"Although you look good, you shouldn't be in the girls' bathroom." She reprimanded Ian's unethical behavior, though her expression seemed more bashful.
This ghost had half of her body hidden in the stall, only revealing her head from it.
"It's all Snape's fault! I suggest you check in his bed!" Ian was cleaning the faucet in the washroom, aware that one of these faucets was the entrance to the Secret Chamber.
"I will report you to the professors... Of course, if you'd occasionally come and talk to me, perhaps I might..." The bashful Myrtle seemed to want to reach some sort of agreement with Ian.
However.
"Open!"
Ian touched a faucet with an Ouroboros carving, after studying the Book of the Snake Language for so long, he eagerly said softly to the faucet.
This not only interrupted Myrtle's words, but also caused Myrtle's expression to turn incredibly frightened, as his voice was a sort of eerie and unique hissing sound to her ears.
"It's you!!!"
It was as if a terrible memory had been triggered in Myrtle, and she shrieked and darted into the toilet, splashing toilet water and making quite a noticeable sound.
"..."
Ian looked at the stall where Myrtle had disappeared and then turned back to find the faucet before him beginning to twist with countless mechanical operating sounds echoing continuously.
Then.
The entire sink began to slowly sink underground, revealing an open secret passage, a pitch-black ink-like hole reflected in Ian's eyes.
"This... is somewhat different from what I imagined?" Ian had been thinking about the Snake Monster before enrolling; he had made quite a few preparations, but now he just wanted to go in and retrieve the precious snake skin.
However.
The Secret Chamber's door opening in the washroom differed from the memory of a straight descent pipeline; instead, it was a staircase winding down continuously.
It wasn't supposed to be a scream-filled and fun slide.
"My precious Snake Monster won't be gone, will it?" Ian climbed inside, with the mechanism behind him continuously rotating and closing. He brought out his Magic Wand and remembered the markings Snape left on it.
"Luckily I am well-prepared."
Ian took out a lantern emitting white light from his Money Bag, while still holding his Magic Wand in the other hand, since this strange Secret Chamber entrance differed somewhat from what he had imagined.
"It's all thanks to my good uncle for sending me to the entrance; it's not my fault." Ian ventured downward, justifying his "adventure" with a reason that was still somewhat reasonable.
Similar to several previous secret passages he had traversed, the sole distinction here was its absence from the Living Map; Ian noticed that above, other passages commonly featured similar seepage.
Fortunately, it wasn't much, and not malodorous, no umbrella required. Using the illuminating light from his Alchemy Creation in hand, Ian descended the stairs for a good twenty minutes.
"I won't be walking straight to the Earth's core, will I?" Though he was decent with geography, this was merely an expression of shock; the lantern's light couldn't illuminate the area below.
Not only was it bottomless, but the further Ian ventured down, the terrain grew more complex, resembling a giant labyrinth, with many branching paths lining the stairways.
He hesitated for a moment.
Still, he continued descending along the widest staircase – after approximately half an hour, the air became somewhat heavy and musty.
"What is this place?"
Ian finally reached the bottom, observing deep blue candles beginning to light up along the rock walls, and the rough stone steps transformed into marble tiles.
Smooth and shining.
As if untouched by dust.
There was a corridor ahead resembling one from Hogwarts Castle, straight towards a location underground, yet Ian wasn't eager to explore this secret site.
"Better safe than sorry."
He carefully inspected the surroundings of the corridor for any traps, even taking out a dummy modeled after those in the Room of Requirement's training room, walking back and forth several times to confirm it wasn't a territory used for punishing intruders, before proceeding with continued caution.
Walking to the corridor's end, nothing happened. Only where Ian stepped, candles on either side lit up, illuminating the path ahead.
These candles weren't ordinary; they appeared to be fashioned by some form of magic, the flames flickering, radiating a soft and warm glow, lighting the corridor as if it were daylight, yet retaining its original grandeur and mystery.
"I really underestimated the founders with petty suspicion; why would they set dangerous traps at school?" Ian breathed a sigh of relief upon exiting the corridor.
The next moment.
"Rustling~"
The immensely loud commotion startled him, he almost raised his wand ready to cast the Shadowless Storm whoosh!, but fortunately it was merely thousands of candles igniting simultaneously.
The sight was incredibly breathtaking, countless flames rising almost in unison, filling the air with a warm yet slightly blue haze. The flickering light cast shadows of the surrounding features, rendering the space both bright and gentle, as though lightly veiled in soft golden gauze.
"Hiss~"
The candles illuminated an incomparably vast hall.
It stunned the little wizard who had already braced himself for both mental and speculative surprises.
He looked around.
In the expansive, prairie-sized grand hall, the ground seemed to shimmer with gold-like radiance, perhaps it truly was gold rather than simple stone or soil.
Yet what truly shook Ian, causing him to gasp despite his worldly experiences, was the existence of something else in this awe-inspiring space.
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus..."
Reflected in Ian's eyes was the skeleton of the Giant Dragon.
A massive body towering high as if a mountain.
The overwhelming sense of oppression enveloped the heart in fear.