This year once again, an incident occurred at Hogwarts on Halloween.
It was the petrification of Mrs. Norris, the caretaker Mr. Filch's pet cat. A terrifyingly powerful Dark Magic had been used, one that caused complete petrification.
However, there was another reason the teachers were on high alert. On the wall at the scene where Mrs. Norris had been turned to stone, a message had been left behind. Written in blood, it gave off an intensely eerie atmosphere.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware."
In the awkward silence, the first to break it was Draco Malfoy.
"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You're next, you filthy Mudbloods!"
**
That was what had happened a few days ago, and now the entire school was buzzing with talk about the attack on Mrs. Norris. Naturally, this was always accompanied by speculation about who the 'Heir of Slytherin' might be.
As for me…
"Miss Celesteria, the reason I have summoned you today is none other than the recent 'Heir of Slytherin' incident. Mr. Weasley, you two as well."
I had been called to Professor McGonagall's office together with the Weasley twins.
"Oi, Fred, sounds like Professor McGonagall thinks one of us might be the 'Heir of Slytherin.'"
"What an honor beyond our station. However, George, regrettably, there is someone far more suitable present here."
The two of them bowed to me in an exaggerated manner, grinning as they said, "Well, well, Heir, has the time finally come for your evil deeds to be exposed?"
"Hm, if I've been found out, then it can't be helped. In that case, I suppose I'll start openly threatening all of Hogwarts with, 'Trick or treat, or I'll turn you to stone♪'"
"How terrifying…"
"Spare our lives, at least…"
"That is quite enough!!"
Perhaps the joke had gone too far, because Professor McGonagall raised her voice and glared at us with such sharp eyes that she truly looked capable of turning us to stone.
"Let me state this clearly from the outset. I do not suspect any of you of being the 'Heir of Slytherin.' That includes Potter and the others who happened to be at the scene."
Oh? I raised my eyebrows, and the Weasley twins shrugged in unison.
If she was not suspecting us of being the Heir, nor trying to extract information from us after suspecting Harry and the others based on the so-called 'first discoverer is the culprit' rule, then why on earth had Professor McGonagall summoned the three of us?
"The truth is, ever since that incident, some rather suspicious items have begun circulating around Hogwarts, and I would very much like the three of you to assist me."
The three of us exchanged glances.
"This doesn't sound good. Suspicious items spreading around after an incident like that… they must be packed full of Dark Magic."
"And if even Professor McGonagall can't handle them, they must be extremely dangerous. Guess we might not make it home for Christmas?"
"Fred, Elaina, I recommend writing your wills sooner rather than later."
"Be quiet!"
As we kept derailing the conversation, Professor McGonagall looked ready to have steam coming out of her head. Seeing us brace ourselves with a collective yelp for the next thunderbolt, she instead took a deep breath to calm herself.
Then, instead of lightning, she placed several accessories on the desk.
Pendants, amulets, brooches, rosaries, necklaces. What stood out was that every single one of them was engraved with Slytherin's 'S' mark, making them look as though they might offer protection against the 'Heir of Slytherin.'
"Do any of these look familiar to you?"
"...…""...…""...…."
"In fact, there are rumors that the three of you were lining these up like a flea market and calling out to customers at the entrances to the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw common rooms."
"Professor, rumors are often unreliable things…"
"Let me correct that. This information came directly from a prefect, Mr. Weasley."
I see. It seems the enemy was closer to home than we thought. I heard Fred Weasley click his tongue softly.
"Still, anonymous tips are often nothing more than petty attempts to slander someone one dislikes."
"As expected of Professor McGonagall!"
"That's our Head of House for you!"
"Exactly, unlike Percy's thick skull—"
"That is why I conducted my own investigation and found these."
With a loud bang, Professor McGonagall placed several magically animated posters, rendered in gaudy colors, onto the desk.
In the posters, a gigantic Slytherin serpent lunges at Hogwarts students, only to recoil and flee in fear when a student holds up a rosary. Several variations of this blatantly propagandistic scenario played out across the posters.
