"Wuuu... wuuu... wuuu…"
The eerie sound of weeping echoed throughout the girls' bathroom. Moaning Myrtle rarely wandered far and usually remained within this small territory. Her favorite activities were flooding the place by messing with the pipes and crying incessantly—her tears spilling out like the water she scattered all over the floor.
Regulus Black didn't rush in. Instead, he simply extended his wand into the bathroom and activated a curse-type spell.
"Dim Sight!"
This spell could temporarily blind the opponent, making it easier for the caster to either attack or escape.
"Huh? What's going on? Has the sky gone dark? I can't see a thing."
Moaning Myrtle found it strange—how could a ghost like her be rendered completely blind? She tried floating to other areas, but no matter where she moved within the bathroom, she couldn't see anything. The only thing she could sense was that she was still within the bounds of the bathroom.
"Hisss... Open!"
Regulus Black quietly stepped up to the sink in the girls' bathroom and spoke in Parseltongue to the faucet engraved with a serpent mark, then took a step back.
Under the influence of Parseltongue, the sink activated. The eight basins opened outward, revealing a massive shaft beneath them. The marked sink even lowered into the ground, exposing an entrance large enough for a person to pass through.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Casting the levitation charm on himself, Regulus Black jumped into the tunnel and slowly slid downward. The passageway was very long, branching off in many directions. By any estimation, this hidden chamber lay deeper than any other structure within Hogwarts.
But no matter how long, every tunnel has an end. At the bottom, a layer of bones covered the floor—remains of small animals. It was unclear whether they had starved there or were devoured by the basilisk.
Among all the connected tunnels, only one was wide enough for a person to pass through. Without hesitation, Regulus Black proceeded along it. As he passed what appeared to be a fissure in a rock formation, he noticed a long snakeskin curled up in a corner. It was bright green and about 60 feet long. Since one foot equals approximately 30.48 centimeters, that meant the basilisk was over 18 meters in length—clearly old enough to match the legend of a creature with a thousand-year lifespan.
Further along, he discovered more shedded snakeskins—each one shorter than the last. Near a large circular metal door, the final skin was barely a meter long.
Regulus Black stepped forward again and waved his wand, gathering all the shed skins into rolls. There were ten in total, each of varying size, and he stored them neatly into his system space before closely examining the metal door.
The door was locked by seven intertwined serpent sculptures. Just like before, it could be opened with Parseltongue.
"Hisss... Open!"
With Regulus Black's command, a metal serpent slithered across the door. As it passed each of the seven serpent locks, they retracted. When it completed a full circuit, the metal door slowly opened.
The door was a solid foot thick. Beyond it was a vast and imposing chamber. A wide path ran through the center, flanked by pools on both sides. Each pool was adorned with eight large serpent head carvings. At the very end of the passage stood a massive stone face—that of an elderly Salazar Slytherin.
Naturally, Regulus Black didn't expect a beautiful maiden to be waiting here to be rescued.
"Guide me!"
He cast a spell to reveal the key phrase needed to unlock Slytherin's secret.
Slytherin's giant stone face was far from majestic. It appeared ancient, bald like a god of longevity, and its sparse beard trailed all the way into the water. The basilisk's lair was inside the statue's mouth. Though the creature could move on its own, it still followed the commands of its original master, Slytherin. It typically emerged only when shedding its skin. Most of the time, it lay dormant within the statue's chamber. As a magical creature, it seemingly didn't need to eat, though the surrounding environment suggested that it did need to drink.
"Speak to me, Slytherin… the greatest of the four founders of Hogwarts!"
As expected, this was the incantation to activate the chamber. When Regulus Black spoke it in Parseltongue, the statue's mouth opened, and a massive basilisk—over 20 feet long—emerged with its eyes closed. Clearly, it recognized that a descendant of its master was summoning it.
Regulus had originally prepared to cast the spell 'Dim Sight' again, but seeing that the basilisk emerged with its eyes shut, he decided not to. Interestingly, this living basilisk appeared even longer than the dried snakeskins found earlier—perhaps the skins had shriveled with age after being shed.
"Tell me your name!"
Regulus Black commanded in Parseltongue. Only by knowing the magical creature's name could a new contract be established.
The first recorded basilisk was bred by "Herpo the Foul," a Greek Dark wizard who could speak Parseltongue. However, that didn't mean every basilisk was named Herpo. One could only imagine the chaos if two basilisks named Herpo ever met, each obeying a different master.
"Herpo. My name is Herpo."
The basilisk hissed in reply, excitedly slapping its tail against the ground. After ten years, another master had finally arrived.
Well then—still Herpo. Wizards were notoriously terrible at naming things.
"Herpo! Form a contract with me now. I am your master in this generation."
Regulus Black didn't know whether Voldemort had ever formed a contract with it before, but since he had come here, making a contract was a necessity.
"Yes, Master! Herpo accepts your command."
The massive basilisk obediently lowered its head to the ground, allowing Regulus Black to do as he pleased.
Contract spells were quite common in the wizarding world, but they were complicated and tedious. A single mistake could result in serious harm to both parties. The infamous Goblet of Fire, for instance—after Harry Potter's name was added, not even Dumbledore could revoke his entry. Such was the power of contract magic.
Regulus Black formed a very simple contract with the basilisk Herpo: for the duration of Regulus's lifetime, Herpo would recognize him as the sole master—even if Salazar Slytherin himself were resurrected, the basilisk could not be taken away.
With that, the greatest threat in the Chamber of Secrets was eliminated. Regulus Black then sent the basilisk into his [Golden Memory Dragon Egg Secret Realm] for further training—letting it learn new skills through combat and gain class-based abilities.
The Necromancer's bone and poison-type skills were a perfect match for it.
"Now, let me see if the true legendary chamber exists!"
Having arranged Herpo's future, Regulus Black climbed into the mouth of Slytherin's stone statue.
According to legend—and supported by many fan theories—the true Chamber of Secrets lay within the statue's mouth. Placing the basilisk's lair and the real chamber together would be the safest setup. What better guardian could there be than a basilisk?
Sure enough, the statue's mouth branched into two separate tunnels. The lower tunnel led to a large pool—its depth and size unknown—clearly meant as the basilisk's habitat. The upper tunnel was narrow, and after squeezing through it, Regulus entered a relatively spacious area. The layout resembled the Room of Requirement—a circular room lined with walls full of books, alchemical tools, and various materials.
"Historical Record!"
Regulus Black cast a spell that could reveal the historical traces of a place or object, presenting past events as visual projections before the user.
As the spell took effect, darkness fell over the chamber. If he wanted to find a time when someone had been here, he would need to rewind about two years—during Harry Potter's time at school—then another eleven years back to when he himself had died and become a Yin Corpse floating in the Black Lake, the same year Voldemort vanished from the world.
But then again… no, that wasn't necessary!
Regulus couldn't help but laugh at himself. Why overthink it? All he needed to do was directly set the chamber's timeline to a point when someone had been present.
With that thought, the darkness in the chamber began to ripple violently. Soon, a light appeared—and there he was: a 16-year-old Voldemort, holding a lantern, entering the chamber.
No—he was entering in reverse, walking backward into the room. The entire scene played like a video being rewound.
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