Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 127 "Stop trying to protect me"

The light from the tip of the wand could only illuminate a few steps in front of him, as if the whole world was compressed into this narrow circle of light.

His shadow was cast on the wet stone wall, making him look like a Dementor lurking in wait.

The passage was winding and seemingly endless. After turning one bend after another, more than ten minutes later, Snape carefully turned the next bend, his breath catching for a moment—before him stood a solid wall.

Two intertwined snakes are carved on the wall, their eyes inlaid with eerie, glittering emeralds.

"This is it," Snape muttered to himself, his emerald snake eyes gleaming in the fluorescent light, scrutinizing him as if they were alive.

He cleared his throat and said in a low, hoarse hiss, "Open."

The two stone snakes seemed to awaken from a deep sleep, slowly separating; the wall split open in the middle, slowly sliding to both sides and disappearing.

An air even more stale than the air inside the tunnel rushed towards us.

Snape held his breath, wand held to his chest, and stepped into one of Hogwarts’ oldest secrets—the Chamber of Secrets of Salazar Slytherin.

The secret room was more magnificent than he had imagined.

Towering stone pillars support the dome that melts into the darkness above, each pillar adorned with lifelike serpentine carvings that cast long, eerie shadows across the room, which is filled with a mysterious, verdant atmosphere.

“Hello…” Snape hissed, his voice echoing in the empty chamber as if countless versions of himself were whispering at the same time.

He cautiously and slowly advanced among the stone pillars coiled with giant snakes, each step producing a hollow, resounding echo in the ghostly walls.

The serpentine carved eyes seemed to move with him, watching the intruder.

He kept his eyes slightly narrowed, remaining highly alert, ready to close them tightly at any moment if he sensed the slightest disturbance.

The empty eye sockets of those stone snakes seemed to come alive in his perception; wherever he went, he felt they were relentlessly following him. More than once, he seemed to catch a whiff of something, but upon closer inspection, everything seemed normal.

As he walked to a position parallel to the last pair of stone pillars, a statue as tall as the room suddenly appeared before him.

Snape had to crane his neck to see the old, monkey-like face. The statue's sparse, long beard almost reached the hem of its stone wizard's robe, and its two large, gray feet stood on the smooth floor of the room.

Looking up at the face of the Slytherin stone statue, high in the darkness, he opened his mouth and hissed:

“Speak to me, Slytherin—the greatest of the four great leaders of Hogwarts… uh… the greatest one.”

silence.

Then, a screeching sound of stones scraping together broke the silence.

Slytherin's enormous stone face began to move; its mouth slowly opened, growing larger and larger until it formed a massive black hole large enough to swallow several people.

Snape instinctively took a few steps back, his back slamming against a cold stone pillar.

His wand was pointed directly at the dark entrance, ready to cast a defensive spell at any moment.

He waited for a long time, but nothing happened. Snape even began to wonder if he had awakened the Basilisk.

As he hesitated whether to ride his broomstick forward to investigate, a faint rustling sound came from deep within the statue. Snape narrowed his eyes and could almost see something sliding upwards from Slytherin's mouth, unfurling its coiled body.

He quickly stepped back to make room.

A colossal object crashed onto the stone floor, shaking the entire secret chamber.

The creature was entirely emerald green, gleaming with the vibrant sheen characteristic of venomous snakes. It was at least fifty feet long, and its body was as thick as an oak trunk.

The basilisk coiled its enormous body, its head held high, almost touching the stone dome.

Just as Snape was about to summon Dobby, the Basilisk spoke to him.

“Hello, little wizard,” it said, its voice like sandpaper scraping. Its forked tongue trembled in the air, searching for scents. “Who are you? How did you find this place?”

Seeing that the basilisk had no intention of attacking him, Snape decided to hold off for now.

“Severus Snape,” he replied, forcing himself to remain calm, “I have come here according to ancient legends.”

“How strange…” The basilisk’s massive head tilted slightly, as if in thought. “You are not a descendant of Slytherin, you are not the one he is waiting for. But…” It continued moving, its heavy body gliding slowly across the dusty ground with a chilling rustling sound, “You have a familiar scent on you…”

"A familiar scent?" Snape asked tentatively, slowly moving towards a stone pillar for cover. He thought that perhaps the basilisk sensed the familiar scent because he had come into contact with Riddle's diary.

