Early the next morning, Tver was woken by the noise outside his door.
Stepping out of his office, he saw Filch shooing away curious young wizards.
"Professor," Filch immediately dropped his scowl, still clutching a bottle, "did we disturb your rest?"
He had always respected the professors, but after last night, he realized Tver was far more capable than that fraud Lockhart. His respect had grown even more.
"It's nothing," Tver said with a shake of his head. "But what are you doing here?"
He was referring to the two young witches standing in front of him.
Ginny's red hair looked a bit dull under the morning sunlight, but her complexion wasn't as pale as before. It seemed she had been eating the chocolate he'd given her; her cheeks were visibly rounder.
When she caught Tver's assessing look, she immediately lowered her head, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her robe.
The blonde girl beside her was also someone he recognized.
Luna Lovegood, an eccentric first-year Ravenclaw.
Compared to Ginny, Luna was the complete opposite.
Her golden hair gleamed, a sweet smile rested at her lips, and she met Tver's gaze without hesitation.
Her large eyes looked somewhat unfocused, yet Tver felt an equal measure of scrutiny and curiosity in them.
"Ginny said she wanted to come see this place, so we came."
Filch's face darkened.
"Is this somewhere you should be?!"
"Are we not allowed to come here?" Luna tilted her head in honest confusion, her carrot-shaped earrings swaying.
"Uh…"
Her tone was so matter-of-fact that Filch was left speechless with frustration.
Of course, he couldn't actually refute her.
"There was an attack here not long ago. Aren't you afraid?" Tver asked, amused.
Luna lifted the hem of her robe, revealing a badge pinned at her waist, marked with a small eagle.
"This is the badge you reinforced, isn't it?" she said brightly. "It will definitely protect us from the attacker's magic, right?"
Tver stared at her for a moment.
Her eyes were clear—pure, like her smile—yet they seemed capable of seeing straight through a person.
But in his own eyes, he saw nothing.
After a long pause, he smiled. "Of course it can. So make sure you wear it properly. But the two of you shouldn't be wandering everywhere."
Luna looked like she wanted to continue, but Ginny tugged at her robe, stopping her from speaking.
She had no choice but to wave her small hand in farewell.
"Goodbye, Professor Fawley, and Mr. Filch."
Then she walked away with light steps, pulling Ginny along.
Once the two girls had disappeared, Tver turned to Filch. "And you? What brings you here this early?"
Filch hesitated, pointing toward the scene of the attack.
"I just thought I'd clean up over there… and maybe catch the attacker."
Tver wasn't surprised.
The caretaker was a pitiable man—a Squib surrounded by young wizards who surpassed him every day.
His only companion was his cat, and now that cat had been petrified. His reaction was understandable.
But that was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. If he happened to run into the Basilisk, it wouldn't even need eye contact—one bite would swallow him whole.
Thinking of this, Tver pulled out a badge.
"The attacker is dangerous. Wear the badge and stay safe."
"Th-thank you," Filch muttered, face turning red as he hurried away.
With that taken care of, Tver couldn't hold back a yawn.
He had been reading in the Diadem every night recently, sleeping late and growing inevitably tired.
But since he was already awake, he didn't intend to return to sleep. Instead, he headed for the Great Hall.
As he stepped into the hall, he froze.
It was Sunday—the one day students loved to sleep in—yet many were already up, loudly discussing last night's attack.
"If it was just simple petrification, the professors would've solved it already. They wouldn't leave it alone this long."
"Then what was it? Some powerful magic? Who in the castle could do that?"
"Harry Potter and his friends?"
There was no fear on their faces—only the excitement of trading gossip.
And the moment they noticed Tver, the students, unable to reach a conclusion in their debate, rushed toward him and fired questions one after another.
"Professor, how's the cat?"
"Did they catch the attacker?"
"Is it related to Potter?"
...
The scene was so chaotic it felt like a hundred Lockharts were all trying to outshine one another. Tver snapped his fingers.
"Snap."
A low hum rang sharply in the students' ears, making them all jerk back in fright.
"The attacker used extremely strong dark magic. We can't save Mrs Norris yet. And since we still haven't caught the culprit, all of you must be careful. Wear your badges properly. Understood?"
Before the students could recover, Tver slipped out of the crowd. If he let them keep asking questions, it would truly never end.
But his explanation didn't quench the students' overwhelming curiosity. For several days afterward, they continued to passionately discuss the attack, completely ignoring his reminder about the badges.
To protect certain key students, the professors began taking various measures.
Snape increased the pressure on Harry, keeping him for detention after nearly every class to handle small tasks. Professor McGonagall, more gentle by comparison, assigned the Weasley twins detention to burn off their excessive energy.
Yet encouraged by Tver's example, the bolder students actually started asking the professors all sorts of questions unrelated to class. Naturally, the professors were nowhere near as patient as Tver—especially Snape, whose stony expression alone was enough to send students running.
So their curiosity lingered unresolved until Hermione, during History of Magic, finally asked about the Chamber of Secrets.
"It's just a legend."
"According to the legend, Salazar Slytherin built a Chamber of Secrets to purge the castle of Muggle-born students. He supposedly placed a monster inside, waiting for his heir to open it."
"Once opened, the monster would obey instructions and attack anyone Salazar believed unworthy of learning magic!"
"But it's only a legend. For a thousand years, no one has ever found the slightest trace of such a chamber."
Rumor had it that Professor Bins finally gave in to the students' pleas and told the story, but after that, he countered them with an even more monotonous tone than usual.
None of this concerned Tver. Even though a few students tried to question him further about these matters, the moment they faced a professor's authority, they gradually gave up the idea.