Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil

Chapter 110 I think this is just a hidden lounge.

It was only then that he noticed this subtle change, and a sense of curiosity arose in his heart.

"I've never seen such a way of hiding a secret room before," Puni exclaimed sincerely. "It's amazing that you guys noticed the letters changed here. If it were me, I probably wouldn't have noticed this detail at all."

He had been at Hogwarts for half a year, and he liked to wander around. He had found many hidden rooms in the castle, but those rooms were either hidden doors or required a specific spell to open. They were completely different from the way he had to find the handle and then look at the password.

Upon hearing Penny's praise, the Weasley twins immediately wore smug expressions. George raised his chin, showing a hint of pride: "Of course, we're the Weasley twins. These little details can't escape our eyes at all."

Fred nodded, his face full of confidence, as if discovering this secret was a matter of course.

Just when Puni thought they would immediately try to enter the password, the twins suddenly turned around and walked towards the other end of the corridor, their steps hurried and without any intention of stopping.

Puni was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed, his face full of doubt, wondering to himself: What's going on? He clearly found the password, so why did he suddenly leave?

George seemed to sense his confusion and quickened his pace, turning back to Puni and saying, "Don't just stand there, hurry up! We already tried it yesterday; this is just where the password is displayed. The real entrance to the secret room isn't here at all, it's on the other side!"

Fred added mysteriously, "Puni, do you want to guess where the entrance to the secret room is? Here's a hint: it's in the direction we're heading now."

Puni followed the direction they were heading, his gaze landing on the familiar area at the end of the corridor. His lips twitched slightly; he already knew the answer. He tentatively asked, "You're going this way now—could it be that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is right there at the entrance to the Slytherin common room?"

"You guessed right!" Fred clapped his hands excitedly, with a hint of pride. "Who would have thought that a seemingly fixed entrance could lead to two completely different places? If you don't know this secret, even if you find the password, you won't be able to find the real secret room."

Penny followed behind the two, listening to Fred's words, secretly thinking to himself, "What's so strange about this? Isn't that how the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts works? As long as you think of different needs, you can enter different spaces. It's just that the design here is more hidden than the Room of Requirement." However, he didn't voice his thoughts, but silently followed the twins, quickening his pace toward the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

Upon arriving near the entrance to the Slytherin common room, the three immediately stopped and became extremely cautious. Fred and George divided their tasks: one pressed himself against the wall, peering into the corridor to check for any activity at either end, while the other carefully observed the surroundings to make sure no wizards or students were passing by, and that Filch was not patrolling, before giving Puni a safe signal.

The three of them wrapped their invisibility cloaks tighter around each other, moving with utmost care and shuffling towards the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Penny looked up and noticed that the entrance design here was distinctly different from that of Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw's entrance was a bronze door knocker shaped like an eagle, requiring answers to questions posed by the knocker to enter. Here, however, stood a large, pure silver snake statue.

This silver snake statue stands upright with its upper body upright, its head slightly raised, and its eyes sharp, posing a very intimidating posture, as if guarding the secret behind it. Unlike ordinary statues, this silver snake statue is not still; its body will twist slightly from time to time, and its tongue will flexibly move in and out, just like a real snake, always on alert.

Even more surprisingly, this silver snake statue possesses the same special abilities as real snakes. It can sense living things around it through vibration and heat sensing. Even though the three of them were wrapped in invisibility cloaks and completely concealed their figures, it was as if they had no cover at all under its sensing, and they could not hide at all.

Puni knew that snakes were semi-blind creatures, relying mostly on vibration and heat to catch prey and sense their environment. This statue was undoubtedly a perfect replica of this characteristic of snakes.

The moment the three of them stood still, the silver snake statue suddenly stopped twisting, turned its head slightly in their direction, and moved its tongue rapidly, emitting a low and hoarse voice, clearly asking, "Password?" The voice was somewhat cold, and had a metallic, friction-like quality that sent chills down one's spine.

Penny and the Weasley twins did not hesitate at all, nor did they remove their invisibility cloaks. They knew that even if they removed the cloaks, it would not affect the statue's judgment, but might instead expose them.

The three exchanged a glance, then simultaneously lowered their voices and clearly uttered the code they had obtained from the portrait: "ASPIRATION!"

Upon hearing the command, the silver snake statue visibly stiffened, as if somewhat surprised. It shook its head slightly and moved its tongue more frequently, once again performing a subtle vibration and heat sensing in the direction of the three people, seemingly confirming their identities.

