Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 107 Riddle's Note
Who threw something at you?

Professor McGonagall stepped forward and asked urgently, "Do you know that person?"

“I didn’t see it,” Myrtle sobbed. “That naughty little imp, Pippi, was chasing me. I was so sad that I wanted to hide in the toilet… But as soon as I ran back to the bathroom, someone hit me on the head with a book and chased me away.”

Snape, who was standing nearby, twitched his lips and couldn't help but say, "You're a ghost, why are you afraid of people throwing books at you?"

The next second, Snape realized he had said the wrong thing.

Myrtle's body visibly swelled up, and she shrieked, "Yes, Myrtle isn't afraid of being pelted with things, everyone come and throw things at her..."

"Close your ears and plug your ears!"

Snape flicked his wrist, and Myrtle's scream vanished instantly. She was still talking, seemingly unaware of anything amiss, but the others could only hear a faint buzzing sound.

Xilun glanced up briefly and then looked away, continuing to stare at the ground as he searched for the book Myrtle had mentioned.

"Ah, found it." Finally, following Myrtle's clue, Xilun found a book with a black cover under the door, near the corner of the wall.

But he paused for a second.

Contrary to his expectations, the book was large and thick, like a brick on the ground.

Xilun stepped forward, picked up the book, and found it heavy in his hand. He then turned it to the front.

On the cover, a blond wizard is giving him a standard smile, his eight teeth gleaming.

Above that, written in gold, cursive script, was the title: "The Magic-Helpful Me."

……

Why is Lockhart's book here?!
Xilun, undeterred, turned a few more pages.

"Give it to me." Snape snatched the book away without a word. "Just stay quiet and don't do anything unnecessary!"

Xiren didn't say anything. He had already confirmed that there was nothing hidden inside; it was a legitimate Lockhart work.

In this way, no useful clues could be obtained from Myrtle, and everyone could only turn their attention back to the washroom.

But this place is not big to begin with, and it is almost completely exposed. Even a fifty-inch snake might not be able to hide there, let alone a fifty-foot basilisk.

“Dumbledore, could there be a mistake?” Professor McGonagall asked, frowning.

She had already searched with the Search Charm, Anti-Hidden Charm, and Reveal Charm, but found nothing.

Dumbledore's gaze had just shifted from a pipe in the corner when he heard Sirren's questioning voice from not far away, "Headmaster, was this washroom previously reserved for Slytherins?"

At this moment, Xilun was standing with his back to them beside a pool of water.

“As far as I know, that’s not the case,” Dumbledore said. “The Slytherin common room is in the basement; this is on the second floor, and it’s part of the common restrooms.”

“Those Slytherin folks have no sense of public decency, scribbling all over the faucets.” Siron pointed to a brass faucet. “But this snake does look quite like one.”

In an instant, everyone looked over, and then they saw a small snake engraved on the side of the faucet that Xilun was pointing to.

"This faucet never produces water; it was broken when I was still alive."

Myrtle's words made Dumbledore's gaze sharpen, and he went over to examine it carefully, inside and out, from top to bottom.

He kept tapping it with his wand, even hitting the water pipes below.

Meanwhile, Snape was observing Celan, who was being protected by Professor McGonagall.

"What are you holding in your hand?" he suddenly asked.

“Parchment, Professor.” Siren held out his hand, showing him a crumpled piece of parchment.

"It accidentally fell out of my pocket while I was looking for something. It must be the homework I did wrong this morning. Would you like to see it?"

Snape glanced at it. It was indeed a dirty parchment, stained with something that was hard to tell whether it was ink or something else.

“Be careful.” He looked into Xilun’s eyes again. “If there really is a basilisk, your curiosity could be dangerous.”

“Thank you for reminding me, Professor,” said Siren, casually putting the parchment into his pocket.

At the same time, Dumbledore also spoke.

"move back."

Professor McGonagall immediately pushed Celen to the door.

Then, Xilun witnessed a scene that left him speechless.

Half of the bathroom suddenly cracked open, as if someone had cut it in half, and the cut was right at the faucet with the little snake carved on it.

