By the time Liam arrived at Hagrid's hut, the grounds of Hogwarts had fallen completely silent.
Moonlight filtered through drifting clouds.
The castle stood quietly behind him.
Liam removed his Disillusionment Charm and knocked on the wooden door.
A minute later, the door swung open.
Hagrid stood there holding a large hunting crossbow.
"Oh! Liam, you're here!"
He looked relieved.
"For a moment I thought you'd forgotten."
Liam smiled.
"I keep my promises."
"Good, good."
Hagrid stepped aside.
"Just give me a second."
He disappeared back inside the hut.
A moment later he returned carrying a large lantern.
"It's pretty dark in the Forbidden Forest."
He held it out.
"Want this?"
Liam shook his head.
"I'm fine."
Years ago, he had modified a night-vision spell and permanently integrated it into his eyes.
Darkness was no obstacle to him.
In fact, he often preferred it.
"Right."
Hagrid chuckled.
"Forgot who I was talking to."
He hung the lantern from one hand and adjusted the crossbow on his belt.
"Let's go."
Fang immediately bounded after them.
The three entered the Forbidden Forest together.
The deeper they walked, the darker the forest became.
Ancient trees blocked most of the moonlight.
Only the lantern's glow illuminated the winding path.
After several minutes, Liam finally asked the question that had been bothering him.
"Hagrid."
"Hm?"
"Do you know why Firenze wants to see me?"
Hagrid scratched his beard.
"Honestly?"
"Honestly."
"No idea."
Liam laughed.
"I asked him."
Hagrid shrugged helplessly.
"He wouldn't tell me a thing."
Then he quickly added:
"But Firenze's a good bloke."
"You don't need to worry."
"I'm not worried."
Liam slipped his hands into his pockets.
"Just curious."
A complete stranger suddenly requesting a private meeting naturally raised questions.
Hagrid laughed.
"Fair enough."
Then his expression became slightly nostalgic.
"Though considering you flattened that Death Eater by yourself, I suppose you're not afraid of much."
Liam raised an eyebrow.
"You mean Mulciber?"
"Aye."
Hagrid nodded.
"That one."
The Death Eater disguised as Kurt Vanilla.
The one Liam had crushed beneath a falling meteor after attempting to murder Cassandra.
"You knew him?"
That surprised Liam.
Hagrid snorted.
"Knew him?"
His expression became complicated.
"I knew Mulciber."
"Dolohov too."
"And Rosier."
Liam looked at him.
"Really?"
Hagrid nodded slowly.
Then, after a pause:
"And him."
The implication was obvious.
Voldemort.
Liam immediately understood.
"How?"
Hagrid fell silent for several seconds.
Finally, he sighed.
"We were classmates."
Liam blinked.
That was not the answer he had expected.
"All of them?"
"Aye."
The giant's expression became distant.
"Same year."
That revelation was genuinely shocking.
"Then you were classmates with Voldemort too?"
The reaction was immediate.
Hagrid visibly flinched.
"Could yeh not say the name so loudly?"
He glanced around nervously.
Old habits died hard.
Liam chuckled.
"Fine."
Then he rephrased.
"You were classmates with the Dark Lord?"
Hagrid nodded reluctantly.
"Yeah."
That explained quite a lot.
The silence lingered briefly before Liam asked another question.
"If you were classmates, why didn't you finish school?"
The answer came with a bitter smile.
"I got expelled."
That definitely caught Liam's attention.
"Expelled?"
Hagrid nodded.
"The Chamber of Secrets incident."
Now Liam was fully interested.
He had heard the name before.
"The Ministry accused me of opening the Chamber."
The giant's voice carried old frustration.
"They said I was responsible."
Liam frowned.
"And Dumbledore?"
"If it weren't for Professor Dumbledore..."
Hagrid's voice became emotional.
"I would've ended up in Azkaban."
The sincerity in his tone was unmistakable.
Without Dumbledore, his life would have been completely different.
Liam thought about that.
Then something else caught his attention.
"The Chamber of Secrets."
He looked at Hagrid.
"What exactly is it?"
Hagrid scratched his head.
"It's supposed to be a hidden chamber built by Salazar Slytherin."
