Douluo Continent Chat Group: Building My Academy

"If this place is indeed safe, we might allow students to come on outings, but not now."

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, her expression extremely serious.

Dumbledore nodded, then looked around. It was a dark tunnel made of large stones.

The walls were dark and sticky all around, the ground was damp, and the footsteps made a constant pattering sound.

"Silvanus is right, we should be below the Black Lake now."

Dumbledore assessed their current situation, then winked at the professor and strode forward.

The tunnel was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, but thankfully the faint glow from the magic wand provided enough light for us to see.

The walls were damp, and the surroundings were as silent as a tomb. Six important figures from Hogwarts strolled around, showing no panic, but rather a sense of caution towards the unknown.

Aside from Kettleburn, the half-professor strode merrily, splashing water as he estimated the thousand-year-old serpent monster he had never seen before.

Until there was a cracking sound under my feet, as if I had crushed something.

Kettleburn looked down and saw a rat's skull. Upon closer inspection, he saw the ground covered with a dense mass of small animal remains.

"Oh, Merlin's socks!"

Kettleburn was so excited he was practically jumping for joy. Seeing these things, he was certain that a magical creature definitely lived here.

Even if it's not a basilisk, there are others!

The professors remained silent and quickly left the "mountain of corpses and sea of ​​corpses." Dumbledore made a small turn ahead and then paused briefly.

"Ready for a surprise?"

No one responded, but Kettleburn quickly caught up and casually replied:

"What's that... Oh, Merlin's beard! Wow, wow, it's so beautiful!"

A colossal creature blocked the passageway, almost single-handedly blocking the way. Ketalburn stared at it, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"It must have been very difficult for it to grow up so big all alone in this place."

Dumbledore smiled, waved his wand, and points of light emanated, dispelling the darkness and illuminating the enormous object before him.

It was a huge snakeskin, a vibrant green, clearly belonging to a venomous snake. It lay coiled on the tunnel floor, hollow inside, and its length was estimated to be over twenty inches.

Professor McGonagall's gaze suddenly sharpened, and her lips trembled almost to the point of shaking.

"The basilisk really exists."

Such a dangerous creature, living underground at Hogwarts alongside the entire school's faculty and students... what if...

Professor McGonagall was horrified, only relieved that Dumbledore had discovered it.

Pomona Sprout, the Head of Hufflepuff and Professor of Herbalism, and Felius Flitwick, the Head of Ravenclaw and Professor of Charms, were equally incredulous, feeling both fear and relief.

Only Severus Snape, the Slytherin Headmaster and Potions Professor, had his eyes flicker several times when he saw the enormous snake molt.

"Professor Dumbledore, you said that this basilisk is a gift left by Slytherin to Hogwarts, so I think it should be kept by the Slytherins, right?"

The molted skin of the Basilisk is a valuable ingredient for potions, especially from the Thousand-Year-Old Basilisk. Snape had never seen a molted skin this size before.

"Um!!?"

Kettleburn sensed something was wrong, turned around almost like a squash, and then hopped over to Snape's side.

"My dear Severus, I think the basilisk is a magical creature, so it would be most appropriate for it to be managed by the old professor who is in charge of protecting magical zoology."

"Dumbledore said it was a gift left by Slytherin."

Snape said coldly that there was no need to back down on this matter.

Kettleburn wanted to say something more, but Dumbledore's cheerful laugh came first.

"Alright, my dear Severus and Sylvanas, there's no need for you to argue about this. That basilisk belongs to Hogwarts."

Upon hearing this, Kettleburn visibly wilted, but immediately perked up again; he still had a few years before retirement.

Snape's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes still flickered.

"But the basilisk, Professor Dumbledore, where is this snake skin?"

"I don't think that basilisk could only shed its skin once in its entire life. Let's find it and see what its wardrobe looks like."

Looking at the cheerful Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall sighed inwardly.

He always does this, making what should be a serious exploration so relaxed and enjoyable.

The enormous snake molt was left here. The professors walked around it, and as they left, Kettleburn looked back almost every few steps, extremely reluctant to part.

After walking for quite some time, twisting and turning in the dark tunnel, and going around many bends, the group finally reached the end of their journey.

A solid wall, with two intertwined snakes carved on it, each with a large, sparkling emerald in its eye.

The professors looked at Dumbledore, who naturally stepped forward and made a hissing sound.

"Open."

A sound so faint it could be ignored appeared, the two emerald-eyed snakes separated, and the stone wall cracked in the middle, slowly sliding to both sides and disappearing.

Dumbledore turned to look at the professors, winked playfully, and went in first.

Inside the stone wall was a long, dimly lit room. Dumbledore's eyes were immediately drawn to many stone pillars carved with coiled and intertwined serpents, which towered high and supported the ceiling that dissolved into the darkness above, casting long, eerie shadows into the entire room, which was filled with a mysterious, verdant atmosphere.

The professors also came in, and seeing so many giant snakes coiled around the stone pillars, for some reason, a feeling of "I knew it" arose in their hearts.

"I bet if Slytherin were a professor of magizoology, his favorite animal would be a snake."

Kettleburn made a witty remark, and none of the professors refuted him; even Snape followed Dumbledore with a blank expression.

The room was empty, and the professors could hear the hollow, loud echoes with every step they took.

Until Dumbledore walked to the last pair of pillars in the room, the professors were surprised to see a statue as tall as the room itself.

That was a statue of Slytherin, pressed against the dark wall behind it. The first thing you saw was a huge, old, monkey-like face, with a sparse, long beard that almost reached the hem of his stone-carved wizard's robe. Two large, gray feet stood on the smooth floor of the room, perfectly fitting the appearance of an evil wizard.

Dumbledore examined the sculpture before him, his pale blue pupils beneath his crescent-shaped spectacles seemingly piercing through its surface to see into its inner workings.

"Albus, where is the basilisk?" Professor McGonagall had indeed scanned the room, but found no life.

"It is inside its owner's body."

Instantly, all the professors turned their gaze to the Slytherin statue and raised their wands.