Then came the second cut, the third cut... The pool and the brass faucet were left in pieces, and all the water pipes behind them were pulled out.

Water gushed from the crack, then coalesced in front of Dumbledore, floating quietly in mid-air.

Maybe a minute passed, maybe a second, but Xilun only felt a blur before his eyes, and those things were perfectly intact again.

"Dumbledore..."

"Gryffindor gets 100 points for Mr. Ollivander's keen insight."

Dumbledore interrupted Professor McGonagall, nodding slightly. "Without a doubt, Minerva, there is a very well hidden passage here. If it weren't for Mr. Ollivander's reminder, it would have taken us a long time to find this mark."

“Let’s go in quickly,” Professor McGonagall said, taking out her wand.

“I can’t open the entrance to the secret passage,” Dumbledore shook his head.

"what?"

“This secret passage is hidden by an extremely complex magic, and the magic is built on the entire castle…” Dumbledore paused before continuing, “Unless you know the specific way to open it, the only way to force your way in is to destroy the entire castle.”

No one spoke.

Destroying the entire Hogwarts Castle...that's absolutely impossible, and no one could do it.

They've already come all this way, are they just going to give up like this?
“Why don’t we ask the wise Mr. Ollivander?” Snape said with a knowing smile.

"He was able to run from the second floor back to the eighth floor during the basilisk attack, accurately remember the location of this washroom, and discover the hidden entrance to the secret passage when we were at our wits' end."

"Perhaps he will bring us even bigger surprises, such as the method to enter the secret passage."

All eyes turned to them again, including Myrtle's.

Xilen took his hand out of his pocket. "I have a guess."

Snape's smile became even stranger.

“Why is the mark a snake?” Cyren suddenly looked at Snape. “Does it have anything to do with Slytherin, or is it that someone in Slytherin wants to kill me…”

"Nonsense!" Snape snapped. "Unfounded slander, framing a classmate! Gryffindor loses 100 points, and you're in detention." "Then, Professor, could you explain why the mark is a snake?" Sirius silently took a step to the left, moving behind Professor McGonagall. "And as the Head of Slytherin, surely you can open the Slytherin secret passage?"

Snape was furious.

But West Africa is adding fuel to the fire...

"Perhaps, it's not the students who want to kill me..."

"Enough!" Snape roared, reaching out to grab Siren.

If he's not a student, then he can only be a professor. Of all the professors at Hogwarts who truly bear the Slytherin label, only the Headmaster is him.

How dare Xilun? This is blatantly throwing mud at him.

But as soon as he reached out his hand, Professor McGonagall blocked it.

"Snape, do you know what you're doing?"

She certainly didn't believe Snape would release the Basilisk to kill a student; it was absurd. But she had to admit that what Siron said made perfect sense.

At Hogwarts, the snake is practically the symbol and synonym for Slytherin.

Professor McGonagall certainly doesn't believe that a snake carved at the entrance to such an important secret passage has nothing to do with Slytherin.

“Minerva, oh, and Siren…” Dumbledore quickly stepped between them. “I believe Severus has nothing to do with this, just as I believe you do.”

"I see. I'm sorry, Professor Snape, I misunderstood you."

To everyone's surprise, Xilun admitted his mistake incredibly quickly, then stood aside as if he didn't exist.

He knew, of course, that Snape wasn't the one controlling the basilisk; he just wanted to use the argument with Snape to get some information out of him.

After all, he couldn't just tell Dumbledore that this was the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, and that all he had to do was go to the Gryffindor common room, bring Harry Potter over, and have him open the entrance using Parsley.

Of course, Siren did have this idea at first. He didn't want to be constantly targeted by the Basilisk, and the best way was to kill the Basilisk with the help of Professor and Dumbledore. He had already come up with an excuse.

It's quite normal for the ancient Ollivander family to have some unknown secrets, isn't it?

However, a piece of parchment hidden in a faucet made him abandon the idea.

But this is about right for now.

