"Released a giant snake from a faucet?" Harry's expression changed sharply as he said in a low voice, "Did you get a clear look at how they released it?"
"Mm-hmm!" Alice nodded, also lowering her voice to barely a whisper. "I saw Professor Lockhart flipping through a book for a while, then he suddenly became very scary, meow!"
"After that, he made strange sounds at that faucet, just like—"
Alice did her best to shape her mouth correctly, making strange hissing sounds.
"Hiss—just like the sounds you practiced at Evans's place before, meow!"
Hearing Alice's words, it suddenly clicked for Harry.
The sound Alice was imitating was undoubtedly Parseltongue, and a faucet that could only be opened by Parseltongue solved one of his longstanding questions.
If the basilisk was hidden in some space and could only be released by speaking Parseltongue, then it made perfect sense that the professors couldn't find the Chamber.
After all, the professors searched for the Chamber by inspecting various locations around the castle—why would they think that the Chamber entrance was actually hidden in a faucet, in an abandoned bathroom?
And Alice's account hadn't ended.
"After he spoke that sound, the faucet suddenly opened, and before long, a giant snake crawled out from inside, meow!"
Recalling that scene, Alice's eyes showed terror.
"I've never seen such a big snake—just its head was as big as you, and its body was who knows how long. I didn't dare look carefully, meow, after all, you said that giant snake could petrify, meow!"
"But after it left, I heard those two people say they were going to control the target to give the masters a perfect feeding experience."
"Then they ran here, meow!"
After hearing Alice's words, doubt crept into Harry's mind again.
What did "give the masters a perfect feeding experience" mean?
But at this moment he had no time to think carefully about this matter, instead looking at the three people and one specter fighting not far away.
Since the senior already knew what she wanted to know, and they'd learned what they needed to learn, now their biggest problem was how to escape.
After all, the current situation wasn't very advantageous for them.
At this moment in the classroom, spells were flying everywhere. Umbridge, who had been playing defense, had already abandoned it and begun a series of counterattacks.
The moment she switched tactics, Penelope's disadvantages in magical power and experience became apparent.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Umbridge, who had been maintaining a Shield Charm, suddenly dropped it, dodged an incoming spell, and flicked her wand upward.
Penelope, who had been pressing the attack, clearly hadn't anticipated this change. The Levitation Charm had no visible trajectory—to defend against it, she could only cast the counter-spell before the spell hit.
But she wasn't proficient enough with the Levitation Charm's counter-spell, at least not proficient enough to react instantly.
An invisible force swept past, and Penelope's body floated into the air. As she watched the young woman's face turn panicked, a mocking smile crossed Umbridge's face as she continuously waved her wand, releasing spell after spell of different colors.
"Perhaps you young wizards of this era no longer know this technique; after all, your Defense Against the Dark Arts classes barely teach actual combat."
"But in the past, this was always the most useful method in wizard duels."
Floating in mid-air, Penelope curled up as tightly as possible, conjuring a Shield Charm in front of her, doing her best to block the incoming spells.
Umbridge's spells were relentless—so rapid-fire she had no time to drop the Shield Charm to use the Levitation Charm's counter-spell.
And just as Professor Kahn had once said, the defender was always at a disadvantage.
Her magical stamina wasn't strong enough, at least not strong enough to outlast the person before her.
This meant that once her strength gave out, she would die.
A faint hissing sound was gradually growing louder in her ears, making her realize she might not even last until her strength gave out.
On the other side, Sir Podmore wasn't faring much better.
Although it had caught Lockhart off guard at first, forcing him to focus purely on defense, something about this man's endurance seemed off—it had already attacked over ten times, but that barrier showed no signs of breaking.
Clearly his magical power wasn't abundant—why could he maintain the Shield Charm for so long?
It was as if the body of this pathetic wizard housed a very powerful soul.
After studying Lockhart carefully, Sir Podmore's figure flickered, suddenly becoming invisible and appearing behind Lockhart, opening its mouth for another silent shriek.
But Lockhart seemed to have been expecting this, instantly tapping both ears with his wand, sealing his hearing.
Although a ghost's shriek could also affect the soul, he seemed not to care about the pain at all—his shriek instead gave him time to adjust.
Watching the man re-establish his Shield Charm, Sir Podmore's semi-transparent brow furrowed slightly, its blood-red eyes turning serious.
Although with its abilities, it could definitely exhaust this wizard, that young woman probably couldn't wait that long.
Her Shield Charm already had cracks forming, and Sir Podmore vaguely sensed an extreme danger approaching them.
What should be done?
Watching his two teammates struggling to hold on, Harry's heart raced with anxiety.
They'd already gotten all the information they wanted—now was the time they should retreat.
But how to leave had become a problem.
The basilisk's schizophrenic-sounding voice kept approaching, getting closer and closer. He didn't have much time left.
Thinking frantically, gradually Harry's gaze fell on the house-elf beside him, trembling from the intensity of the battle, his expression showing hesitation.
He had a plan that could let them all leave this battlefield smoothly, but this plan might need this house-elf's help.
However, he still wasn't certain of this house-elf's position. Although it had just revealed information to him and Sir Podmore, and it truly came to help, its identity still made him uneasy.
After all, this was the Malfoy family's house-elf.
Although that boy had recently seemed to become much more normal, he still couldn't abandon his original impression.
Could the Malfoy family's house-elf really be trusted...?
Staring at this house-elf for a long time, Harry suddenly spoke, saying softly, "Dobby, can I trust you?"