Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 135: In the Stone Carving Cave, the Millennium Snake Monster

The elegant medieval building, with a hall nearly 20 meters high, is as magnificent as the Vatican. Exquisite coiled stone pillars support the dome, with green clouds on top. The ground is paved with dark black slate tiles, and statues stand silently in the deepest part.

Melvin walked into the secret room and slowly walked along the corridor with stone pillars. Even though he tried his best to make his steps light, the sound still kept echoing.

His eyes kept sweeping over the stone snake statues on both sides. The statues were lifelike, and each statue had slightly different angles and directions. When passing these stone pillars, Melvin had an illusion that the eyes of the python statues were emeralds, and a deep green light flashed in the dark eye sockets, as if they were always watching the people coming into the secret room.

Even though I know it's an illusion caused by the angle and the combination of light and shadow, I can't help feeling a little awkward.

Melvin snapped his fingers, and dozens of blue flames suddenly shot up from all over the room. The bright and warm light dispelled the dark and damp atmosphere.

There was no shadow in the secret room, it was empty and silent.

The firelight also illuminated the entire image of Slytherin's statue. It was an old face that was hard to flatter, with facial features squeezed together, like a monkey or a poisonous snake, extremely old. A sparse beard hung down to the hem of the wizard's robe. He was not wearing shoes, and his two big feet looked extremely strange.

Melvin did not immediately check the inside of the statue. Instead, he walked around the secret room. There was nothing in the room except neatly arranged stone pillars and statues.

The floor was covered in dust, and the walls were empty. There was no treasure left by Slytherin as expected, no shameful black magic experiment materials, and not even a curse to warn outsiders.

The possibility that Tom Riddle is half empty cannot be ruled out.

Melvin returned to the statue, released the silver mist of memory, and played the Parseltongue voice that Harry had recorded.

"Hs...hs..."

[Speak to me, Slytherin, the greatest of the Hogwarts Four]
The clouds dissipated, and creepy sounds were heard all around. Melvin looked at Slytherin's mouth, and the stone that had been covered in dust for fifty years began to move. A huge friction sound echoed inside the secret room, and the dust on the surface of the stone sculpture began to peel off, and the teeth carved in the stone made a clattering sound.

Melvin looked up, and in the cavity where the firelight could not illuminate, the basilisk in the darkness woke up.

A giant snake of enormous size poked its head out. It was so thick that three people couldn't even hug it together. It hadn't opened its eyes yet. Fifty years of slumber had caused a white membrane to form on the surface of its scales. As its statue-like muscles squirmed, the scabby membrane peeled off piece by piece.

A forked tongue peeked out from the slit of the kiss, and breath came out, stirring up a fishy wind that echoed in the secret room.

The thick neck bent, and half of the snake body stuck out of Slytherin's mouth. It was fifty feet long, and its scales were dark green, almost black, reflecting the floating clouds above. The scene was terrifying and weird.

As if sensing Melvin's location, the basilisk lowered its head slightly. Only then did the scabs and scales on its eyelids break off and peel off. Two yellow-orange lights burst out, and the fluorescent light and firelight in the secret room dimmed for a moment.

Melvin narrowed his eyes slightly and looked into the cold snake eyes. Powerful magic power flowed towards him through the connection of their gaze.

Magic has its own characteristics. Some magic is fiery and prone to explosion, some is quiet and prone to freezing, and some is cruel and life-threatening. Wizards need to learn and use spells to control magic to achieve their desired results. However, magical animals are born with these distinct magical properties. The fur of invisible beasts can hide at any time, the bodies of birds and snakes can stretch and shrink at will, and the flames of fire dragons can ignite steel...

The basilisk's gaze can petrify and kill any life it sees.

"Iron armor..." Melvin whispered.

Sharp streams of light like magma splashed out.

The transparent bubble membrane expanded instantly, and the magic power released from the snake's eyes was blocked. At the midpoint where Melvin and the basilisk's eyes met, the invisible and intangible armor was solid and reliable.

It seemed that this was the first time that the basilisk encountered someone who looked into its eyes. Its already unclear mind became even more confused. It was stunned for a moment and let out a hissing sound.

"..."

Melvin guessed it was some kind of probing inquiry, but he couldn't understand it and couldn't reply.

The basilisk hissed to itself for a long time but received no response. Realizing that it had been deceived, the basilisk became immediately angry and let out a roar. Then it slid down the statue, and its shield-sized snake scales scratched across the stone carvings and the floor, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

As the monster guarding the Chamber of Secrets, it still adheres to the orders left by Slytherin and expels all intruders except heirs.

