With the night's events still lingering in his mind, Kai Adler had no desire to study. All he wanted was to return to his dormitory and get some much-needed rest.
Sensing this, Professor Dumbledore offered to personally escort both Kai and Hermione back. Kai accepted without hesitation. He didn't know if that strange, monstrous serpent would return.
The two students followed quietly behind the Headmaster. Hermione was still nervously gripping the edge of Kai's robe, her hand cold.
But as they reached the fifth floor, Kai slowed his steps. The corridor ahead was slick with water, as if a pipe had burst somewhere.
Then came the noise—low chatter, agitation, urgency.
As they turned the corner, they saw a crowd of students gathered around something, speaking in hushed, panicked voices. Professor McGonagall stood in the center, directing them away with sharp authority.
"Everyone return to your dormitories! Except for you two," she added, glancing at Kai and Hermione.
The crowd dispersed slowly, casting curious glances over their shoulders. Among them, Kai caught sight of Draco Malfoy, who threw him a pointed, almost gleeful look before vanishing into the crowd.
Kai narrowed his eyes. That expression wasn't gloating—it was calculated.
When the students were fully cleared, the scene ahead came into view.
A cat hung stiffly from a lamp fixture on the wall, its body frozen as if long dead. Beneath it stood Harry Potter, bewildered and silent. Ron Weasley hovered awkwardly beside him. Just a few paces away, Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts, looked utterly deranged, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Harry.
"You killed my cat! I'll kill you! I'll—!"
"Argus!"
Dumbledore stepped forward, raising his voice just enough to cut through the madness.
Filch faltered, turning to the Headmaster with wild desperation. "Headmaster, this boy—he killed her!"
"Argus Filch," Dumbledore said, his voice firm, "everyone is innocent until proven guilty."
The old wizard's eyes moved to the stiff feline. Then he noticed it—a crimson message, scrawled on the stone wall in blood.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware."
Recognition dawned in Dumbledore's expression. He turned and locked eyes with Kai.
So. The attacker had failed to harm Hermione—and settled instead for a public warning.
Dumbledore gently lifted Mrs. Norris down. "Harry, Ron. You may return to your common room."
"My office is just upstairs, Headmaster," came a sickeningly smug voice from behind. "Please, feel free to use it."
Kai turned. Gilderoy Lockhart had arrived, looking as if he were born for this moment. He even smiled at Kai, attempting civility, as if nothing had passed between them earlier that week.
The others present included Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, who maintained a subtle distance from Kai.
Everyone followed Dumbledore to Lockhart's ostentatiously decorated office. He laid the stiff cat on a polished table while Lockhart lit a lamp, offering exaggerated observations.
"Must've been a dark spell, or perhaps magical torture—yes, I've seen this sort of thing dozens of times. If only I'd arrived moments earlier, I might have—"
Hermione, once his admirer, couldn't suppress her eye-roll. Ron groaned audibly.
Dumbledore, unimpressed, examined Mrs. Norris without comment. Filch sat slumped in a chair, face buried in his hands.
"She's not dead, Argus," the Headmaster finally said.
"What?"
Lockhart blinked in confusion. Filch looked up, a flicker of hope in his eyes.
"But she's stiff—and cold all over!"
"She's been Petrified," Dumbledore replied calmly.
"I knew it," Lockhart said, nodding as if he'd diagnosed it himself.
Dumbledore ignored him. "And I can say with certainty this was not caused by a human spell."
He turned to Harry and Ron. "You may leave."
The boys looked stunned. Filch immediately sprang up.
"Don't let them go! He—he killed her—!"
Without missing a beat, Kai and Hermione stepped forward and gave the two boys a firm shove toward the door.
"Filch!"
This time it was McGonagall's voice, stern. "You must trust the Headmaster."
"But my cat has been Petrified!" Filch raged. "Someone must pay!"
"I think they will, Mr. Filch."
Everyone turned as Kai spoke.
He stepped forward with a calm, respectful expression.
Filch blinked, taken aback. The caretaker wasn't used to being treated with courtesy by students—especially not someone as well-dressed and well-spoken as Kai Adler.
"Mrs. Norris, that's her name, correct?"
"Y-yes," Filch stammered.
