Chapter 48: Entrance to the Secret Chamber
The Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff Quidditch match was about to begin.
Carrying the stern mission assigned to him by Hermione, Draco Malfoy hurried through the bustling crowd and rushed quickly towards the golden and red ocean in the stands - the Slytherin green on his body was particularly small and conspicuous in it.
"Longbottom, have you seen Ron's sister?" He ran up to the Gryffindor stand, grabbed the dizzy round-faced, black-haired boy in front of him, and asked coldly.
"Ma, Malfoy... I didn't see her..." Neville stammered. He wanted to try Ron's suggestion and glare at him, but when he looked up, he was frightened by Malfoy's terrifying expression. "I didn't see her. She's not here."
Draco let him go irritably, turned around and ran down the stairs to the waiting room under the stands.
Let's find Ron and Harry first.
Just as Draco arrived not far from the waiting room, Professor McGonagall walked in quickly with a confused Ron. Professor McGonagall would not like this scandal, and would not believe the words of a Slytherin student - she might think he was slandering innocent Gryffindor students.
Professor McGonagall was always very strict. To gain her trust, I had to present facts, reason, and explain everything. That would be endless.
Now, Ginny Weasley has disappeared, and she might be planning a new round of attacks in the dark.
He hid nearby and waited for a while, wanting to see when Harry and Ron would come out.
Then, he suddenly heard the Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood, shouting angrily: "No! They have no right to stop the game!"
Something very important must have happened, otherwise the Quidditch game would not have been stopped.
Draco felt a sense of foreboding—I hope it wasn't a basilisk.
Professor McGonagall walked out of the waiting room with a heavy expression on her face, followed by Harry and Ron. Her expression was grim, and Draco didn't have the courage to leave. He didn't want to run into Professor McGonagall at this moment and be scolded by her.
However, he was extremely concerned and wanted to know what was going on, so he slipped into the gap in the scaffolding under the stands and, holding his breath, eavesdropped on their conversation through a thin curtain.
Professor McGonagall's trembling voice came from the other side of the curtain, "Mr. Weasley, I must remind you to be mentally prepared... Your sister Ginny has been captured by the monster in the Chamber of Secrets and taken into the Chamber of Secrets."
That was the sound of Ron gasping.
"I have already informed your parents. Now, you and Harry, hurry back to your dormitories. All students must take the train home immediately tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall. Her voice was calm and cold.
"What about my sister?" Ron cried out in despair.
"Professor Lockhart believes he can find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and we have given him this task. He will go and rescue your sister." said Professor McGonagall.
Draco didn't hear any glimmer of hope in this statement.
"Not him!" Ron whimpered, his voice filled with despair.
It was as if the name "Lockhart" itself had sentenced his sister to death.
"Mr. Potter, take Mr. Weasley back to the dormitory and keep an eye on him. Don't let him do anything stupid. The professors at Hogwarts are discussing countermeasures." As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of her hurried footsteps was heard.
Professor McGonagall must have left, Draco thought with a gloomy expression.
"Please, Lockhart! That clueless pretty boy, how could he possibly save Ginny?" Ron sobbed on the spot.
Draco took out the Marauder's Map and looked at it again and again. There was no Ginny Weasley's name on the map. Yes, she must have entered the Chamber of Secrets - a place that could not be shown on the Marauder's Map.
After a moment's pause, he put away the map and quietly walked out of the scaffolding on the other side without looking for Harry or Ron.
It's all too late.
Whether the news was conveyed to them was no longer important at this moment.
What would he say? When Ron's sister was captured and imprisoned in the Chamber of Secrets, he would happily tell him, "Ron, I discovered that your sister might be the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets?"
Ron might get so angry and grief-stricken that he would pull out his wand and hex him?
Now, the worst has happened. Ron's sister is innocent, and he has to find a way to save her. He can't just sit back and watch. After all, it's very likely that his father, Lucius, got her involved in this.
Father, you are committing a pure sin—the kind where the son pays for the father's debt.
He had thought Harry and Ron had a good idea of the location of the Chamber of Secrets, just like in their previous life. However, from their conversation, it seemed that they did not know the location of the Chamber of Secrets.
What went wrong, and why didn't they know?
Draco was completely baffled. He followed the surging crowd back to the castle, but instead of taking the path back to the basement, which led to the Slytherin common room, he ascended the stairs, braving the students' occasional suspicious glances, and walked straight to the Ravenclaw Tower.
The deep corridor in the corner of the tower was very quiet and empty.
Only the resident ghost, Ms. Grey, wandered between the long pillars. She was as alert as ever and immediately prepared to leave when she heard footsteps approaching.
"Wait, Ms. Grey, it's me, Draco Malfoy." Draco said anxiously.
