Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 151 Water Snake Breaks Out of Its Shell
After dinner.

Accompanied by the principal, Melvin went to the girls' bathroom, preparing to enter the secret room to deal with the basilisk, a relic left by the founder.

The copper faucet in the bathroom sink was a Muggle creation two centuries ago when the school renovated its plumbing. Its surface had been polished, and thanks to regular cleaning and magical protection, there were no signs of oxidation on it, only slight water stains, and the snake-shaped carving on the handle was clearly visible.

A few drops of medicine combined with memory, after a hissing sound, the faucet began to rotate rapidly, releasing a soft white light.

In the white light, a pitch-black pipe opening was revealed, emitting the unique fermentation smell of a sealed pipe, which was slightly pungent.

Melvin dispelled the fog of memory. "According to my research, the original entrance to the secret room wasn't here. During the school's plumbing renovations in the 18th century, a student named Corvinus Gaunt participated in the project and remodeled the entrance to the secret room into its current appearance."

Dumbledore's face was full of curiosity, but he did not ask Melvin. After putting on the waterproof and moisture-proof magic, he leaned close to the pipe and sniffed it, then put on a layer of odor-isolating bubble head charm and dived into the wet and greasy pipe.

A cluster of bright blue flames lit up inside the pipe, floating with the air flow inside, following closely behind the two wizards.

After sliding around in twists and turns, it finally landed on the stone platform in front of the tunnel. Blue flames floated out and divided into four or five. The soft flames spread, and the light shone on the stone wall, dispelling the cold and eerie atmosphere.

Melvin glanced down at the floor. There were a mess of footprints, large and small. They were all left by Lockhart and the drama club members. They probably stayed here for a few minutes. Some of the footprints were even printed on the wall. They looked like they were from second or third grade students.

"Hogwarts...there are always surprises waiting for those who come later to discover." The old man's sighing voice echoed in the stone chamber.

Melvin turned around and saw Dumbledore standing by the wall, looking around curiously. His deep blue eyes reflected the firelight, and he even looked eager to try. He didn't look like a centenarian headmaster, but more like a second-year student.

If he hadn't been there, Melvin suspected the principal would have left footprints on the wall as well.

Melvin shook his head and continued walking forward. "Combining school history and legends, this is the Chamber of Secrets that Slytherin and Gryffindor secretly built after a disagreement and a quarrel. They didn't tell the other three founders, and shortly after it was completed, Slytherin left."

"In the centuries since Slytherin's death, past headmasters have collaborated with many historians to conduct numerous investigations. However, no clues have been found. Slytherin only shared the method to open the Chamber of Secrets with his own descendants, the wizards of the Gaunt family."

Dumbledore also knew these records and spoke slowly, "It is said that Slytherin left a monster in the Chamber of Secrets, hoping that the heir would open the chamber at the right time and control the monster to eliminate the Muggle-born students in the school."

In the stone tunnel, soft blue firelight illuminates the aisle, temperature changes drive air convection, and the echoing footsteps make the enclosed space lively.

Melvin controlled the blue flames and led the way, passing through the winding tunnel with the headmaster. "In fact, for the past nine hundred years, the Basilisk has been dormant for a long time and has not actively harmed any students. Myrtle's case was more like an accident. The culprit was Voldemort, who controlled the Basilisk with Parseltongue."

Dumbledore nodded slightly.

Soon they arrived at the end of the tunnel, where a thick stone wall blocked the way. Two stone-carved poisonous snakes were entwined with each other, their necks arched, and the emeralds inlaid in their eyes glowed dimly. A straight crack ran down the middle, indicating that this was a door that opened to the left or right.

"I've always had a question." Melvin used the potion to play the recorded Parseltongue again, turning back to ask the headmaster, "How does the historical community define Slytherin? He's paranoid and irritable, believes in pure-blood supremacy, is obsessed with dark magic, and breeds basilisks... Is he a dark wizard?"

The stone door opened, revealing the true appearance of the secret room.

This is Slytherin's secret room, dark and cold. There are stone carvings of pythons coiled on the stone pillars on both sides, with sharp fangs exposed and forked tongues spitting out. The scales are clearly visible. There are no torches, only fluorescent green clouds flickering in the dome. It is eerie and strange, but also magnificent, like a palace.

In the distance is the statue of Slytherin. He is not handsome, old and bald, and even a little ugly. He stands there with a majestic posture.

Dumbledore stood at the door of the Chamber of Secrets and did not respond for a moment. He just looked at the statue in the distance and then looked at the rubble on the floor. It was broken by the battle between the basilisk and the little wizards. The scene was a bit messy.

