Chapter 121: Chapter 121: Ordinary People
On the morning of the seventh day, Link, who had only returned to the Hufflepuff common room late at night, got up early again and came out from the dormitory.
At this moment, he was still maintaining the state of having Occlumency activated, but unlike before, the expression on his face was no longer as stiff as in the past, it had become slightly more vivid.
This was one of the effects after Occlumency reached LV3.
The upgraded Occlumency not only had stronger defense and longer duration but also gave birth to a disguise ability.
Although this might not seem powerful, in actual use, it was extremely effective.
After all, the previous version of Occlumency was far too obvious. Whether it was activated or not, one glance at your expression and people could tell.
But now, this kind of thing, being seen through with a single glance, had become hard to happen again.
And it is said that after Occlumency is practiced to a profound level, it can even forge false memories within one's own mind. That way, even if someone uses Legilimency and breaks through the defense, they would only obtain the fake information, thereby deceiving the opponent.
Of course, Link estimated that he would need to reach at least LV4 before mastering such advanced techniques.
The Hufflepuff common room was still lively. Although today was a weekend, everyone, surprisingly, did not sleep in but gathered in the common room, engaged in heated discussion about something.
However, when Link appeared in front of everyone, the entire common room suddenly became quiet.
Almost everyone lowered their heads in fear, pretending they were reading or doing homework. A few even held their books upside down.
This scene made Link pause his steps slightly, but afterward, he continued cold-faced and headed outside the common room.
At that moment, Cedric and John quickly came up, standing on his left and right, directly surrounding Link in the middle.
"Link, there's a bit of a problem."
"Let's talk outside."
Cedric and John spoke in low voices, and after speaking, accompanied Link out of the common room.
Clunk!
As the barrel-lid-shaped door of the common room closed again, the people inside once again became lively.
They craned their necks, peeking in the direction Link had left, their faces full of fear.
At this moment outside the Hufflepuff common room, Cedric looked at Link with a worried face and said, "Link, after what happened last night, someone quickly borrowed Hogwarts, A History and The Great Founders of Hogwarts. They both contain detailed records about the Chamber of Secrets."
Saying this, Cedric's expression became conflicted again, as if he couldn't continue speaking.
John beside him clenched his teeth and continued, "They say that one of the four founders, Salazar Slytherin, always believed that only pure-blood wizards deserved to study magic at Hogwarts. Because of this belief, he fell into conflict with the other three founders and eventually left Hogwarts. But before leaving, he created a secret chamber somewhere in Hogwarts."
"Inside it hides a terrifying monster! As long as the true heir of Slytherin opens the chamber, the monster inside will charge out to cleanse Hogwarts, to purge all those who are unworthy of learning magic at Hogwarts. People like me, non-pure-bloods!"
By the second half of his words, John's body was already trembling. It was clear he was also scared.
Seeing this, Link took a deep breath and said, "So now everyone thinks I'm the heir who opened the chamber, right? Just because I'm a Parselmouth, and almost all Parselmouths are descendants of Salazar Slytherin."
Cedric and John fell silent.
A long time passed before Cedric finally said, "This kind of thinking is truly foolish. After so many generations of intermarriage, nearly all pure-blood families in England have become actual relatives. Strictly speaking, I could also be considered one…"
"Alright, you don't need to comfort me anymore. I actually don't care how others see me," Link waved his hand and interrupted Cedric. "That's it. I have something urgent to do, I'll leave first."
After saying this, Link turned and walked toward the floating staircase.
Behind him, Cedric and John looked worried. In their eyes, Link was clearly pretending to be strong.
Sighing, Cedric shouted toward Link's back, "Link! Don't worry. I'll go talk to them again."
Hearing this, Link didn't respond. He wasn't lying, he did have something very urgent to do.
As for Cedric's worries, they were unnecessary. From the beginning, Link had always been clear, although Hufflepuff was known for traits like fairness, loyalty, and unafraid of toil, once that halo was stripped away, Hufflepuff students were still just ordinary people.
And as long as one is human, it's inevitable to do things like showing prejudice, things that are not noble.
That's why Link never planned to get too close with other Hufflepuffs, or even with other random students at Hogwarts.
In his view, as long as friends like Cedric and John didn't misunderstand him, that was enough.
Clenching his fists tighter, Link quickened his pace. Very soon, he arrived once again at the eighth floor of Hogwarts.
But this time, his destination was not the Room of Requirement, it was the Headmaster's Office.
The Headmaster's Office was located further inside from the corridor on the eighth floor, and at the entrance stood a strangely shaped stone beast statue.
The statue's duty was to guard the headmaster's office.
Normally, it would firmly block the entrance until someone said the correct password, and only then would it let them pass.
But today, it was standing off to the side, leaving the arched passage completely open.
Link cautiously waved his hand in front of the beast's eyes, and seeing that it didn't react at all, he quickly walked inside.
The corridor wasn't long. After spiraling upward along the passage for a while, Link entered the headmaster's office.
"Link, you've come." Inside the office, Dumbledore sat behind a claw-foot desk, smiling as he spoke. He didn't look surprised at Link's arrival.
And on the opposite sofa, Snape, dressed in black robes, also turned his head expressionlessly to look at Link at the door.
Dumbledore's office was quite large. Inside were many oddly shaped silver instruments, and on a shelf behind Dumbledore stood a beautiful red bird.
That was a phoenix, a magical bird with extraordinary powers, classified as XXXX level by the Ministry of Magic.
Of course, the most eye-catching thing in the office wasn't the phoenix, but the row of magical portraits hanging on the wall.
These were portraits of past Hogwarts headmasters. Like other magical paintings in Hogwarts, they retained the thinking patterns and most memories of their originals.
At this moment, they were also silently staring at Link, just like Dumbledore.
Under their gaze, Link stepped forward and solemnly said to Dumbledore, "Headmaster Dumbledore, I know the location of the Chamber of Secrets."
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