After listening to Harry and Ron's explanations, Professor McGonagall didn't say anything. She sat numbly on the chair, not even licking her lips... she just sat there expressionless.
Harry and Ron both lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at Professor McGonagall. It would have been better if she shouted loudly, but her silence... made them even more frightened.
Professor McGonagall did not speak, but Professor Snape would not let go of such a good opportunity to ridicule. He wandered around and showed a malicious smile.
"So, if I understand correctly, you two think that Malfoy opened the Chamber of Secrets and wanted to deliberately poison him, right?"
Harry and Ron were speechless. What kind of understanding is this?
"Professor Snape, we have not thought of poisoning Malfoy. The tripe mushroom is not poison. Eating it will only cause diarrhea at most." Harry explained again:
"We just wanted to take advantage of Malfoy to go to the toilet, and then stop him from snooping about the secret room."
"Oh, I see!"
Snape stopped in the corner, half of his body hidden in the shadows, looking gloomy, but the expression on his face was very strange, as if he was trying hard not to laugh.
"Then do you know that giving poisonous mushrooms to classmates is against school rules and even illegal, Potter?"
"We..." Harry was at a loss for words. After thinking about it, he defended: "We just want to catch the person who opened the secret room. Malfoy is very suspicious."
"Oh my god, my god, Potter, is there something wrong with your brain again?" Professor Snape expressed his shock in an exaggerated tone.
"You think Malfoy is highly suspicious, so you need to investigate like this? And you want to catch the person who opened the Chamber of Secrets... Who do you think you are?
The Headmaster of Hogwarts...the Head of the Auror Office...or the Minister for Magic?!"
"Potter, do you think that without you, the murderer will not be caught? We will all be killed?"
"I don't think so!" Harry shouted.
"But this is what I see. You always have too much self-awareness. I don't know where you learned this problem." Snape sneered:
"Last semester, you suspected that I wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and you and Wes violated school rules by going to the restricted area on the fourth floor to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and then you met Quirrell... It's only been half a year since this happened, right?"
"Half a year, I thought you would have a better memory, but unexpectedly, you started to doubt Malfoy again!"
"Who should you doubt next? Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore?" Snape sneered:
"Arrogant, arrogant, stupid, self-righteous... Why do you look so much like your father, Potter? He is also extremely arrogant... The two of you are so similar."
Harry's eyes widened and he glared at Snape.
"Staring again? Believe it or not, I will help you move to another place to save your eyes?!"
Snape stared into Harry's eyes, his thin face full of malice.
"Potter, look at how much trouble you've caused since you entered school, with the Sorcerer's Stone, flying cars, and letting your classmates eat poisonous mushrooms... why is it always you!"
Harry opened his mouth. Although he felt very unhappy, he couldn't seem to find any reason to refute.
"My suggestion is to send it to Yinfamouni Magic School next door." Phineas, the portrait of the principal on the wall, gloated:
"Having Porter and Weiss cause trouble will at least lower that school's educational evaluation ranking a lot!
If we send a few more of these thorns to other schools, Hogwarts will be back at number one in less than two years!"
"..."
"Professor McGonagall, is there anything else you want to say?" Snape turned around and asked.
"I have nothing to say, Professor Snape." Professor McGonagall said calmly:
"If you do something like this, you should be expelled according to school regulations. Let's see what Professor Dumbledore decides when he comes back."
"Professor McGonagall, don't fire us!" Harry and Ron begged desperately.
"You will not change despite repeated admonishment! How can I forgive you?" Mag said softly:
"Is it so difficult to learn to abide by school rules in one year? Maybe it's because I'm not good at it. I don't know how to educate you two anymore..."
"You can transfer to Slytherin College." Professor Snape said with a bad smile: "But the condition is that the principal allows me to use corporal punishment. I will train Potter well, and maybe he will have a chance to become a model student!"
Harry almost nodded. He would rather go to Slytherin and accept Snape's humiliation than be expelled from Hogwarts!
At this moment, Professor Dumbledore opened the door and walked in, and the expression on Snape's face became even happier.
Professor McGonagall stood up and asked concernedly: "How is it, Professor Dumbledore?"
"Both Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Crabbe are fine, but Mr. Goyle was seriously injured and, like Filch, needs to rest for a while."
Harry and Ron both breathed a sigh of relief. It was a blessing that no one died.
"Professor Dumbledore, what should we do with them?" Snape said:
"It was the Philosopher's Stone last semester, it was the Flying Car a few months ago, and now it's poisonous mushrooms given to the students, causing them to be left alone and in danger..."
"If it had been any other student, they would have been expelled, or at least suspended indefinitely... If you continue to indulge and do not impose severe punishments, I don't know what Porter and Weiss will do after they come here.
Terrible thing!"
Dumbledore's expression was extremely serious, and he looked down at Harry and Ron along the bridge of his curved nose. After a long silence, he said softly:
"There is no need to suspend school. Let's give you probation. Gryffindor will also be deducted two hundred points because of you two."
Dumbledore paused and said, "If you behave like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you."
Snape curled his lips and seemed a little unconvinced, but he didn't say anything. After all, this punishment was better than a painless deduction of points.
"Headmaster, where is Professor Lockhart?" Professor McGonagall asked again, "Can you rescue him?"
"Not yet." Dumbledore shook his head and said:
"I just negotiated with Merkus, the mermaid leader, and she refused to let him go."
"Why?"
"On Christmas Eve the year before last, someone caught a mermaid while fishing in the Black Lake and knocked her unconscious with a wooden stick."
"What does that have to do with Professor Lockhart?" McGonagall said in a daze: "He didn't come to Hogwarts the year before last, and Professor Quirrell was in charge."
"That's where the problem arises!" Dumbledore said with a headache: "The mermaid that was beaten must have been Professor Lockhart."
"What is the other party's purpose?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously: "Do you want compensation?"
"That's not true." Dumbledore said with a strange expression:
"According to the tradition of mermaids, when they go on a blind date, they beat the mermaid they like unconsciously with a stick, and then drag them back to their cave... As long as they can succeed, they are considered husband and wife.
The mermaid thought Lockhart had knocked her unconscious, and she asked to marry Lockhart before she would be released."
"Then you must respect the traditional customs of mermaids!" Professor Snape said quickly.