One of Hogwarts' founders.
"A secret place?"
"Something like that."
Hagrid nodded.
"The stories say it contains something dangerous."
His voice lowered.
"Something left behind by Slytherin."
Liam listened carefully.
"And every few years, Hogwarts searches for it."
"Has anyone found it?"
"Nope."
Hagrid shook his head.
"Never."
That immediately struck Liam as odd.
A chamber supposedly hidden for centuries.
Never discovered.
Yet famous enough that everyone knew about it.
Something didn't fit.
"What was the point of creating it?"
Liam asked.
Hagrid answered with the common explanation.
"The legend says Slytherin hated Muggle-borns."
Liam nodded.
He had heard that before.
"The stories claim he left a monster behind."
Hagrid's voice dropped further.
"One that would purge Hogwarts of anyone who wasn't pure-blood."
Several seconds passed.
Then Liam frowned.
"That makes no sense."
Hagrid blinked.
"What?"
"Think about it."
Liam's voice remained calm.
"Killing Muggle-borns doesn't make pure-blood wizards stronger."
The logic was simple.
It created enemies.
Chaos.
Political consequences.
Nothing else.
"Anyone opening the Chamber would immediately become the target of every Auror in Britain."
Hagrid scratched his beard thoughtfully.
"That's true."
"More importantly..."
Liam narrowed his eyes.
"Slytherin House values ambition, cunning, self-preservation, strategy, and victory."
The traits were famous.
"Building a hidden room that destroys your own descendants sounds completely contradictory."
Hagrid stopped walking.
For a moment, he simply stared.
He had never thought about it that way.
Neither had most people.
Liam continued.
"If Salazar Slytherin truly created the Chamber..."
His eyes drifted toward the dark forest.
"...then I suspect its purpose was something else entirely."
Something important.
Something hidden.
Something worth protecting.
Not merely a giant trap designed to ruin his own bloodline.
The more Liam considered it, the less the official story made sense.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
After walking a little farther, Liam returned to an earlier topic.
"Hagrid."
"Hm?"
"How exactly did they accuse you?"
The giant sighed.
"I had a pet."
That already sounded concerning.
"What kind?"
"An Acromantula."
Liam nearly laughed.
"That's not a pet."
"It was to me."
Hagrid sounded offended.
"His name was Aragog."
Of course it was.
Liam rubbed his forehead.
An Acromantula hidden inside a school full of children.
The Ministry probably hadn't needed much convincing.
"The Chamber happened to open around the same time."
Hagrid nodded sadly.
"A girl died."
"Myrtle."
Liam's eyes narrowed slightly.
Myrtle.
That name sounded familiar.
"The Ministry blamed Aragog."
"And therefore blamed you."
"Aye."
The bitterness remained even after all these years.
"But Aragog didn't do it."
Liam was silent.
Then he asked:
"Who reported you?"
Hagrid hesitated.
Then answered.
"Tom Riddle."
Everything suddenly clicked into place.
Liam sighed.
"That's almost comical."
"What?"
"If Tom Riddle accused you..."
Liam shook his head.
"Then Tom Riddle was almost certainly the one who opened the Chamber."
Hagrid stopped walking again.
His eyes widened.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Then realization slowly dawned.
"...Merlin."
The possibility had never occurred to him.
Yet the more he thought about it, the more obvious it became.
Riddle possessed the motive.
The ability.
The opportunity.
Everything.
"If it was him..."
Hagrid muttered.
"He could've opened it."
"Exactly."
Liam nodded.
A descendant of Slytherin would be the most likely candidate.
"What happened afterward?"
Liam asked.
"Were there more deaths?"
Hagrid shook his head.
"No."
"Only Myrtle."
That answer made Liam think even harder.
One death.
Then nothing.
If the Chamber truly existed to exterminate Hogwarts' non-pure-blood population, that result made no sense whatsoever.
The Chamber had been opened.
The supposed monster had been released.
Yet only one victim died before everything stopped.
No.
The purpose had to be something else.
Whatever Salazar Slytherin had hidden beneath Hogwarts, it was far more complicated than the stories suggested.
And for the first time, Liam found himself genuinely interested in uncovering the truth.
....
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