"We are deeply sorry about what happened to her." Kai approached, placing a hand gently on the man's grimy, trembling one. "But please understand—this was not the Headmaster's fault. Nor Harry's. Nor anyone else's in this room. This was the work of the true culprit."
Filch hesitated. Kai continued.
"Rest assured, Headmaster Dumbledore will cure Mrs. Norris… and ensure that the one responsible is brought to justice."
Filch blinked rapidly. "Yes… yes, sir…"
It was startling to hear the word 'sir' directed at an eleven-year-old. But Kai exuded a quiet authority that made the title feel natural.
"Good. Then I have a task for you, Mr. Filch." Kai leaned in. "Continue doing what you do best. Keep your eyes open. Look for anyone behaving strangely—wandering where they shouldn't, doing what they shouldn't. And report it to the professors—or to me."
Filch stared at him, dazed. "Find the culprit… report back…"
"Exactly."
Without another word, Filch turned and left the room.
When the door closed, silence fell. The professors all looked at Kai, various emotions playing across their faces.
It was McGonagall who spoke first.
"Impressive, Mr. Adler."
"Thank you, Professor," Kai said politely.
Dumbledore, however, gave him a long, unreadable look. Snape's eyes narrowed coldly.
"I'd like to ask," he said, "what exactly you two were doing at the scene?"
He meant Kai and Hermione.
"Oh, I invited them," Dumbledore interjected smoothly. "They heard something unusual and came straight to me."
"Oh? So they were the first to discover the anomaly?" Snape said, his tone heavy with suspicion.
"Yes, Severus, I believe—"
"I don't think I saw anything clearly," Kai interrupted softly.
Hermione shot him a confused glance. He ignored it, keeping his gaze on Dumbledore.
The two stared at each other. After a long moment, Dumbledore sighed.
"You two may leave. I'd like a word with Kai alone."
The others were clearly puzzled, but none argued. Hermione hesitated, but Kai gave her a subtle nod. She left.
When the room was empty, Dumbledore raised a hand. With a flick, he cast a translucent magical barrier around them.
"You don't want them to know about the Basilisk," he said. "Why?"
Kai found a seat and sat down, crossing his legs.
"Because if the truth spreads, Hogwarts will be shut down."
Dumbledore's face was grim. "Yes. That is very likely."
Kai shrugged.
"I haven't had my fill of school life yet. Besides, I was effectively thrown out of my family home. If the school closes… I have nowhere else to go."
"Unless the culprit is caught," Dumbledore added softly.
"Exactly. But if the school closes, we lose our best chance to find them."
"You're asking me to conceal the truth—to leave the students exposed to danger—in the hope of catching the one who harmed Hermione."
"For the greater good, Professor."
The young man smiled faintly. His voice dropped.
"If the Chamber isn't uncovered now… if the Basilisk isn't destroyed… then whether it's next year, or ten years from now, students will still be at risk. You can't just protect their present. You have to protect their future, too."
Dumbledore stared at him, eyes unreadable.
"You're very much like Gellert," he said quietly. "Even your methods. What you did with Filch just now… that was his technique."
Grindelwald's greatest weapon had never been his dark magic. It had been his voice—his ability to weave charisma and subtle magic into persuasion. He hadn't forced people. He'd convinced them.
And Kai had just done the same.
"Everyone has their purpose, Professor," Kai said. "Filch can go places no one else can. Let him be our eyes and ears."
"You're doing all this… because the target was Hermione."
Kai didn't reply. He didn't need to.
Dumbledore looked at him with something like sorrow—and recognition.
He saw it now. This boy wasn't just like Grindelwald.
He was like himself, once.
Years ago, when he would've done anything for a boy with wild eyes and impossible dreams. And in the end, he'd done things no good man ever should.
Kai Adler was already capable of the same.
Torturing a man to death. Endangering an entire school. All for her.
And the worst part?
Dumbledore found himself moved by Kai's final words.
"Protecting students isn't just protecting their present, but also their future."
Because it was true.
This time, the Chamber had to be dealt with—completely.
Otherwise, Hogwarts would never truly be safe.
Dumbledore looked down, his shoulders heavy. Even his beard seemed to have greyed further.
"I understand."