A few minutes ago, he saw Professor McGonagall's patronus, a silver tabby cat.

"Minerva, Filius, what's going on?"

From a distance, he saw McGonagall, who looked worried, and Flitwick, who was also very worried, standing at the door. Flitwick was only about half the height of McGonagall. Lockhart was also joining in the fun, and he simply couldn't leave the focus for a second.

"Same as before, petrified." When McGonagall saw Dumbledore coming, she immediately felt like she had seen her backbone.

The person who was attacked was Penelope Crevalle, a Ravenclaw student, a good student with excellent academic performance and also the head of Ravenclaw.

"Percy Weasley found her in an empty classroom on the fourth floor this morning," said McGonagall.

Dumbledore immediately walked into the school infirmary, and several other professors followed him in. Madam Pomfrey was bending over and taking something out of Penelope's hand.

——A small mirror.

Dumbledore immediately guessed how Penelope had escaped the basilisk.

But he didn't know about the attack either.

After Cyrus discovered that the portrait in the castle was Dumbledore's spy, he naturally refused to repeat the same mistake. He no longer let the basilisk move in the corridor, but let it stay in the pipe, only letting it out at the moment of attack. Cyrus himself hid better.

"This is the fourth attack, Albus. Three students have been hurt." McGonagall looked worried. "I'm afraid this matter can't be suppressed. What does the school board say?"

"No response yet." Dumbledore shook his head. He thought the board might be planning to close Hogwarts, but it didn't. Maybe there hasn't been a real murder yet, or maybe someone thinks it's not the right time yet? "That's great, but we have to find the murderer."

"We will find it, Minerva," Dumbledore whispered. His face was almost expressionless, making it difficult to tell what he was really thinking.

"Yes, we will find it! As long as I do it myself!" Lockhart jumped out at the right time, revealing his signature smile.

Mag immediately showed a look of disgust.

To be honest, at other times, even if she didn't like Lockhart, she would never be so rude. But now the situation is so serious, and Lockhart thinks this is a joke, which is annoying.

After all, he was still the same Gilderoy Lockhart.

Or was it Lockhart who, in order to attract attention, had transformed the Death Eaters during the war and launched his own name into the air to create panic! "If I remember correctly, you seemed to have been announcing that the heir had been driven away by you two weeks ago?" Snape appeared behind Lockhart at some point and sneered.

Then, regardless of Lockhart's reaction, he came directly to Dumbledore and whispered, "Ginny Weasley didn't go anywhere this morning. She stayed with Pott and the others. But - there is one thing I must tell you -"

His voice lowered, and by the end he was barely speaking at all, instead meeting Dumbledore's gaze directly.

'Ginny Weasley lost something?'

This information immediately made Dumbledore's mind clearer.

After he noticed that there was something wrong with Ginny, he asked Snape to pay more attention to her. Now it seems that Voldemort may have noticed this surveillance, so he took the initiative to leave Ginny Weasley and turned to control other young wizards.

And that missing thing - must be the Horcrux left by Voldemort! 'You left too many loopholes, Tom.'

Dumbledore couldn't help but wonder.

Snape just shook his head. Legilimency was not an omniscient spell. Ginny and the others' memories had been modified by Cyrus, and they could not remember what had been lost. Naturally, Snape could not know the answer.

It now seems that the other party is still very cautious.

Dumbledore held the mirror he had taken from Penelope and groaned.

Fifty years ago, Tom Riddle had taken Myrtle's life without hesitation - it was actually an accident - and now, from Mrs. Norris to Penelope, no life had died at the hands of that monster.

The stagnant water in the bathroom, the camera, the ghost and the mirror...

Everything seemed to be just a coincidence, but he knew there couldn't be such a coincidence in the world. The only possibility was that Tom didn't want anyone to die.

Dumbledore naturally would not think that Tom Riddle had repented and had a compassionate heart. The only explanation was that he did not want the school to be closed. Fifty years ago, Dumbledore could understand that he did not want the school to be closed. But now, what did he desire?

What was it about this school that attracted him?

Dumbledore thought for a moment and came up with the answer.

—Harry Potter! That’s right!

If there is anything that interests Tom Riddle, it is probably only Harry Potter! When he, the Horcrux, used some method to learn from Ginny Weasley that Harry Potter had eliminated the mysterious man.

The soul in the Horcrux, who knew nothing about this, would surely wonder what magic a baby had that could defeat Lord Voldemort? He would go after the child.

This thought flashed through Dumbledore's mind, and as he thought about it, he became more and more certain that this would happen.

Since the first attack, the other party has been blaming Harry for the attacker. On Halloween night, Harry, who happened to be absent from the dinner, encountered the first attack; the second person attacked was Colin Creevey, who took many embarrassing photos of Harry; the third person was Justin, who was caught by Filch.

All the evidence points to Harry. Tom Riddle must want to get Harry into trouble and try to guide him to take the initiative to investigate the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir.

Only then could they finally meet alone.

And this is exactly what Dumbledore wanted.

'He knows what I want.'

Dumbledore soon realized that this was a game. Tom Riddle threatened him with the lives of his students in order to exclude himself as a threat and confront the little boy.

If I'm not mistaken, it won't be long before I have to leave Hogwarts because of some things.

But Dumbledore was not overly worried.

Tom thought he could win because his opponent was just a second-grade wizard.

But Dumbledore thought he underestimated Harry.

(End of this chapter)