"A very ingenious structure," Nicolas Flamel mused, stroking his chin after his inspection.
But as his hand touched his face, it froze slightly.
He had instinctively reached to stroke his beard, only to feel the smooth, soft skin of a child.
He still wasn't quite used to being de-aged into a child.
After a moment of stillness, Nicolas Flamel continued, "Indeed, one only needs to say 'open' in Parseltongue to activate this door, and there are no other hidden dangers."
The sky had darkened, and the day's classes were over. Roger, Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, McGonagall, and Snape had gathered in the girls' lavatory.
Moaning Myrtle, who usually resided there, didn't dare to make a sound upon seeing them and retreated to a corner.
She didn't leave, however, but quietly observed the activity.
Hearing Nicolas Flamel's conclusion, Dumbledore couldn't help but sigh. He was reminded of the incident decades ago that had led to Myrtle's death.
Despite being so close, he hadn't detected anything amiss at the time.
But there was nothing to be done. Hogwarts itself was a magical castle, filled with all sorts of strange alchemical structures.
Secret passages and hidden rooms – there were dozens, if not hundreds, within Hogwarts. Tampering with them rashly could very well damage the castle's overall structure.
Even with his Headmaster's privileges, Dumbledore didn't know how many secrets Hogwarts truly held. Without a divine perspective, how could he have possibly conceived of such an outlandish solution?
...This was because many secret passages weren't part of the original construction; they were added later by generations of teachers and students, naturally falling outside the Headmaster's control.
And it was precisely this casual addition by everyone that had turned Hogwarts' magical structure into something akin to a programmer's messy code, where even fixing a bug could render the entire program unrunnable.
"Since there are no issues, let's proceed. We all know the danger of the Basilisk, so Dumbledore and I will go down, and I ask the professors to remain here on guard," Roger said.
The inspection of the Chamber of Secrets' entrance was a precautionary measure.
Unlike the Basilisk, the Chamber of Secrets, even from a historical perspective, held considerable value.
If possible, they didn't want to damage it.
As Roger finished speaking, everyone present nodded in agreement.
The two Heads of House, needless to say, understood Roger's capabilities after over a year of interaction. It was impossible for the Seer to be in danger during such an endeavor.
Nicolas Flamel didn't know Roger very well, but he could infer Roger's capabilities from Dumbledore's increasingly terrifying magical power.
Therefore, he didn't think it was wrong for Roger to go down.
[Open (Parseltongue)]
Seeing that no one had any objections, Dumbledore spoke the activation phrase in Parseltongue.
The sink began to transform as he uttered the password.
The dragon's head emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly, followed by the basin moving.
The hexagonal sink split apart, with the six basins moving in different directions. The ceiling above also floated into the air, revealing a vast, bottomless pipe opening.
With the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets open, Roger and Dumbledore exchanged a glance.
The next moment...
Flames and light erupted from their bodies! [Dimensional Magic - Transfiguration - Plutonium Man]
Roger's body transformed into a plasma state of nuclear fusion.
[Dimensional Magic - Nirvana Fire]
A warm and gentle flame began to envelop Dumbledore, making him appear like a phoenix reborn from fire.
Then, the two transformed into streaks of light and entered the Chamber of Secrets.
With their magical strength, they certainly wouldn't slide down and end up covered in dirt.
On the contrary, as they passed through the secret passage, they even had to be careful not to damage the passage with their magic.
.
.
.
"As expected, Voldemort wasn't a kind person," Roger remarked, surveying his surroundings after entering the Chamber of Secrets.
Stone pillars carved with coiled serpents were everywhere, their eyes inlaid with emeralds that gleamed with an eerie light. The damp, unpleasant smell made it clear this was no pleasant place.
Roger, with his sensitivity to knowledge, immediately found where Slytherin kept his books. However, only empty bookshelves remained, indicating that Voldemort had already moved all of Slytherin's belongings.
As Roger lamented Voldemort's wickedness for leaving not even a single page behind...
Dumbledore gazed at the Basilisk coiled in a corner of the Chamber.
Learning Parseltongue allowed one to communicate with the Basilisk, but it didn't mean one could command it.
Parseltongue could be learned later; it wasn't exclusive to the Slytherin lineage.
Controlling the Basilisk was something only 'Slytherin's heir' could do. As one of Hogwarts' founders, how could Slytherin have left such a significant vulnerability in his legacy?
And now, the Basilisk clearly had no intention of communicating.
...It only wanted to escape!
In the wizarding world, many magical creatures possess considerable intelligence, with some individuals' minds not being weaker than humans.
