Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil

Chapter 128 Too busy, let's deal with the basilisk monster first.

Qiu Zhang looked at Marcos.

"Puni hasn't come back yet, aren't you worried at all?"

"Nope."

Marcos appeared relaxed, showing no sign of anxiety, and casually gave a response.

In his view, there was no need to worry about Puni's safety and situation.

Ravenclaw's eagle-head door knocker is ingeniously designed, containing multiple magical puzzles, and has always been one of the most difficult access restrictions for freshmen. However, this access control mechanism has never stumped Puni before. He has always been able to come and go freely in and out of the academy's common room without any restrictions.

Cho Chang's concerns hadn't dissipated. She frowned, looking at the gradually dimming lights in the corridor, and reminded him more earnestly, "But it's almost curfew. Hogwarts' night patrols have already begun. If he doesn't return soon, he'll definitely be severely punished if caught by a patrolling teacher or prefect."

"You don't need to worry about that at all."

Marcos casually waved his hand, a knowing smile on his face, his tone unwavering, "If Puni were so easily caught violating school rules, he would have been punished multiple times since the moment he enrolled, and there's no way he could have stayed this long."

After saying this, Marcos subconsciously glanced around to make sure there were no other students or faculty members passing by in the corridor before leaning down slightly and lowering his voice to reveal a secret he had kept hidden for a long time.

"In fact, since the start of the new semester, Puni has hardly stayed in the dormitory overnight."

He scratched the back of his head, his expression calm, and slowly recounted all the details he had observed: "I initially thought it was just an occasional special case. When I first saw him not in his dorm late at night, I assumed he had something urgent to attend to. But as time went on, I realized that whether it was late at night or in the early morning, or in windy or rainy weather, he would leave his dorm almost every day late at night and wander around Hogwarts Castle alone. One or two times could be considered a coincidence, but for months on end, day after day, this was definitely not a coincidence."

Upon hearing this secret, Qiu Zhang's expression instantly turned serious. His curiosity and worry were fully aroused, and he eagerly pressed, "Then do you know what he does every night when he goes out?"

Marcos shrugged lightly and shook his head decisively: "I really don't know."

He spoke with a mix of joking and seriousness, frankly stating his thoughts: "Everyone has their own private secrets. I never deliberately pry into other people's privacy, especially Puni. He harbors countless secrets and is very deep-thinking."

Their actions are unpredictable, and I dare not pry too much. If I were to learn something I shouldn't know, it would be a greater loss than the gain.

Over time, Marcos, Eddie, and Roger had grown accustomed to Puni's unusual ways.

Even though they were classmates who entered the university in the same year, they could never treat Puni as an ordinary person of the same age.

Whether it's his extraordinary intellect, his calm and experienced way of doing things, or his unfathomable magical strength, all of these far exceed the scope of ordinary freshmen.

The two had privately speculated about the reasons, perhaps stemming from the innate foundation of pure-blood wizards, or perhaps from the mature aura cultivated by those in power within their families. They never came to a definitive answer and could only silently acknowledge the gap between them.

Qiu Zhang stood quietly to the side, listening intently to their entire conversation, her thoughts growing increasingly complex. Unlike Marcos and the others' simple curiosity and awe, she was never interested in Puni's secrets or extraordinary strength.

Over time, she could always vaguely sense the loneliness that occasionally flickered in Puni's eyes.

That deep-seated aloofness and detachment, hidden beneath his casual and carefree exterior, is rarely noticed by anyone.

She desperately wanted to truly enter Puni's heart and dispel his loneliness when he was alone.

Rather than knowing all his secrets, she wanted to stay by his side and be someone he could let his guard down and rely on.

Her desire to get closer to him and to warm his heart grew stronger.

As night deepened, Hogwarts was placed under a complete curfew.

The lights in the castle corridors dimmed, and students from all the colleges returned to their dormitories to rest, plunging the surroundings into complete silence.

At the entrance to the Slytherin common room, no students had returned. The surroundings were quiet, with only the silver serpentine statue guarding the door standing silently against the wall, maintaining security.

Just as everything returned to calm and the statue was about to fall into complete silence and rest, it keenly sensed the faint footsteps coming from the end of the corridor, and a figure was steadily approaching the entrance.

