Chapter 25: The question is not who, the question is how?

    Harry was awakened by voices in his head and the pain in his arms.

    It felt as if someone had inserted thousands of sharp blades into the muscles of his arms. When the bone fragments grew, they would inevitably cut his flesh and blood.

    Now, the pain that Lockhart had taken away was back in 2x!

    But more than the pain, he cared more about the voice that kept echoing in his head - so long ago, he almost forgot about it - and... there was a monster that wiped his forehead with a sponge ball.

    "Ah! Go away!" He waved in panic, but soon recognized who the monster was - Dobby.

    The house elf that had warned him in the Ministry of Magic.

    "Oh! Sir Potter woke up! Dobby reminded Sir Potter several times. Ah, sir, why didn''t you listen to Dobby''s warning? When Sir Potter didn''t catch the train, why didn''t he go home?" Dobby said sadly.

    Now, Harry finally knew who wanted to harm him——

    "Did you do it? It was you who sealed the partition wall and prevented us from passing by! You almost caused me and Ron to be expelled!" He said angrily, "You''d better get away before my bones are fully grown, or I will strangle you to death."

    "Ah! Dobby is used to death threats, Sir Potter. Dobby hears them five times a day at home." Dobby said nonchalantly, but he looked a little pitiful.

    Harry''s annoyance suddenly subsided a lot.

    "Why are you wearing that thing, Dobby?" He looked at the "clothes" Dobby was wearing, or a pillowcase that had not been washed for decades and was dirtier than a rag.

    "Are you talking about this, sir?" Dobby said, tugging at the pillowcase.

    "This symbolizes the house elf''s slave status, sir. Dobby can only be freed when his master gives him clothes to wear. The Malfoy family.... They were careful not to give Dobby even a pair of socks, sir, because then Dobby would be free and leave their house forever."

    Upon hearing this, Harry immediately felt sympathy, but his sympathy immediately dissipated the next moment after hearing Dobby''s next words.

    "Harry Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would surely make—"

    "Your Bludger? What do you mean, your Bludger? Did you let that Bludger kill me?"

    "I didn''t kill you, sir, I definitely didn''t kill you!" Dobby said in horror.

    "Dobby wanted to save Harry Potter''s life! It''s better to be sent home after being seriously injured than to stay here, sir." He said hurriedly.

    "Dobby just wants Sir Harry Potter to be slightly injured and to be sent home!"

    ''Who is it!? It''s not Ron or Hermione, right...?'' Harry''s stomach twitched violently.

    Slowly and carefully, he lifted himself a few inches so that he could see the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight shone on the stunned face.

    It''s Colin Creevey.

    His eyes were wide open and his hands were stretched out in front of his chest, holding up his camera.

    "Petrified?" Madam Pomfrey asked quietly.

    "Yes," said Professor McGonagall, "I shudder just thinking about it...if Dumbledore hadn''t happened to come downstairs with hot chocolate, who knows what would have happened..."

    The three people looked at Colin intently. Then Dumbledore leaned forward and took the camera from Colin''s stiff fingers.

    "Could he have taken a photo of the attacker?" Professor McGonagall asked eagerly.

    Dumbledore didn''t answer. He pried open the back of the camera.

    "Oh, Merlin!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed.

    A stream of heat hissed out of the camera.

    Even Harry, who was three beds away, smelled the pungent smell of burning plastic.

    "Melted..." Madam Pomfrey said in surprise, "It actually melted..."

    "What does this mean, Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall asked eagerly.

    "This means...." said Dumbledore, "that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened again."

    Madam Pomfrey covered her mouth with her hands. Professor McGonagall looked at Dumbledore blankly.

    "But Albus... you must know... who?"

    "The question is not who," Dumbledore said, focusing on Colin. "The question is, how..."

    Harry could see the look on Professor McGonagall''s face in the shadows and knew that she, like him, had not understood Dumbledore''s words.

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