Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 305: The Secret Chamber (3.5k)

Inside the dark pipes.

A black cat blended in.

As the black cat glided along, it carefully observed the pipes branching out in all directions with its bright green eyes.

The pipe beneath it is also winding and twisting, with a steep slope that leads all the way down.

Sheehan knew he had slid deep, deep underground into the school, even deeper than the underground classrooms.

Then, with a thud, the black cat uncontrollably rolled over several times on the ground.

Halfway through the page, it turned into a little wizard wearing glasses.

"...Don't touch it and drop it."

Sheen suddenly said.

Bai Yi, who was scratching at his glasses with her claws on his shoulder, stopped what she was doing.

We followed the tunnel in front of us, turning one bend after another.

Sheehan remained calm throughout, only occasionally glancing at the map, at Ginny in the Gryffindor tower, and at Harry and his two companions circling on the second floor.

Finally, he carefully turned another bend and found a solid wall in front of him, with two intertwined snakes carved on it, their eyes inlaid with large, sparkling emeralds.

"Hiss (open)."

Sheen always felt that magic was too vast. Parsleyan, a magical ability that wasn't particularly outstanding, was enough to keep a secret chamber hidden for thousands of years.

Just like the phoenix in Dumbledore's family is drawn to its bloodline, no one knows what else is hidden in this magical land...

With a soft rustling sound, the two snakes separated, and the stone wall split in the middle, slowly sliding to both sides and disappearing.

Sheen walked in, holding his shimmering wand in his left hand and the Gryffindor sword in his right.

Now, he seemed to overlap with a melee mage from his memory.

Behind the stone wall was a long, dimly lit room.

There are many stone pillars carved with coiled and intertwined snakes, towering high and supporting the ceiling that melts into the darkness above, casting long, eerie shadows into the entire room filled with a mysterious, verdant mist.

Sheen was slightly nervous. He scanned every corner of the room, and the Alchemy Frog was not far ahead.

These tiny alchemical creations had been watching the basilisk for a long time, waiting for me to deal with them.

Following the map, Sheen walked until he reached a point parallel to the last pair of pillars, where a statue as tall as the room itself suddenly appeared before him, pressed against the dark wall behind it.

The statue is naturally a statue of Slytherin:

He had an old, monkey-like face and a sparse, long beard.

Beneath the statue was the enormous serpent monster, its entire body a vibrant green, gleaming with the brilliant sheen characteristic of venomous snakes, and as thick as an oak tree trunk.

It was sleeping.

right now,

It woke up.

The alchemical frog leaped onto Sheen's arm, and Sheen's wand emitted a fierce light, making the Gryffindor sword in his right hand appear exceptionally sharp.

……

The corridor on the first floor.

“I heard it! ‘Kill…kill everyone you see…’”

Harry's face turned deathly pale. He lay on the ground and heard an extremely faint hissing sound, which was undoubtedly Parseltongue.

The night was quiet, and Harry could only hear the faintest sounds and his own heartbeat.

"Think about it, what does Hogwarts have that's snakes... and they're very dangerous..."

Hermione looked anxious but dared not move, afraid of disturbing Harry.

"We have to tell Headmaster Dumbledore..."

She spoke instinctively.

“Hermione, all snakes are dangerous…and if Sheehan didn’t say so…”

Ron said, his voice trembling.

The corridor was dimly lit, and about twenty spiders were crawling around frantically, seemingly eager to squeeze through a small crack in the glass.

A long silver thread hung down like a rope, and it seemed that they had hurriedly climbed up through this thread, intending to escape to the window.

Have you ever seen a spider like this?

While waiting for Harry to listen, Hermione asked.

Ron was already standing far behind, seemingly suppressing the urge to run away.

"what are you doing?"

Hermione asked again.

I—dislike—spider.

Ron said nervously.

"I've never heard of that before,"

Hermione said, looking at Ron in surprise,

"You used spiders so many times in Potions class..."

“I don’t care about dead spiders,”

Ron said, carefully avoiding looking at the window.

"I just don't like the way they crawl..."

Hermione smiled.

“What’s so funny?”

Ron said angrily,
“You know, when I was three years old, Fred turned my teddy bear into an ugly big spider because I broke his toy broom.”

If you've had what I've had, you wouldn't like them either; imagine you're hugging your teddy bear and suddenly it sprouts many legs, and…

He shivered and couldn't continue.

Hermione's expression suddenly turned serious, and she shouted:
"Quick, let's get to the library! I think I've heard of this kind of snake before!"

So Harry, who was lying on the ground, was also pulled away.

library.

This place had closed early on, and a book suddenly fell from the bookshelf that should have been empty.

It didn't seem to have fallen; rather, it appeared to have been taken down by an invisible hand.

"Did you find it, Hermione?"

Harry asked in a low voice.

Hermione stood there, stunned, without saying a word.

"Hermione?"

Ron exclaimed urgently.

Hermione still didn't react.

They finally managed to pry Hermione's fingers off and take down the very old library book.

Harry eagerly unfolded it, and Ron joined him, the two reading together:

In our country, many terrible beasts and monsters roam, among which the most bizarre and deadly is the snake monster, also known as the snake king.

This snake can grow to enormous sizes and typically lives for hundreds of years. It hatches from a toad inside a male egg. The basilisk kills in a terrifying way; besides its deadly fangs, its glare can also be fatal. Anyone caught in its gaze will die instantly.