The footsteps stopped in front of the statue, and a deep, clear command slowly rang out, not the usual daytime code.

"I don't eat mice."

The unfamiliar yet effective special command was given, and the silver serpent eagle's body flickered slightly, as if carrying a hint of reluctance and hesitation, yet still obeying the rules of magic, slowly turning its body to make way for the passage to the common lounge.

As Puni stepped into the depths of the corridor, a few steps away from the door of the common room, he heard the small serpentine decorative statue inside suddenly emit a clear, slightly reproachful shout.

"You're so heartless! You only come back to check on me once in all this time!"

The moment Penny stepped into the Slytherin common room, the serpent statue that was always there immediately began to chatter incessantly.

It remained as noisy as ever, its fine hissing incessantly, its speech extremely fast, a string of complaints pouring out one after another, so fast that even Puni could hardly catch every word, its ears filled with a dense cacophony of sounds.

Prior to this, Puni had visited this place alone late at night many times. The long period of getting to know each other had greatly reduced the little statue's originally extremely talkative nature.

It is usually very well-behaved, only responding briefly when Puni initiates conversation, and rarely nagging and complaining incessantly.

Today's incessant chatter is a relapse of an old problem, stemming from deep-seated resentment.

More than half a month has passed since the Easter holidays ended, and this is Penny's first time stepping into the Slytherin common room since the holidays ended.

The long absence caused the little statue to harbor resentment, and that scolding remark just now was the beginning of its emotional outburst.

Puni sighed inwardly. This snake statue, carved entirely from stone, was clearly a cold and lifeless magical creation, yet its personality had completely lost the restraint and calmness of a snake. Instead, it was more impatient and fierce, with a fiery and straightforward temperament. Its joy and anger were all written in its words and actions, and its temperament was far more impulsive than that of ordinary creatures.

In the past, during his leisure time, Puni would have deliberately teased and provoked the proud little statue, watching it become increasingly agitated and incessantly chattering, thus passing the time in the late night.

But he had absolutely no desire to have fun tonight.

From the moment he stepped into Hogwarts Castle, his thoughts were completely occupied by the thousand-year-old basilisk deep within the Chamber of Secrets. His mind was repeatedly reviewing all the information about the basilisk, its dormant state, and its activity patterns. He was filled with crucial questions that urgently needed to be confirmed, and had no time to listen to the little statue's rambling.

Puni waited patiently for a moment, then seized the brief pause in the little statue's speech and interrupted its incessant complaints, taking the initiative to get to the point.

"Little statue, you don't need to worry about whether I'll be back early or late anymore."

Puni's calm and composed tone abruptly ended the previous casual conversation. "I'm not here for idle chatter. Tell me, what's the current state of the basilisk inside the secret chamber?"

The little statue, which had been full of resentment and was about to continue criticizing Puni, immediately stopped babbling after hearing about the basilisk. The faint light floating around the statue paused slightly, the continuous hissing stopped, and the room instantly returned to silence.

Its stone-carved body swayed gently from side to side, causing the ancient magical patterns around it to flicker slightly, and it spoke with a tone of helplessness and confusion.

"In the end, you still can't let go of the secret room and that monster."

"Is that thousand-year-old serpent monster really that attractive? For thousands of years, countless people who know the secret of the secret chamber have been fearless of death, determined to uncover its true face and step into that deadly place. It is truly incomprehensible."

The stone sculpture of the small statue trembled slightly, and the snake's mouth opened and closed, emitting a mocking hiss.

"I can only say that your return this time was extremely unfortunate, Puni."

It slowly informed Puni of the latest developments in the secret room.

Today, the thousand-year-old serpent monster, which had been lying dormant in the secret chamber for a long time, went out to the Forbidden Forest to hunt for food, devoured a large number of wild magical creatures, and fully replenished its physical strength and magic power.

At this moment, it is full of energy and in its prime.

The molting period is the window of opportunity when the basilisk is at its weakest and least vigilant during its entire dormant period, making it the perfect time to subdue and control it.

