"Alright then, everyone—let's move."
Dumbledore took the lead, gripping his strange yet immensely powerful wand as he strode toward the abandoned bathroom. The professors followed after selecting a pair of black glasses each. The students exchanged looks among themselves, and in the end, it was the twins—who had somehow already put on their glasses—who took point, leading the crowd forward in high spirits.
"Hey, Harry,"
They even tried to rope him in along the way. "Want to experience petrification with us? Otherwise, aren't your glasses going to waste?"
"No thanks."
Just thinking about what Professor Dumbledore had said earlier regarding coursework made Harry shiver. He shook his head vigorously. "I really don't want to secretly make up a mountain of homework under Uncle Vernon's nose."
"But it's a basilisk!"
Fred still refused to give up. "You might never see one in your entire life—let alone get petrified by one! Look through all of magical history—how many people have been petrified by a basilisk? We could go down in history!"
Harry scratched his head, looking genuinely puzzled. "A basilisk… is it really that rare? I chatted with it for three whole days before."
He thought about it some more. "And I don't think I need to become famous like that…"
"..."
The twins exchanged a glance and fell silent.
Without another word, they followed the professors ahead.
"Oh, right—we might need glasses too. If the basilisk isn't lurking deep in the Chamber but hiding near the entrance to ambush us, that'd be troublesome."
Avada reminded everyone. As he spoke, he once again sliced off a corner of his robe and transfigured it into a pair of glasses, slipping them on. The others quickly followed suit.
"Oh—and you."
He conjured another pair and handed them to Luna. She was only a first-year, after all—she hadn't fully mastered this kind of Transfiguration yet. On top of that, a large portion of her memories over the past half year had been wiped by the Horcrux diary… the rest of her school year was probably going to be rough.
As they spoke, the group arrived at the door of the abandoned bathroom. Dumbledore was already inside, studying the unremarkable little snake engraving with keen interest. Moaning Myrtle was curled up inside her toilet, trembling in fear after being confronted by so many powerful professors.
Whoosh—
A burst of flame suddenly ignited at the bathroom entrance, startling the students. Severus Snape stepped out of the fire, wand in hand, with Fawkes perched on his shoulder. Sensing they had arrived, the phoenix flapped its wings and half-flew, half-hopped onto Dumbledore's shoulder.
"Excellent. Everyone's here."
Dumbledore nodded to Snape. "All professors, please put on your glasses and remain ready for combat. Fawkes, keep watch for us."
With a clear cry, Fawkes once again turned into a streak of flame and vanished.
The professors pulled out the pitch-black, opaque glasses Dumbledore had distributed earlier and put them on. Combined with their solemn expressions, jet-black formal robes, and the 'hardware' in their hands, the dignified group of professors instantly transformed into a lineup of underworld bosses ready for a brawl.
Avada didn't know if anyone else felt something was off—but he had to exert tremendous self-control to keep from laughing.
"Harry."
With a great enemy before them, Dumbledore's tone grew serious. "Please open the Chamber. The command is 'Long live Voldemort.'"
"Yes, Professor."
Harry nervously threaded his way through the crowd of sunglasses-wearing professors and stopped in front of the sink. Fixing his gaze on the little snake engraved on the faucet, he took a breath—and then released a string of cold, hissing sounds.
At once, the faucet burst into a brilliant white light and began to spin rapidly. The sink itself started to move, slowly vanishing from sight, replaced by an enormous pipe wide enough for a person to crawl through.
From Avada's perspective, those "suspected soul components" underwent astonishing changes the moment Harry spoke, gradually shifting into an activated state—connecting the inner space with the outside world and constructing a passageway that could be entered and exited.
So incredible…
He subconsciously rubbed his temples. Though he only half-understood those impossibly complex and profound transformations, his months of research into soul magic had given him several new insights.
I wonder… does this spell have anything to do with Dumbledore's Fidelius Charm?
Maybe I can study it when we go to Grimmauld Place next year…
"Fawkes has sent word—there's no danger inside."
Dumbledore beckoned to the professors. "Hagrid, Madam Pomfrey, after we enter, please guard the entrance to prevent any students from wandering in by accident."
"Yes, Professor."
The two nodded in unison. One lacked combat ability, and the other clearly wasn't suited to entering such a 'narrow' pipe—guard duty was the obvious choice.
"Very well, everyone—move out. And children, remember to keep your glasses on."
With that, Dumbledore leapt into the pipe. The others followed one after another. After the twins impatiently jumped in, Avada followed suit.
The sensation was like hurtling down a dark, slimy, never-ending waterslide at high speed. The pipe twisted and turned, spiraling steeply downward. Avada couldn't help but marvel at the sheer scale of the space. He could hear faint collisions at the bends behind him, along with a chorus of startled yelps and strange cries.
"Woo—hoo—!"
As the slope gradually leveled out, they were shot from the pipe like bullets into a vast chamber. The twins ahead of Avada whooped and spun around, sliding in circles for quite a while before Professor McGonagall finally hauled them to a stop and used Scourgify to clean off the moss and grime they'd picked up along the way.
"…There are quite a few small animal bones here."
Professor Kettleburn lifted his sunglasses slightly to examine the surroundings. "Looks like a unique ecosystem. But the number of bones doesn't match a basilisk's appetite at all—meaning it spends most of its time in hibernation… Merlin above! What's that?!"
"Merlin's beard! A complete basilisk shed!!"
"Hagrid would go mad with joy—no, any magizoologist would! I wouldn't dare show this to Newt; he might get so excited he drops dead on the spot…"
"Alright, Silvanus, calm yourself for now."
Dumbledore patted Kettleburn's wooden shoulder. "Don't forget—we've still got a whole basilisk waiting ahead. Let's move on first."
"Harry, could you come here again? There's another door ahead that requires Parseltongue… this one hasn't been altered. Just say 'Open.'"
"Yes, Professor!"
Harry, who had been looking around excitedly, hurried forward and hissed again at the grand door entwined with two serpents.
The door immediately split down the middle, revealing a long, dimly lit chamber beyond. Stone pillars carved with intertwined serpents rose high, supporting a ceiling that dissolved into darkness above. At the far end stood a stone statue—a wizard with a monkey-like face, aged and withered, dragging a thin, scraggly beard.
At his feet coiled a massive green beast.
Hearing the noise, it immediately turned its enormous, ferocious eyes toward them—
Granting the twins their wish at last.
Aside from the two of them, everyone else successfully avoided the basilisk's gaze.
(End of Chapter)