Chapter 179 Selling the Person Quietly
When Riddle and Dippet's conversation turned to the attacks, Harry had no choice but to set aside his meager sympathy and listen intently, afraid of missing any detail.
But after listening, Harry's eye twitched slightly, and a bitter smile touched his lips.
At that time, a young girl died, and the Ministry of Magic, for safety reasons, planned to close Hogwarts. Tom would then have to leave school and return to the orphanage.
His current situation was not much better than Riddle's back then. If another attack occurred, history might repeat itself. Once Hogwarts closed, he would have to return to his aunt's house to continue his miserable life.
Unless, as Riddle said, they caught the culprit who opened the Chamber of Secrets, ended all of this, and ensured the school's safety.
Regrettably, Riddle never mentioned who the Heir of the Chamber of Secrets was from beginning to end.
After leaving the Principal's office, Harry continued to follow Riddle, noticing his expression gradually change from hesitation to determination, as if he had made some sort of resolution.
At this moment, Dumbledore from fifty years ago suddenly appeared on Riddle's path. "It's not good to be wandering around so late, Tom."
"I just had to see the Principal, sir."
"Alright, go to bed now. It's best not to wander the corridors these days." Dumbledore gazed at Riddle for a few seconds, then bid him goodnight and ascended a flight of stairs.
Riddle turned a corner, and after making sure no one was around, he quickened his pace.
Harry followed him through the dark corridor, finally stopping in front of a door.
Riddle drew his wand and roughly opened the door. "Good evening, Hagrid. I have to report you.
I know you didn't mean to kill anyone, but..."
"No, you don't understand." The young Hagrid spoke while using his Giant body to block a wooden crate behind him.
"The girl who died, her parents are coming tomorrow." Riddle pointed his wand at Hagrid. "Hogwarts must ensure that the thing that killed their daughter is brought to justice."
"It wasn't it, Aragog never killed anyone, never." Hagridexplained urgently.
"Monsters can't be kept as pets!
Get out of the way."
"No!"
"Move, Hagrid."
"No!"
Riddle, losing patience, directly waved his wand, "Revelio."
A sudden burst of light struck the box behind Hagrid, and a colossal spider emerged from within.
This spider had eight gleaming eyes and sharp pincers. Upon its appearance, it frantically rushed towards the door, its spider legs making a rustling sound as it scurried away in a panic.
"Arania Exumai!"
A white light shot from the wand, but it dodged it.
Riddle tried to pursue, but Hagrid lunged at him, grabbing his wand and knocking him to the ground, buying Aragogenough time to escape.
The memory ended there, and Harry felt a dizzying sensation, with darkness all around.
After a feeling of falling, Harry landed on his bed, and it took him a while to fully recover from his daze.
He looked at the open diary, his mind constantly replaying Riddle's memories from fifty years ago. He finally understood who Aaron meant when he said someone was expelled as the Heir of Slytherin fifty years ago.
Rubeus Hagrid, he should have thought of it sooner.
Taking several deep breaths, Harry briefly composed himself. After a moment of hesitation, he picked up his quill and wrote in the diary: "Tom, I really don't want to say this, but Hagrid was framed."
Jumbled words appeared in the diary: "Impossible, no one would harm students except that monster, and there haven't been any attacks since Hagrid was expelled."
"But Aaron has already investigated it thoroughly," Harrywrote, "The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk."
The diary seemed to fall silent, and after a few seconds, new words appeared: "What is a Basilisk?"
"A magical creature with an extremely long lifespan. Meeting its gaze means instant death, and even indirect eye contact will lead to petrification. It is the monster Salazar Slytherin kept."
After the words disappeared, the diary flipped rapidly, appearing agitated: "You mean I wrongly accused a student and let the real culprit go free."
Harry pursed his lips; he could feel immense anger and guilt just from that line of text.
"I'm afraid so. The Heir of Slytherin is very cunning, and you were trying to protect the school, so you shouldn't feel guilty.
Besides, Dumbledore arranged a position for Hagrid as Gamekeeper, so he still lives at Hogwarts."
"That's good. I owe him an apology.
However, Harry Potter, I hope you don't tell him about my existence, as it would bring back bad memories for him. Hagrid's heart is actually very fragile."
Harry hesitated for a moment, then wrote: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
"Thank you!
By the way, can you tell me who Aaron is?
I'm very curious about what kind of Wizard could uncover the Basilisk."
