Hogwarts: Oh no, I've become Voldemort!

This is a good thing.

Cyrus walked to the sink, where the mirror reflected Ginny's lovely face. Ginny's appearance wasn't entirely unrelated to her character in the movie; in fact, she was far more adorable.

He praised it and, following Riddle's memory, found the non-flowing brass faucet with an inconspicuous snake engraved on its side.

"Open!"

Cyrus opened his mouth and let out a terrifying hiss. He had inherited all of Riddle's talents, including Parsleyan.

Suddenly, the dragon head emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly. Then, the pool also began to move, slowly sinking and disappearing from his sight, revealing a very thick water pipe, large enough for a person to crawl into.

Cyrus jumped down without hesitation, and of course, he didn't forget to close the door to the secret chamber to prevent any accidents.

It was like rushing down a dark, sticky, endless slide. He could see many pipes branching out in all directions, but none were as thick as this one. Before long, the slide was almost at the bottom, a black rock tunnel.

Cyrus cast a flight spell to lift himself up so as not to fall to the ground.

The rock tunnel was very damp and full of mud, but he was quite clean.

"Sunlight shimmering—"

A tremendous beam of light shot out from the wand, hanging above Cyrus's head like a sun, illuminating almost the entire tunnel.

The tunnel leading to the secret chamber was dark and damp, probably because it was built below the Black Lake. The stalactites overhead would drip water from time to time, making the cave path very muddy.

Cyrus was glad Voldemort had invented a flying charm, because the thought that the water dripping from above connected to the Black Lake, which was where so many toilets at Hogwarts were piled up, made him feel uneasy.

However, in reality, not to mention that the huge black lake itself has enough self-purification ability to deal with the filth, the process of water droplets seeping down from the soil has already filtered out the impurities.

Continuing further in, a gigantic monster with a mouth large enough to swallow an adult whole came into view. Its terrifying silhouette was vividly depicted in the darkness. This was the snake king's shed skin, a layer of snake skin that was valuable from head to toe.

Voldemort looked down on this thing, but Cyrus found it rather unusual. After all, basilisks hadn't appeared in Britain for many years.

Even if there are basilisks in other places, they may not grow to such a size or have such a long lifespan.

"We can figure out a way to take it with us then!"

The basilisk's skin has strong magic resistance, making it extremely valuable whether used for armor, for making medicinal wine, or as an ingredient in potions.

Taking it away isn't difficult either; all you need to do is create a large suitcase using the Seamless Stretch Charm, and then find an opportunity to smuggle it out of Hogwarts. The Christmas holidays would be a good time.

Walking around the giant snakeskin and into the tunnel, which twisted and turned, we finally found a solid wall in front of us, with two intertwined snakes carved on it, their eyes inlaid with large, sparkling emeralds.

"Open!"

Cyrus hissed, sounding like an evil incantation, as if he were the serpent's sovereign, commanding everything here!

The two snakes parted, the stone wall split in the middle, and slowly slid to both sides, disappearing from sight. Behind the door was a long, dimly lit room. Many stone pillars, carved with coiled and intertwined snakes, towered high, supporting the ceiling that dissolved into the darkness above, casting long, eerie shadows into the entire room, which was filled with a mysterious, verdant mist.

Cyrus, holding Ginny's wand, strode forward among the stone pillars coiled with giant snakes.

He knew this place so well, as if he were back in his own home, and his footsteps echoed hollowly and loudly among the ghostly shadows on the walls.

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.

It was an old, monkey-like face, with a long sparse beard that almost reached the hem of the wizard's robe carved out of stone, and two large gray feet standing on the smooth floor of the room.

Is this Slytherin herself?

Cyrus looked up. The statue was ugly, but it didn't matter; he was handsome, after all. And compared to Slytherin's power, his appearance was no longer that important.

"Speak to me, Slytherin - the greatest of the Hogwarts Four."

Slytherin's enormous stone face began to move; its mouth opened wider and wider until it formed a huge black hole.

Cyrus closed his eyes to avoid being harmed by the basilisk's magic. Then he heard something moving inside the statue's mouth, rustling and sliding upwards from its depths. A moment later, something heavy crashed to the ground, and the entire chamber shook.

He could hear its heavy body slowly gliding across the dusty ground.

Not long after, Cyrus opened his eyes again and saw the basilisk's appearance with his own eyes.

Its scales were green, but they reflected a colorful luster. Its huge body swam across the floor of the secret chamber, forming a huge circle around Cyrus. Finally, its upper body stood up from behind Cyrus, and its eyes, bigger than light bulbs, hovered above Cyrus's head!

This is proof of its obedience. The innate Parsnip language has the power to subdue snakes, but the Parsnip language learned later is merely a language.

Having slept for fifty years, which is but a fleeting moment in the basilisk's life, it now seems to have been given a chance to be reborn, unleashing terrifying magic with abandon.

"Quiet!"

Cyrus commanded.

The basilisk immediately bowed its head.