The basilisk twisted its body and snaked closer. The blue firelight and fluorescent light shone on its scales, giving it a metallic reflection.

The rapid approach of this huge creature brought a strong sense of oppression. Even though Melvin did not feel the slightest fear in his heart, his biological instinct made his heart beat faster and his breathing a little faster.

After jumping down from the statue, the basilisk rushed towards Melvin. Its huge body and long years of sleep did not affect its speed. It brought up gusts of fishy wind in the secret room, grinning and showing its teeth, as if it was about to treat Melvin as a snack.

But before it could touch Melvin's body, the snake was bounced back by an invisible force, just like hitting a steel wall while running. The snake's body suddenly stopped and a large piece of scales on its body suddenly shattered.

The transparent iron curtain stifled the basilisk's momentum. Pain was revealed in its eyes. Several muscles were torn apart, and black blood splattered out.

In an instant, Melvin saw that the snake's face was distorted, revealing an expression of pain. A low wail, as if the wind blowing through the tunnel, burst out from the snake's mouth, and the whole space trembled with a faint resonance.

Fortunately, the body structure of snakes is easy to dissipate force, and there is no risk of fracture no matter how much it bends. Although the basilisk was dizzy, its vision was black, and it was twitching in pain, its injuries were actually not very serious.

He stretched out his hand and waved it, and the levitation spell enveloped the snake's body, hanging it in the air. At the same time, he took out a glass jar, and the overflowing snake blood seemed to be lifted and pulled by an invisible force and poured into the jar.

Precious animal materials cannot be wasted.

The basilisk collapsed on the ground, watching the wizard collect its blood, its tail twitching in pain.

The young professor stood there with the indifferent attitude of a bystander, without any expression of the instigator or murderer. He put the glass jar in his pocket and stretched out his hand slightly, as if to touch the hideous face of the snake monster.

"hiss!"

The basilisk raised its head with difficulty and bared its fangs again. Air rushed through its throat and it roared fiercely.

Melvin frowned slightly, sighed, and waved his wand. A straight beam of emerald green light shot out. It was a powerful repulsive spell released by the infusion of magic power.

The roar of the magic spell cut through the air, leaving behind an emerald green afterimage. The powerful impact poured into the basilisk. The nearly fifty-foot-long basilisk flew backwards in an instant and crashed into the coiled snake stone pillar, its scales shattered to the ground.

The broken scales flew everywhere, and a large number of bubbles surged in the surrounding pools.

This time the basilisk was completely exhausted, its long tail slumped to the ground, shaking weakly.

But when Melvin approached, the basilisk still bared its fangs and roared, and the ferocity in its eyes became even more intense.

"..."

The moment Melvin and the basilisk's eyes met, he was distracted for a moment, felt a slight tingling between his eyebrows, and his limbs were slightly stiff. The basilisk's eyes were orange-yellow, and a violent green light flashed in the depths of its crystal pupils.

As expected of Slytherin's basilisk, it would rather die than surrender.

It seems I'll have to get Parseltongue to come in person. Melvin didn't have high hopes, but he still wanted to try. He extended his wand and tapped lightly, forcibly closing that foul-smelling, blood-red maw.

Then he took out the snake eggs, took out a drop of silver potion, and mixed it with a trace of memory prepared in advance.

The mist turned into water vapor, and the figure of a little wizard emerged from the mist. He looked up and listened to the professor's request. He nodded as if he understood, and then hissed.

[Hatch, help...]
When the basilisk heard the Parseltongue's command, its eyes suddenly widened, a faint golden light filled its entire pupils, and a hint of hesitation flowed in its eyes. After a moment of silence, he slowly stretched out his head and separated several adjacent scales on his head, revealing his gray-black skin, as if exposing a weakness.

"Put the snake eggs in?" Melvin seemed to understand a little.

Following the Parseltongue's instructions, the basilisk has taken on the task of hatching the snake eggs. It doesn't care whether this person is the real heir or not. It no longer cares about being seriously injured by him, or perhaps it can't care.

The snake eggs are placed on the exposed skin and flesh, and the snake scales are closed, as if as some kind of protective measure.

The basilisk shook its body and tried to return to its nest, but every movement agitated the wound, causing black blood to spurt out.

Melvin felt a little guilty when he saw this scene. The basilisk was notorious for its viciousness, so he thought of defeating the basilisk first and then using Parseltongue to make it cooperate wholeheartedly.