Dumbledore and the professors learned the identity of the Basilisk and the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Sylvanas also subtly hinted to them that the way to open the entrance was related to Slytherin.

What's the difference between this and wearing the answer on your face?

Okay, there is a difference. The difference is that the answer is hidden in the book, and you need to open the book and look for a while to find it.

With so many professors, including Dumbledore, surely they can't be so clueless as to not even know how to "turn the pages of a book."

Honestly, if the Basilisk still manages to appear in the castle right under Dumbledore's nose after tonight, then Celeste thinks he should just resign and take his phoenix on a trip.

But speaking of the phoenix, is it really impossible for Dumbledore to open the entrance?
Sirius looked up and saw Dumbledore talking to Professor Flitwick, with Snape standing beside him, staring at him with a sinister look.

This guy is so petty. He gets upset after just a few words. He was almost glared to death by the snake monster and then questioned, but he's not even angry yet.

Professor McGonagall walked over, blocking Snape's way, and suggested that he be taken to the school hospital first.

This time, Xilun didn't refuse. His arm was still broken, and although it had been temporarily bandaged, it still hurt quite a bit.

Professor McGonagall took him to the university hospital, where Mrs. Pomfrey reattached his severed arm in a second and re-bandaged it.

This injury doesn't require hospitalization, but Professor McGonagall still insisted that Siron stay here... The petrification curse healed too strangely before, and she was still a little worried.

There's no other way; Xilun will have to spend the night at the school hospital.

Late at night, Professor McGonagall and Mrs. Pomfrey had both left. Siron lay in bed and took out a crumpled piece of paper, stained with water and dirt, from his pocket.

It was a blank sheet of paper, seemingly torn from a notebook, with nothing on it, but Xilun could almost see what it looked like thirty minutes ago, and the red writing that hadn't yet faded.

So you knew this place after all.

Would you tell Dumbledore that you are a prophet who can see into the future?

[I almost forgot to tell you, Dumbledore's greatest enemy to date is also a prophet. Do you think he would remain indifferent to you?]

Looking forward to meeting you!

【TM Riddell】

Why would Tom Riddle know him, and why would he say that Tom Riddle is some kind of prophet who can see into the future?

Siren didn't understand what this meant at first, but he did notice that Dumbledore's gaze was sometimes a little different.

Especially after he found the entrance to the secret passage.

But that's not enough to prove he's some kind of prophet, Siron thought to himself.

Koridl seemed very certain, and besides, how did he know him?
More and more questions arose in Celen's mind. He borrowed a quill pen and ink from Mrs. Pomfrey and made a mark on a piece of paper.

The ink stains remained on the paper, and after coming into contact with the water, they slowly spread out, but did not disappear, and no other words appeared on the paper.

Well, after seeing the paper get wet, Siren should have realized that it was completely useless and couldn't be used to communicate with Riddle at all.

However, he did confirm one thing.

Looking forward to meeting you!

This statement sounded more like a provocation, indicating that the snake monster was indeed after him, and he wasn't prepared to give up.

“But what else can you do?” Sirren said softly, holding the yellowed paper. “Dumbledore knows about the Basilisk, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and also learned from Myrtle that someone in the school is controlling the Basilisk.”

What else can you do?

Although he didn't understand why Riddle knew him and had left this disposable note in the copper dragon head beforehand, since the other party was so confident, Xiren was also looking forward to his next move.

If it was a provocation, he accepted it.

It's just as well; the grudge of being attacked by the Basilisk can't be left unresolved. Before Dumbledore opens the Chamber of Secrets and kills the Basilisk, it's better to hold a grudge against Riddle first.

But before that...

"Professor, Headmaster Dumbledore!" The next day at breakfast, Sirius ran into the teachers' table in the Great Hall and placed the dirty piece of paper on the table in front of him.

“I only found this thing stuck to the sole of my shoe when I got home last night. There were words on it at the time, but I couldn’t see them clearly. I only remember that it was signed TM… I guess it’s Tom, the same name as my cat.”

……

(End of this chapter)