“Yes,” the basilisk hissed, almost like laughter, “your presence…I remember it. But, after such a long slumber…I can’t recall it.”

"Alright, is it time?" It suddenly straightened up, its voice becoming excited. "Now that you've come to open the Chamber of Secrets, let's... eat, purify Hogwarts, and rid ourselves of those who are unworthy..."

“Uh…” Snape’s heart sank. He had to stall for time. “Do we need to be in such a hurry?”

He slowly backed away, bowing his head as he shouted, "Dobby!"

The echo reverberated in the sealed room before fading into silence.

There was no cracking sound, no appearance of the little elf. Snape's heart sank—Dobby hadn't come.

"What do you mean?" the basilisk asked suspiciously, its voice suddenly turning dangerous. "You called me a fool (Dobbie)?"

Cold sweat trickled down Snape's temples: Where was Dobby? The house-elf who could come and go freely in the headmaster's office—why hadn't he shown up yet? Could it be that the Chamber of Secrets' restrictions on Apparition were actually affecting him?

“No…no…” Snape tried to explain, “I mean, oh, I…I was such a fool to forget to bring you food.”

After saying that, he quickly took out a small cloth bag from his pocket and took out a fancy rat—the small animal he had originally planned to use to lure the snake monster.

However, those fancy rats had already stopped breathing and were stiff all over—they had obviously been scared to death.

“Oh, give it to me,” the basilisk said, its tongue licking Snape’s palm. The cold, wet touch sent a shiver down his spine, almost causing him to cast a spell on the spot.

The dead rats disappeared into the basilisk's enormous mouth. "Not bad," it commented, its voice tinged with obvious disappointment, "but too small." It turned towards the entrance of the chamber, its body beginning to move slowly. "I'm hungry. Let's go up; there's more delicious food up there..."

“Wait,” Snape said to its retreating back, “it’s not that safe up there. The Ministry of Magic is investigating. Perhaps we should… devise a plan first.”

Will Phoenix Fawkes come? He thought to himself, sweating profusely as he feigned compliance with the basilisk. "Professor Dumbledore, I am your most loyal student, please come quickly..."

But the basilisk ignored his warnings and continued to slide towards the entrance. "Want to come with me?" its voice came. "Later, you can grab my body and come up with me."

Snape hesitated whether to follow. His original plan was to deal with the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets without anyone knowing.

If the basilisk were to leave the chamber, the consequences would be unimaginable. Not only would it cause innocent casualties, but more importantly, once the news got out, Voldemort would immediately realize that his diary was compromised.

This would not only bring disaster to the Malfoy family, but Riddle might also change the hiding places or plans for the other Horcruxes, causing him to lose key clues in his fight against the Dark Lord.

Just then, a faint sound of footsteps and a strange noise came from the entrance.

"Be good, we'll be there soon." It was Dobby's voice.

The little elf, wearing a shield on his head, stumbled into the secret chamber, pulling a string of seven roosters in one hand and carrying the cloth bag Hagrid had given him in the other.

As soon as the roosters entered the secret chamber, they came face to face with the basilisk. They immediately flapped their wings and crowed loudly.

"No! What is this—" The basilisk was clearly frightened, its huge body twisting and retreating.

“Ah, Mr. Snape, Dobby didn’t receive your call and brought you… what is this!” Dobby exclaimed in shock.

"Look down, don't look at it!" Snape shouted, rushing toward Dobby. "Hide, Dobby!"

But before he could get close to Dobby, the basilisk responded angrily.

It suddenly raised its head, its huge yellow eyes opening in the darkness. "You did this, kid!" it roared, its voice filled with the rage of betrayal.

Snape quickly turned and retreated behind the pillar.

The rooster's crowing grew more and more urgent, accompanied by the serpent monster's painful roars and the dull thuds of its body slamming against the stone pillar.

The entire chamber was shaking, and rubble was falling from the ceiling with a loud crash.

The rooster's crowing was deadly to him, Snape thought to himself, trying to gauge the situation by the sound, hoping to hold on a little longer...

Suddenly, a foul stench hit him, and he instinctively rolled to the side, feeling the basilisk's tail brush past his back and slam heavily onto the spot where he had just been standing.

