Exploring the Chamber
When Hermione and Einar arrived at the girls' bathroom on the third floor, right in front of the sinks, Hermione quickly spoke:
"Right, we forgot Harry. Only Parseltongue can open the entrance," she said as she turned, ready to go find him.
"The entrance is under this?" Einar asked, pointing indifferently at the marble column.
"Yes. See that faucet there? A Parseltongue wizard can speak to it and it opens," Hermione explained quickly.
But before she could say anything else, Einar calmly lifted his foot and kicked the column. The blow was so powerful that the entire bathroom shook. Several defensive enchantments broke instantly, and under Hermione's incredulous gaze, the column slid away, revealing a hole in the floor.
"Done. It's open," Einar said, looking at the hole with interest.
Hermione, still shocked, stared at him and shook her head to snap out of her amazement.
"Anyway, there's another door deeper inside… and I don't know if you'll be able to destroy it," she warned quickly.
"We'll see when we get there. If not, we'll just go find Harry," Einar said calmly, wrapping an arm around Hermione's waist.
Hermione let out a small yelp of surprise as she found herself half-embraced, her cheeks turning completely red.
Without a second thought, Einar jumped into the hole with her in his arms. Hermione's embarrassment quickly turned into fear.
"Waaah!"
They fell at great speed to the bottom of the tunnel, but Einar cushioned the landing with just his legs. He then gently set Hermione down as if nothing had happened.
She, still flustered, composed herself quickly.
"Ahem… Let's keep going this way," she said, taking the lead.
They passed by the place where the old skin of a giant snake lay. Einar, unfazed, calmly stored it in his magic pouch.
They walked several meters until they reached a collapsed section. Soon after, they stood before a large door decorated with intertwined serpents.
"This is it," Hermione said, waiting to see what Einar would do.
"Hmm… it's quite thick. If I use brute force, I might bring down the whole school," he commented seriously.
Hermione instantly paled.
"So… is it time to bring Harry?" she asked, worried.
"Wait. I want to try something," Einar said, observing the door with interest.
He stepped closer and, in a firm voice, spoke:
"Ven nol Dovahkiin."
It wasn't a shout of power, but a clear, commanding order in the language of dragons. The serpent heads exploded one by one, as if submitting to the will of the Dragonborn, and the door slowly creaked open.
Elsewhere in the castle, several magical doors cracked open for a few seconds, as if something older and more powerful than Hogwarts itself had spoken.
"Seems an older magical tongue can open it too," Einar said calmly as he crossed the threshold, unfazed.
Hermione followed him, still in awe. She looked around with curious eyes, having only heard the stories from Harry and Ron. The Chamber was partially flooded, flanked by snake statues, and at the far end, a massive face was carved into the stone"its features coarse and unpleasant.
Einar's eyes locked onto the corpse of the giant serpent in the center of the Chamber.
He walked over without hesitation and began to examine the basilisk closely. Then he pulled out a knife and started dismantling it skillfully, without hesitation.
Hermione, her stomach turning, chose to walk away and approached the statue of Salazar Slytherin, trying to distract herself with its structure. However, she didn't notice the massive spider descending silently on its web, right above her head.
Then she heard a sharp sound.
She looked up and saw the spider's fangs about to bite her.
"Waaah!"
A flash passed her vision. A knife embedded itself in the creature's face, which fell dead right in front of her.
Hermione gasped, noticing the knife lodged in the spider's skull. Turning around, she saw Einar pulling out another knife, already ready to continue dismantling the basilisk.
With a mix of embarrassment and relief, Hermione quickly stepped closer and stayed near him, just in case.
"Thank you," she said softly, crouching beside Einar to watch his work with growing interest.
Einar simply nodded and kept working.
"The professor does this a lot… It looks very professional," Hermione commented, watching how every part he extracted from the basilisk was perfectly sized and cleanly cut.
"Well, not with giant snakes… but I've done it with trolls, dragons, even those disgusting Seekers and Lurkers from Apocrypha," Einar replied calmly as he kept cutting with precision.
