From Hogwarts to Sturhaven

Just one glance.

Harry thought to himself.

Professor Lockhart might discover that he's a master of Defense Against the Dark Arts just by glancing at him!

It was no different from the portrait Harry saw on the wall when he was put in solitary confinement for a little mud; Professor Lockhart was fiddling with his blond hair.

On his desk sat a small, gleaming silver bowl. Harry suspected it was an eggshell, perhaps the eggshell of some kind of dragon? Harry had only ever seen something of similar size under Hagrid's fireplace, from which a ferocious dragon had emerged, and which was now being kept by Ivy next to Professor Lockhart's office.

Professor Lockhart stirred the silver eggshell with a curling comb, then carefully applied it to a strand of hair and fixed it with a pink curling iron.

Harry shuddered, because Professor Lockhart's expression reminded him of his Muggle Aunt Petunia, who had the same expression when she curled her hair.

There was no doubt that Professor Lockhart enjoyed his alone time. Harry felt he shouldn't disturb him, so he quietly withdrew his head and closed the office door behind him.

He quickened his pace as he passed the girls' restroom. Neither the Myrtle inside nor the Fire Dragon below were people he could muster the courage to face.

"Help! Help!"

Harry suddenly heard someone shouting, a voice he recognized. It was coming from the armored figure standing outside the bathroom door. But his two friends insisted it was a ghost. Who would have three ghosts crammed into one suit of armor?

“Who’s calling for help?” Harry asked the armor.

"Thank God! Finally someone heard us!" "Get us out of here! You damn slowpoke!" "Go find someone else! You can't handle this!"

Harry was startled when three different voices rang out at the same time.

"What exactly happened?" he asked.

"They're fighting!" "The monsters down there are fighting!" "They'll kill everyone they see!"

The dragon is fighting something else? Ron's worst fears have finally come true. Perhaps it won't be long before the castle is completely ablaze.

"He can open that door!" "Speak! Say 'Open'!" "Please let us out!"

"Which door to open?" Harry had barely finished asking when he remembered seeing Ivy in the bathroom that day. Didn't he just say the code word "open"?

"You're under the bathroom?" Harry asked in shock.

"It's not underground! You idiot!" "We're stuck at the door! If you can open the door... we might even need your help..." "We're saved! We're saved!"

Harry pushed open the bathroom door, went to the last tap, and whispered, "Turn it on."

The pool remained unresponsive, and Harry began to wonder if he had been dreaming that day.

Just then, Myrtle burst out of a cubicle, crying, and disappeared into the wall. Harry silently apologized without any remorse.

Chapter 189 Falling Down

The harsh voice snapped angrily: "You hopeless idiot! How can you not even speak properly? Didn't your mother teach you?"

A steady voice stopped his companion: "He's human! Don't be so harsh! Use Parseltongue, child."

The last gentle female voice guided Harry: "Say after me: 'Open'."

“Open,” Harry hissed. He then realized that he had been making this sinister sound when he was talking to the snake.

The faucet emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly. Then the pool started to move as well, and soon disappeared, revealing a very thick water pipe.

"You're actually somewhat useful!" "Great!" "Now catch us by the tail..."

A thick, thorny snake tail, orange with black stripes, emerged.

Harry was so frightened that he fell to the ground: "What a huge snake!"

"Did I scare you? I apologize on their behalf." "Stop talking nonsense, kid! Grab it!" "That's our tail! We thought you knew who you were talking to!"

“Well… it’s just a friendly snake…” Harry muttered, wrapping his hands with his robe to avoid getting pricked by the thorns on its tail.

"Push harder!" the three voices shouted in unison. Harry noticed that the scales on the snake's tail were bulging in rows, as if it were also straining.

"Will this really work?" Harry's face turned red, but the giant snake stuck in the pipe didn't react at all.

"Could it be that you've realized your true gender, Potter? Is that why you're yelling in the girls' restroom?" Before seeing him, she heard his voice, and Harry knew right away that the person was Snape.

He turned his head and saw that Snape had just reached the door of the girls' restroom.

Clearly, Snape was stunned by the enormous pipes in the girls' lavatory and the snake tail in Harry's hand.

“What…” Snape hissed, then roared, “Let it go! You idiot!”

Harry, of course, did not let go. Resisting Snape's orders had become one of his instincts, and he was still waiting to hear that familiar phrase, "Gryffindor minus 5 points!"

As Voldemort's top Death Eater, Snape also had the identity of a spy for the Order of the Phoenix, meaning that Snape's strength was certified by both Voldemort and Dumbledore.

"Potter, come here!" Snape didn't wait for Harry's actions any longer, but instead waved his wand and cast the Summoning Charm.

Harry, who was holding onto the snake's tail, immediately felt a tremendous force coming toward him. The power of magic pulled his two hind legs and dragged him toward Snape.