The stone floor was shattered, and fragments flew everywhere.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the basilisk roaring in agony.

The majestic spotted rooster was flapping its wings and pouncing towards the basilisk, but its movement was hindered by the other roosters because of the ropes tied to it.

"The Divine Blade is Without a Shadow—"

"Avada Kedavra—"

"Extremely painful—"

Colorful spells shot out from his wand, whistling as they struck the basilisk's body.

But none of these spells had the desired effect. Even the Killing Curse only further enraged the basilisk and left only shallow marks on its hard scales.

After dodging another attack from the basilisk, Snape quickly pointed his wand in the direction of the rooster and shouted, "Relax!"

The rope snapped open.

The seven roosters were freed and frantically flapped their wings in the secret room, their crowing echoing throughout.

As Snape dodged, the white light of the Amplify Charm struck the group of proud roosters once more. Their feathers instantly bristled, and their bodies rapidly expanded as if inflated, growing to the size of hounds in the blink of an eye.

"Goo-ooh!"

The lead rooster with spotted feathers let out a deafening crow, shook its glossy feathers, and lunged straight at the basilisk's head.

The other roosters then formed a circle around it—some used their sharp claws to tear at the soft scales on the basilisk's belly, while two others jumped directly onto the basilisk's back and frantically pecked at it.

As they continued to cry, the basilisk's scales began to fall off.

It went completely mad, its tongue flicking as it charged at Snape recklessly.

“Damn human! You deceived me!” the basilisk hissed as it smashed through the stone pillar where Snape was hiding.

Snape kept shifting and dodging. Finally, he had nowhere to hide.

A deafening explosion erupted overhead as the basilisk's tail struck him hard, slamming him against the wall. A sharp pain shot through his back, nearly knocking his wand from his grasp.

He no longer cared about bowing his head; he raised the fairy dagger in his hand, ready to fight the basilisk to the death.

The basilisk lunged at him angrily, revealing thin, long, venomous fangs that looked like sabers.

At this critical moment, Dobby suddenly rushed over.

"Come at Dobby, you monster!" the elf grumbled, swinging his cloth bag and delivering a resounding thud to the basilisk's head. The basilisk's attention was diverted. It shook its head, turned to Dobby, its yellow eyes staring directly at the elf. "You're not allowed to hurt the master—"

Dobby's voice abruptly stopped. His body stiffened like a board, his eyes wide open, staring straight at the basilisk, before he collapsed like a statue.

The little elf looked directly into the basilisk's eyes, even though it was through the protective shield.

"Dobby!" Snape shouted, a surge of unprecedented anger washing over him.

He stopped hiding and faced the enormous creature writhing in pain.

As the rooster continued to crow, the basilisk's movements became increasingly sluggish, but it still struggled to pounce on Snape.

The spotted rooster seized the opportunity, leaped up, and thrust its sharp beak straight into the snake monster's eyes.

The basilisk let out a deafening roar, twisting its body wildly and smashing through several stone pillars, only to be pinned down by the collapsing rocks.

Snape seized the opportunity, raised his wand, and shouted: "Powerful Blast!"

The spell struck precisely a large, precarious rock on the ceiling.

Dust fell from the dome of the secret chamber, and a huge rock crashed down, smashing into the basilisk.

At the same time, the roosters swarmed forward, crowing as they pecked at the basilisk's exposed wounds.

After a long struggle, the basilisk finally stopped moving.

The chamber fell silent again, save for the occasional triumphant crowing of the roosters and Snape's rapid breathing.

He dragged his aching body toward the direction where the elf had fallen and knelt beside Dobby.

The elf's eyes remained open. His eyes were like two large glass marbles.

Snape held Dobby's small, stiff body tightly, resting his hands under Dobby's neck.

"Why do you like protecting others so much, Dobby?" He lowered his head, looking closely at the little elf in his arms. "Even being petrified isn't pleasant. The mandrakes are still so young this year..."

"I won't say that unlucky thing to you anymore..."

　Thank you to Pig Can Fly, whyhowanddo, Nine Heavens' Sorrow, A Thousand Years of Wind and Rain, An Ordinary School Student, MoyanKingX, and Book Friend 20210101081058003 for the monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)