Chapter 268: This is the Girls' Toilet!
Chapter 268: This is the Girls' Toilet!
"What is that?" Harry couldn't help but squeak, aware that he sounded like a frightened little girl, but he couldn't contain himself.
"A Basilisk." Professor Ketterborn gazed at the lifelike painting on the wall, his finger slowly tracing over the seemingly animated, emerald green scales.
"If a chicken egg is hatched by a toad, it will give birth to a Basilisk with extraordinary abilities. It's enormous, growing up to fifty feet long. Its fangs are highly venomous, but the most dangerous part is its eyes."
"Eyes?" Harry repeated, glancing again at the dangerous yellow eyes.
"Anyone who looks directly into its eyes will die instantly."
Professor Ketterborn nonchalantly uttered these terrifying words, "This Basilisk has been living in Hogwarts for over a millennium... which means it's been with us every day..."
Harry tried to imagine...
While he and his classmates were eating, reading, or attending classes... a murderous monster was lurking nearby...
He couldn't help but shudder, and then he blurted out a question, "If that's the case, why hasn't anyone seen it?"
"It moves through the pipes—Dumbledore has confirmed this."
Professor Ketterborn smiled and pulled out a large scale from his pocket.
He caressed the scale gently, a look of obsession on his face:
"See this? I found it by sneaking into the pipes... Thanks to my missing arm and half a leg, I can easily access places others can't..."
Harry looked at his missing limbs, feeling both sympathetic and strangely afraid.
However, he noticed that the peculiar professor was eyeing him as if he were sizing him up.
"Speaking of which, you're small and agile, so it should be easier for you to crawl through the pipes, right? Perhaps that's why Dumbledore chose to send you students to face the Basilisk..."
Harry couldn't help but shudder again. But thinking of Dumbledore, he calmed down.
Impossible... Dumbledore wouldn't do that...
And he has the Serpent Tongue... everyone says it's a language that can control snakes.
The Basilisk was terrifying, but Harry thought that if he didn't go, the other students facing the Basilisk might be in danger. However, with the Serpent Tongue, he might be able to help a little...
With this in mind, when Professor Ketterborn asked if he wanted to back out again, Harry shook his head firmly.
"Well then... good luck, kid." Professor Ketterborn looked at him sympathetically and said, "Come back alive."
These words immediately made Harry's heart race.
But having said it, he couldn't back down. Harry had no choice but to steel himself and walk through the room.
Then, unexpectedly, he saw Michael.
"Michael?" Harry called out.
"Yeah, surprised?" Michael asked with a smile.
"I thought you were one of the professors..." Harry spoke honestly.
"Others see professors, but I was waiting specifically for you." Michael gestured for Harry to follow him, "Vold has something he needs your help with."
Harry hurried to catch up, and after passing through the door, they found themselves in an empty corridor.
Harry hesitated and reminded Michael, "Michael, I still have to participate in the challenge..."
"It's related to the challenge." Michael said, "The competition can't proceed without you."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"The entrance is blocked," Michael repeated what Vold had told him.
Harry recalled Professor Ketterborn's previous words and asked, "Isn't the entrance in the pipes?"
"The magical passageway we opened is too narrow; if we encounter any danger, we'd be trapped. We need a wider passage."
—Why do I need to help when even Michael can't open it?
Harry was perplexed, unsure of what was happening. But Michael was pulling him along at a rapid pace, seemingly in a hurry, so Harry had no choice but to follow.
As they continued, Harry noticed the corridors becoming increasingly familiar, and the place ahead... was unmistakably the girls' bathroom, strictly off-limits to boys!
"Wait, Michael!" Harry exclaimed, his face turning green as he grabbed the person in front of him. "Are we going in there?"
Michael emphasized, "This is the girls' bathroom!"
Michael laughed, "Don't worry, there's no one inside, just Crying Myrtle."
"Who?" Harry asked.
As a boy, he had never ventured near the girls' bathroom and, naturally, was unaware of Myrtle's existence.
"The ghost who always haunts that bathroom," Michael explained briefly. "Because of her constant mischief, no one comes here. Vold is waiting for you inside."
"Vold?" Harry repeated, shocked once again.
He had been shocked too many times today, and his reactions were becoming numb. However, the news of Vold being in the girls' bathroom jolted him back to alertness.
As they spoke, Michael had already pushed open the bathroom door. Harry immediately spotted Vold, and to his surprise, Dumbledore was there as well.
These were two people whom he would never associate with peeping into the girls' bathroom, and their presence eased Harry's embarrassment and tension.
Dumbledore and Vold stood side by side, bending over to examine a particular faucet. The golden-red phoenix perched on the headmaster's head like a unique hat.
Next to them was a short, plump female ghost, who seemed to still be a student, wearing thick glasses, with an ordinary appearance, and a gloomy expression.
Harry guessed this must be Crying Myrtle.
Standing beside the headmaster, she seemed both nervous and excited. She hid herself in one of the bathroom stalls, secretly observing them.
—What a strange group, Harry thought.
He tried to ignore the eerie, greenish eyes peering from above the stall and greeted them, "Good evening, Professor Dumbledore, Vold."
"You're here, Harry," Vold said, stepping aside slightly. "Come and take a look."
Harry hurried over, with Michael curiously following.
Then they realized that what the two had been observing was a copper faucet with a small snake engraved on its side.
"Um..." Harry asked, "What's so special about this?"
"Look at it and try saying 'open' in Serpent Tongue," Vold instructed.
"Serpent Tongue?" Harry glanced at Dumbledore instinctively and then asked, "Didn't you learn it too?"
After learning that Vold could speak Parseltongue, several members of the SSC had attempted to learn a few phrases. However, most of them quickly gave up, struggling with the nearly indistinguishable hisses of "sssss." Only Hermione and Vold had learned the most.
A simple word like "open" was something Vold had already mastered.
"I do know it," Vold said helplessly. "But this entrance seems to reject the imitation Serpent Tongue."
He recalled from the original story that Ron had also used Parseltongue to open the Chamber of Secrets, but the same method had failed with the faucet.
Vold concluded that the magic left by Salazar Slytherin himself was more intricate than Voldemort's. When the Basilisk was alive, it required not only Parseltongue but also the genuine Serpent Tongue to be spoken.
Harry's mind flashed back to the painting the professor had shown him earlier, recalling those cold and deadly eyes.
[Open.]
Harry hissed, and the faucet burst into a dazzling white light.
(End of Chapter)
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