Chapter 49: The Snake Monster's Venomous Fangs
Just as Draco was lost in thought, staring at the big snake skin with Harry and Ron, Lockhart quietly left their sight and slipped into the open space behind them.
"Kids! Your adventure ends here!" When they turned around at the sound, they were surprised to find Lockhart holding the wand that Ron had put in the back of his trouser pocket - the crooked wand - smiling at them happily, with a threatening tone, "No, no, no, Malfoy, don't try to raise your wand, I know your Disarming Charm is very powerful. Don't point your wand at me, or I will cast a curse immediately, and you won't like it!"
What kind of curse could that idiot Lockhart cast? Draco thought scornfully.
He did not act immediately, but clenched the wand in his hand, with the tip of the wand hanging down, and stared expressionlessly at the tip of Lockhart's wand opposite him, to see what the biggest idiot in Hogwarts was going to do.
"Very good, I always like obedient students." Lockhart saw Draco doing what he said, and a hint of satisfaction appeared on his face.
He announced to them joyfully, "That's the end of it! I'm going to take this snake skin to school and tell them that I was too late to save that girl—"
Ron on the side was furious.
That's his sister! This irresponsible Lockhart is not fit to be a professor!
Ron glared at Lockhart and shouted, "You stupid—"
Lockhart ignored Ron's insults and continued smiling as he told the perfect plot he had planned, "--you lost your minds the moment you saw her body!"
"You idiot!" Ron cursed.
"You should have been more polite to me, Weasley! How can a student scold a professor?" After saying this, he turned the tip of his wand towards Ron, ready to attack the unarmed and unfortunate boy.
"What the hell?" Draco cursed, and quickly grabbed Ron, who was unable to fight back, trying to pull him behind him to avoid Lockhart's attack.
Only then did he realize more deeply that Lockhart, the seemingly gentle fool, was actually extremely insidious and vicious. No one should underestimate him. He should have disarmed him directly just now.
Draco pulled Ron and angrily said to Lockhart opposite him: "You are a professor at Hogwarts! How dare you raise your wand to a second-year student--"
"Obliviate!" Lockhart flashed a perfect eight-tooth smirk, his eyes gleaming with venom.
BANG! The wand exploded.
Everyone was running to avoid the rubble that was falling across the tunnel, caused by the wand explosion.
When the vibration stopped, Draco was covered in gravel and dust, which made him sneeze several times and almost cry.
After using "Scourgify" on himself several times, he finally felt better.
It was then that Draco realized a cruel fact: a thick wall of rubble blocked the way to the Chamber of Secrets.
Merlin!
This is bad, the way to the secret room is blocked.
How could Ron's sister be saved? Draco stared at the rubble wall in a daze amidst the floating dust.
At this moment, Harry's voice came from the other side of the stone wall: "Ron? Draco? Are you all right?"
"We're fine!" Ron shouted from behind.
Draco turned around and saw Ron coming out from a corner of the ruins. Lockhart was lying in another corner, seemingly not quite conscious.
Ron's clothes were covered in dust and he looked very disheveled, but fortunately, he was not seriously injured.
Now he walked up to Lockhart, who lay sprawled, and gave him a dismissive kick in the calf. He shouted to Harry over the stone wall, "Lockhart's not doing well. He's been hit by a wand!"
Harry's voice came from the other side of the wall: "You wait here! I'll keep going. If I'm not back within an hour -"
It seemed that Harry was ready to go find Ron's sister himself.
The key question is - has Harry ever faced such a helpless situation in his previous life?
Draco was extremely worried about this. He didn't know the specific details of Harry's previous life after entering the Chamber of Secrets.
If it was because of him, the butterfly, flapped its wings and changed the course of events, causing Harry to fall into danger due to lack of help, the consequences would be disastrous.
Harry was going to fight against the Dark Lord, how could he just risk his life in the bottomless underground of Hogwarts?
"Wait - let me see if I can make a hole in this wall!" Draco made up his mind and shouted towards the rubble wall.
Ron ran back and shouted to Harry on the other side of the stone wall, "Harry, wait a minute!"
Harry didn't listen to them.
He seemed very anxious, and said in a trembling voice on the other side of the wall: "See you later."
Draco understood what he was worried about.
Every minute that passed meant the life of the captured red-haired kid was lost - she might have been petrified, or she might have walked into another more dangerous situation.
