bacchusnovels Chapter 173 Penelope's Discovery
Chapter 173 Penelope's Discovery
Chapter 173 Penelope's Discovery
Let's rewind to half an hour ago.
Hermione suddenly remembered something and hurriedly ran upstairs.
A bold idea popped into her mind.
According to Harry, the sound he heard came from inside the walls.
What could be inside the walls?
She had been thinking about this question for a while, with various hypotheses swirling in her mind, but she hadn't come to a definite answer.
Just now, a flash of inspiration struck her.
At that moment, all the doubts and clues seemed to converge into a clear picture in her mind.
She suddenly realized that she might have been overlooking a crucial detail, which was the key to unraveling all the mysteries.
She recalled Harry's description of the voice, the whispers that seemed to come from deep within the walls, and her own countless explorations of the castle. A bold hypothesis began to take shape in her mind—the monster was hiding behind the pipes in the walls.
Those intricate water pipes hidden behind the walls connect to every corner of the castle, providing the teachers and students with the water resources they need for daily life.
But besides their practical uses, do those water pipes hold other untold secrets?
Her heart was racing, and every step she took seemed more hurried.
She knew that if her guess was correct, then the sound Harry heard was most likely coming from the pipes hidden behind the walls.
What kind of monster can move freely through the pipes?
Hermione's mind conjured images of various fantastical creatures, but she quickly dismissed most of them. The pipes were narrow and winding, making it difficult for ordinary creatures to move freely within them.
Therefore, this monster must possess special abilities to adapt to this environment, such as a flexible body, agile limbs, or some special gliding technique.
What kind of monsters can have the ability to petrify?
This is yet another perplexing question.
Petrification is a powerful spell, usually wielded only by high-ranking wizards or certain magical creatures. Connecting this characteristic to the monster in the pipe, Hermione began to wonder if some creature possessed both abilities.
In addition, only Harry could hear the monster's whispers.
Once these three key factors are combined, the answer becomes obvious.
Suddenly, a creature she had read about in ancient books popped into Hermione's mind—the basilisk.
Hermione could no longer contain her excitement; she felt she was getting closer and closer to the truth. She quickened her pace, jogging all the way to the library, ready to find more information about the Basilisk to confirm her theory. Time was of the essence; she had to find the answer as soon as possible, or more people might be harmed.
Under Mrs. Pince's furrowed brows, Hermione hurriedly slipped between the bookshelves.
Following her memory, she quickly moved among the bookshelves, searching for the ancient book that contained detailed information about the basilisk.
Finally, she found the book in a corner of the bookshelf.
She eagerly turned the pages, and there it read:
"In our country, many terrible beasts and monsters roam, among which the most bizarre and deadliest is the serpent monster, also known as the serpent king."
"This snake can grow to enormous sizes and can typically live for hundreds of years. It hatches from a male egg and is hatched by a clam. The basilisk kills people in a terrifying way; in addition to its deadly fangs, its glare can also be fatal."
"Anyone who is stared at by its gaze will die instantly. Spiders will run away when they see basilisks, because basilisks are the mortal enemies of spiders, and basilisks will flee in panic when they hear a rooster crowing, because the rooster's crowing is also deadly to them."
Just then, while she was engrossed in the world of her book, she unexpectedly bumped into a witch with long golden hair. The collision was so sudden that the book in her hand slipped and fell to the ground.
Startled, she quickly looked up. The witch's face seemed vaguely familiar; she appeared to have seen her frequently at school. Her name seemed to be Penelope, someone who often followed Percy around.
The prefect of sixth grade at Ravenclaw School.
Upon seeing this, Penelope immediately displayed the demeanor of a prefect, quickly reaching out to help Hermione up, and also considerately picking up the books scattered on the ground for her.
But when Penelope inadvertently noticed the contents of the book in Hermione's hand, her pupils involuntarily contracted slightly.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps approached, and Mrs. Pince was walking towards this corner. She had clearly noticed the "car accident" that had occurred between the bookshelves.
Hermione quickly took the book Penelope handed her, hesitated for a moment, and just before Mrs. Pince was about to find her, she nimbly tore out the page containing the important information about the basilisk and hurriedly hid it in her robe.
Penelope watched this scene unfold.
At this moment, she understood that Hermione's discovery was not accidental.
It turns out that someone else also knew that the monster hidden in the secret room was a basilisk.
"What happened?" Mrs. Pince said sternly, her self-glow scanning back and forth between Hermione and Penelope, as if trying to find the source of the noise.
Hermione's heart skipped a beat, but she tried her best to remain calm and replied with a smile, "Oh, Mrs. Pince,"
"It's nothing serious, I just slipped a little, but luckily Penelope helped me in time."
Penelope quickly nodded in agreement: "Yes, madam, it was just a minor accident, it has been taken care of."
Mrs. Pince's eyes remained sharp, but she seemed to accept their explanation. She gave a soft hum: "We must be more careful in the library. Books are a precious treasure, and we cannot allow any accidents to happen."
"Of course, we'll be more careful," Hermione quickly assured, secretly congratulating herself on her quick thinking.
Mrs. Pince glanced at them again before turning away to continue her inspection.
Hermione then smiled at Penelope across from her, and then left the library, trying to appear nonchalant.
Penelope watched Hermione's departing figure, a thought flickered in her mind, and almost without thinking, she followed behind Hermione.
But strangely, when she followed Hermione down the stairs, she found that Hermione had disappeared.
She frowned, not understanding how Hermione could have disappeared without a trace in such a short time.
"Strange, where did she go?" Penelope muttered to herself, her gaze sweeping across every corner of the corridor, hoping to find some clue as to Hermione's whereabouts.
Suddenly, she noticed something lying quietly on the ground in the distance, and the familiar figure made Penelope's heart clench.
She quickly walked over, squatted down, and found that it was Hermione, lying on the ground, motionless, her face pale.
"Hermione! What's wrong?" Penelope called anxiously, gently shaking Hermione's shoulder.
But Hermione didn't react at all.
At that moment, the perceptive Hermione noticed that her left hand was clenched into a fist, as if she were holding something.
She forcefully pried Hermione's hand away and found a crumpled piece of paper and a note hidden in her palm.
The crumpled paper was a page she had just torn from the library.
Penelope carefully unfolded the note, on which was written the name of a certain person:
Sean Phillips.
Should she ask someone else to ask Professor Sean for help? Or does she also believe that Professor Sean is the mastermind behind all of this?
Due to preconceived notions, Penelope should naturally assume it is the latter.
After a moment's thought, she put the crumpled paper and the note together into her pocket.