"You just told me, right now. It was an educated guess but thank you for confirming it. So, with that confirmed, it would mean that you had a way to get access to that conversation. You have a way to survey and record the members of the house, no, the common room, more specifically. It can't be something that you did, since anything like that would have been overwhelmed by the wards, so it had to be included by either a headmaster or a head of house before your time, and I can't see a faculty member surveilling student dormitories or mess with ritual rooms. So, that's how you get your information. You're constantly spying on the house. Interesting indeed. Efficient. Most of the power plays happen in the common room, so you pretty much have the entire battlefield at your disposal."
"Potter, you're out of line…" the Black Queen began.
"No, you don't get to say that because you're the people that brought me here. You can't expect to stop me from thinking out loud, could you? And it's not like I'm condemning your actions. The common room is a public place. You can spy on people there as much as you want. Now, if you were doing the same with dormitories, then we'd have an issue on our hands. So, why don't we get back to the subject since I'm starting to get hungry."
"Fine. Why did you tell Longbottom about the Chamber of Secrets?" The Queen asked while obviously gritting his teeth.
"Because I could. There was no reason not to tell them about the chamber. The information was public."
"Then why didn't you unmask them immediately?"
"Because the very fact they broke in was troubling. It meant that Dumbledore had given them a way in. No matter what the Weasley twins like to say, one does not simply break into another common room. There are wards and protections against intruders. Only Snape and Dumbledore could have allowed them entry. It's safe to say that Snape would rather obliviate himself of all potion knowledge than allow them to enter our common room. That meant that Dumbledore approved of their actions."
One of the people on the right of the king, wearing a Runespoor mask, exclaimed, "So, that's why you waited until they left to dispel the transformation. You wanted their reveal to be public while not having to deal with Dumbledore."
All three heads of the snake were speaking at the same time. It looked disconcerting, to be perfectly honest.
"Yes, the outrage would be enough that he wouldn't be able to protect Longbottom, and it would cost him a lot of influence in the long run. As you all probably know, I was right."
"And are you also right about the beast being a Basilisk?" the man in the Runespoor mask asked with a hesitating voice.
"Ah, so you did your homework, I see. My conclusions could lead to such a theory. Or maybe I just lied to screw with Longbottom. I could be right, I could be wrong, who knows? Now, that I think about it, this is starting to drag. I have no idea if you're doing this on purpose, going around and around with information that you either know or just don't care about. I don't know if you want to gratify me for revealing Longbottom, or just try to intimidate me. I don't know if this is some kind of twisted recruitment ritual that you have going on and I don't care. Let's just stop going around in circles and tell me exactly what you want from me because I haven't had my morning coffee yet, and this is starting to piss me off. I don't care about house politics, and while you have a lot of influence, it's not something that concerns me a lot. I'm an academic and you know that. Sure, I might need a favour here and there and you could deny me, but we both know that it wouldn't look good if it got out that the court was breaking its own rules and going after a second year, and by the time you can do anything, in a year or two, the entire court would be different, wouldn't it? So, in the spirit of efficiency and for my peace of mind, let me give you an ultimatum. If you people don't start telling me exactly what the purpose of this meeting is, I will get up and leave."
Harry's little rant was met with a deafening silence across the entire chamber, until the King stood up, getting everyone's attention and spoke up, "Alright, you have made your point. The purpose of this meeting is very simple. We wish to know what's your plan to deal with Basilisk."
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