When he walked to the door, Ryan received 20 offset points for killing the Basilisk, and it seemed that the harvest was not bad this time.
After stepping out of the small door, the door quickly closed behind Ryan and returned to its original shape, looking no different from the wall in this section. After examining the wall, he noticed a small carving of two letters "S" stacked on top of one another on a brick.
After noting the approximate location of the door, Ryan started walking down the hallway. He realized he had never been in this part of the castle before and desperately hoped to find his way out.
There were no windows in this corridor, only torches burning on the walls. Ryan took out his pocket watch and saw that it was already nine o'clock in the morning. From this, he could tell he was likely in the basement.
After walking for a while, he suddenly heard footsteps from around the corner ahead. Ryan instinctively cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and crouched in a corner without moving. (Since his skill level was low, moving around while under the spell would make him easier to detect.)
Several students wearing silver-green scarves walked past the intersection, muttered something to a section of the wall, and a door opened. They entered.
So this was the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Ryan took note and continued walking in the direction the students had come from.
A few minutes later, he reached a large staircase that he recognized as the one leading to the dungeons, where Potions class was held. After confirming there was no one around, Ryan released the Disillusionment Charm and climbed the stairs.
As soon as he entered the Gryffindor common room, he ran into the Weasley twins.
Fred grinned at him. "Ryan, where did you go swimming last night to end up looking like this?"
"Yeah, we could smell you as soon as you walked in," George added, smirking.
Ryan tensed at the mention of a "night tour" but quickly realized that he had, in fact, spent hours wading through an underground pipe that hadn't been cleaned in over a century. No wonder the twins noticed. However, they didn't seem to suspect he had been in the Chamber of Secrets.
Relieved, Ryan chuckled and replied, "I found a secret passage yesterday and decided to follow it. It took me quite a distance, so I didn't get back until this morning."
"Where does it lead?" Fred asked, excited.
"Behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy, there's a passage that leads to the far side of the Black Lake," Ryan said, recalling a detail from the books.
Fred and George exchanged a glance. "A secret passage, huh? Not bad for a goody-two-shoes like you," George said, looking slightly disappointed. "But we already found that place in our first week here."
Ryan shrugged. "Guess I'm late to the party."
Fred suddenly perked up. "By the way, we're testing a new product tonight. Want to come see?"
Ryan considered the offer. In the original story, the twins' joke shop became a massive success. If he got involved early, it might be a promising venture.
Smiling, he said, "Of course! I've always been curious about your experiments. Thanks for the invite."
George nudged Fred. "See? I told you. Most of our friends just want to mess around, but we need someone who actually likes research to help out."
Ryan rolled his eyes. Nerd, huh? He bid the twins goodbye and returned to his dormitory to clean up.
After changing into fresh clothes, Ryan accessed his personal space and stepped into the world of Plants vs. Zombies to develop some photographs.
When he arrived in the warehouse, he found Dave examining a pile of discarded materials in his white lab coat.
Dave jumped when he saw Ryan appear out of nowhere, then grinned excitedly. "Ryan! I found traces of magical snake blood in the stuff you threw away. The DNA shows that this snake lived for over a thousand years—unbelievable!"
"You know, magic exists in my world," Ryan said, amused. "Some things that seem impossible to you are just normal for us."
He handed Dave a small box. "Here's one of the snake's remaining fangs. Be careful—the venom is still potent. The rest of its remains were absorbed by a mutant Dragongrass I cultivated."
Dave opened the box, peered inside, then snapped it shut. "Dragongrass? No way! If you told me it was a dried-up Piranha Plant, I'd believe it."
Ryan smirked and handed him the Dragongrass. Dave examined it, clearly puzzled. "This thing is in great shape, but I can't make heads or tails of it."
After a moment, he changed the subject. "So, what brings you here?"
Ryan pulled out a bundle of photographs. "I found something written by a famous wizard in the snake's lair. I need to develop these pictures and get a Latin translation."
"You came to the right place," Dave said excitedly. "We discovered a data storage center in the city a few days ago, and I used it to upgrade my AI. It can translate Latin for you."
He led Ryan down into the fortress's basement and stopped at a darkroom for film development.
Ryan frowned. "With your tech, why are you still using film cameras?"
Dave sighed. "Dr. Zombie Bruce has set up electromagnetic pulse generators in the zombie-infested areas. Digital cameras don't work anywhere near them."
Soon, the film was developed. Dave took Ryan to an underground computer lab and eagerly inserted the photos into a scanner.
"Slytherin had clear handwriting, so this shouldn't be too hard to process," Dave noted as the scanner got to work.
"The computer here is just a terminal," he added proudly. "It's linked to the mainframe in my town lab via an underground fiber-optic cable. That's why the recognition speed is so fast."
Minutes later, the computer beeped. The text had been successfully processed.
Ryan and Dave leaned forward, eager to see what secrets the thousand-year-old wizard had left behind.
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