And on the covers of the posters were slogans like:
"Refreshing! One solution for your pure-blood deficiency!""Targeting the Heir of Slytherin directly!""What if you wake up one morning and your body has turned to stone? For those of you troubled by such bizarre phenomena!"
Bold promotional catchphrases like these were splashed across them in large letters.
"I've been a teacher for many years, you see, so I can recognize my students' handwriting at a glance. And these letters look very familiar."
"...…."
Yes, they look familiar to me as well. In fact, several of them are my own handwriting, and the remaining ones are surely familiar to the twins.
"It seems there may or may not be some unscrupulous individuals going around spreading all sorts of outrageous claims with posters like these, exploiting students' anxieties and selling junk at outrageously high prices."
"Well, now that you mention it, that does sound like something that might have happened…"
"Possibly…"
"Or maybe not…"
The three of us quietly avert our eyes.
"And you made quite a profit, did you?"
As we stubbornly kept looking away, the doors and windows around us began slamming shut one after another, bang, crash. The pressure in the room made it abundantly clear that we were not leaving until we confessed everything.
"Um, as for the exact figures…"
"My memory fails me on that point…"
"Our company has something like a confidentiality obligation, you see…"
I tried to dodge the question first, followed by Fred and then George, answering with the slippery evasiveness of politicians. Professor McGonagall, however, gently moved the muscles around her mouth into a smile and fixed us with blue eyes that were not smiling at all.
"I see. However, I have received formal complaints from three Houses."
"To protect yourself, your beloved pet, and even that special someone you care about from being turned to stone! How about these protective charms associated with Salazar Slytherin?"
"Apparently, there were three individuals loudly spouting such blatant nonsense, and every witness agrees they were a gray-haired Slytherin girl and two red-haired Gryffindor twin boys. Yes, exactly like the three of you."
"...….""...….""...…."
"Oh, and this is purely coincidental, but Professor Snape just happens to be in the middle of brewing Veritaserum, the Truth Potion. Of course, it has absolutely nothing to do with this matter. Now then, would the three of you like some tea?"
This had gone beyond an interrogation and was starting to feel like outright intimidation.
Staring at the three cups of tea placed before us, we all forced stiff smiles.
"Um, Professor McGonagall…"
"Yes, Miss Celesteria?"
"There's something I'd like to tell you privately."
"Hey, Elaina, you traitor!"
"That's dirty, you cheat!"
Ignoring the Weasley twins' protests, I looked up at Professor McGonagall with wide, innocent eyes. She smiled warmly and said,
"Very well. Then we'll start with you. We'll hear your accounts one by one in Mr. Filch's office."
"Wait, isn't that the former interrogation room…?"
If I recall correctly, Mr. Filch once boasted with a grin that he still kept the chains polished, just in case he ever needed to hang someone from the ceiling by their wrists for several days.
"Miss Celesteria."
Professor McGonagall spoke in a gentle tone.
"You wouldn't want to worry your dear mother back in the countryside, now would you?"
Faced with such a painfully textbook interrogation line, one witch finally resigned herself with a sense of "this is the end."
That witch had exploited a mysterious incident at school to make dirty money. Her ill-gotten gains were confiscated, and she was sentenced, along with her red-haired business partners, to two weeks of toilet cleaning without magic. It was a suitably painful punishment.
And who was that witch, you ask?
Yes. It was me.
**
"Well, at least it looks like Elaina isn't the Heir…"
"If the real Heir knew they were running such a cheap business, Salazar Slytherin himself would probably be in tears."
"Or maybe the real Heir will come after them instead?"
A few days later, as we scrubbed toilets under Mr. Filch's supervision, I overheard Harry, Ron, and Hermione making those rather rude remarks as they passed by.
"By the way, when did those three get so close?"
"I heard from first-year Colin Creevey that Fred and George tried to stop Elaina from selling fake goods to Ginny and Saya, but somehow she ended up roping them in instead."
"Honestly, their future looks pretty grim."
(End of chapter)
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