"So, you're really not the heir of the Secret Chamber?" Harry licked his lips, staring at William, choosing to ask directly.
"?"
"?"
It wasn't just William who had question marks on his face; Hermione also looked at the boy with a face full of question marks, her brown eyes filled with shock. Seriously, buddy, can you give me a heads up before you lay it all out? I'm afraid now...
The girl glanced at William out of the corner of her eye, and seeing that he had no intention of pulling out his magic wand, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why ask that?"
William frowned; with Harry saying that, he understood why these two little wizards had sneaked into his dorm in the middle of the night—they really thought he was the villain.
"Because..." Harry hesitated with his wording, and under William's gaze, slowly continued, "Because we want to find the person who attacked Ron, the Marauder's Map—you've seen its function, we've been, um..." The boy anxiously ran a hand through his hair.
"Spying on me."
"...Cough, cough."
"No, of course not—" At that moment, Dobby shouted, his eyes bulging as if they would pop out, "Mr. Richard, he, he stopped that person's big conspiracy, the one whose name can't be mentioned, Mr. Richard is a good man, even Harry Potter can't accuse him—"
But Harry only glanced at Dobby, still annoyed from before.
"Of course it's not me, how could you suspect me..."
William was startled, then he took out the Marauder's Map again, looking at the eighth floor—as expected, there was no sign of the Room of Requirement.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just, you don't need to investigate the Secret Chamber anymore, I've handed over the heir to Dumbledore, he'll handle it properly, the type of monster is confirmed, by the end of this term, the professors will be able to deal with it... As for those who were petrified, the Mandrake will mature around..."
William calculated with his fingers, "Around May... Honestly, if you've been busy spying on suspects, you might want to pay attention to the timing of the final exams—they're likely to come before Ron returns."
"...Does that mean Ron doesn't have to take the final exams?"
William detected a hint of jealousy in Harry's voice.
"What's the monster in the Secret Chamber?"
Hermione's focus wasn't as off-track, she frowned, seeming to grasp something, "Those roosters in the corridor..."
"Yes, it's a Basilisk, the whispering Harry heard..."
"Is the Basilisk's voice, the eyes of the Basilisk can also kill anyone who looks directly at them, but the crowing of a rooster is deadly to it..."
Hermione's eyes were wide, completely immersed in her own world, whispering to herself, reciting records she once read about Basilisks, "But those victims were only petrified... Wait, that's because, because they didn't look directly into the Basilisk's eyes!"
The girl lifted her head, her eyes brimming with joy at the realization of a problem that had perplexed her for so long; she felt very excited.
"Yes, Ron and Filch saw the water on the ground, the first-year we wizard through a camera, and Moaning Myrtle..." William nodded.
"A ghost can't die again!" Hermione nearly shouted with excitement.
"Absolutely right."
William clapped his hands; even though he had revealed the final answer, Hermione's prior guesses were already very close to the truth, inseparable from her extensive knowledge reserve. It was just that the clues were too fragmented, leaving her momentarily unable to piece them together.
Unlike some people...
"...What's a Basilisk?" Harry blinked in confusion.
"It's a kind of serpent. Now, you know the truth."
William interrupted the eager-to-explain Hermione; you can explain later, don't drag it out here.
"We..."
Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, and the young witch came back from the excitement of solving the puzzle; they blinked somewhat bewildered—was it solved just like that?
An unreal feeling washed over both of them.
...
Having sent the still-bewildered little wizards out of the dorm, William crossed the hidden fireplace back to the Room of Requirement, spreading the "captured" Marauder's Map on the table, grinning—
This was the biggest gain; at least now, he was unlikely to be late for his Magic Rune classes in the future.
"Back?"
Cedric walked in from the door opposite the fireplace, placing a metal bucket he was carrying against the wall, stretching as he stood up straight. Having just finished feeding the Acromantula, he felt utterly exhausted, after all those spiders, almost every one of them wanted to eat him.
"Yeah, caught two little thieves, traded for something good."
"Who?"
"Harry Potter and his little buddy, they suspected I was... the heir of the Secret Chamber."
"...Kids, you know, probably have rich imaginations."
"How come you're willing to hang around me today? Finished your paper?" William raised an eyebrow instinctively at the boy now standing next to him.
"Cough, cough, finished it yesterday. Honestly, I even turned down Cho's invitation to Hogsmeade for this—" Seemingly prepared, Cedric smugly pulled out a roll of parchment from his pocket, placing it on the table in front of William.
"Oh, well, I must apologize then." Seeing the paper, a full eighteen inches long, William nodded and said, "What about tonight's charm training?"
"...Also done." Cedric hesitated for a moment. Suddenly, he had a premonition something ominous was about to occur.
"Alright then," William placed the parchment on the table and turned to head down the stairs, "come on down, let's spar a bit."
"..."
It suddenly dawned on Cedric why he had that ominous premonition, "Cough, cough, I think it's getting late."
"No worries, you usually sleep much later than this."
"Tomorrow..."
"You don't have any classes tomorrow. I have your schedule here."
"...Am I really not getting away tonight?"
"Smart."
"...Alright then, let's do it."
Resigning to his fate, Cedric faced William with a look of determination, vividly recalling his last practice spar with William—where he laid on the bed for a full twenty minutes, then watched with wide eyes as William reattached his broken right leg.
Honestly, the boy even wondered if he might permanently end up with a limp...