The sudden weightlessness made Harry instinctively grab the only thing he could hold onto: the colorful and terrifying snake tail in his arms.

"That brat's got some strength!" "It's working! It's working!" "The three of us can't get in each other's way. Once one of us gets out, this space will be much more spacious!"

Before Harry could hear what the three voices were saying, he felt his body flying backward at high speed.

"Ah €€€€"

Harry slammed heavily against the door, causing his glasses to slip off his nose.

As he fumbled for his glasses in the blur, he heard Snape gasp, followed by three voices shouting in unison, "We're free!"

With great difficulty, Harry finally managed to get his eyes back to where they were supposed to be, and then he found himself lying next to Snape's shoes.

Harry first used his elbows to prop himself up and scrambled to his feet. Only then could he see clearly what Snape was confronting—a terrifying giant snake with three enormous heads that almost filled the entire room!

"The monster in the Chamber of Secrets!" Harry immediately thought of Ron and his thesis.

Living beneath the Black Lake are strange snakes of many heads!

Three heads is certainly a lot, since Harry has never seen a creature with two heads before!

Where do the pipes in the washroom lead? Where else could they go besides the Black Lake? Hogwarts isn't even near the sea!

The behemoth before them perfectly matched their predictions!

Am I really a genius?

No one could answer the questions in Harry's mind, because the situation in that small bathroom was far more complex than what a teenager could imagine.

Each of the three giant serpent's heads lowered, hissing and flicking its tongue.

“We want to thank you, child,” said the middle head, and Harry realized it was the gentle female voice.

"How about a kiss of deadly poison?" The voice on the right was harsh and impatient, his tongue flicking fiercely.

The one on the left said in a calm voice, "I suggest you run now, the thing below is about to come out."

Harry was about to reply when Snape pulled him behind him.

As a Potions professor, a master of dark magic, and a skilled duelist, Snape certainly heard Harry's words about the "monster in the Chamber of Secrets," which is why he was so nervous.

The legend of the Chamber of Secrets has been passed down in this castle for thousands of years, and today Snape, as the headmaster of Slytherin, finally has the opportunity to face this monster.

The giant serpent's three heads stood right in front of them, hissing and flicking its tongue. Snape felt he had to do something.

He reasoned that the legendary monster hidden in the secret chamber would carry out the heir's orders and purge all those in the school who were unworthy of learning magic.

Harry's mother was a Muggle-born wizard, and Snape himself called himself the "Half-Blood Prince," so he hardly fits the description of Salazar—Slytherin's idea that he was born to learn magic.

"Divine Sharpness Without Shadow!" The half-blood prince immediately unleashed his most powerful dark magic.

The invisible magical blade sliced ​​off a row of thorns from the middle of the giant snake's head in the blink of an eye. It was clear that Snape had aimed for the eyes, but missed by a tiny bit. The damage caused by this spell was not enough to affect the entire giant snake.

“How rude!” Harry heard the snake head in the middle complain.

"Kill them!" suggested the snake head on the right.

"We are not allowed to harm the people in this castle! Leave, we are free!" The snake head on the left stopped its irritable companion.

The giant snake tail swept across the cubicle in the bathroom, smashing the peeling green wooden structure to pieces. The three snake heads retracted, dodging Snape's second spell.

"Thunder Explosion!" Snape changed tactics. The serpent's agility was beyond imagination, and he needed a spell with a wider area of ​​effect.

However, the red light emitted by the wand only hit a toilet that flew through the air. Ceramic shards exploded throughout the entire bathroom, accompanied by splashes of water gushing from the tank.

Harry raised his arms to cover his head and face; if he were cut by these shards, the famous Potter would be disfigured.

"Armor protects you!"

A pale golden magical barrier suddenly appeared, blocking all the debris rushing towards the two of them.

With a loud bang, the three-headed giant snake smashed through the bathroom wall and fled.

In a daze, Harry thought he heard Professor Lockhart's voice; his office was right next door.

"There really is a monster!"

Lockhart had been trying to figure out what was going on on this floor, but as soon as he opened the door, he saw a three-headed serpent walk past his doorway. Startled, he immediately slammed the door shut, even locking it, and moved his massive solid wood desk to block the entrance.

“That’s a giant rune serpent!” In the bathroom, Snape’s black eyes stared at Harry’s green eyes without blinking.

“What snake?” Harry asked instinctively, but he quickly tried to salvage the situation before Snape would deduct points from his score, after causing such a mess. “You know, Professor… uh, I’m only a second-year student, and I haven’t started learning about protecting magical creatures yet…”

“I never thought you were the heir to Slytherin…” Snape had no intention of answering Harry’s question or listening to his excuses; he just kept talking to himself.

“It wasn’t me!” Harry vehemently denied. “I saw someone else…”