"In my opinion, you should not brew that potion, Hermione. He is really not—" Harry said to her as he played wizard chess with Ron.
"How could you be so naive as to be blinded by such sweet talk?" Hermione said. "Do you not think he is getting more and more suspicious? Where does he know so much, about Basilisks and Parselmouths? And he is so confident? Only a murderer would be so confident!"
"He also said that these were all just his guesses." Harry hesitantly moved his bishop around, trying to persuade her. "Did you not say before that he was being secretive? You also said that the heir to the Chamber of Secrets would keep quiet. He seemed quite honest with me, not like what you described. He even advised me not to follow the voice, fearing I might encounter danger—"
"That is possible. They might be afraid you, a Parselmouth, will discover something," Hermione said sarcastically. "The heir to the Chamber of Secrets probably does not want anyone to know his whereabouts, right? You are a Parselmouth, the only person in the entire school who knows exactly when and where the Basilisk is active. Any sensible heir to the Chamber of Secrets would not want you to show up rashly and ruin his plans."
"Hermione, I used to think you had a pretty good impression of him. But now I realise you have a lot of prejudice against him." Ron shook his head as he fiddled with his wizard chess set. "To be honest, I think you become particularly harsh when it comes to him."
"Much harsher than on us." Harry shrugged, looking thankful.
"This is not being harsh, it is being cautious, it is making reasonable inferences! How can you be so trusting? A student has already been Petrified; you should be more vigilant!" Hermione said sternly. "In short, do not tell him what I am doing! Do not alert him!"
Draco, that toxic boy, managed to get Harry and Ron completely off guard! He is such a charmer, she thought angrily.
If she told them the secrets she had kept for him, would they still be so relaxed?
This overly mysterious Slytherin boy always left things unsaid.
But she had no choice but to keep one secret after another for him.
What do you take me for, Draco?
Are you truly the heir to Slytherin who will unlock the Chamber of Secrets? Does a calm, composed, intelligent, and studious young man like you have a hidden side?
Are you a hidden madman who wants to cleanse the wizarding bloodline? Like your prejudiced father? Like Voldemort, who was also from Slytherin?
These speculations and doubts left Hermione breathless.
She could not accept a bad answer, but she had to know it! Charging past the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione once again headed towards the girls' bathroom.
The Duelling Club opened in the third week of December.
At eight o'clock in the evening, all the students in the school crowded into the Great Hall with their wands, and the long dining tables disappeared.
Draco impatiently stayed in a corner of the Great Hall, not wanting to join in the fun.
He had long anticipated that this would be far more of a disaster than the Potions class on brewing Swelling Solution.
As always, Lockhart was utterly incompetent and lacked any organisational skills. Under his irresponsible and haphazard command, the Duelling Club soon descended into chaos.
"The original purpose of today was for the students to practise their duelling spells, but Lockhart does not know any spells at all," Draco heard Blaise say to Pansy. "Still think Lockhart is invincible—he himself was knocked away by Professor Snape."
Then, Draco, looking completely innocent, was once again chosen by Professor Snape to be Harry's duelling partner.
He frowned slightly.
History repeating itself—how embarrassing!
This was the moment Draco least wanted to fight Harry.
The disparity in strength was complete; any spell he cast was like child's play—with Lockhart's command, Draco waved his wand and disarmed the innocent Harry.
"Here you go." Draco tossed Harry's wand to him, his eyes suddenly catching sight of Hermione.
She was duelling with a Slytherin girl named Millicent Bulstrode.
This was not a duel, it was violence. They had not even used any spells. Millicent had clamped Hermione's head in a headlock, making the little girl whimper in pain, and both of their wands were left lying on the floor.
"Harry, help!" Draco shouted at him. The two immediately forgot about the duel and rushed forward to pull Millicent away.
"Hermione, are you all right?" Harry asked Hermione over there.
"It is all right... thank you." Draco's heart tightened when he heard her weak voice.
"Why are you helping the Gryffindors?" Millicent asked, shaking off Draco, "I was about to win!"
"Are you using your own wand, Bulstrode?" Draco said coldly, resisting the urge to look in Hermione's direction, and instead reprimanding Millicent with a stern face, "Are you a witch or a Muggle? You are not bringing honour to the house, you are disgracing Professor Snape!"
Millicent Bulstrode was somewhat unconvinced and wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by Professor Snape's voice.
"You are right, Draco." His voice drifted slowly from the stage. "Professor Lockhart, look at this chaos. How many people are using spells? Perhaps we should have Malfoy and Potter demonstrate the proper way to duel."
To Hermione's surprise, Draco and Harry, as opponents, reluctantly stepped onto the duelling stage, one after the other.
Professor Snape taught Draco "Serpensortia" once again, but he was destined to be disappointed.
Draco did not want to use that trick again. Professor Snape teaching him to conjure a snake was a terrible mistake.
If this tactic was used, the fact that "Harry is a Parselmouth" would be exposed, which would attract endless gossip.
"Expelliarmus." With a casual wave of his wand, he disarmed Harry once again.
Suddenly, Draco had a thought and turned to look at Professor Snape, noticing a regretful expression on his face.
What does this mean? Did Professor Snape do it on purpose? Did he deliberately teach me to conjure a snake? Draco wondered in surprise.
Did Professor Snape know that Harry spoke Parseltongue, or was he testing Harry?
Could Professor Snape have anything to do with the Chamber of Secrets?
That is impossible. Draco thought, in my past life, Professor Snape was not affected by the events in the Chamber of Secrets in the slightest.
He must not have been involved. Draco's thoughts raced through his mind before he finally came to this conclusion.
"It really is not your fault." Draco stepped off the stage and handed Harry's wand back to him, comforting him. "That good-for-nothing Lockhart probably did not teach you anything before letting you go up there, right?"
Harry nodded, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Come on, let me teach you this spell. The Disarming Charm, it is actually quite useful," Draco said meaningfully—Harry had used it quite a bit in his previous life.
"That said, this is a basic spell that every qualified Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher must master. I do not understand why Lockhart does not know it." He casually criticised Lockhart.
"I have noticed that too. Lockhart does not know anything at all," Harry agreed.
By the time the meeting ended, Harry had mastered the Disarming Charm and successfully disarmed Ron's wand three times.
"Pretty good, very talented." Draco raised an eyebrow, acknowledging Harry's skill in spells.
He did not spar with Harry directly any more—he cherished his wand and did not want to risk being disarmed.
He still vividly remembered the fear of losing his wand in his past life.
"Draco, listen, Hermione…" Harry hesitated, wanting to tell Draco what Hermione had been up to lately.
Harry thought Hermione was being far too fanatical about Polyjuice Potion.
He never believed that Draco could be the "evil heir of the Chamber of Secrets." Hermione's suspicions might have gone astray.
However, Hermione was walking over alertly. Just as Harry was about to speak, she glared at him, which made Harry immediately surrender.
So he could only smile apologetically at Draco and say, "It is nothing."
"It would be strange if nothing happened," Draco rolled his eyes, thinking to himself: Hermione must be planning something, and Harry must know the truth.
He glanced at Hermione. The little girl seemed unharmed, at least not injured by Bulstrode's rudeness, and still had the energy to argue with him, turning her back to him.
He gave a wry smile, put his mind at ease, and decided to ignore their "little secret," leaving the Duelling Club in a bad mood.
Behind him, the little brown-haired witch turned around, silently vowing: Draco Malfoy, just wait, I will expose your little secret!
She was so engrossed in watching the boy's retreating figure that she forgot to ask herself why she treated Draco with such obsession, contradiction, and unease, caring so much about his every move, and desperately hoping that he was not the one to open the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin.