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In HP and the Chamber of Secrets, when Ginny Weasley was taken into the Chamber of Secrets how did Minerva McGonagall and the other teachers know it was her that had been taken?
If anyone had seen it happening, wouldn't they have been attacked by the monster as well?
If you read the chapter carefully, the answer is in plain sight:
But the bell to signal break never came. Instead, echoing through the corridors came Professor McGonagall’s voice, magically magnified.
‘All students to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please.’
later
‘Right,’ said Professor McGonagall, whose nostrils were flared, ‘that’s got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories.’
The clear implication is that the students are taken straight from their lessons and locked into their dormitories. Since Ginny must have either been missing from her lesson (or at the very least failed to return to her assigned dorm room), from that point onwards it should be very easy to determine whose "skeleton will lie in the Chamber for ever" by the simple expedient of working out which female student is missing.
When Harry and Ron are hiding in the teachers' wardrobe, this is what they hear:
"The Heir of Slytherin," said Professor McGonagall, who was very white, "left another message. Right underneath the first one.'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.'"
Professor Flitwick burst into tears.
"Who is it?" said Madam Hooch, who had sunk, weak-kneed, into a chair.
"Which student?""Ginny Weasley," said Professor McGonagall.
It's not clear what exactly was the message. Professor McGonagall reports that it said 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever'. Whether the real full message specified which particular person or not is still not clear. However, one of two things can be inferred:
The message does not say which student it was, but the teachers do a role call in all the Houses and find out who is missing.
Since Ginny was also bait to lure Harry towards the Chamber by the memory Tom Riddle, the full message itself said that it was Ginny (so that the message would reach Harry quickly and clearly) (although, as already mentioned, this is just speculation).
I think Minerva has seen Ginny going inside the Chamber of Secrets, or it may be Ginny who was absent in her classes. Of course, at that time all were worried about the opening of Chamber Of Secrets, so they thought he took Ginny.
