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Chapter 174 Descendants of Slytherin?!!
Besides Ginny acting strange lately, Hermione had also become noticeably unusual.
She practically lived in the library these days, running back and forth with towering stacks of books, reading late into the night.
Every morning, Darren woke to discover she'd pushed even more knowledge into his brain.
That alone proved how incredibly hard Hermione had been working.
"Oh my God—what are you even looking for?"
One day, Ron finally couldn't hold back and asked.
Hermione shot him an irritated glare.
"You two don't care about the Chamber of Secrets at all. So much happened that day—didn't you use your brains?
Darren excluded, of course. He was trying his hardest. I'm talking about these two brainless idiots!"
Hermione's face reddened slightly as she praised Darren.
Darren also blushed and set down the storybook in his hands.
"It's just a storybook. Sometimes I read it to… relax my brain a little…"
Hermione hurried to comfort him.
Ron stared blankly for a moment, then immediately grinned and leaned toward her.
"Hermione, lend us your essay so Harry and I can copy it? We're working on it right now!"
Harry nodded vigorously.
"In your dreams! The professor gave you several days to write that essay—where is it?
Do you know how much Darren wrote? He filled an entire parchment!"
Hermione pointed accusingly at the unfinished assignment in front of Harry and Ron.
Ron grumbled, "Yeah, well, Darren's handwriting used to be awful. But after all that practice it suddenly became super neat.
And besides looking neat, he writes HUGE letters. If he ever fits ten lines on one parchment, I'll call him Dad!"
"What's wrong with ten lines? Ten lines still took effort!
Meanwhile, you haven't even written ten!"
Hermione slammed a book onto the table. Ron nearly jumped out of his seat.
Darren, embarrassed, offered his essay.
"You… can copy mine. Just don't forget to write your own afterward.
And about the big letters… I don't know why. Ever since I changed my handwriting, I've been used to writing large.
It's so the professor can understand. I'll try to fix it later…"
Ron took Darren's parchment.
He suspected Darren was just trying to write less. He and Harry had used the "write big letters" trick many times, yet they still needed at least twenty lines.
But Darren somehow filled an entire parchment in ten lines.
Suspicious.
Still, remembering Darren's usual behavior, Ron forced the thought away.
There was no way Darren would cheat.
Then he actually looked at the parchment.
The handwriting was beautiful.
The spacing was beautiful.
Even the ten lines were beautiful.
Ron sighed in defeat.
No wonder professors always gave Darren perfect marks.
This must be talent.
He put the parchment back.
No wonder Hermione hadn't protested them copying Darren's essay—
It was impossible to copy.
If Darren wrote a perfect, elegant sentence, professors praised him.
If Ron wrote that same sentence, professors would immediately ask where he stole it from.
"Hmph. I hope you two write properly this time!"
Hermione ended the topic sharply and went back to diving through piles of books.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look. Neither understood what she was researching.
They didn't understand until History of Magic class.
That class was taught by Professor Binns, the ghost who once forgot to bring his body to class and simply continued teaching as a ghost forever.
His lectures were so dull that even Hermione usually dozed off.
Except Darren.
Harry admired him most for that.
No matter how boring the lecture was, Darren could always follow the professor's train of thought. Every time Professor Binns looked over, Darren nodded thoughtfully. No one knew what he was actually thinking, but it certainly looked profound.
Even Professor Binns liked him.
During last year's exam, Binns had corrected Darren's paper without reading it and simply gave him a perfect score.
But that wasn't relevant now.
What mattered was: Hermione.
Halfway through the class, Hermione stood up abruptly.
"Professor, do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"
"My subject is History of Magic. I teach facts—things that have happened."
Professor Binns droned on, then resumed his lecture.
But Hermione didn't back down.
"Professor, perhaps you don't know: there are rumors going around the castle saying Darren is the heir. They're claiming he opened the Chamber of Secrets.
Just recently, a student named Justin almost drew his wand to hex Darren when Darren visited him in the hospital wing.
You don't want Darren being wrongfully accused like this, do you?
Besides, legends always have some basis in fact!"
"Is that so? Darren?"
Professor Binns's tone finally changed. He looked over.
Darren quickly shook his head and stammered softly:
"H-Hermione exaggerated a bit… Justin was just scared…
He wasn't really going to hex me.
And… the timing of my appearance was too coincidental, so it's normal people suspect me…"
"That's true!"
Professor Binns said indignantly.
"I have never seen such nonsense in all my years. The Chamber of Secrets is pure myth!"
He surveyed the entire class—and even gave Darren a rare smile.
"Since everyone seems confused, I will explain.
According to legend, the Chamber of Secrets could only be opened by a descendant of Salazar Slytherin.
Darren is a descendant of the Potters.
He is not a descendant of Slytherin!"
Professor Binns went on at length, firmly clearing Darren's name.
Darren looked at him gratefully.
But inside, his heart tightened a little.
Because although the Chamber was not opened by him…
He still might actually be a descendant of Slytherin.
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