After a moment, it seemed somewhat reluctant, and slowly turned its body, causing the stone door behind it to creak and groan as it slowly opened inward. Once the stone door opened, a long, narrow corridor appeared before the three of them. On the walls on both sides of the corridor, there were neatly arranged statues of snakes. These statues were completely different from the silver snake statues at the entrance. They were dark green all over, and the material looked like obsidian. They were stiff and motionless, just standing there quietly, with empty eyes and no life, as if they were just ordinary decorations.

The Weasley twins stepped into the corridor first, followed closely by Penny. The corridor floor was paved with smooth black marble, which made a slight echo when stepped on. The statues on both sides looked particularly sinister in the dim lighting.

The three walked briskly along the corridor. After walking for about several dozen meters, a downward-sloping passage appeared ahead. The passage was steep, with cold stone handrails on both sides. The three held onto the handrails and carefully walked down. After walking for about several hundred meters, the passage finally came to an end, and an extremely luxurious room appeared before them. As soon as they stepped into the room, the stone door behind them slammed shut with a loud "bang," making a dull sound that shook the air slightly.

At the same time, the fireplace on one side of the room automatically lit up with a warm flame, and the orange-red flames dispelled the chill in the room. The magical lights hanging on the ceiling also lit up, clearly presenting the entire room to the three of them.

Puni carefully examined the room and found that it resembled a high-end lounge. In the center of the room were several soft sofas covered with a layer of silver-white silk, smooth in texture and with a soft luster, which felt exceptionally comfortable to the touch. Except for the wall facing the window, the other three walls were covered with green silk tapestries embroidered with exquisite patterns, as well as several huge medieval tapestries depicting the adventures of Slytherin's ancestors. The figures were lifelike, and the details were extremely exquisite.

The ceiling was covered with silver lanterns, their soft white light mingling with the firelight from the fireplace, making the room feel both warm and luxurious. Puni walked to the window and looked out through the clean glass, only to discover that they were indeed beneath the Black Lake. Outside the window, a deep blue lake flowed slowly, and several mermaids dressed in colorful scales swam past in a line, their tails swaying gently in the water, humming low songs. On the other side of the lake, a huge squid swam slowly, its tentacles occasionally twitching and splashing small droplets of water.

The entire room was surrounded by lake water, and the subtle sound of the flowing water could be heard. Combined with the room's decor, it made one feel as if they were in a luxurious shipwreck that had sunk to the bottom of the sea. It was both mysterious and exuded a high-end and grand atmosphere. Every detail showed the nobility and luxury of Slytherin. Penny stood there, looking on in a daze.

George strode to the sofa in the center of the room, reached out and touched the silver silk covering it, a smug smile on his face. He turned to Penny, his boastfulness barely concealed: "How about it, Penny? Isn't this even more luxurious than we imagined? I've heard from upperclassmen that the Slytherin common room is extremely well-decorated, but we've never had a chance to go inside and see it."

Fred joined in, nodding repeatedly at the room's decor, and chimed in, "Indeed, the silk, the tapestries, and the view of Black Lake from the window are simply perfect."

Puni nodded perfunctorily in agreement with their words, replying indifferently, "It is indeed very nice, the decoration is exquisite."

His gaze seemed to casually sweep across the room, but in reality, it was already firmly drawn to one place: a small snake statue placed on the wall opposite the window, next to the fireplace.

The small snake statue was a size smaller than the silver snake statue at the entrance. It was made entirely of black jade, with a smooth surface and a warm luster. It was coiled on a small stone base, its head slightly raised and its mouth slightly open, emitting a faint hissing sound. To others, this might just be a magical sound effect from the statue itself, but Puni heard it clearly—it was snake language. The statue was speaking to him in snake language, the words were clear, and it carried an ancient and mysterious aura.

Puni's heart tightened slightly, and he clenched his fists, but his face remained calm, showing no sign of distress. He knew very well that he couldn't let the Weasley twins know that he could understand Parseltongue for the time being. If they questioned him, it would be difficult to explain. However, the Parseltongue from the statue kept echoing in his ears. He had to pretend he didn't hear it and deal with the twins' questions, which made him somewhat troubled. He could only force himself to remain calm and try to shift his attention away from the statue.

The Weasley twins boasted for a while before gradually calming down. They exchanged a glance, then turned to Penny, their smiles fading slightly. "Penny, let's get down to business. Didn't you mention the Basilisk before? We came here hoping to find some trace of it, but we've searched the entire room and haven't seen a single shadow of it. Where is it?"

Fred added, "Yeah, there are snake statues everywhere. It's clearly in Slytherin's style, so why aren't there any basilisks? Have we come to the wrong place?"

