Chapter 25 The Question Is Not Who, but How?

Harry was awakened by voices in his head and pain in his arms.

It felt as if someone had inserted thousands of sharp blades into the muscles of his arms. When the bone fragments grew, they would inevitably cut his flesh and blood.

Now, the pain that Lockhart had taken away came back twice as hard!

But more than the pain, he cared more about the voice that kept echoing in his head - so long ago, he almost forgot about it - and the monster that wiped his forehead with a sponge ball.

"Go away!" He waved in panic, but soon recognized who the monster was - Dobby.

The house elf that got him warned by the Ministry of Magic.

"Dobby reminded Harry Potter several times. Ah, sir, why didn't you listen to Dobby's warning? Harry Potter didn't catch the train, why didn't he go home?" Dobby said sadly.

Now, Harry finally knew who wanted to harm him——

"Did you do it? It was you who sealed the partition wall and prevented us from passing by! You almost caused me and Ron to be expelled!" He said angrily, "You'd better get out of the way before my bones are fully grown. What a shame." Than, or I will strangle you to death."

"Dobby is used to death threats. Dobby hears them five times a day at home." Dobby said nonchalantly, but he looked a little pitiful. Harry's annoyance suddenly subsided a lot.

"Why are you wearing that thing, Dobby?" He looked at the "clothes" Dobby was wearing, or a pillowcase that had not been washed for decades and was dirtier than a rag.

"Is this, sir?" Dobby said, tugging at the pillowcase. "This symbolizes the house elf's slave status, sir. Dobby can only be freed when his master gives him clothes to wear. The family's They were careful not to give Dobby even a pair of socks, sir, because then Dobby would be free and leave their house forever."

Upon hearing this, Harry immediately felt sympathy, but his sympathy immediately dissipated the next moment.

"Harry Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would surely make—"

"Your Bludger? What do you mean, your Bludger? Did you let that Bludger kill me?"

"I didn't kill you, sir, I definitely didn't kill you!" Dobby said in horror. "Dobby wanted to save Harry Potter's life! It's better to be sent home after being seriously injured than to stay here, sir." Dobby just wanted Harry Potter to be slightly injured and sent home!"

"Oh, that's all?" Harry asked angrily and sarcastically. "I guess you're not going to tell me why you want me to be sent home in pieces, are you?"

"Oh, that Harry Potter knew! What he means to us humble, enslaved little people in the wizarding world! Dobby has not forgotten the times when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at his most powerful, sir. ! People treated us house-elves like vermin, sir! Of course they still treat Dobby that way, sir," he admitted, wiping his face on the pillowcase again.

"But overall, since you defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, life has improved a lot for those of us. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's spell was broken. This is A new beginning, sir. For those of us who thought the dark days would never end, Harry Potter shines like a beacon of hope, sir... and now, at Hogwarts, the terrible Something is about to happen, or it may have already happened. Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay here, because history is about to repeat itself, and the Chamber of Secrets will be opened again—"

"So, there really is a Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked quietly. "And - you say it has been opened before? Tell me, Dobby!"

"Ah, sir, stop asking, stop questioning poor Dobby." The elf stammered, his eyes as big as bells in the darkness. "There is someone plotting here. When things happen, , Harry Potter must not stay here. Go home, Harry Potter. Harry Potter must not get involved in this, sir, it's too dangerous-"

"Who is that, Dobby? Who opened the Chamber of Secrets? Who opened it last time?"

"Dobby can't say, sir, Dobby can't say, Dobby must not say!" screamed the elf. "Go home, Harry Potter, go home!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Harry said irritably. "One of my best friends is Muggle-born. If the Chamber of Secrets is really opened, she will bear the brunt-"

"Harry Potter is willing to risk his life for his friends!" Dobby groaned sadly and happily. "How noble! How brave! But he must protect himself, he must, Harry Potter must not-"

Dobby suddenly froze, his bat-like ears trembling. Harry heard it too. There were footsteps in the corridor outside.

"Dobby must go!" the elf gasped, frightened. There was a loud crack, and Harry's fist suddenly loosened, leaving only air inside. He fell back on the bed, looking at the dark door of the ward, and the footsteps were getting closer and closer.

Immediately afterwards, Dumbledore stepped back into the ward. He wore a long woolen dressing gown and a nightcap. He held one end of something sculptural in his hands. A second later, Professor McGonagall appeared, holding the thing's feet up. Together they put it on the bed.

"Go get Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore whispered, and Professor McGonagall hurried past Harry's bed and out. Harry lay still, pretending to be asleep. He heard someone talking anxiously, and then Professor McGonagall came in quickly, followed by Madam Pomfrey, who was wearing a jacket over her pajamas. Harry heard a gasp.

"What's going on?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, leaning over to examine the statue.

"Another attack," Dumbledore said. "McGonagall found him on the stairs."

"He had a bunch of grapes with him," Professor McGonagall said. "We think he was trying to sneak in here to see Potter."

Harry's stomach twisted violently. Slowly, carefully, he raised himself a few inches so that he could see the statue on the bed. A beam of moonlight fell on the stunned face.

It was Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide open, and his hands were stretched out to his chest, holding his camera.

"Petrified?" Madam Pomfrey whispered.

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall, "I shudder to think of it... If Albus hadn't happened to come downstairs to bring hot chocolate, who knows what would have happened..."

The three of them looked at Colin intently. Then Dumbledore leaned forward and took the camera from Colin's stiff fingers.

"Did he take a picture of the attacker?" Professor McGonagall asked anxiously.

Dumbledore didn't answer. He pried open the back of the camera.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Madam Pomfrey.

A hiss of hot air came out of the camera. Even Harry, who was three beds away, smelled the pungent smell of burning plastic.

"It's melted," said Madam Pomfrey in surprise, "It's all melted..."

"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked anxiously.

"It means," said Dumbledore, "the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened again."

Madam Pomfrey covered her mouth with her hand. Professor McGonagall stared at Dumbledore blankly.

"But Albus... you must know... who?"

"It's not a question of who," Dumbledore said, his eyes resting on Colin, "it's a question of how..."

Harry could see the look on Professor McGonagall's face in the shadows and knew that she, like him, had not understood what Dumbledore had said.