Leon had no idea Dumbledore was keeping an eye on him.
Not that it mattered. Being a "good guy" came with limits—you couldn't just act recklessly or make accusations without evidence like a villain might. Hogwarts was a magical castle, every brick and stone pulsing with its own will. A headmaster acknowledged by Hogwarts had unmatched control over the place. Leon didn't just suspect the portraits were watching him; he was pretty sure even the suits of armor were Dumbledore's spies.
But so what? Even if he got caught red-handed, he could pin it all on Tom Riddle's diary.
So Leon carried on as if nothing was amiss—attending classes, hanging out with friends, and even sneaking out for a bit of night-time wandering. He made a trip to the Restricted Section of the library, returning a copied version of the nameless, screaming book while keeping the original for himself. In his spare time, he even swung by the Hospital Wing to hit Mrs. Norris and Scabbers with another dose of his [Petrification] spell. His petrification skill still needed work—it wore off too quickly, so he had to top it up now and then.
Dumbledore didn't call him in for questioning. Maybe he was waiting to catch Leon in the act with undeniable proof, or perhaps he was playing some grand, mysterious chess game, as usual.
The headmaster's interest in the petrified cat-and-rat case paled in comparison to the students' obsession. For the next two weeks, it was the topic at Hogwarts. Everywhere you went—corridors, common rooms, the Great Hall—people were buzzing about Mrs. Norris and Scabbers. Who petrified them? Why them? What was the motive? Was Peeves the mastermind or just an accomplice? What did "Chamber" mean? Who was the "Heir"? Were they inheriting Peeves' prank empire or something else entirely?
Peeves had scrawled a message on the third-floor corridor wall, but Filch had already scrubbed it off. It was just tomato sauce, after all. In the heat of the moment, with a petrified cat and rat dangling under a torch, most people were too freaked out to notice the writing. Many didn't even see the crime scene.
Thankfully, Colin Creevey had snapped photos of it all. When Leon saw the pictures, he made a snap decision: these, along with a short write-up, were going straight into the upcoming issue of the Harry Potter monthly newsletter. Any objections? Overruled. His reasoning? Harry lived at Hogwarts, so covering Hogwarts' hot topics wasn't off-brand. Truth be told, Leon just wanted to boost sales. Exclusive photos tied to the biggest gossip in school? The newsletter would fly off the shelves.
To capitalize on the buzz, Leon had everyone working overtime to get the issue out while the petrification drama was still fresh. They'd moved the club and newsletter operations to the Room of Requirement, an idea Luna suggested after chatting with the house-elves in the kitchens. By late September, Maeve had smuggled in a full set of magical printing equipment, which Leon promptly set up in the Room of Requirement. It was now churning out the first October issue non-stop.
No one was more invested in solving the case than the victims' owners, Filch and Ron. Filch spent hours every day staking out the third-floor crime scene, convinced the culprit would return. It was driving Lockhart, whose office was right across the hall, up the wall. Normal people would feel uneasy being watched like that by a nosy neighbor, but for someone like Lockhart, who was hiding secrets? It was torture. He complained, but it did no good. In the end, he moved into a temporary recording studio—an empty room he'd repurposed for his music project—just to get some peace.
Ron, on the surface, didn't do anything too drastic, aside from cursing Malfoy's name daily. But behind the scenes, his trio—Harry, Hermione, and himself—had formed a detective squad. Hermione, true to form, hit the books, borrowing the entire set of Hogwarts: A History from the library. She dug up the legend of the Chamber of Secrets.
According to the books, two of Hogwarts' founders, Slytherin and Gryffindor, had a falling out over their teaching philosophies. Slytherin left the school but not before creating a hidden chamber unknown to the other founders. Inside, he stashed a terrifying weapon and sealed the chamber so only his true heir could open it. When that heir arrived at Hogwarts and unleashed the weapon, the school would be "purified," ridding it of those Slytherin deemed unworthy of magic—like Muggle-borns.
The book noted these were just rumors, unproven. Hogwarts, being a thousand-year-old institution, had no shortage of wild tales—probably thousands of them. Ron wasn't buying it. "Malfoy as Slytherin's heir? Sure, I can see that. But him opening the Chamber just to petrify my rat? That's ridiculous. Unless he's got something bigger planned."
Harry was equally puzzled. "George said Filch is a Squib, and you guys explained Squibs can't use magic. So how does he count as 'unworthy of magic'?"
Hermione, ruffling her already bushy hair, said, "Peeves claimed Malfoy put him up to it, but Dumbledore pulled him aside for a private talk. He must think there are too many holes in Peeves' story." Ignoring Ron's indignant, "What holes? It was definitely Malfoy!" she continued, "The real question isn't who did it—it's whether the Chamber is real and if the heir will actually try to 'purify' Hogwarts.
"Peeves' message might've been a joke, but the info in it likely came from the culprit. The only ones at Hogwarts who could boss Peeves around are the Bloody Baron and maybe Dumbledore. So, let's assume Malfoy is the heir. If we follow his logic, it goes like this: he found the Chamber, got the weapon, and tested it on Mrs. Norris and Scabbers. He didn't want to deal with the messy cleanup, so he used the weapon to strong-arm Peeves into doing it for him. But Peeves, being Peeves, couldn't resist adding his own chaotic flair, so he wrote a silly message on the wall instead of something scary. Then, once he was free from the weapon's threat, he ratted out Malfoy.
"It all makes sense so far, right? Except for one thing: if Malfoy had Peeves doing his dirty work, why was he still at the crime scene, caught by half the school?"
Harry couldn't come up with a solid counterargument. Everything lined up—except Malfoy Leonring at the scene. Did that mean he wasn't the culprit?
Ron wasn't having it. "Hermione, you're giving Malfoy way too much credit! He's not some mastermind. He's just stupid enough to stick around after committing the crime and get caught! He's dumb, mean, and spineless. That's why he only dared use the weapon on my rat. You saw him blubbering when he got caught—he probably wet himself!"
Harry grabbed Ron before he could go further off the rails and summed up their theories. "Hermione, you're saying the real culprit will strike again, and it won't just be animals next time—it'll be people, right?"
Hermione nodded.
"And Ron, you think Malfoy got spooked after being caught the first time and might not try again—unless he's banking on his dad being a school governor to bail him out, which could make him even bolder."
Ron corrected him, "Not 'might not.' Knowing Malfoy, he probably thinks he dodged punishment because of his dad's influence. That'll just make him cockier."
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