Upon hearing this, Puni slowly withdrew his gaze, looked at the twins, nodded gently, and said with certainty, "You are right, there is indeed no trace of the basilisk here."

He paused, deliberately drawing out the words, and continued, "This means that this is not the legendary Slytherin Chamber of Secrets at all. Perhaps we should call it Slytherin's Hidden Lounge, or something else."

Upon hearing this, the Weasley twins were instantly stunned, their faces showing even greater confusion. George frowned and retorted, "Impossible! How could this not be the Chamber of Secrets? Look at the decorations here, all in Slytherin's silver-green hues, and so many snake statues. It clearly resembles the description of the legendary Chamber of Secrets. How could it just be an ordinary hidden room?"

Fred nodded in agreement with George, "Yeah, we went through all that trouble, and it turns out it wasn't the secret room? That's so disappointing."

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Seeing their disappointed looks, Puni patiently explained, "This isn't necessarily a bad thing. There are many hidden rooms in Hogwarts, and there are many possibilities. Maybe this is just a hidden room decorated in the Slytherin style, or maybe this room itself holds other secrets that you were just too excited to notice."

As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand, pointing to the small snake sculpture beside the fireplace: "You see, that little snake statue, for example, seems particularly suspicious. I noticed it when we came in. It's different from the other snake sculptures in the room; not only is the design more exquisite, but it also makes a hissing sound. Perhaps it's the key to the real secret room, or it holds other clues."

The Weasley twins looked in the direction Penny was pointing, their gazes landing on the small snake statue. George quickly walked to the statue, cautiously reaching out to touch it, but hesitated, turning to Penny: "Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit strange. Could it really be hiding some secret?"

Fred frowned. "Maybe the basilisk is hiding in some secluded corner, we just haven't found it yet. Since you said that little snake statue is the most suspicious, let's start by investigating it. We're sure to find some clues."

Puni followed behind them and examined the statue again. He had only thought it was small before, but now that he was closer, he realized that the so-called "small snake" was only relative to the tall silver snake statue at the entrance. It was actually about a meter long, coiled on the stone base, with a thick body, and was by no means small.

What's even more intriguing is that this snake statue is completely different from the snakes in the previous paintings. It's not a two-dimensional image, but a real three-dimensional statue with a realistic feel, as if it would come to life at any moment. The twins stood in front of the statue, hesitant to reach out and touch it.

Puni saw this and roughly guessed the reason, and the twins' subsequent actions confirmed his guess.

George swallowed hard and lowered his voice, saying, "We actually went close to this statue last night. Out of curiosity, I reached out to touch it, but it suddenly opened its mouth and almost bit my hand. It scared me half to death."

Fred added, still shaken: "Look at its mouth, it has two more long, sharp fangs than the silver snake statue at the entrance. It gleams coldly and looks very sharp. If it had bitten us, the consequences would have been unimaginable. We dare not take any more risks and can only watch from a distance."

Puni looked in the direction Fred was shining and saw that there were two sharp fangs clearly visible on the upper jaw of the statue. They were about two centimeters long and the tips were slightly curved, exuding a dangerous aura. He knew that this statue was far more dangerous than the silver snake statue at the entrance.

After hesitating for a moment, George mustered his courage and spoke to the snake statue, trying to be as gentle as possible: "Hey, we mean no harm, we just want to ask you, is this really the secret chamber? Where is the basilisk?"

Fred chimed in, repeating the question over and over, hoping for a response from the statue. But no matter what they said, the snake statue remained silent, only slightly twisting its body, its tongue flicking in and out, its eyes fixed on them with sharp eyes, as if it were sizing up prey, maintaining a high state of alertness without the slightest relaxation.

The only sound in the room was the hissing of the statue, which made it seem particularly eerie.

The twins' patience was wearing thin, replaced by deep annoyance. George scratched his head in frustration and muttered, "It's so strange. Most of the other animal statues in Hogwarts respond when you ask them a question, but this one just hisses. We don't understand Parseltongue, so we have no idea what it's saying."

Fred frowned, looking helpless. "Yeah, if only we could understand Parseltongue, maybe we could find out what secret it's hiding and find the real secret room."

What they didn't know was that Penny could actually understand Parseltongue—earlier, when the first-year students were on their way to Hogwarts by ship, Penny had mentioned to Cho Chang, Marcos, and Kitty that he could understand some special languages. However, everyone's attention was focused on the upcoming magic school, and since Penny had only mentioned it casually without going into details, most of them only remembered that Penny might understand Mermaid language. As for Parseltongue, they didn't take it seriously at all, and some even secretly speculated that Penny's ability to understand Mermaid language might just be a coincidence.

