"Speaking of which, another student collapsed for no apparent reason in the past two days."
Baron said worriedly, "It was a second-year from our house. He fainted right in the corridor. There were plenty of people around him at the time, but no one had any idea what actually happened."
"Your house? You mean Slytherin?"
Avada was genuinely startled.
Anyone sorted into Slytherin was at the very least a half-blood—how could they possibly be considered a 'cleansing target'? If this was still a deliberate attack, then that meant the driving force behind it wasn't the diary at all? If it wasn't the diary, and not the basilisk either… then was this some new trigger caused by the butterfly effect of him eliminating Voldemort? For example, Death Eaters infiltrating the school to rescue him?
But that didn't add up. He'd carefully observed the professors at the Opening Feast—none of them were Polyjuiced or under the Imperius Curse. And if it were a student, then without using a basilisk, how could they repeatedly carry out attacks in public places, without leaving any trace, and inflict damage that even Dumbledore struggled to treat? Hogwarts' portraits, ghosts, and protective enchantments weren't just for show.
"Yeah," Baron sighed. "At first the school thought it might be some kind of contagious illness, so they organized medical examinations—but nothing turned up at all."
"And originally, everyone thought you were the first victim. When they heard you'd woken up, they were hoping you might provide some clues," he continued. "But after Dumbledore personally explained that your case was an accident, everyone was back to square one again."
"I see…"
Avada scratched his head. "Did the scene of the collapse show anything unusual?"
"No," Cedric shook his head. "It's always the same—no warning at all, just sudden unconsciousness. Once, when Gabriel was on patrol with some of the prefects, a student fainted right in front of them. Even then, they couldn't find anything wrong at the scene."
"Percy was there too," Ron added, nodding. "He even specifically warned us afterward to be careful."
"..."
Could this really just be some kind of accident, rather than an intentional attack?
"It sounds troublesome…" Avada frowned. "Has everyone around you been fine, at least? What about Fred and George? They love running around together causing chaos…"
"They're doing great," Ron rolled his eyes. "Percy tried to scare them with this, but it backfired. They actually got interested and decided to investigate it themselves. I mean, even Dumbledore hasn't been able to solve this—how do they think they can get involved?"
"That does sound like them," Cedric chuckled.
"Exactly."
—Avada nodded to himself. Looks like the twins were about to break their oath and put the Marauder's Map to good use.With such a powerful hidden magical artifact, plus the twins'… creativity, if this really was a deliberate attack, the culprit probably wouldn't stay hidden for long.
"What about Ginny?" Avada asked. "She's a first-year—running into something like this right after starting school…"
"She's even better off," Ron said helplessly. "She hasn't really paid much attention to it at all."
"Probably because of how wonderfully we described Hogwarts to her before," he continued. "She thinks this kind of thing is just normal. According to her—"
He raised his voice, mimicking Ginny's tone:"'Oh, since Hogwarts has staircases that vanish under your feet, vines that tie you up, a tree that beats people half to death, and Quidditch matches that can nearly kill you, isn't it normal to have something that makes people faint? Coming to Hogwarts is an adventure in itself—how can an adventure always be calm and peaceful, right?'"
"That speech completely stunned me," Ron finished. "I couldn't even figure out what was wrong with it for a long while…"
"…In the end, I had to explain the difference between controllable and uncontrollable risks to her for ages," Hermione said, rubbing her forehead weakly. "Only then did I manage to stop her from sneaking out at night to play detective with Fred and George."
"You're a hero," Ron patted her shoulder solemnly.
"…So how is Ginny now?" Avada asked.
"That's a question you should ask Harry."
Harry turned his head away, his face bright red. Ron burst out laughing, and even the corner of Baron's mouth twitched upward.
"She's been sticking to Harry nonstop," Baron said teasingly. "Harry's been her idol since she was little. I heard she even teamed up with a first-year named Colin Creevey to form a Harry Potter Fan Club…"
"He's more popular than the rest of us now," Baron added with a grin.
"Um…"Harry looked like his face was about to turn the same color as Ron's hair. "I've tried explaining to them that you guys were the real main force behind defeating Voldemort. I was just tied up for a while and somehow ended up getting credit…"
"Don't sell yourself short," Avada smiled at him. "After all, you really did defeat Voldemort once. The reason we could seal him completely this time was because of that. And besides… we did make use of you back then."
While reassuring Harry, Avada's mind raced:
All right. It seems this incident really has nothing to do with Ginny.
From the descriptions alone, there's no clear sign of a deliberate attack yet—but the whole situation is far too strange. People fainting in public, with prefects present, and leaving no trace at all… what could do that? A Fwooper? Mandrake exposure? Poison in the food?
On top of that, the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets, the basilisk, and the diary still hasn't been resolved. Even with Dumbledore and the twins' Marauder's Map involved, we still can't afford to let our guard down…
After all, this mess exists because I changed the plot. I have to take responsibility for that.
If I can't predict the enemy's moves, then I'll just adapt on the fly.
"Well, maybe Ginny's right," Avada finally said. "This could just be another one of Hogwarts' everyday accidents—same category as last year's troll or Voldemort. Let's just hope the unconscious students recover soon."
"Yeah. For ordinary students, being unconscious for a week or two means falling seriously behind in their studies. Only someone like you—"
Baron was about to continue when a burst of chaotic footsteps and urgent voices from outside cut him off:
"Did Professor Snape's results come back yet?"
"They did—same as before. Sudden mental instability leading to unconsciousness."
"Merlin… what on earth is going on?"
"All right, children, please remain calm. I assure you, the professors and I will uncover the truth as quickly as possible. Madam Pomfrey will take good care of them…"
"That's Professor Dumbledore's voice?!"
The group exchanged glances, their expressions instantly turning grim. The relaxed atmosphere from moments ago vanished completely.
"From the sound of it, someone else collapsed?" Baron's brows knitted tightly. "And this time it sounds even worse?"
"There are other students out there too—we should go take a look!" Harry said.
"Agreed," Avada said, throwing back the covers and pulling on his slippers as he shakily stood up.
"Wait, Ken—Madam Pomfrey said you're not allowed to leave the ward yet…"
"I'm just stepping out for a moment, not getting discharged," Avada retorted. "I don't usually ask for permission just to use the loo, do I?"
In the end, the group pushed open the ward doors and looked out—
—and immediately saw a crowd of students anxiously gathered around Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey.
And floating in front of them all was an entire row of stretchers.
(End of Chapter)