Originally Posted by sarahlooo

As Milton was flipping through the textbook, he had just come across what he had been looking for. Ah, the Chamber of Sec-

'None of the students were petrified.' The dull sound of Scabior's voice made Milton turn his head up. And he gave him THE LOOK. Just as Milton was starting to think this guy could be okay...

Shutting the book, Milton set it aside, deciding he would do some studying later that night on his own time. He was still curious.

But he didn't know where to go next. Milton sat there, thinking about everything and mulling it all over in his head. If they weren't momentarily-petrified, then he had no idea what it could be. He was just stuck on the petrified stuff.

"Professor, is there any other way people can become petrified? Or is it just Basilisks? Like, with the Chamber of Secrets stuff?" Chamber of Secrets stuff. That sounded intelligent. Heh. "And is there only one way to become... un-petrified?" Maybe there was a miniature Basilisk slithering around under an invisibility cloak. And then it... died. Or something....

Aside from the brief bowtruckle infestation set down by Archimedes Ollivander (see Chapter 22), the 1752-1753 school year was remarkable only as the final time the dungeons were flooded by the Black Lake. Headmaster Irmgard Blacio set out the first primitive anti-leak charms throughout the lower floors of the school, charms that remained intact in some iteration until the Mermish invasion of 2068.

Several students fell victim to what was believed to be a resulting black mold infestation, although medical records from this time period were spotty and unsophisticated. Known symptoms included headaches, fatigue, and blackouts. The mold infestation was officially listed as coming from damp lake water creeping into the kitchens, as a group of Hufflepuff seventh years suffered the most serious side effects: six of them slipped into a coma that lasted through May and were only awakened successfully by the excellent ministrations of Head Healer Walton Persch right before the end of term.

The school was well dried out by the fall of 1754, the next time accurate records can be found regarding Hogwarts history. Blacio is remarkably silent regarding this time period, which is strange considering the fact that the Hogwarts Headmaster was an avid writer and kept up-to-the-minute journal entries for most of his life. Indeed, an entire vault at Gringott's is filled with his 419 journals, and the space is specially charmed for book preservation. This author has been provided only limited access to these journals, so that despite the many rumors printed in the local press at that time, no factual evidence about the period immediately following the black mold infestation has been discovered. This author will not deign to acknowledge rumormongers within these factual pages.

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