## Chapter 269: The Serpent's Skin
In a flash of white light, the faucet spun, and the sink slowly rose, revealing the entrance to a massive pipe.
A cold, damp air escaped from within, carrying a strange, fishy smell.
Harry couldn't help but swallow. "Where... is this place?"
"Clearly, a Chamber of Secrets—what's so surprising about finding one at Hogwarts?"
Wade turned to the Phoenix.
"Please, Fawkes."
The Phoenix gave a soft cry, transforming into a golden flash of fire, and instantly vanished into the opening.
"Fawkes?" Harry asked.
"The Basilisk's gaze cannot kill it, so we need it to peck out the Basilisk's eyes first," Dumbledore said calmly.
At this point, Harry hadn't experienced his classmates being petrified or himself being wrongly accused. He hesitated for a moment, then asked,
"That Basilisk... hidden in Hogwarts... what for?"
He actually wanted to ask—was this also a plot by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?
Dumbledore and Wade exchanged a look, then Wade said,
"There's a legend... Salazar Slytherin, before leaving the school, built a Chamber of Secrets beneath the castle and placed a special creature inside. This creature would, when needed, cleanse the school, eliminating all Muggle-born students."
"That creature... is the Basilisk?" Harry whispered.
"Looks like it."
Wade tapped an ancient pipe nearby with his Wand and said, "The Basilisk has lived in the Chamber of Secrets for over a thousand years. Until fifty years ago, Slytherin's heir entered this school, awakened the Basilisk, and killed someone."
"He killed someone?" Harry asked, surprised. "Who did he kill?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized—what a stupid question he had asked!
If the Basilisk crawled out of this pipe, the first thing it would see, besides the one who awakened it, would be a student coming here to use the bathroom.
Which was...
Harry couldn't help but look back, only to see Myrtle still peeking at them, her face full of a gossiping expression, completely unaware that the deceased person they were discussing might be her.
Harry looked at Wade with a questioning gaze, and saw him nod in affirmation.
Immediately, the boy felt a strong sense of pity and compassion. He opened his mouth but found he couldn't speak.
—Would revealing the cause of her death cause her a second injury?
He thought for a long time, then changed his question: "Who... was that heir of Slytherin?"
"He was Voldemort," Dumbledore said. "That is, Tom Riddle, a student who, like you, once attended Hogwarts."
Harry froze for a moment, then realized he wasn't surprised at all.
There was only a sympathetic pain.
That person... who killed his parents, also killed Myrtle... when he was still just a student...
How terrifying!
Even when Dudley beat him like a punching bag, or when he was locked in the cupboard starving, Harry's greatest wish was merely to escape from there. He had never thought of wishing the Dursley family dead.
Let alone killing someone with his own hands.
As Harry stood in a daze, a faint wailing sound came from the pipe.
"Looks like it's time for us to go down."
Wade pulled out his Wand, rolled up his sleeves, took a deep breath, and looked at the dark pipe. "I hate this environment."
Dumbledore, however, looked quite interested. He said, "One must always tread different paths."
He carefully tucked his long beard into his collar, then pulled up the hood of his robe, covering his neatly groomed silver-white hair. Wade patiently waited for him to finish tidying himself.
Harry was puzzled. "...What are you doing?"
"We have to ensure everyone's safety, don't we?" Wade said. "We'll go ahead and scout. You can wait for the other challengers to gather before setting off together."
"But..."
Harry still had something to say, but Dumbledore waved his hand and said, "See you soon, Harry."
The Headmaster slipped into the pipe and vanished with a "whoosh."
Then it was Wade's turn. Before he entered, he turned back and said,
"Don't worry if you don't see us when you come down... If you don't encounter a fatal danger, the Headmaster won't intervene... Of course, neither will I."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wade let go, allowing gravity to pull him down the pipe.
The pipe was not only very dark but also slimy, with many thinner tubes extending in all directions.
One of them, perhaps, was the one Professor Kettleburn had gone into.
He held his breath, silently counting the time in his head. After a long while, he felt the slope become gentler, and a faint white light shone from the opening ahead.
Wade closed his eyes, feeling his body slide forward suddenly, then stop.
He allowed his eyes to adjust to the abrupt change in brightness before opening them and standing up.
Dumbledore stood before him, his wand raised, its tip emitting a white glow that illuminated the surroundings brightly.
It was a very spacious stone tunnel, nearly three meters high, and incredibly damp and cold.
Animal bones were scattered on the ground, appearing almost fused with the dirt.
In the distance, faint sounds of terrifying roars and crashes echoed, sounding like both a monster's shriek and a mournful cry.
Once Wade was ready, Dumbledore spoke, "Let's go. It doesn't seem to be far now."
His voice echoed in the tunnel.
They walked forward along the tunnel. Before long, a massive object suddenly appeared before them.
In the darkness, a winding, coiling black shadow seemed to be staring at them. Even though Wade had prepared himself mentally, he was still startled when he suddenly saw it.
The light from Dumbledore's wand suddenly expanded several times, illuminating the shadow in the darkness.
It was the shed skin of a giant snake.
Its vibrant green scales looked incredibly vivid under the light, as if they could still move.
"Oh, it's easily twenty feet long!" Dumbledore said happily. "Severus will be thrilled!"
Wade had no intention of claiming it for himself.
He already had more than enough Galleons. Besides, with so many Potions ingredients, Professor Snape wouldn't be able to use it all himself and would surely distribute some to the students.
Of course, students like Neville, who weren't as skilled, shouldn't even think about it. Given the preciousness of a thousand-year-old Basilisk, only advanced students or those with significant talent in Potions would have the chance to practice with it.
Wade was quite confident about that.
The two left the shed skin where it was, intending to give the students who came later a little surprise, then continued walking forward.
Suddenly, a red light shot out.
Amidst a huge roar from ahead, Fawkes returned to Dumbledore's shoulder.
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read ***+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский
Or Translate for free at : https:// randomtranslator.com/translate
Join our Discord: https:// discord.com/invite/XXUR9nkjwa
-----------