The Chinese girl from Hufflepuff is both timid and brave

Hermione suddenly excitedly slapped the magazine in front of Harry: "Look! This!"

Harry's thoughts were pulled back by the noise and he looked down in the direction of Hermione's finger.

"The report in The Quibbler mentioned: 'The weather was clear that night, but the atmosphere was eerie. Many Aurors were hiding in inconspicuous places outside Malfoy Manor, as if they were trying to prevent some accidents, such as treasure thieves, robbers, or drunk people making trouble at the ball. It can be seen that the Ministry of Magic attaches great importance to this auction. Does this mean that the Ministry of Magic's financial deficit is true, so..." Hermione read quickly.

"Wait, this has to do with what I'm going to find..." Harry asked confused.

"Please don't interrupt me, Harry!" Hermione frowned slightly and continued reading: "It also mentioned later, 'The author tried to interview several Aurors, but most of them were mysterious and aloof and ignored me. Only a female Auror with a heart-shaped face had a few simple conversations with the author. She admitted that some Aurors were indeed dispatched here tonight, but the other people in the dark were mostly bodyguards hired by the wealthy owners. They paid attention to their personal safety and property, so they hired some people to guard outside. The author asked if this meant that there would be any crisis tonight, but suddenly heard a dull, terrible and sticky sound, similar to that of a reptile, such as a monitor or a python. The female Auror said that she didn't know if there would be any magical animals to be auctioned tonight, but the safety of the venue was beyond doubt.'"

Hermione looked up and pointed at the words: "Harry, look, is this the voice of the monster you were talking about?"

"Dull, sticky... Yes, it must be a reptile, a basilisk. A basilisk is a reptile, right?" Harry stood up and looked at the words carefully. "That means Dobby did not lie to me. There is indeed a basilisk in Malfoy Manor! If it is the same one that harassed me, then it means..."

"Hey, Harry, we just heard a sound. We need more direct evidence. Let's look elsewhere." Hermione folded the corner of the page, marked the paragraph with a quill, and picked up the next one to continue reading.

"I understand. If I find more, I can confirm my guess." Harry was very excited. "Hermione, thanks to you for thinking of this idea. Look for these journalists' articles. Sure enough, someone found some clues!"

Hermione waved her hand. "It's nothing, but a very common method. After all, we were not at the scene, and it's not convenient to mention the basilisk you mentioned to other people. By the way, you said that it was the elf in the Malfoy family who told you the information about the basilisk... Harry, can you tell me more about the elf later?"

"No problem. However, it is no longer the Malfoy family elf. Dobby has turned from evil to good and has become my godfather's house elf!"

"So, it still has an 'owner'?" Hermione shook her head. "Forget it, I'll ask about this later."

Harry looked at the serious-looking little witch, only to see that she was frowning and concentrating on something in her hand, as if she was reading some literary journal.

"…old gold coins with strange symbols, worn and ominous wands, beautiful and mysterious ancient paintings, magical but conspiratorial pens and books, and a gold cup that is the focus of everyone's attention but difficult to tell whether it is real or fake, these are the items for auction tonight." Hermione's pen moved little by little, and she was always used to reading out loud the content that she paid special attention to. It must be said that reading these articles and reports may be boring for others, but she enjoyed it very much.

"It's a lot of money. I don't know if I can afford it." Harry noticed that the Owl Post mentioned the sales of several items at auction, and estimated in his mind whether he had enough gold Galleons in his own treasury.

"Well, I heard that your parents did leave you a lot of money. The Potter family's shampoo and other magic potion products industry was very profitable back then, but... now it is the Bulstrode family that is running similar products. I have to say, to be able to take out 40,000 gold galleons and give away the gold cup, the head of the Bulstrode family must have made a lot of money from this." Hermione guessed: "However, not all rich people can be so generous. Harry, I heard that Ms. Bulstrode also graduated from Slytherin, but she is completely different from Malfoy, which shows that Slytherin is not all arrogant and vicious... You, understand what I mean?"

Harry lowered his head and sighed softly: "Perhaps you are right, just like Gryffindor also has scum like Pettigrew. Alas, why can't I meet some Slytherins who don't target me?"

"Okay, let's not talk about this. Look, there is a record here as well." Hermione interrupted Harry's melancholy, "It says here, 'The place where the auction items are kept is strictly guarded and kept confidential. We tried to enter several rooms, but most of them were empty or blocked by special magical restrictions. Malfoy Manor is indeed not easy to break into, but we did not gain nothing. In a hidden corner on the fourth floor, we saw a pointed, rust-green tail with a thick and hard skin. It is certain that it is a giant snake! It's just that it is motionless, and only the tail can be seen, so there is no way to judge the whole appearance and attack power. Forgive us for not acting rashly, but just taking this picture. But to our surprise, we didn't see anything related to snakes in the auction items later. Could it be that the behemoth is actually the mascot invited by the head of the Malfoy family to protect his home?'"

Harry's eyes were unusually bright: "Great! It's a snake! Hermione!"

"Well, I know what you mean." Hermione remained calm, "It's just that, Harry, look at this magazine."

She closed the book, and on it was written GIVE ME SOME TRUTH SERUM.

"This is?"

"This is a bizarre magazine that is famous for its storytelling. Most of the articles published are not news, but fiction. They just often use real events as the background. Their authenticity..." Hermione spread her hands, "It can only be used as a reference. After all, it is basically a mixture of truth and falsehood."

"What about this picture?" Harry asked anxiously.

"This is not a snake's tail, it's some kind of fire dragon's tail. Alas, with this picture, it seems even more unbelievable." Hermione said with sympathy.