Draco couldn't guarantee how long it would take him to open this stone wall.
"You have to be careful, not only the basilisk, but also the diary! You know whose diary that is! It's very dangerous! Don't trust anyone - don't let go of your wand!" Draco shouted desperately towards the wall, hoping that Harry could remember something, or at least change some of his fatal bad habits.
But there was no response from the other side of the wall.
"He must have gone there on his own," Ron said to Draco with a worried look on his face.
"Oh, I remember someone said he wanted to break up with me," Draco glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, "Now, why are you talking to me again?"
"You were trying to protect me, weren't you?" Ron's face suddenly flushed red, the same color as his red hair. "Lockhart had his wand pointed at me - you could have ignored it."
"I just didn't expect that he would actually dare to attack students." Draco looked a bit arrogant.
A Slytherin should be more cautious. He would not admit that he had just panicked.
"Whatever you say," Ron said quickly and quietly. "I've unilaterally decided to forgive you."
"Whatever," Draco said sternly.
The subject clearly made both of them uncomfortable.
So Draco dropped the topic and asked something else: "What exactly happened just now? Why did your wand explode?"
"My wand just broke when it fell to the ground!" Ron said embarrassedly. "It's an old wand, a bit worn out and old, so it doesn't work very well anyway."
"I have to be thankful that it's an old wand, and I have to be thankful that it's broken. Otherwise, we might have lost our memories." Draco's expression was cold, but he felt a little scared in his heart.
I have to be more cautious, more careful, and less conspicuous, he said to himself.
Never let anyone handle you like this with a wand again.
His memories could not be thrown away—the secrets were too important.
"Now, we can only rely on your wand," said Ron anxiously.
He felt somewhat helpless because he had no wand, so he could only place his hope on Draco in front of him. "Do you know any spell that can move stones?"
Draco said slowly, "I can try."
He cast a "Cleanse" on the pile of rocks, but it obviously didn't work.
Only a little dust disappeared, and the large stones remained in their place.
Of course, how could such a simple spell possibly work? Draco thought silently.
To be honest, he didn't want to reveal too much of his abilities in front of others.
If a fifth-grader can apply the NEWT test content for seventh-grade students with ease, he may be regarded as a genius; if a second-grader can apply this knowledge skillfully, he will most likely be regarded as a monster.
But now, there is no other good solution.
Draco sighed and said to Ron, "Okay, let's try them one by one. Ron, take that idiot Lockhart away from me. I'm going to see if I can blow it up."
This was probably the most unforgettable half hour in Ron Weasley's life - during which he watched in amazement as a variety of spells were displayed:
Explosion (Confringo), shattered (Diffindo), dropped to the ground (Descendo), rapidly shrunken (Reducio), shattered (Reducto), restored (Reparo)…
The pile of rubble was gradually decreasing.
"Your little stick is amazing! It can emit flames!" Lockhart, watching from the side, was delighted and puzzled as he asked, "Are you powerful magicians?"
"Shut up!" Ron snapped.
It seemed that Lockhart had completely forgotten who he was. He was now as excited and ignorant as an annoying baby.
But Lockhart was right about one thing, Draco—he was indeed a very powerful being.
"Are you really a second-year student?" Ron said in disbelief, feeling a little admiration for the Slytherin boy. "Now I understand why Hermione said you were the most talented wizard of your age. I thought she was exaggerating."
"Did she say that about me?" Draco asked breathlessly, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
He pulled himself together, cast one last spell, and finally carved out a crude hole in the rubble wall.
"Yeah, except for when she didn't praise you during that time when we had a quarrel a while ago, she always uses that same praiseful tone to compare you with us and criticize us for nothing," Ron said resentfully. "What kind of magic potion did you feed her?"
Draco shrugged at him and smiled.
"By the way, how on earth do you know so many spells?" Ron asked in amazement, "and how do you use them so skillfully?"
"Read a few more books and you'll understand. Practice more and you'll be able to use it with ease. It's nothing to brag about, so please don't spread it around." Draco said slowly, "I believe that any professor at Hogwarts would be able to sort this out quickly - with the exception of Lockhart - but in comparison, I'm far behind and I've spent too much time."
He crossed the passage, his body weary from casting so many spells.
It was too much of a stretch for this young body to cast so many spells.