"Ah, it's you." Ms. Grey seemed to wake from a dream. She turned around vaguely and wandered closer to him. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I think you should know what just happened in this school." Draco looked at her.
Her face was sad, and she nodded silently.
"You once said you didn't know where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was. The last time I came to ask for your help and asked Luna Lovegood to provide a list, I also heard you say you seemed to have some idea of the Chamber's location. Now, after opening the Chamber of Secrets so many times, you should have noticed the entrance, right?" Draco said softly. "Tell me, and I will find the basilisk, obtain its fangs, and destroy the thing you hate."
Ms. Grey gazed at him sadly.
"You could get killed."
"That's what I'm worried about. It's at least worth a try, isn't it?" Draco smiled at her, looking straight at her without fear.
There was another long silence, and Ms. Grey seemed lost in thought.
"You know Moaning Myrtle, I suppose?" A complex expression appeared on Ms. Grey's transparent face, which eventually turned into a determination. "She's in her bathroom, I think. I passed by there today and heard something unusual. That's all I can tell you."
"Thank you, Ms. Grey."
Draco rushed downstairs, leaving Ms. Grey's ethereal sigh behind him, and ran towards the abandoned women's bathroom on the third floor.
What he didn't expect was that Harry and Ron, who were supposed to go back to the Gryffindor common room, got there before him.
What had happened? In just a short while, they'd discovered the location of the Chamber of Secrets? Draco stared at them in bewilderment, feeling a bit skeptical.
At this moment, Harry and Ron were raising their wands towards Lockhart in front of them, and the two sides were in a stalemate.
Beside them, a deep pipe was exposed where the washbasin should have been.
"You are—" Even though he had lived two lifetimes, Draco was still shocked by such a scene, "—threatening the teacher?"
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, you're here at the right time. Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley threatened me with their wands. How dare they threaten the teacher! Disarm them quickly! I know you can do it, just like you did in the Dueling Club!" Lockhart shouted at the top of his voice as if he had found a life-saving straw.
"Don't believe him! Lockhart is a liar. He just told me that everything in his book was plagiarized from other people's experiences, and he cast a forgetfulness spell on those people!" Harry said quickly.
Ron no longer cared about being cold to Draco. He nodded frantically at Draco, clearly nervous that he might join Lockhart's side and change the current situation.
"Don't listen to them, they're all crazy! They're just crazy about showing off! They even want to find the missing Gryffindor girl single-handedly!" Lockhart shouted loudly, as if whoever had the loudest voice was right.
Draco smiled kindly at Lockhart, and in his hopeful return, he gave him a blunt Expelliarmus. The wand was instantly sent flying across the room, landing in Myrtle's favorite toilet stall.
"Oh!" Myrtle, who was watching the fun, finally couldn't pretend she wasn't there anymore. She jumped from behind the cubicle door to the ceiling and let out an offended sigh. "Don't throw things around! How rude!"
"I'm sorry, Myrtle. It's not personal." Draco held his wand steady, the tip still pointed at Lockhart. "I'll apologize to you once this is over."
Draco was targeting Lockhart—he had been meaning to do that for a long time.
He used his foolish brain to deceive the young and ignorant female student, making her obsessed with him day by day... Lockhart should be thankful that he was kind-hearted and did not use the evil curse.
The three people opposite him were stunned.
Draco acted as if he hadn't noticed their expressions. He calmly said to Harry, "What are we going to do now? Have you found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets? Do you want to go in?"
He nodded calmly towards the pipe opening, but he was very excited in his heart.
Fangs, fangs—just one step more!
"Yes." Harry came back to his senses, smiled at Draco, and then looked at Lockhart with a gloomy face, "We were just thinking of letting him go in and scout the way for us."
"Malfoy, what are you doing?" Lockhart tried to force a smile, but his facial muscles twitched uncontrollably and he failed.
"Shut up, you idiot." Draco glanced at him with contempt, "Do as Harry and the others say!"
Lockhart's face turned pale.
"You—you are in the same group?" He suddenly realized. Then, he stroked his flowing blond hair awkwardly and smiled awkwardly, "Well, since I'm the only professor here, I should take the lead..."
Before he could finish his words, he was kicked into the bottomless pipe by the impatient Ron.
Lockhart's terrified scream came from the pipe.
What a beautiful scream, Draco thought disdainfully. If those witches who admired his courage heard it, they might immediately stop being his fans.
Maybe no more silly heart drawings on timetables, eh, Hermione Granger?
"Together?" Harry asked.
Draco said nothing, but nodded encouragingly at him.
Harry gave him a nervous smile and jumped down the pipe first.
"Be careful." Draco shouted into the pipe. Then, he looked at Ron calmly, "Who goes first?"
