After the professors left, Ivan, Hermione, Colin, and Ginny hurriedly went to the ward to see Ron.
Ron apologized to Ivan and told him that he didn’t remember anything.
Madam Pomfrey didn’t let them stay very long, according to her, Ron needed to rest. The impact of the imperious curse on the soul isn’t easy to recover, poor Ron probably needs to spend the upcoming Christmas in bed.
Ivan was surprised he thought they would find out more.
Ivan wanted to tell Dumbledore about Tom Riddle and the diary but ended up saying nothing. He didn’t know how he could explain what he knew about Voldemort and Horcruxes. This information is secretive, and so far even Dumbledore is just guessing.
The situation is becoming more and more complicated, so Ivan had to do things himself.
It wasn’t Ron who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Trying to control a weak-willed wizard is fairly easy, and anyone under Tom’s control can use the imperious curse on Ron. Ron had contact with a lot of people, Ivan can’t investigate them one by one.
So he is back to square one.
Ron who was under the imperious curse used a corrosive curse and the killing spell, which means Tom has become suspicious of him and wants to get rid of him.Ivan shifted his suspicions to everyone around him, but almost everyone was suspicious.
In the next few day the school increased its vigilance, professors often patrolled the corridors and escorted students.
Slytherin’s successor was bad enough but now there is the imperious curse.
The young wizards were unaware of the truth, they were discussing Ron’s disappearance. People kept peeking into the hospital wing to see if he had been attacked, Madam Pomfrey had to put a curtain around the bed.
Professor McGonagall announced that Ron’s wand backfired and was struck by a very bad curse but no one believed it.
People agreed that Ron had been attacked, rumors spread through the school, and the young wizards were talking about who the heir of Slytherin was.
People were certain that Harry was the heir, especially after he exposed he was a Parselmouth at dueling club. It made Harry feel horrible, he wanted to talk to Justin about what happened but he was avoiding Harry.
On Friday evening, Ivan and Hermione were in the library preparing the next issue of the Hogwarts magic when they saw several Hufflepuff students whispering about something.
Ivan and Hermione looked at each other and crept closer.
“Anyway, I told Justin to hide in his room and not to let Potter find him,” said a burly boy, “I mean, if Potter is out for him, he’d better hide for a while.”
“But why….”
“Since Justin accidentally told Harry he was a muggle born, Harry will most likely come after him.” said a boy
“Yeah!” said a few Hufflepuff students while nodding, “but Ernie, are you sure he’s Slytherin’s descendant?”
“You still don’t understand, he’s a Parselmouth, and everyone knows that is the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a good wizard that can speak to snakes?”
“But he seems friendly, not like a dark wizard.” said a girl with golden hair.
“Hannah!” said Ernie seriously, “He can speak the language of snakes and every time an attack happens he is the first to appear at the scene.”
After hearing this they began to whisper.
“Do you still remember the words written on the wall?” said Ernie, “The cat didn’t allow Potter to enter the girl’s bathroom on the third floor.
“And Penelope had met Potter outside the bathroom, and then she was petrified along with Moaning Myrtle,
“But why does Potter have to go to a ladies bathroom?”
“Who knows, maybe he is practicing evil magic in there, or the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is in there,” said Ernie
Ivan had been eavesdropping and was shocked, who would have thought that Ernie’s nonsense was actually correct.
“Come on, Ernie, that doesn’t make any sense.” hesitated Hannah, “In addition to Potter, Granger, and Ivan could fit the bill too but they can’t be the descendants of Slytherin since their parents are muggles.”
When they heard Hannah’s words, several girls hurriedly nodded.
“They are Potter’s helpers!” said Ernie, “Ivan isn’t a normal first year, he even runs a newspaper and his curses, I would say no first years are his opponents.”
“But I think he is handsome……….”
“Don’t be fooled by his appearance, Hannah!” said Ernie as he lowered his voice, the Hufflepuffs moved closer together, “Look at Ron, who was recently attacked, he tried to stop them before but was attacked.”
“But Professor McGonagall said it was caused by his wand.”
“A wand backfiring isn’t going to keep people in bed. And one more thing, think about how Harry defeated the one who must not be named.”
He whispered in a barely audible voice.
“No one knows how he survived when he was attacked. You’ve all seen Ivan’s article, he should have died so only truly powerful dark wizards can escape that spell. That’s probably why he who should not be named tried to kill him.
“Only Hufflepuff is left now, and I dare say the next attack…..”
Hermione couldn’t stand it anymore, she walked out from the back of the shelf and Ivan hurriedly followed. The scene he saw next was hilarious. He saw each Hufflepuff become terrified and Ernie’s face became dark.
“You, you heard us,” Ernie hurriedly said, “I might as well tell you that you can go back nine-generations to see my bloodline is as pure as anyone, so………”
“Bad!” said Hermione as she turned away in disdain.
“I don’t care what kind of ancestry you have!” said Ivan as he leaned over and squinted at Ernie, “Listen, if you’re still spreading this rumor in public, even if I’m not Slytherin’s heir, I can make you like Filch’s cat.”
After Ernie heard these words from Ivan, he was completely and utterly terrified.