Chapter 446: Chapter 446: Harry Potter in the Secret Room
"Harry? Harry Potter?" Professor McGonagall turned her head, asking with some surprise, "What does he have to do with the Basilisk? What exactly are you doing? Answer me, Mr. Weasley!"
"Sorry, Professor McGonagall!" Seeing the Head of Gryffindor becoming increasingly agitated, Ron no longer dared to hide anything. "We’ve already found the secret room. When Harry found out about the Basilisk, he’s been chasing it..."
"Oh, dear heavens!" Flitwick looked shocked, his eyes wide with surprise.
He truly hadn’t expected any young wizard to dare to chase after a Basilisk. What did they think a Basilisk was, a wild rabbit in a field?
"Truly astonishing," Snape sneered. "It seems our Mr. Potter certainly has the potential to be a hero, wanting to hunt a Basilisk stronger than a dragon at the mere age of fourteen." As he spoke, his gaze meaningfully fell upon Dumbledore.
Professor McGonagall, noticing this, realized something too and said coldly, "Albus, you knew about this all along, didn’t you?"
"I am not a god, Minerva," Dumbledore sighed. "Nor can I predict everything. Even though I thought Mr. Potter and the others would surely find the location of the secret room, I didn’t expect him to go after the Basilisk alone."
For how many years? Even old Dumbledore couldn’t remember how many years it had been since he’d seen such a reckless person. This child had truly exceeded his expectations.
"Hmph, he’s even more foolish than his annoying father!" Snape snorted coldly.
"So, you’re letting them go find the secret room?" McGonagall saw the core of the issue from another angle, and she was like an explosive barrel about to ignite. "I really can’t believe it, Albus! You would condone young wizards doing such a thing!"
"It’s not the first time," Snape muttered under his breath.
"Calm down, Minerva." Even Dumbledore felt a headache when faced with a furious Professor McGonagall. "Children must grow up, and they need time to train themselves."
"You call letting second-year students face a Basilisk themselves training?" Professor McGonagall asked loudly, her anger ablaze.
McGonagall and Dumbledore’s argument made the professors who had arrived later feel awkward. Of course, the most awkward was Ron, standing amongst the professors, looking completely bewildered.
Meanwhile, in the passage to the secret room within Hogwarts, Jellall and Hermione stood before a secluded stone door.
"Professor, do we really not need to do anything about the Basilisk?" Hermione asked softly, watching Jellall investigate the stone wall.
While bringing Jellall into the secret room, they had also noticed the commotion in the square. The Basilisk’s enormous body was quite noticeable, but Jellall hadn’t stayed to help the professors at that time.
"Don’t underestimate the Hogwarts professors; they are stronger than you think." Jellall turned and glanced at her, saying indifferently, "Or do you want to see a cold corpse of Harry?"
"But the Basilisk has already been entangled by the professors," Hermione asked doubtfully. "Harry will still be in here?"
"If he isn’t in here, the Basilisk wouldn’t have been able to get out." Jellall chuckled softly, his gaze shifting to the golden snake-shaped statues on either side of the door. "Open it."
He used Parseltongue, the genuine snake language, for the last three words, not human speech.
Click.
The circular iron door slowly moved. A finger-thick small snake extended from the statue’s tail. The small snake slithered around the iron door, and the door gradually opened.
"Prof-Professor!" Hermione exclaimed, completely incredulous. "You, you can speak Parseltongue too?"
"Ah, I learned it from a book." Jellall nodded. "The Restricted Section has a Forbidden Spellbook that details methods for learning Parseltongue."
"My goodness, this is incredible!" Hermione’s expression was full of admiration. "I always thought Parseltongue was a bloodline power. I didn’t realize it could be learned? Is it difficult?"
"It’s okay," Jellall nodded gently and was the first to step through the iron door.
For others, it would be far more than just "difficult to learn." The language in which Parseltongue is recorded is a very ancient runic script.
This means that to learn Parseltongue, you first have to be a master of magical runes. Even a master of magical runes would take at least five to ten years to comprehend this language.
So the question arises, which master of magical runes would be willing to spend five to ten years learning a language that is basically useless?
Of course, these prerequisites are obstacles set for ordinary wizards. For Jellall, a true god, they are somewhat ridiculous. Without any fancy operations, with his omnipotence and omniscience, there’s nothing he can’t learn in an instant.
Crossing the iron door, a long, dark corridor appeared before Jellall and Hermione. On either side of the corridor were stone pillars carved with coiled snakes, and beneath the pillars were various inscriptions.
These texts mostly documented Salazar Slytherin’s life, such as how he bred the first "Basilisk," captured a rare Shadow Unicorn Lizard, or transformed into a giant python using Animagus to steal milk from farms... the records were detailed and comprehensive.
At the end of this corridor was a life-sized statue flush against the wall.
The statue depicted a young man wearing a wizard’s robe, an arrogant gaze in his eyes. A golden snake badge was pinned to the man’s chest.
"Is this, Slytherin?" Hermione swallowed, feeling a sense of awe towards this legendary figure.
Jellall, however, paid no mind. He merely glanced at it before turning his attention to a staircase on the side. There, he saw Harry Potter lying on the ground.
This legendary savior’s skin was pale, as if he had been soaked in seawater. However, the heaving of his chest indicated he was still breathing faintly; he wasn’t completely dead.
"Harry?" Hermione also spotted him at this moment and, with a tense expression, was about to rush towards him.
Stupefy!
But just as she raised her foot, a spell, dark blue like lightning, shot towards her.
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