Draco turned around and looked at Ron through the hole. "You have to stay here and watch Lockhart. He's just like an ordinary person now. We can't let him run around. No one knows what dangers may be in here."
"What the hell!" said Ron angrily. "My sister Ginny—"
"Where are you going? Can I come with you?" Lockhart heard their conversation, stood up suddenly and asked happily.
Ron couldn't stand it anymore and glared at Lockhart. He said angrily, "Draco, please, do you know any spells that can make people faint?"
"Get out of the way, Ron." Draco pointed his wand at Lockhart's innocent, surprised face and gave him a rude "Stupefy".
Lockhart fell to the ground and was motionless.
Draco's mouth curled up in satisfaction - he had been wanting to do this for a long time.
Ever since I saw Hermione's schedule filled with hearts, I had—
"Well done!" said Ron gloatingly. "They should all see how silly Lockhart is!"
Draco shushed Ron. "Don't tell anyone I attacked the professor."
Ron smiled nonchalantly and crossed the passage.
"Alright. Same here, you're not the first to raise a wand at him."
Things are often just that interesting.
When a pair of quarrelsome friends have a common enemy to deal with or a common goal to achieve, they are more likely to smile at each other and eliminate the rift in the process of working together.
Just as the reconciled friends were about to go inside, a burst of ethereal and mysterious music came from far away.
Draco looked up and saw a crimson bird flying over their heads and into the depths of the Chamber of Secrets, clutching a tattered package in its talons.
"We have to hurry." A trace of anxiety flashed across Draco's face. "If I'm not mistaken, this bird is Professor Dumbledore's pet phoenix - I saw it in the headmaster's office last time. It seems that Professor Dumbledore has sent helpers to help Harry."
"What does that mean—" Ron asked quietly.
"This means the situation has become critical and Harry needs help," Draco said sullenly.
They hurriedly walked along the corridor towards the secret room. Gradually, only their breathing sounds could be heard in the damp and dark corridor.
"The phoenix's song is getting quieter and quieter, and the phoenix is flying farther and farther away," Ron said anxiously.
"This means," Draco said, "that the Chamber of Secrets must be quite a distance from where we are now."
"Yes," Ron said heavily, quickening his pace.
Draco followed Ron, walking slowly and cautiously. Draco was already feeling very tired, but he knew that there were more dangerous situations waiting for them ahead. He couldn't slack off at this moment.
After a while, the sound of the Phoenix disappeared completely.
Their pace became more and more hurried and chaotic.
They turned one corner after another, and it seemed as if they would never find the end.
"Tell me, it's been so long, can Harry still hold on?" Ron panted, his tone full of worry.
"I don't know. That basilisk is not easy to deal with. I can't think of any way to deal with it." Draco said tiredly, "I'm hoping that Harry's Parseltongue can help a little. I hope that the snake can see that we can speak the same language and be more reasonable. At least it won't reject some reason."
As soon as he finished speaking, they heard loud noises, as if the basilisk had woken up and was fighting with someone.
"I guess—" Ron said in a trembling voice, "that basilisk probably doesn't want to reason."
"Agreed. We need to hurry!" Draco said hastily. "I guess it's not far off."
They looked at each other and ran forward.
Finally, Draco and Ron came breathlessly to the door in the wall, which was carved with two snakes entwined with each other. They heard the sound of fierce fighting coming from the other side of the door. The basilisk seemed to be frantic.
Draco took a deep breath and raised his wand, "Alohomora!"
The door didn't budge.
"What's going on?" Ron asked desperately.
"Aberto (open quickly)... Portaberto (unlocking spell)..." Draco ignored him and tried to continue casting spells until he ran out of tricks.
"No!" Draco stared into the two snakes' eyes—the two emeralds gleamed in the darkness—and suddenly realized the problem. "That old reptile, Salazar, must be a Parseltongue to open this damn door!"
"Then how do we get in?" Ron opened his eyes wide in shock and said in a tearful voice, "We're not Parseltongues!"
Then he threw himself against the door and tried to shout through it, "Harry, Harry! Harry, are you all right?"
There was no response from Harry on the other side of the door.
"Don't bother, he can't hear you. It's wishful thinking to ask him to teach you Parseltongue so you can open the door right away," Draco said, his face pale.
It was so noisy inside that Harry probably couldn't hear their faint banging or shouting.