He took out some snake tree branches and leaves from his pocket, squeezed out the juice and dripped it on the basilisk's wound, then handed a few bunches to the basilisk's mouth, motioning it to open its mouth and take the medicine.

The basilisk was stunned for a moment, then swallowed the branches and leaves, and the wounds on its body quickly scabbed over and healed.

As if remembering the magic hidden in the snake tree, it stood there for a long time, then slowly moved its head in front of Melvin. The gold in its eyes faded, revealing an ambiguous look with a human touch, and suddenly it made a hissing sound, as if it was having a conversation.

Melvin guessed and nodded tentatively, "Well, just help me hatch the eggs. I'll bring you food regularly, including these snake tree branches."

"..."

The basilisk was too lazy to say anything more. It slid its tail back in a circle, as agile as a bird, climbed up the stone crutch, up the arm and shoulder, and returned to Slytherin's mouth.

Melvin watched the basilisk gradually disappear into the darkness. Only blue flames and green clouds remained in the secret room. He suddenly felt familiar. When he was in Ilvermorny before, he had watched the horned water snake disappear into the stream in the same way.

He shook his head, turned around and walked back with a smile on his face.

……

Friday is here again.

The bell rang, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had earned 15 points for Gryffindor, walked out of the classroom in a relatively happy mood. They discussed going to Hagrid to gather information that night.

"I've asked every professor in the school!" Harry sighed. "Dumbledore was still the assistant professor of Transfiguration at the time. Even Dumbledore didn't know the truth, let alone others."

"We must question the witnesses of the incident." Hermione re-determined the direction of the investigation and muttered softly, "Myrtle said the monster that killed her had two yellow eyes, and Hagrid confirmed that it wasn't Aragog. Who else can we ask?"

"Aragog..." Ron repeated, shuddering. "Who would name an acromantula? Aragog? They said it was acting strangely and had been hiding in the cupboard, afraid to come out. If you didn't know, you'd think it was some timid and cute little pet."

Hermione's eyes lit up: "Oh right! And Aragog!"

Harry quickly understood her thoughts: "Are you saying that Aragog was also an eyewitness to the incident?"

Hermione nodded heavily. "Before Myrtle was murdered, no one in the school knew about the Haunted Chamber of Secrets. Its abnormal behavior proves that it must have noticed something. Let's go to the Acromantula's lair and ask it!"

Ron looked horrified: "Are you crazy? You think you're just a snack?"

"Let's go, let's ask Haig to go with us!"

Harry and Hermione each grabbed a sleeve and dragged him towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Let me go! I have to go to the crew for an interview! I'm not going to the Spider's Lair!"

"Help! Someone's killing someone!"

"You two murderers, I will never let you go even if I die!"

……

It’s finally time to select members for the drama club.

Things have been quite heated in recent days. Ever since the various colleges discovered that Marietta was solely responsible for selecting team members, they have been trying to curry favor with her and bribe her. Some people want to gain fame and fortune through the shadow mirror, while others simply want to be in the spotlight.

For a little wizard with social anxiety and no opinion of his own, this was a huge problem, and Marietta was very annoyed by it recently.

But these days she has also learned to deal with this kind of thing when she is forced to.

“I am only responsible for the preliminary selection; the final members still need to be approved by Professor Lewinter.

“I’m very sorry, but the interview questions cannot be disclosed at this time.

"Besides, I don't like chocolate frogs."

Before the selection interview began, Marietta had rejected her classmates so many times that she had memorized all the excuses. Her tone was flat and rigid, like an emotionless dialogue machine.

Qiu, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but laugh when she saw her handling the situation skillfully. She jokingly said, "It's unbelievable. Little Kitty Mary has matured. She looks like Professor McGonagall."

Marietta sighed, "I hope this job will end soon and Professor Lewinter will let me go."

"I think you're doing quite well."

The two walked into the Muggle Studies classroom side by side.

Standing in front of the podium, she faced the gazes of those waiting long in the wings. Many of them were familiar faces, including her own classmates. Cedric from Hufflepuff sat in the front row, his smile so warm and so handsome. Percy from Gryffindor nodded at her, no one doubting he would become a prominent figure in the Ministry of Magic someday. Marcus from Slytherin, however, had a sinister expression...

In the past, she would silently watch these people's heroic performances from the audience, but now the two sides have switched seats.

Marietta felt her calves trembling and her breathing trembling. She took a deep breath and controlled her trembling voice:
"Drama Club auditions begin now!"

(End of this chapter)