to call it even, it would at least temper his anger a bit!
But now it seemed hopeless. The safest place among them was the Principal's office. Unless they committed a major mistake or achieved a great feat, it would be impossible to get in. They weren't Dumbledore's relatives.
Hermione shared Harry's thoughts. Her face was also very solemn, and her hands constantly clutched at her robes, as if trying to tear a hole in them.
As for Ron, he hadn't thought so much. His attention was currently on Ginny; nothing was more important than clearing his sister's name.
A few seconds later, all three recovered and looked blankly at Aaron.
After a moment of silence, Hermione asked, "What's the last one? Tell us!"
Aaron hesitated for a while, then gave an awkward smile, "I've said enough. You can guess the last one yourselves!"
"No way, it's just the last one!"
"It has nothing to do with being stingy, I really can't say it." Aaron chuckled. The last place was the girls' lavatory; how could he say that?
Although all four here were males and considered his own people, he didn't want to be seen as a pervert.
"In any case, don't worry about the location of the Chamber of Secrets.
If you really want to help me, find Slytherin's heir among these twenty-three people!" Aaron said. "The focus is on Ginny Weasley.
I stayed at The Burrow for two days. I don't want to suspect her, but I can't not. With such complex emotions involved, the investigation will inevitably be influenced by sentiment.
But Draco, you're different. The relationship between Malfoy and Weasley is almost common knowledge. Your investigation won't arouse suspicion from others."
Hermione paused. What he said made a lot of sense, but the problem was, she wasn't Draco Malfoy!
"No problem, leave it to me... us." Ron said with a serious expression. He was Ginny's older brother; investigating would be much easier for him than for Malfoy.
Harry and Hermione both looked at him in dismay, a hint of bitterness in their eyes.
They naturally knew Ron's thoughts, but he seemed to have forgotten that they weren't the Malfoy trio!
If Aaron didn't ask later, it would be fine, but if he did, and the real Draco didn't know what was going on, the consequences would be more than just unpleasant.
"That quickly?" Aaron was a bit surprised, but looking at the confident Crabbe, he didn't know what to say. Besides, with Draco's help, it should be manageable.
"By the way, Ginny is a first-year student and a girl after all.
You can try to find things out indirectly, but you mustn't scare her, and certainly not bully her.
Just for my sake, temporarily set aside your prejudice against the Weasleys. If you can't do that, I'll do it myself!"
Hermione felt a huge sense of relief upon hearing this.
If she just shook her head, she could avoid some misunderstandings.
But before she could speak, Ron patted his chest and guaranteed, "Absolutely no problem."
"Crabbe." Hermione glared fiercely at Ron. "It's not your place to make guarantees so casually. Malfoy hasn't even spoken yet!"
Hearing this, Ron also came to his senses and sullenly shut his mouth.
"Aaron, actually..." Hermione was about to politely refuse when she realized her body was starting to change, her golden hair becoming fluffy.
She instinctively looked at Harry and Ron. One's eyes had turned green, and a lightning-shaped scar appeared on his forehead, while the other's hair began to turn red.
"The Polyjuice Potion is about to wear off," Hermionemurmured to herself. Harry and Ron also realized the situation was not looking good.
The next moment, all three stood up simultaneously.
"I suddenly remembered Professor Snape wanted to see me," Hermione said, and then walked out of the room.
The three ran wildly, bolting out of the Slytherin common room as if their lives depended on it, rushing through the stone door and into the long, dark corridor.