Ron hammered on the door for a while, but finally had to admit that Draco was right - knocking on the door was completely futile.
So he put his ear close to the door, trying to hear the movement inside more clearly.
He wanted to hear if there was any more of Harry's voice.
Draco said nothing, he leaned against the wall beside him, and once again felt a sense of powerlessness that he had not felt for a long time.
A hopeless feeling where he could only watch but not exert any influence.
After an unknown amount of time, Ron stopped listening.
He sat on a stone slab in front of the door with a pale face, and said to Draco, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, "Did you hear that? The Chamber of Secrets has become quiet."
"I noticed." Draco opened his eyes, walked to the door, and looked at it hesitantly.
Quiet.
Deathly quiet.
"Do you think Harry is still alive?" Ron asked in a trembling voice.
"I don't know," Draco said, his voice as hard as the stone walls around him. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."
Not long after, there was a slight noise at the door.
Ron jumped up and Draco tightened his grip on his wand.
"Stand behind me, come on! You don't have a wand," Draco said to Ron hurriedly.
He tried to remain calm, the tip of his staff trembling slightly as he pointed in the direction of the door.
"No! I don't want to be a coward and hide behind you! Just because I don't have a wand doesn't mean I can't fight!" Ron picked up a large stone from the ground, held it above his head, and said gritting his teeth, "If it's a basilisk, I'll smash its head with the stone."
"That's right." Draco was surprised for a moment, then chuckled. "Brave and foolish Gryffindor, let's do it."
Ron blushed and glanced at him, finding that his once cold grey eyes were now gleaming with approval instead of scorn.
So he smiled at Draco, then turned his head, holding the stone, and stared at the door intently.
The door opened.
The phoenix flew out first, followed by Harry, who also came out, supporting the staggering Ginny Weasley.
He also held a miscellany of objects in his hands - a wand, a diary with a hole in it, the tattered Sorting Hat, and a bloodstained silver sword.
"Ginny!" Ron breathed a sigh of relief, put the stone down shakily, rushed over, and took his sister.
He said to Ginny ecstatically, "You're still alive! I can't believe it! What's going on?"
He wanted to hug Ginny, but the little girl cried and wouldn't let him get close to her. Ron had no choice but to take her to sit aside and slowly coax his little sister.
Draco lowered his wand-holding hand and took the diary from Harry with his free hand.
He carefully avoided the burning hole in the middle and stared at it, unable to believe it was real.
He asked Harry, "You killed the basilisk? And the diary?"
"Yes, all done." Harry wiped his dirty face and said to Draco.
Draco asked vaguely, like a wandering soul: "How did you do it? That basilisk—"
"You said you were looking for its weak point, right?" Harry said with a smile. "It's the eyes. Its weak point is the eyes."
"Not bad. We hadn't thought of that," Draco praised him.
Harry looked a little embarrassed by this unusual expression of approval from the usually serious Slytherin boy.
"What about this diary?" Draco shook it, staring at the hole, a guess gradually coming to his mind.
"As you can see, I pierced the diary right through with a basilisk fang," Harry grinned.
Of course! Draco thought.
According to Ms. Grey, the basilisk's fangs can even destroy the Dark Lord's Horcruxes, let alone the dark magic items that the Dark Lord created when he was young!
"Well done!" Draco said appreciatively.
Harry's move was quite brilliant, using his own weapon to attack his own shield.
This awareness of using local materials and achieving great results with little effort deserves to be appreciated by every Slytherin.
"And this sword?" Draco looked at the conspicuous ruby and the silver light on the sword, and realized that this was clearly the sword of Gryffindor.
He had seen a similar sword at Malfoy Manor once.
At the time, Griphook, the goblin from Gringotts, said it was fake, but Draco felt it was probably real.
Because the sword in the previous life is exactly the same as the sword in front of him.
Just as exquisite, just as luxurious and generous, just as murderous.
"I don't know, it fell out of the Sorting Hat." Harry was also a little puzzled. He said to Draco, "I used it to fight the basilisk and killed it."
"You didn't use your wand?" Draco asked in surprise.
"At that time, I was not paying attention and my wand was taken away by the person in the diary." A trace of gloom appeared on Harry's face.
"He can take your wand?" Draco asked in confusion. "Isn't he a memory, a thought?"
"Yeah, but then he started sucking the life out of Ginny and started taking on a physical form," said Harry. "I don't know how it happened. Anyway, he took my wand."