When he reached the basilisk's head, Hermione quickly spoke:
"You must be careful, professor. Basilisk fangs are extremely venomous, and there's no cure. Only phoenix tears can counter it. Harry nearly died because of it…"
Einar paused for a few seconds to carefully examine the large serpent's fangs and noticed a shimmering liquid. Calmly, he collected a few drops in a small vial and studied them closely.
Then, to Hermione's shock, he dropped a bit of the venom onto his tongue.
"Professor, what are you doing?! Spit it out!" Hermione screamed in panic.
But Einar quickly swallowed the venom as Hermione stood frozen in fear, trying to think of how she could help him. Einar stopped her with a gesture.
"It's fine, relax. I've got plenty of ways to save myself if I'm about to die," he said casually, removing the mask he usually wore: Otar's mask.
Then he looked down at his hands, noticing how his veins turned bluish. His face paled and his vision began to blur, forcing him to kneel on the floor.
Hermione ran to him, completely distraught.
Einar quickly pulled out the Mask of Hevnoraak and put it on. His body shimmered for a moment, and little by little, the color returned to his veins. He blinked several times before standing up, as if nothing had happened.
"Wow… That's a pretty strong poison. Not many manage to act that quickly on me," he commented with interest. "How is Harry still alive?"
He turned to look at Hermione, who was sitting on the floor, her face soaked with tears, staring at him with deep concern. When she realized Einar was fine, she quickly wiped her tears and stood up, furious.
"How can you do something so reckless?! Are you stupid or what?! What if you'd died here because of your thick skull?!" she yelled as she hit him hard on the shoulder, though Einar didn't even feel it.
"Well… My mask makes me immune to all poisons and diseases. And like I said, I have several ways to save my life," he replied calmly.
Hermione glared at him.
"…Um… sorry," Einar quickly added, realizing he'd made a mistake by worrying her like that. His habit of testing alchemical materials had gotten the better of him for a moment.
"Finish collecting your materials and let's get out of here," Hermione ordered firmly, suddenly aware she had just hit a professor. Though, it was understandable"she had been genuinely worried for his life. She turned away to hide her embarrassment and wipe her face.
Einar carefully removed all the basilisk's fangs, thinking they'd make excellent material for crafting daggers that were poisonous even without enchantments. He also thought about what Harry had gone through in this chamber… and how he'd nearly died just because of the incompetence of the professors here. He was only twelve.
He stored the rest of the materials in his magical bag and spoke to Hermione, who still seemed to be avoiding his gaze.
"I think we can head back now," Einar said.
Hermione nodded quickly and began walking toward the exit.
When they reached the tunnel they had descended through, Hermione pulled out her wand to begin climbing with magic, but Einar surprised her by wrapping an arm around her.
Then he jumped. Using the walls for support, he made several more leaps until they reached the hole that led back to the girls' bathroom, once again setting Hermione down gently on the floor.
"Well… We'll have to fix this so students don't fall in by accident," he said, pulling out his wand, which he rarely used.
"Reparo," he said, and the marble sink quickly returned to its place. The magical protections, of course, couldn't be repaired, but he doubted students would try to move the heavy sinks… though, knowing Hogwarts, maybe they would.
"I have homework to finish," Hermione said, giving Einar a quick farewell before hurrying off.
"Hmm… looks like I made her mad. I should be more careful when testing alchemical materials in front of her in the future," Einar reflected as he watched her walk away.
Then he calmly walked back to his office. He had to prepare the next day's classes… and also start designing a new training plan for Harry and Cedric.
But before that, there were a couple of flies he needed to deal with. He needed to find a substitute professor, and since the guy Dumbledore had sent to spy on him was still hanging around, he'd just leave the job to him. In the end, that position was supposed to be his if Einar hadn't taken it. Though ironically, it would probably end up being someone else who filled the role… since that guy had been caught precisely because of that reason.