The small statue suggested that if Puni's goal was to successfully subdue this ancient behemoth, it would be best to postpone the operation for two days and wait for the basilisk to enter its weakened molting period before taking action.

After saying this, the small statue stood quietly in place, secretly hoping to see a look of astonishment, regret, or disappointment on Puni's face.

It had long been accustomed to watching everyone who coveted the basilisk's power fail and return empty-handed due to bad timing, thus gaining some amusement from it.

The expected emotional fluctuations did not occur in Puni at all.

After hearing all the information, his expression remained calm and composed, without a trace of surprise or frustration in his eyes. He was as if he had already prepared to deal with all the variables.

Puni slowly raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the retro magic lamps hanging overhead. After a moment of silent contemplation, he murmured to himself.

"Do we have to wait another two days?"

He quickly sorted out his own state of mind and instantly understood the connection behind this coincidence.

His divine power has been active once a day, but he hasn't used it yet.

There's no need to wait any longer.

This serpent monster is less important than reading books; there's no need to waste any more time on it.

no way.

He is just too busy.

Let's deal with the snake monster first.

Unable to get any emotional response from Puni and completely ignoring his warnings, the little statue grew dissatisfied and began to rapidly flick its long, thin forked tongue.

"Hey! Did you even hear what I said?"

"I specifically told you the best time and kindly reminded you of the risks, so at least give me a normal reaction, so I can feel a sense of accomplishment!"

Puni slowly withdrew his wand, his expression relaxed, a calm smile playing on his lips, as he made his decision with composure.

"In that case, my response is quite simple."

He looked up at the small snake-shaped statue in front of him.

"Open the entrance to the secret room."

This blunt request left the small statue utterly bewildered, its human-like expression instantly filled with shock, as if it couldn't believe what it was hearing.

"Open the door? Are you sure you want to open the door now?"

The statue's forked tongue flickered rapidly, and in disbelief, I hastily and solemnly reminded you of the deadly risk once again.

It had just clearly informed Puni that the basilisk had completed a large-scale hunt today, and its physical strength and magic were at their peak, not yet entering the weakened molting stage.

At this moment, the thousand-year-old basilisk was extremely powerful, far more so than usual. Even if the headmaster of Hogwarts were to be present, he might not be able to suppress it and deal with it calmly, let alone Puni, who was still young and inexperienced.

The basilisk's innate deadly gaze is flawless; if an ordinary wizard were to meet its gaze even once, he would instantly perish with no chance of survival!

The reason the little statue was so patient and earnest in trying to dissuade it was entirely because Puni was one of the very few people it could like and get along with.

For thousands of years, it has coldly watched and ignored countless people who tried to break into the secret chamber, never bothering to offer any advice.

If it weren't for its particular fondness for Puni, it wouldn't have bothered to warn of the life-or-death risks; it would have been enough to let the intruder perish in the secret chamber!

Faced with the small statue's sincere dissuasion, Puni simply shook his head slightly. The smile on his face did not fade, but his eyes became more and more determined, leaving no room for wavering.

Immediately afterwards, a series of low, obscure, and uniquely rhythmic hissing syllables emanated from his throat, and pure, ancient parseine slowly echoed in the empty lounge.

"Activate".

This is the exclusive original password to unlock the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, an activation command engraved in the Slytherin bloodline.

Even though the little statue was unwilling and resisted in every way, under the urging of the orthodox Parseltongue, it could not disobey the ancient magical contract and could only obey the command to activate the door opening mechanism.

"I really don't know what to do with you—I really don't know how to advise you anymore."

39

The little statue's tone was full of helplessness and melancholy. Its restless body gradually calmed down, shedding its previous lively and agile anthropomorphic state and returning to the simple and heavy primitive statue posture.

The next second, the fireplace was activated by magic. The heavy stone fireplace body began to slowly sink and shrink backward, gradually embedding itself into the wall behind it. The originally protruding fireplace structure gradually became flush with the wall and seamlessly integrated into the stone wall.

"If you unfortunately perish and become a castle ghost, I hope you'll still remember to come and chat with me," the small statue's deep voice echoed softly. "Otherwise, I'll have to endure another long period of time with no one to talk to and no one to keep me company."