The Weasley twins had never heard Penny mention this, and naturally did not know that he could understand Parseltongue.

Puni stood aside, listening to the snake language coming from the statue. He already understood the general meaning, but he had no intention of telling the twins. He didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble because of this, nor did he want to expose his secret. He could only pretend to be like them, not understanding the "hissing" sound of the statue, and stood there blankly.

In the twins' eyes, this room, filled with Slytherin decorations, was the closest they could find to the Chamber of Secrets. Although they had not found any useful clues or heard any response from the suspicious snake statue, they did not give up. Instead, their fighting spirit was ignited.

"Since this statue won't speak, we'll find it ourselves!" George gritted his teeth and said firmly. "We'll check the whole room carefully again. With our methods, we're sure to find hidden clues. Maybe the real entrance to the secret room is hidden in some corner we've overlooked."

With that, the twins split up and began searching the room.

George walked to the wall and gently tapped each brick with his fingers to check for hidden compartments, while Fred carefully examined the sofa, tapestry, and fireplace area, reaching out to feel around every nook and cranny. Both of them were extremely serious, determined to find the hidden secret.

Puni stood still, pretending to observe the room while listening intently to the snake statue's snake language, pondering his next move. Seeing the twins rummaging around the room tirelessly, Puni simply walked to the sofa, took out bags of snacks from his pocket, including Honey Duke toffee, crispy rice, and several packets of Zizzy Bee Candy, and placed them one by one on the carved coffee table in front of the sofa.

Then, he picked up a huge pot cake from the coffee table, tore open the packaging, and slowly ate it with a spoon, looking quite content, a stark contrast to the twins' restlessness.

"How's it going? Have you found any useful clues?" Puni asked, chewing on his cake. His gaze casually swept over the busy twins, his hands moving without stopping. He ate each bite with great satisfaction. The cream on the cake was delicate and smooth, and the chocolate shell was crisp and sweet. The taste was superb, which made him slow down his eating speed and savor it.

Time passed slowly, and Puni had unknowingly eaten a quarter of the large pot cake, with a little cream still on the corner of his mouth. At this moment, the twins stopped what they were doing, their previous fighting spirit gone, their faces full of dejection. They dragged their heavy steps to the sofa, sat down with a thud, and stared blankly at the snacks on the coffee table, without even reaching out to pick them up.

George spoke first: "We haven't found any clues. We've searched the entire room, but there isn't even a loose brick or a hidden compartment. I think that only a Slytherin successor can find the real secret room. It's all a waste of our time for us non-Slytherin students to search."

Fred sighed as well, his eyes filled with resentment: "That's right, apart from being luxurious, there's absolutely nothing suspicious about this room. We just tapped all the walls with our fingers, and they were all the same thickness. There was nothing unusual, and we didn't hear any hollow sounds. We couldn't find anywhere to start."

No sooner had he finished speaking than George's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had thought of a brilliant idea. He sat bolt upright, a renewed surge of excitement coursing through him, and said to Penny and Fred, "That's it! Penny, didn't you say before that the basilisk moves through the pipes at Hogwarts? Since we can't find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, why don't we break down the wall? Maybe we'll find the pipes the basilisk moves through. Finding the pipes would be the same as finding a clue to the Chamber of Secrets, wouldn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Fred immediately perked up, nodding repeatedly in agreement: "Yes, yes, that's a brilliant idea! The basilisk can't live without pipes. As long as we find the pipes it uses and follow them down, we're sure to find the real secret chamber, and then we'll see the basilisk!"

Seeing their excited expressions, Puni couldn't help but roll his eyes. He then scooped up a large bite of cake, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it before calmly retorting, "Stop daydreaming. Do you think Hogwarts Castle is so easy to destroy? Think about it carefully. When have you ever seen Hogwarts Castle itself damaged? Never, right? As long as there is a headmaster at Hogwarts, whether it's the current headmaster Dumbledore or any of the previous headmasters, they can activate a powerful protective shield passed down from the four great masters at any time. Moreover, the castle itself has the ability to self-repair."

As Puni spoke, he wiped the cream from the corner of his mouth. "Even when the Dark Lord was alive, it would have been difficult to break through Hogwarts' defenses, no matter how hard he tried. That's why some people say that Hogwarts is safer than Gringotts. Your idea of ​​smashing down the walls is just wishful thinking."

After saying that, he glanced at the bewildered twins and said bluntly, without giving them any face: "In my opinion, you two should go back to your dorms, wash up and go to sleep. Don't mess around here anymore. It's useless. You won't find any clues at all."