The Basilisk isn't a creature known for its wisdom, but it has lived in Hogwarts for far too long.
Hundreds of years have, to some extent, allowed it to accumulate a bit of wisdom.
Setting aside other matters, it at least understands how to avoid danger and seek safety.
At this moment, the Basilisk's enormous and deadly pupils were filled with shock and fear.
It couldn't comprehend what these two beings before it were.
Why could they stare directly at it without consequence, without dying?
Conversely, the Basilisk felt itself locked onto by something unseen; any slight movement would bring immediate disaster!
In reality, the answer was very simple.
While magic might not always be logical, it still followed certain rules.
The Basilisk's gaze-to-death magic hadn't failed, but for it to work, two conditions had to be met: the target must be capable of 'dying,' and the target must be 'alive.'
Just as in the original timeline, where the Basilisk's eyes were blinded by a phoenix.
The Basilisk's instant-death effect was ineffective against a phoenix, a creature that was, in a sense, immortal.
In other words, while its instant-death magic was terrifying, its 'priority of judgment' was actually not very high.
With Nirvana Fire coiling around him, Dumbledore's current immortality was enough to resist the Basilisk's magic.
Roger, however, was in a different situation.
He had switched his medium to Transfiguration, carrying his self-dimension with magic.
At this moment, Roger was closer to a 'magical phenomenon' than a conventional life form. Unless one was a wizard on the level of Voldemort or Dumbledore, it would be difficult to affect him as he was now.
When there's a difference in life-form tiers, even seemingly omnipotent magic pales in comparison!
The current Roger and Dumbledore were like dragons with magic resistance in myths and legends; conventional magic would find it difficult to harm either of them.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, are you planning to kill it directly?" Roger shifted his gaze from the empty library, looking at the Basilisk alongside Dumbledore.
He was merely feeling a bit reflective, but he didn't actually care much. With the Time Phantom Shuttle Spell, he could still access knowledge even if Voldemort moved the library's contents later.
Roger scanned the Basilisk, which was coiled there, afraid to move.
Dumbledore shook his head, "I plan to follow the normal procedure."
The so-called normal procedure referred to the Ministry of Magic's trial process.
He believed that Myrtle's incident needed an explanation, and Hagrid's wrongful accusation needed to be cleared... While it was true that Hagrid shouldn't have raised such a dangerous magical creature, that was a separate issue from the false accusation he bore.
Because of Roger's series of actions, Fudge didn't dare to act out in front of Dumbledore. Dumbledore's influence over the Ministry of Magic was currently immense. Even if some people wanted to cause trouble, Dumbledore had ways to silence them.
"That's fine too." As he spoke, Roger beckoned with a finger. The Basilisk, the size of a train, found itself involuntarily suspended in mid-air. In its panic, it tried to bite Roger, but it was utterly pointless.
Not only would Roger not let it bite him, but even if it did, the moment the Basilisk's fangs pierced Roger's magical isolation layer, the boundless light and heat that erupted would instantly vaporize it into ash.
Rather than saying Roger was stopping its attack, it was more accurate to say he was preventing its suicide.
After Roger had the Basilisk under control, Dumbledore also extended his hand, Nirvana Fire coiling around it.
Time seemed to begin to rewind.
Under the scorching of the Nirvana Fire, the Basilisk regressed from adulthood to youth, and then further, to infancy.
Under Roger's gaze, the Basilisk, which had originally resembled the Hogwarts Express, gradually shrank to the size of an ordinary python.
"We need a bit more insurance," Dumbledore said, lightly tapping the Basilisk's bright yellow, deadly eyes twice. The flesh-and-blood pupils transformed into crystal-clear gems.
Thus, this terrifying creature, classified as the highest danger level in the wizarding world, was captured like a plaything in their hands.
A battle?
With their magical power, dealing with the Basilisk was less of a 'fight' and more of a 'handling.'
Harry's concerns were entirely unnecessary; he still lacked an accurate understanding of Roger and Dumbledore's power.
Following this, Dumbledore used Transfiguration a second time, transforming the python-sized Basilisk into a suitcase for easy carrying.
"That should do it," Dumbledore said, picking up the suitcase.
Seeing that Dumbledore had finished his task, Roger didn't pay it any more attention.
Dealing with the Basilisk wasn't his main purpose for coming to the Chamber of Secrets.
His primary concern was the 'past.'
Roger drew his wand.
He prepared to cast the Time Phantom Shuttle Spell to witness what Slytherin had done here in history!
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