"Don't worry, you'll be free to move around soon. Until then, we need to be patient." Cyrus smiled slightly. He had only come to check on the basilisk's condition; the attack would have to wait until Halloween Eve. Hogwarts' Halloween celebration would feel incomplete without some unexpected events.

After all, who can say that this festival of ghosts doesn't have some kind of magic?

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Chapter 10 Ginny's Suspicion

The next morning, Ginny got out of bed, clutching her head.

She felt a little dizzy, as if she hadn't rested well. But she knew she couldn't lie there any longer; if she slept any longer, the class would probably start soon.

So she quickly sat up, started getting dressed, combing her hair, and then went to wash up.

But when she came back to get her textbooks after washing up, she found that her roommates were still lying on their beds, fast asleep.

"Hey—get up quickly, or you'll be late for class!" she called out.

However, a head poked out from behind the curtains of the bed next door: "Ginny, are you still half asleep? It's the weekend!"

"The weekend?" Ginny's eyes widened.

How could it be the weekend?

She clearly remembers that she went to bed on Thursday.

Did I sleep all day?

They even say that this world is actually a world of science fiction?

"Of course it's the weekend! Wasn't yesterday Friday? You said you weren't feeling well and even asked Colin to call in sick for you. Are you still not feeling better? Should you go to the school clinic?" Several roommates immediately asked with concern.

"It's nothing... I might have misremembered." Ginny scratched her head, slowly sat back on the edge of the bed, and turned her gaze to her small desk. There was nothing on the desk, but the diary was hidden in the drawer.

'Is that you, Mr. Riddle?'

Despite having some doubts, Ginny kept them to herself.

Now that things have come to this, if she were to tell her parents about the diary, she would definitely get a scolding. She didn't want to receive a yelling letter while she was eating; if that happened, she'd rather die!

On the other hand, Ginny was unwilling to believe that "Mr. Riddle" would hurt her.

Just like now, although I have lost a small part of my memory, I don't seem to have been harmed.

'Perhaps Mr. Riddle has other reasons?' She wanted to immediately open the diary and find out everything, but when her hand touched the drawer, she hesitated. She was afraid it was all a lie, that from head to toe, 'Mr. Riddle' was just trying to gain her trust.

She considered Mr. Riddle a friend and told him all her secrets. What should she do if she was truly betrayed?

Thinking about this, Ginny suddenly realized that she knew absolutely nothing about "Mr. Riddle".

She had only seen the honors the other person had received in the medal display room, but what about everything else?

What kind of person is Tom Riddle?

He seems so outstanding, perhaps as good as Percy?

No, he's much more interesting than Percy, and not so rigid at all. Ginny thought about how "Mr. Riddle" had been encouraging her to break some trivial school rules these past few days, which was quite amusing; he'd also taught her many little curses that weren't in textbooks, saying to use them on anyone she got into a fight with!

'He's nothing like Percy, more like Bill,' Ginny thought, growing happier and happier, increasingly convinced that 'Mr. Riddle' couldn't possibly harm her. But this brought the question back to square one—was 'Mr. Riddle' really behind this, and if so, why would he do it?

Should I continue communicating with Mr. Riddle?

Ginny was troubled by a series of problems, which made her a little irritable. She wanted to go back to sleep, but she couldn't fall asleep at all.

So she simply got up and quietly walked to the common lounge.

“Hey, Ginny!” Ron called out to her, still half asleep. “Could you go and call Hermione for me? Harry went to Quidditch practice this morning, and we’re planning to go check it out. You can come with us too.”

“Oh, okay, but I’m not in the mood right now.” Ginny simply nodded and turned to look for Hermione’s bedroom.

A few minutes later, Ginny and Hermione came downstairs in a hurry.

"Aren't you really coming with us, Ginny?" Ron seemed much more awake now. He was a little puzzled. His sister usually idolized Harry, wanting to be glued to him all the time, but now she didn't seem so interested in him anymore.

This isn't surprising, though. Leaving aside the legends, Harry is just an ordinary wizard. Ron himself realized this through their interactions. Of course, stripped of the legends, Harry is still a great friend, much better than that good-for-nothing Lockhart!

Ginny hesitated for a moment. She hadn't really been in the mood, but remembering how "Mr. Riddle" sometimes cheered her up, she suddenly thought it wouldn't hurt to go see him. Besides, she had nothing else to do at the moment, because she discovered that "Mr. Riddle" had thoughtfully finished all her weekend homework…

"Ok."

The three of them first went to the hall to get some food, and then went to the playground together. The Quidditch stands were empty, almost no one was there, and there was not a single person in the arena either.

However, she did see Colin frantically taking pictures everywhere with his camera.

The three of them sat in a row, the morning mist on the playground not yet completely dissipated.

A moment later, Harry and the other team members, dressed in their Quidditch uniforms, emerged. It looked like they were about to begin training again. Ron was surprised by the intensity of Quidditch training, as Harry had set off before dawn.

"You're not finished practicing yet?"

"Not finished practicing yet? No! It hasn't even started!" Harry shook his head and said, "Wood has been explaining tactics for hours, and I'm starving."

"Want something to eat?" Ginny handed over the bread in her hand; she didn't have much of an appetite.