"I haven't forgiven you for what happened to Scabbers yet." Ron put his legs into the pipe with a grim face and muttered, "If it weren't for Ginny being in danger now..."
"Don't waste time!" Draco kicked him down the pipe and then jumped in himself, sliding in the sticky, endless, dark pipe while shouting: "Get down first and then talk to me!"
After twisting and turning for a long time, Draco went down all the way, diving deep into the underground of the school. He could vaguely hear the slight collision of the person in front of him at the corner, but he couldn't tell whether it was Harry or Ron.
Finally, he landed on the ground with a plop.
Not far away, Lockhart was covered in mud and looked miserable. His face was as pale as the ghost of Hogwarts. He no longer looked like the colorful peacock he used to be.
A little closer to Draco, Harry and Ron, also covered in dirt, were trying to get up from the ground using their hands and feet.
"Disgusting." Draco raised his hand, sniffed the fishy smell on his sleeve with disgust, and cleaned himself up. Then, with a "fluorescent flash", he shone the light deep into the dark stone tunnel.
"I guess this is much deeper than the Slytherin dormitory." Draco's words echoed in the dark tunnel.
"We must be miles below the school," Harry agreed.
"Merlin's heel, my wand... seems to be crooked and covered in mud." Ron cursed under his breath.
Harry said distractedly, "Put it away for now. We'll deal with it when we get back." He also whispered to his wand, "Lumos!"
A little light came out from the tip of the wand, and Ron followed closely behind Harry, walking deeper into the tunnel.
"Let's go, Professor Lockhart, who 'leads by example'." Draco said coldly to Lockhart and smiled grimly at him.
Lockhart nodded nervously, as if terrified by the tunnel, and followed Ron slowly forward without saying a word.
Draco chose to follow Lockhart. In this situation, he would never show his back to someone he didn't trust. He didn't trust Lockhart, and he didn't like the possibility of someone stabbing him in the back.
Sometimes, the human heart is scarier than the unknown darkness.
After walking for a while, the ground didn't feel damp, but instead made a creaking sound as they moved. Draco shone his wand light on the ground, which was covered in tiny animal bones.
It seems this basilisk has a good meal. Draco laughed briefly and gripped his wand a little tighter.
Now that the basilisk's food remains have appeared, the basilisk may appear at any time.
"Bassilisk!" Lockhart screamed, hiding behind Ron.
"Shut up! That's just the skin of a basilisk!" Ron bravely looked forward and shouted unhappily.
A huge, bright green snakeskin, at least twenty feet long.
Draco heard the people in front of him exclaim in amazement, and he was also amazed.
The scene is so shocking that one cannot help but marvel at it.
Although he was mentally prepared, it was not until this moment, when he saw this horrifying evidence, that he was completely sure: Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets really existed.
Moreover, there really is a basilisk that has been silently roaming in Hogwarts Castle for a thousand years, and its body is so huge.
Poor Hermione, his heart tightened. He had known about the existence of the basilisk, but he had no idea it was so huge. She must have been terrified when she faced that terrifying basilisk.
No wonder she looked so pitiful at that time, shivering and burrowing into his arms.
He should have comforted her more then. He thought with pity, and couldn't help but worry about the little girl lying in the school hospital. She had once told him, choking with sobs, that she didn't want to be alone. She must have been terrified. I wonder if she's still scared now?
But he was also glad she hadn't come. Otherwise, seeing the basilisk's skin would have definitely frightened him again. She must have been lying when she said she was "much better."
He wondered if she could sleep now? Was she alone? If she woke up, would she cry again? He couldn't help but worry.
"Harry, how should we deal with this basilisk and get Ginny back?" Ron said in a crying voice.
He had obviously hit the nail on the head. Draco came back to his senses, brought the tip of his wand closer to the snake skin, and examined it carefully in the light, feeling helpless and sighing.
In his previous life, he had only heard vaguely about the secret room and the basilisk, but he knew nothing about the specific details.
At this point, the possibility of facing the basilisk head-on was extremely high, which made Draco extremely nervous. He had no confidence that he could deal with such a big creature, even an adult wizard might not have this confidence.
Whether it's the fangs or the stare, it's deadly.
Perhaps, only a powerful wizard like Dumbledore can compete with this basilisk.
In his previous life, how did Harry, this reckless guy, deal with the basilisk?
Draco looked at Harry, who was looking at the snake skin in awe, not knowing what he was about to do. He also had no idea that Draco beside him had developed a special respect for him.
Maybe Harry is just gifted? Draco thought.
Although it is not obvious at ordinary times, Harry is a wizard who can kill the basilisk after all!
I must watch carefully later to see how he tortured the basilisk and what was so unusual about it! Draco looked at the still somewhat ignorant boy and pondered secretly.