"You really need to pay more attention to your wand." Draco said thoughtfully, with a vague sense of foreboding in his heart.
"Fortunately, the sword is here, otherwise it would be really dangerous." Harry said fearfully, looking at the sword with emotion.
Draco glanced at the sword silently, and inexplicably sighed:
Why did Harry always prefer close combat? Why did he always dismiss himself as a wizard, throwing his wand around and preferring physical combat?
The most terrifying thing is that he actually won.
He used cold weapons to kill super monsters that adult wizards could not subdue with their wands!
Could it be that Harry's talent for restraining the Dark Lord lies here? !
Could it be that he should be a warrior with a sword, or a surprising melee wizard, rather than the common wizard with a wand and long-range attacks?
Speaking of which - Harry seems to be quite resistant to the Dark Lord's spells, no matter what kind of curse he throws at him.
Facing the Dark Lord's curse, he seemed to be even tougher and more resilient than those giants and werewolves with high magic resistance.
Come to think of it, in his previous life, could it be that he observed in the wrong direction?
Draco silently looked at Harry, whose face was covered in blood but who looked calm and composed, with countless shattering thoughts swirling in his mind.
Could it be that, for Harry, the real way to unleash the lethal power of a wand is to poke someone's nose rather than cast a spell?
Merlin, this idea is getting more and more outrageous, let's stop it!
Now is not the time to think about this! Draco shuddered and reminded himself.
There was something Draco had been looking forward to for a long time, and he had to seize this hard-won opportunity to do it.
"I have a request. It may seem strange, but it's very important to me." Draco hesitated, choosing his words and trying to put on the curious expression of a second-year student. "I want to go into the Chamber of Secrets and see the dead basilisk."
He put on the most sincere expression he could imagine and faced Harry, "You know, this is a legend with a long history in Slytherin House after all. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to see what those legendary things really look like..."
"Go ahead." Harry gave Draco an understanding smile and held the door open for him. "Fawkes pecked out the basilisk's eyes, so it's okay for you to see it. But be careful, the snake's fangs are poisonous."
"Thanks, Harry! It'll only take five minutes!" Draco nodded gratefully to Harry and ran quickly into the long, dimly lit room.
He glanced briefly at the pillars with their entwined serpents, and at the huge, ugly statue of Salazar Slytherin, before turning his attention entirely to the basilisk.
He hurried over to the limp basilisk, his back to Harry, and quickly put on his dragon-skin gloves. He pulled out a few of the fangs he had been longing for from its open mouth - thin, gleaming fangs filled with venom - and placed them in some crystal containers, carefully placing them in the storage bag he carried with him.
Then he stood up and walked around the basilisk in a grand manner, admiring it.
The basilisk's entire body is full of treasures, and it contains so many excellent potion materials! Draco's eyes lingered on the basilisk, feeling extremely regretful.
Unfortunately, time is limited and I can't skin and remove its tendons carefully!
What a pity, what a pity.
However, Draco knew better than to be greedy. The most important fang was already in his hands, so to avoid any complications, he only looked at it for a short while before hurriedly running back to the door of the Chamber of Secrets.
Harry was waiting for him at the door.
"How?" Harry looked at him with sparkling eyes.
"Cool! I really don't know how you killed such a basilisk! Even with such a powerful sword, I think it is beyond the reach of ordinary people!" Draco praised sincerely.
He didn't mention the basilisk's fangs. The fewer people who knew about the fangs being taken, the better.
Such dangerous weapons would be coveted by those with ulterior motives. If the Dark Lord were to be resurrected one day, the first people he would kill would be those who wield fangs and could threaten his "gadgets" at any time.
Ultimately, Draco didn't trust anyone.
Even with Harry Potter smiling at him so kindly at the moment, he was still not sure he could trust him completely.
No one would truly understand him, Draco sighed secretly.
In this world, his soul will always be lonely and helpless, and he does not expect any redemption.
"Ron's already on his way back with Ginny, let's hurry up too," Harry told him, smiling at him without any defense.
Draco felt a little ashamed, and he felt that he had let Harry down.
But he couldn't take the risk.
Any small risk would be a fatal blow to him. Draco Malfoy suppressed his complex emotions and followed Harry closely.
He walked silently, exhausted, and stumbling along, as if he would never reach the end of the road.