Hogwarts: A Chinese-Style Professor

Chapter 61 Trembling Courage

Harry didn't know what he was thinking.

He saw Professor Li Wei open the secret room and disappear at the entrance.

So he instinctively followed.

"call----"

The entrance to the secret room was dark and deep, with a cold wind constantly blowing out.

This time, there was no Hermione, no Ron, only himself.
A cold wind carrying a fishy stench blew against his body, and Harry suddenly shivered uncontrollably—his heart was on fire, but his body was like ice.

but.

He cannot escape.

Headmaster Dumbledore has already been expelled from the school, Professor Snape's dueling skills are clearly inferior to Professor Levy's—and the other professors are no match for Professor Levy either—there's no time to call them all.

Who else but him could do this right now?

We have no choice but to do it! We absolutely must do it!
Moreover, Harry didn't believe it; he didn't believe that everything that had happened before was caused by Professor Levy.

He wants to figure everything out and find out the truth.

It's strange. He usually feels nervous even when he makes eye contact with Professor Li Wei, so why does he have the courage to face him now?

Harry looked at the thick water pipe in front of him and gave a dry laugh.

Then, he took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and slid down!

All he could see was darkness, and the parts of his body that came into contact with the pipes felt unpleasantly sticky—Harry was rushing down into an endless tunnel, and he saw many more pipes branching off in all directions, but he was only going down the thickest and steepest one.

Harry knew he had slid very, very deep beneath the school grounds, even deeper than the underground classrooms.

But at this moment, he still had the energy to think about other things—he could hear the slight clattering sound of himself hitting the pipe at the corner, and his mind was replaying the scene of him playing Quidditch with everyone the day before, as well as his progress over the past few months—he could have done better.

Regarding that story—"The Hairy Heart of the Male Wizard"—if he had paid more attention to it, been more outstanding—if he had also been able to join Professor Levy's study group, would he have been able to foresee some things earlier?

Just as Harry was starting to worry about what was going to happen next, he suddenly collapsed onto the damp ground with a "plop"—he had reached the finish line.

This is a dark stone tunnel, large enough for a person to stand inside.

"Fluorescence."

Harry whispered something to his wand, glancing around at the dark, sticky walls.

His feet stomped loudly on the damp ground—a sound that was clearly jarring in the current environment.

He thought for a moment, then quickly took off his leather boots—his socked feet stepped back onto the ground, and this time there was no problem.

'If Hermione were here, she would surely have a better solution, right? Unfortunately, I still don't know enough spells.'

With that thought in mind, Harry pursed his lips and silently moved forward.

It was too dark in the tunnel; he could only see a small area in front of him.

The light from his wand cast his shadow on the damp wall, making him look like a monster—the tunnel was as silent as a tomb, and Harry continued forward in silence—trying not to imagine what lay at the end of the tunnel.

Then we turned another dark bend.

Harry's figure froze in place instinctively.

The outline of a coiled, enormous creature lay motionless on the other side of the tunnel.

"Dong dong——!"

He felt his heart pounding and a dull ache in his chest.

He squinted his eyes as small as possible, yet still managed to see—light shone on a huge, vibrant green snakeskin, clearly the skin of a venomous snake, coiled on the tunnel floor, hollow inside.

Clearly, the animal that shed its skin was at least twenty feet long.

“Hah—” Harry felt his breath trembling.

He walked across the huge snakeskin alone.

The tunnel twisted and turned.

Every nerve in his body was trembling.

He hoped to reach the end of the tunnel quickly, yet he was also afraid of what would happen at the end.

But the tunnel really did come to an end.
A solid wall stood before Harry, carved with two intertwined snakes, their eyes inlaid with large, glittering emeralds.

Harry approached step by step, feeling his throat go dry.

But he knew what he had to do.

"(Open)"

He hissed out a low, hoarse voice.

The two snakes separated, and the stone wall split in the middle, slowly sliding to both sides and disappearing.

Harry couldn't control the trembling in his body.

He controlled his trembling as he walked inside.

Stone pillars carved with giant snakes coiled and intertwined, supporting the ceiling that melted into the darkness above, casting long, eerie shadows across the entire room, which was filled with a mysterious, verdant mist.

Harry moved slowly among the stone pillars that resembled giant snakes, each step causing a small, grating sound as his green-slippery socks stuck to the ground.

Under pressure, his stomach began to cramp and ache uncontrollably.

But to his relief, he had not heard the basilisk's voice until now.

When he walked to a position parallel to the last pair of stone pillars, a statue as tall as the room itself suddenly appeared before him, pressed against the dark wall behind it.

Harry had to crane his neck to see the enormous face above him—an old, monkey-like face with a sparse, long beard that stretched almost to the hem of his stone-carved wizard's robes.

Before this strangely shaped stone sculpture stands a dignified figure.

Professor Levi, Harry, watched his retreating figure and suddenly felt a lump in his throat.

What is Professor Li Wei going to do?
Release the basilisk? Kill them all?

Harry thought back to Christmas Day two days ago, when they were playing Quidditch in the snow, and Professor Levy was watching them with such a gentle gaze.
But now, why? Were all those performances, all that serious effort in class, just a facade to deceive them? Harry, wearing the Invisibility Cloak, trembled as he slowly raised his wand and pointed it at Levi's back.

Right now, all it takes is one binding spell taught by the professor, and everything will be over.

But, is this really good?
Harry thought of the story Ron had told him before: Professor Levi went mad because his heart had grown hair.

Can I save him?

save?

Do you deserve it?

Harry Potter, do you really think you're the savior? That's something even the wizard's lover couldn't do in the story.
Harry tried desperately to think, but his mind went completely blank.

His hand gripping the wand trembled uncontrollably, his teeth clenched so tightly they almost bled, but he couldn't utter the spell!

But just as Harry was hesitating, Levi's voice suddenly rang out, echoing throughout the underground.

"(wake up)"

Harry lowered his head sharply, unable to look at what was in front of him.
A sticky, wet sound reached his ears, like the wriggling of some kind of tentacles or worms, but much larger and longer. Harry's expression was pained, and his hand holding the wand fell limply. He realized that because of his earlier hesitation, he had missed the chance to stop Professor Levy.

But then, he heard a sound that filled him with ecstasy!

　As I write this, my stomach cramps, and the pain makes it impossible to write the next chapter.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)