"Those who use black magic to pursue personal power and wealth and satisfy their own desires are dark wizards. Those who lack empathy, disregard the lives and dignity of others, and indiscriminately kill innocent people are dark wizards..."

It was not until he stepped into the Chamber of Secrets that he came to a conclusion and said softly, "None of this has anything to do with Mr. Slytherin."

The headmaster's slightly halting words echoed in the chamber. The statue of Slytherin stood in the deepest part of the chamber, as if facing the headmaster across thousands of years.

The Parseltongue voice rang out again.

"What this means is, speak to me, Slytherin, the greatest of the Big Four."

Melvin turned back to explain to the headmaster, adding at the end, "Considering that this is the secret code set by Slytherin himself, I think he might be a narcissist."

The huge stone at the mouth of the statue made a dull sound when it opened and closed. It was far away from the fire, and the fluorescent green light of the clouds was dim. The statue itself was shrouded in shadow. Only the mouth could be seen open, and a vague outline of a giant snake poked its head out and slid along the statue to the front.

The yellow vertical pupils light up, larger than lanterns, with a hint of doubt in their wildness. From a purely visual perspective, such a scene is very worth watching.

But in another dimension, a more hidden magic enveloped them. It was the majestic magic of a nine-hundred-year-old 5X-level dangerous creature, a gaze that represented death and petrification. It was even more terrifying than snake venom, and anyone who touched it would die.

Melvin only set up protection in front of himself, while carefully observing the actions of the legendary wizard around him.

I didn't see clearly what the principal did, but the moment the majestic magic power was about to reach him, it was quietly annihilated by another vast and powerful magic power, just like ice and snow falling into warm water, neutralized and melted without any ripples.

"I noticed its eyelids are quite thick. Did you use Transfiguration to adjust them?"

Dumbledore's expression was very calm when he said this, as if silently protecting himself from the petrification magic was just a trivial action, fully demonstrating the mystery and power of the legendary wizard.

I don’t know if he is pretending or if he is really that powerful.

Melvin didn't reveal his reaction, feigning indifference. "A basilisk can't control its own mortal powers, relying on its gaze to kill. But as long as there's a physical barrier blocking its gaze, it can only petrify. This ensures the students' safety, just like Muggle contact lenses."

Dumbledore nodded slightly and continued to observe.

The basilisk hissed in dissatisfaction, and was very impatient with the two guys who couldn't speak Parseltongue. It had been hit by too many stunning spells during the day, and it was winter now, and the snake's hibernation instinct made it very sleepy.

If it had not slept for eight hundred years before and slept for another fifty years after waking up last time, it would still want to continue sleeping.

Melvin ignored the basilisk's noise and didn't bother with this animal that couldn't even speak human language. He took out a few eight-eyed giant spiders from his pocket and threw them to the basilisk.

The eight-eyed giant spider escaped from the space of the Traceless Extension Spell, immediately expanded and grew larger, and fell to the ground with a dull sound.

The basilisk's yellow eyes lit up, and just as it was about to move forward to enjoy the delicacy, it suddenly noticed that the spider was the wrong color, and raised its head and continued to hiss in dissatisfaction.

Melvin didn't speak Parseltongue, but he still understood what was said. He waved his hands and created two handfuls of scorching flames, roasting the spider in a perfunctory manner until the aroma of roasted protein came out, and then he turned off the flames.

The basilisk enjoyed it happily.

Dumbledore opened his blue eyes and looked at the basilisk swallowing the spider without chewing. After a long silence, he said, "The Acromantula... Does Hagrid know about this?"

“He doesn’t know yet, and even Aragog might not have noticed,” Melvin said calmly. “The giant spider colony reproduces too quickly, and the centaur and unicorn tribes are overwhelmed. The spider colony also doesn’t have enough food to go around, and a batch of them starve to death every winter. I caught a few while they were hibernating to help lighten their burden.”

"..."

Dumbledore's expression was somewhat complicated.

Melvin smiled and whispered, "The book says that basilisks are the natural enemies of the Acromantula. This is because their eight eyes cannot close, making them easily caught by the basilisk's gaze. There's also another reason: the basilisk finds them particularly delicious."

Dumbledore smiled upon hearing this: "How do you want to deal with the basilisk?"

"I'm going to keep it."

"Why?" Dumbledore didn't seem surprised.

