Amid the white glow, the faucet spun, and the sink slowly rose, revealing a massive pipe entrance.
A damp and chilly air seeped out, carrying a strange, fishy smell.
Harry couldn't help but swallow nervously. "What… is this place?"
"Obviously, a secret chamber—what's so surprising about finding such a place at Hogwarts?"
Wade turned to look at the phoenix.
"I'm counting on you, Fawkes."
The phoenix let out a soft chirp, transformed into a golden flash of fire, and then vanished instantly into the tunnel.
"Fawkes?" Harry asked.
"The basilisk's gaze cannot kill it, so we need it to first blind the basilisk," Dumbledore said calmly.
At this moment, Harry had not gone through the ordeal of seeing his classmates petrified or being falsely accused himself. He hesitated and asked:
"That basilisk… why is it hiding in Hogwarts?"
What he truly wanted to ask was: Could this also be part of the Dark Lord's plot?
Dumbledore and Wade exchanged glances, and then Wade spoke:
"There's a legend… Salazar Slytherin built a secret chamber beneath the castle before leaving the school. He placed a special creature inside, one that would cleanse the school when needed, removing all Muggle-born students."
"That creature… is the basilisk?" Harry asked in a low voice.
"It seems so."
Wade tapped an ancient pipe beside them with his wand and said, "The basilisk has lived in the chamber for over a thousand years. Fifty years ago, Slytherin's heir entered the school, awakened the basilisk, and killed someone."
"Killed someone?" Harry asked in shock. "Who did they kill?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how foolish his question was!
If the basilisk crawled out of this pipe, the first person it would have seen—besides the one who awakened it—would have been a student who came here to use the bathroom.
Which means…
Harry couldn't help but glance back, only to see Moaning Myrtle still peeking at them curiously, and her face was full of glee at the unfolding drama. She hadn't even realized they were discussing her as the victim.
Harry looked at Wade with a questioning gaze, and Wade nodded affirmatively.
Suddenly, the boy was overwhelmed with a deep sense of sympathy and pity. He opened his mouth but found himself unable to speak.
—Revealing the reason behind her death—would that cause her a second round of suffering?
After thinking it over, he chose instead to ask, "That heir of Slytherin… who was it?"
"Voldemort," Dumbledore said. "That is, Tom Riddle, a student who once studied at Hogwarts, just like you."
Harry froze for a moment, then realized he wasn't surprised at all.
What he felt instead was a shared sense of pain.
The person who had killed his parents… had also killed Moaning Myrtle… back when he was still just a student...
How terrifying!
Even when Harry had been treated as a punching bag by Dudley or locked in the cupboard and left to starve, the most he had ever wished for was to escape. He had never once thought about making the Dursleys die.
Let alone killing someone himself.
While Harry was lost in thought, a faint screeching sound came from the pipe.
"It seems it's time for us to go down," Wade said as he drew his wand. He rolled up his sleeves, took a deep breath, and looked at the pitch-black pipe. "I hate this kind of environment."
Dumbledore, on the other hand, seemed quite intrigued. "One must tread into different places," he remarked.
He carefully tucked his long beard into his collar and pulled up the hood of his robe to cover his neatly groomed silver-white hair. Wade waited patiently as the headmaster adjusted his attire.
Harry was puzzled. "…What are you doing?"
"We must ensure everyone's safety, don't we?" Wade replied. "We'll scout ahead. You wait here until the other challengers gather, and then you'll all come down together."
"But…"
Harry wanted to say more, but Dumbledore waved a hand at him. "See you in a bit, Harry."
The headmaster climbed into the pipe and disappeared with a whoosh.
Then it was Wade's turn. Before sliding in, he turned back and added:
"Don't worry if you can't see us after coming down… If you're not in mortal danger, the headmaster won't step in… and neither will I."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wade let go and allowed gravity to pull him down.
The pipe was not only pitch-dark but also slimy, with many smaller pipes branching off in all directions.
One of those smaller pipes might have been the one Professor Kettleburn had crawled through.
Wade held his breath and silently counted the seconds. After what felt like an eternity, the slope began to level out, and faint white light appeared ahead.
He shut his eyes as his body slid out and came to a stop.
Adjusting to the sudden brightness, he opened his eyes and stood up.
Dumbledore was already there, standing ahead of him with his wand raised. The wand's tip emitted a white light, illuminating the surroundings brightly.
They were in a spacious stone tunnel, about three meters high, damp and chillingly cold.
Scattered across the ground were the bones of animals, almost fused with the soil.
In the distance, faint yet terrifying roars and crashing sounds echoed—part beastly screams, part mournful wails.
Once Wade had finished preparing himself, Dumbledore said, "Let's go. It seems we're not far now."
His voice echoed through the tunnel.
As they moved forward along the passage, it wasn't long before a massive object suddenly appeared before them.
In the darkness, a coiled shadow seemed to be gazing at them. Even though Wade had mentally prepared himself, the sight startled him.
The light from Dumbledore's wand suddenly expanded several times, illuminating the shadow in the darkness.
It was the shed skin of a giant serpent.
The shimmering green scales glowed vividly under the light, as if they could still move.
"Oh, at least twenty feet long!" Dumbledore exclaimed cheerfully. "Severus will be delighted!"
Wade showed no intention of claiming it for himself.
He already had plenty of Galleons, and with such an abundance of potion ingredients, Professor Snape surely wouldn't use it all for himself. He would likely share some with the students.
Of course, students like Neville, who struggled with potion-making, probably wouldn't stand a chance.
Considering the rarity of a thousand-year-old basilisk's remains, only advanced students or those particularly skilled in potions would have the opportunity to use them.
In this, Wade felt confident.
The two of them left the serpent skin where it lay, deciding to give the students who came later a little surprise. Then, they continued forward.
Suddenly, a red light shot toward them.
Accompanied by a tremendous boom ahead, Fawkes returned to Dumbledore's shoulder.
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +235 Chapters
⭐MCU: Druid's Adventures (MCUDA)(⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 460
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