In the end, the news of Lockhart's death did reach the students.
It couldn't be hidden—by the next day, The Daily Prophet had already exposed it.
There was certainly no one at Hogwarts leaking information to the press…
But the Ministry of Magic's employees? That was another story.
Regardless, the impact was enormous.
In an era of peace in the wizarding world, the death of a wizard was no small matter.
When Quirrell died, he was a loner, and the Ministry publicly labeled him as a remnant Death Eater under Voldemort's control (they claimed he served "Voldemort's surviving loyalists"). So no one particularly cared.
But Lockhart was different—
he had an entire generation of female readers across the magical world.
And once those female fans heard that their beloved idol had died, they lost their minds.
Some relied on their verbal firepower to send Howlers.
Others pressured the Ministry or Hogwarts personally—or had their husbands, children, brothers, or fathers do it for them.
Why not mothers?
Because the mothers were Lockhart's fans too; they took action before their daughters even spoke.
Lockhart's fanbase was not to be underestimated—
more than 90% of the witches in Britain were fans.
The Ministry was nearly drowned in Howlers.
Hogwarts suffered even more.
It was the primary crime scene, after all, and Lockhart's death was inevitably tied to the school.
Eventually, the Howlers disrupted normal teaching so heavily that Dumbledore finally lost his patience and personally erected a barrier specifically designed to block Howlers.
Louis had no idea how it worked, but every owl carrying a Howler slammed into the barrier and failed to enter.
With that, the uproar finally subsided.
Lockhart—this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor—was dead.
The basilisk was dead.
Even the mastermind's Horcrux diary had been sealed away by Louis.
Though Lockhart's death caused considerable shock, once the Ministry issued a statement claiming he was killed by "another of Voldemort's minions" (where they kept finding so many minions was a mystery), public outrage finally settled.
---
Afterwards, Louis grew extremely curious about Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets.
He had once instructed Chuan to carry him through the castle's pipes, bypassing the girls' bathroom entrance and descending into the depths beneath the castle.
Unfortunately, he was stopped by the second entrance—
a door requiring Parseltongue.
And unlike the bathroom's concealed gate, this door was integrated into Hogwarts' very foundations. Destroying it would bring down half the castle.
This meant Louis had no fate with the Chamber after all.
Not that it mattered; the Chamber likely held nothing of value at this point.
He just wanted to satisfy his curiosity.
Of course, he could drag Harry down there for a tour.
But Louis didn't like doing things without a justifiable reason.
There was no need to bring suspicion upon himself just to indulge curiosity.
After all, Harry had never publicly revealed that he was a Parselmouth.
Louis couldn't simply dump that knowledge on "the prophecy"—prophecies didn't work that way.
So Louis had decided to give up exploring the Chamber—
Until Harry suddenly came to find him.
"You're saying you think Lockhart was killed by the source of that voice you heard?" Louis asked.
He had been eating lunch with Hermione when Harry rushed over and poured out a whole explanation—
specifically, that he once heard a voice saying things like "Kill… tear… rip…" in Lockhart's office.
Louis took the sandwich Hermione handed him and asked,
"When exactly did you hear that voice?"
"When…?" Harry blinked. "It was… right at the start of term. I was serving detention because of the flying car."
"You only mention something from the start of term now?" Hermione couldn't help blurting out.
Harry looked a bit ashamed. "I thought I misheard it. And I never heard it again afterward."
"Did you tell the Headmaster about it?" Louis continued asking.
"Not yet," Harry admitted. "I was afraid it was just my imagination, so I didn't want to bother him."
"I think you can trust Dumbledore's patience—especially with you."
Louis wiped his mouth. "And I made a discovery of my own. If you don't mind, come with me to see the Headmaster."
"Huh?" Harry stared blankly.
But Louis didn't care whether he understood or not. He grabbed him and went straight to find a professor to ask for the password.
Luckily, Dumbledore had not left Hogwarts. When Louis and Harry entered the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore was in the middle of writing a reply letter.
"What brings you here, Louis? And Harry," Dumbledore said, looking at them over his glasses. "I hear you have something urgent to discuss."
"Harry just told me something that I think is very important."
Louis briefly summarized everything Harry had told him.
"Harry is a Parselmouth, so I think he may be able to take us to the Chamber."
"The Chamber?" Dumbledore's eyes narrowed. "Louis, how did you know that opening the Chamber requires Parseltongue?"
"Salazar Slytherin had to use something to choose his heir, right?" Louis answered directly. "What else besides Parseltongue could serve as proof of lineage?"
"Besides, what else could control a basilisk?"
"I… I'm not any kind of heir," Harry said weakly. "Also, what's a basilisk?"
"I never said you were an heir," Louis replied casually. "Heirs speak Parseltongue, but Parseltongue doesn't automatically make you an heir."
"No," Dumbledore interrupted gently. "Parselmouths are extremely rare. Someone with the gift must be connected to the line."
Harry's heart jumped—he nearly thought he was being accused of killing Mrs. Norris.
"But though Harry is a Parselmouth, his talent is likely no less than his."
Dumbledore gave Harry a reassuring smile.
"Now then, Louis, where do you think the entrance to the Chamber is?"
"Isn't it obvious? My deduction back then made it perfectly clear," Louis said.
Harry was completely lost.
He didn't remember Louis's brilliant deduction at all—just that Louis had looked very cool at the time.
So he still didn't know where the entrance was supposed to be.
"Let's go see for ourselves," Dumbledore decided.
He also wanted to confirm the current state of the Chamber of Secrets.
He absolutely did not want another incident—Lockhart's death had already caused enough headaches.
The three of them made their way to the abandoned third-floor girls' bathroom.
Seeing it jogged Harry's memory at last.
Moaning Myrtle had died here.
And Mrs. Norris had also been found petrified right outside the door.
So—the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was inside this bathroom!
---
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