"See that scale on its head?" Melvin pointed. The basilisk was immersed in its dinner, its head exposed. A scale on its head was slightly lighter in color, hiding a round, jade-white snake egg. "It's a horned water snake egg. I need the basilisk's magic to hatch it."

Dumbledore followed his gaze, his eyes filled with curiosity. "Is this just a secondary reason?"

"Yes, I think the basilisk should not be executed, nor should it be sent away."

Melvin couldn't explain when or why this idea came to him. Perhaps it was influenced by the Horned Water Serpent. "The basilisk has lived here for nearly a thousand years, longer than any of the teachers or students in the castle. It has never actively harmed any students. Slytherin's purpose in leaving it behind is unknown, but it certainly wasn't to eliminate anyone."

"What are you going to do?"

"It's not certain yet. The initial plan is to completely seal the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Once Harry wakes up, we'll use Parseltongue to put the Basilisk back to sleep."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, then shook his head. "I cannot approve this plan. As long as the Chamber of Secrets exists, as long as the Basilisk still exists, there's a risk of discovery and exploitation. If someone were to manipulate the Basilisk again, they wouldn't even need Parseltongue. Simply luring it out would be fatal to everyone else."

Melvin was speechless for a moment.

The old principal was right. The basilisk was like a flammable and explosive bomb. It could cause casualties just by looking at people. Even if it had no subjective intention to harm students, as long as the basilisk remained in the school, it would be a source of danger to students.

Melvin looked at the basilisk in front of him. It had already eaten seven giant eight-eyed spiders. Its body was bloated and it had difficulty twisting. It was completely devoid of the ferocity and cruelty it had when it faced the students in the morning.

"Move it deep into the Forbidden Forest?"

"The centaur elders will scold me."

"Moving to the African rainforest?"

"That's probably against 470 International Confederation of Wizards laws."

"This won't work, that won't work..." Melvin spread his hands, "There's nothing else to do, just kill him."

Dumbledore glanced at him, ignoring the man's complaints. "I have a friend who is very experienced in dealing with dangerous animals like this. You can ask him to build a terrarium and hide the basilisk in a place only the headmaster knows."

"Mr. Scamander?"

"Yes, he always enjoys dealing with these matters."

Dumbledore said slowly, "Until then, the job of looking after the basilisk will be left to you."

"no problem."

Melvin nodded and agreed, "It just so happens that I need to keep an eye on the hatching of the horned water snakes."

The basilisk lying in front hissed.

The two wizards looked up and saw a bright light. It was not the bright yellow pupils of a snake, but a frosty white light like moonlight.

In the flowing glow, the scales were trembling, the oval snake eggs were vibrating, and a crack spread along the snake eggs, as if wet paper was breaking, with almost no sound.

The light faded, and the basilisk moved in front of the two men. The scales on its head opened, revealing the shriveled snake eggs inside. After the nutrients were absorbed, a wet baby snake remained.

Melvin leaned in to examine it. It was pearly white with a hint of fleshy pink. The scales had not yet taken shape, but resembled some kind of grid pattern, still flowing with the faint moonlight.

There is a small horn on the forehead, which is very inconspicuous.

The eyes are black, like obsidian.

The newly hatched baby snake, not sure if it could see clearly, stared blankly at Melvin in front of it, looking very dull, with its blue-purple tongue sticking out, shaking and trembling constantly.

Melvin couldn't help but smile, and stretched out his index finger to touch the young snake that was so close to him.

The young snake seemed unable to distinguish these fingers. It opened its mouth and bit them, but its teeth had not yet erupted, so no tooth marks could be made, let alone venom. It did not hurt or itch.

Melvin snapped his fingers, and the baby water snake fell backwards. It realized that something was wrong and rubbed its head affectionately against his fingertips.

The remaining fingers hooked onto the snake's body, and the young snake naturally coiled around it, using the fingers as a foothold for climbing. It wrapped around Melvin's hand, and its head nestled against the soft flesh at the tiger's mouth, not rejecting it at all.

Melvin looked at it and chuckled softly, "Little guy, from now on, your name is Yurm Gaunt."

The young snake was unaware and only moved the tip of its tail gently.

"Why did you choose this name?" Dumbledore beside him suddenly asked.

Melvin teased the young snake and explained softly, "It was conceived by the Snake Tree, which was transformed from Slytherin's wand. It should be considered a descendant of Slytherin, hence its last name, Gaunt."

Dumbledore watched the interaction between the man and the snake and couldn't help but think of the Muggle myths.

Jörmungandr, also known as Jörmungandr.

Midgard Serpent, the Serpent of the World.

(End of this chapter)