Spiders will run away when they see a basilisk, because the basilisk is the spider's mortal enemy...

"Could there be a basilisk at Hogwarts? Is that the danger Dobby was talking about... and the voice I heard was also it..."

Harry was terrified by his own thoughts, and Ron wasn't much better off; he tried his best to cover his mouth to keep from screaming.

"Where did it come from? What does 'open' mean by that, Sheen? How can we help?"

Harry, like a headless fly, asked a lot of questions with his mind blank.

But no one here could answer his question.

“Harry, listen to me, if Sheen finds the Basilisk, he won’t stand idly by. He always prefers to face danger alone,”

Hermione's voice trembled, even sounding somewhat like a sob.

"We need to tell the principal—"

……

Basilisk.

Also known as the Snake King.

Its ability to petrify a wizard's eyes, its venomous fangs, and its enormous body all point to its danger.

Sheen simply stared calmly at it, his wand went out, but the six alchemical frogs lurking in the secret chamber shone brightly.

The basilisk seemed to be enraged; its heavy body slid slowly across the dusty ground before it stood up.

But it shrank before it could stand up completely—the terrain beneath it had been altered.

[You have practiced a matter transformation to the standard of a master, Master-level proficiency +10]

This enraged it even more, and it lunged forward, then paused for a moment.

Because two huge dogs had bitten its body.

Two dogs, six heads, and wearing glasses—it looks really strange.

The basilisk writhed, and a deafening roar came from its head.

Sheen stared at the rocks above, where cracks were gradually appearing.

Huge chunks of rock crashed down on the basilisk's head with its weight. It thrashed about frantically, but was still left dizzy and disoriented.

Without pausing for a moment, the instant the rubble hit the ground, he was already beside the basilisk with his sword.

The Gryffindor sword was spotless, gleaming with a sharp silver light.

At this point, the basilisk finally regained its senses. It was much larger than Cerberus, so it was not surprising that it managed to shake off Bai Yi and Tira.

Sheen silently took a step back, and the [Expert] level Transfiguration spell was quickly completed.

The basilisk's counterattack was interrupted once again, as the ground supporting its body caved in again.

Sheen was already struggling. He waved his wand, and the stone slowly climbed up the basilisk's body, locking part of its body inside.

The wand traced a downward arc in the air, and two three-headed dogs pounced on it, while cone-shaped stone ridges fell from the basilisk's head.

"We'll have to use dark magic..."

Sheen's expression changed slightly.

"Impedimenta! (Obstacles abound!)"

The basilisk's resistance lessened considerably, and its bloodied body, pounded by rocks and spikes, became much more sluggish.

Only his head narrowly avoided the sharp stone spikes.

"Petrificus Totalus! (Everyone's petrified!)"

"Petrificus Totalus! (Everyone's petrified!)"

Both spells were cast instantly, and with the addition of Polymorph, the basilisk became completely immobile.

It let the three-headed dog pounce on it and tear it apart.

Sheen was exhausted; three master-level transformation spells had long since drained his strength, and now his hand holding the sword was trembling.

"It's still a bit of a stretch..."

Sheen walked up to the basilisk and, through the magic refraction mirror, could see its strange gaze.

Even with glasses on, Sheen would be stunned for a moment when he made eye contact with it.

The Gryffindor sword mercilessly slashed through its body, but did not kill it immediately.

Sheen sheathed his sword, gulped down the potion, and suddenly heard a sound from the control panel.

[You have gained the favor of the magical creature Basilisk by the standards of a master, affinity +300]

Sheen: "..."

He originally thought he could only determine the ritual by observing the basilisk, but he was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected surprise.

The Gryffindor sword seemed to possess some kind of magical power; after the basilisk's tail was cut, the entire basilisk became weak.

Sheen cast several stun spells on it and then had Whitey, who had transformed into a rooster, stand on its head before he relaxed a little.

Killing the basilisk is easy, but taming it...

It's not difficult.

While Voldemort was weakened to a certain extent by the Hallows, Sheen had a pressing time to develop the Basilisk Cookies.

The only thing that puzzled him was that the basilisk seemed to have increased its affinity with him too quickly after he defeated it.

Sheen had never seen such a rapid level of intimacy.

He even wondered if he had spoken in a snake-like manner.

Until he remembered a possibility and took a book out of his bag:

The basilisk was artificially bred. The first recorded basilisk was bred by "Helpo the Despicable"—a Greek sorcerer who spoke Parsleyan.

After numerous experiments, this person discovered that male eggs hatched by toads would hatch into a dangerous snake with extraordinary abilities.

Black Wizard...

In other words, the basilisk is very likely a product of black magic.

He then opened the panel:

[Wizard Sheen, Dark Magic Talent: Gold (Blessed with the title of Dark Magic Saint). Note: Normal wizards are green.]

[Evaluation: You are a rare genius in the history of dark magic. Dark magic will embrace you. You are the born king of dark magic.]

[Barrier Charm: Master Level (1000/?)]

[Petrification Spell: Expert Level (1000/9000)]

【Crushing Spell: Expert Level (2000/9000)】

……

For the first time, Sheen felt that occasionally embracing dark magic was...

He shook his head quickly.

Forget it.

In the secret room.

The basilisk remained motionless, only the Gryffindor sword gleamed, and then a fang fell off.

Sheen gripped the snake fang, his gaze as deep as the ocean.

(End of this chapter)