Harry smiled slightly, dipped his quill in ink, "Aaron Gaius, he's my good friend, a very excellent Slytherin.
However, I seem to have done something terribly wrong to him; I can feel that he's a bit more distant from us than before."
"Everyone makes mistakes, but mistakes can be corrected, and misunderstandings can be cleared.
Time is the best medicine; it can heal all wounds.
As long as you treat people with sincerity, you will surely regain your friendship in the shortest amount of time."
Seeing these words, Harry's eyes lit up.
During this time, he, Ron, and Hermione had tried to comfort each other, but since they had all made a mistake together, even optimistic words came out tinged with pessimism.
In contrast, the comfort from a trusted senior was like a powerful tonic, pure soul-soothing wisdom.
"Thank you, Tom, I feel much better."
"I personally think you need to be a bit stronger. There's no obstacle in this world that cannot be overcome."
Harry nodded, and thinking of the potential problems ahead, he continued to write: "Besides that memory, do you have any other clues related to the Chamber of Secrets?"
Soon, several lines of neat handwriting appeared on the blank page: "None, but I can offer you some valuable advice, provided you tell me what you know.
I need to atone for the mistakes I made fifty years ago. Only by catching the true Heir will I be worthy of apologizing to Rubeus Hagrid."
Harry wrestled with it for a while, then reluctantly decided to grant Riddle's request.
Firstly, Riddle was very much like him, and gave him a feeling of warmth and trustworthiness.
Secondly, it was just a diary; even knowing a lot wouldn't cause much harm.
Thirdly, he, or rather, they, really needed some help to find the mastermind, and Riddle undoubtedly possessed that ability.
"I can tell you, but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone else."
Another line of text appeared in the diary: "I give my word, by my father's surname."
Having received a satisfactory answer, Harry wrote down all the clues he knew in the diary, "Besides the Basilisk, Aaron also gave us a list of possible Slytherin Heirs, which included not only pure-blood Wizards but also some half-blood Wizards, and even the Weasley sister.
Unfortunately, we didn't find anything.
Also, there were possible locations for the Chamber of Secrets, but we've already investigated them, leaving only the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake.
Aaron didn't tell us all the clues; he was very secretive about the last possible location and refused to say anything."
"Perhaps he has some unspoken difficulties!
Everyone has their secrets; you should try to understand him."
"I know that." Harry shrugged, his quill hovering over the diary for a moment before he continued to write: "Tom, do you have any way to help us?"
"No, but don't act rashly for now."
"Aaron thinks so too; he's afraid the mastermind will fight Hogwarts to the death, and he doesn't want us to notify Dumbledore unless absolutely necessary."
"He's right; at this time, you need to keep your composure.
Respond to all changes by remaining unchanged; as long as the mastermind dares to harm someone again, they will surely reveal themselves."
"But we can't risk students' lives!" Harry wrote urgently, "It's not that I don't know Dumbledore would make the mastermind wary, but precisely for that reason, I want to take the initiative."
"Then you only have one choice."
A line of text caught Harry's attention, and before he could ask, another line appeared:
"Go find Hagrid. He has good relationships with many magical creatures. With his help, investigating the Forbidden Forest might be easier for you."
"But how should I talk to Hagrid?" Harry wrote, looking troubled.
Hagrid was wrongly expelled fifty years ago because he kept a magical animal. Aaron even wanted to keep the events of fifty years ago a secret for him. If he went and mentioned the Chamber of Secrets and asked for his help in investigating, how would that be different from rubbing salt in an old wound?
"That is indeed a bit difficult, but I believe you will handle it well, as long as you approach it correctly.
My time is running out. Goodbye."
After these two lines were written, the diary quickly flipped its pages and closed again.
Looking at the black cover, Harry didn't think too much, guessing that the diary's magic must have been overused!
But it didn't matter; Riddle had already told him enough and given him sufficient encouragement. He could just investigate slowly.
Meanwhile, Aaron, who was practicing magic circles in the Slytherin common room, suddenly shivered, and his right hand, holding the quill, trembled violently, completely ruining a high-level magic circle diagram.
Aaron looked at the tiny sparks on the table and couldn't help but frown slightly.
This had never happened before; he wouldn't easily get distracted when fully focused.
Could it be some kind of ominous sign?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
He prided himself on being well-hidden and hadn't posed any overt threat to anyone, so no one foolish enough should be targeting him.