A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

The phoenix flew away down the water pipe.

Meeting Felix's questioning gaze, Dumbledore explained, "Fox is too weak right now; it can't carry the three of us. If Harry is in danger, Fox will sense his location if he genuinely seeks help."

Just then, a cold voice came from outside the door, "Excuse me, I think there are four people." Professor Snape appeared, wearing a dark green nightgown, his hair disheveled, and slightly out of breath.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, looking at him, "you've come too."

"How could I not come, Potter... A Hogwarts student's life is threatened!" Snape was in a bad mood. "What are we waiting for? Do we want to throw a party here?"

"That's right, Severus." Dumbledore seemed to realize something, and he glanced at the four people present. "Miss Granger..."

"I want to get down!" Hermione said quickly. "I won't hold you back, I can, um..."

She spotted the schoolbag in the corner, her eyes lit up, and she ran over to rummage through it, finally finding a magic scroll.

"Headmaster, Professor, this is Harry's scroll, which contains some Parsley pronunciations. I think it might be useful."

"What is this?" Dumbledore looked surprised and turned to Felix.

"We mentioned it..." Felix said subtly, and the principal understood.

"Very good, Granger," Dumbledore praised.

Hermione tried her best not to show any smugness.

Dumbledore touched her shoulder with his wand, and she felt herself become light and airy, and with a little effort, she floated off the ground.

Then, the three of them cast a levitation spell on themselves. "Ready?" Dumbledore received an affirmative answer, and he waved his wand. The four of them floated into the dark pipe like light soap bubbles.

Next came a long underground tunnel, which Felix wasn't sure was five or ten kilometers long. The tunnel was winding and twisting, and sometimes it spiraled downwards.

With the help of the magical glow, Felix could see that the inner walls of the slide were covered in a sticky, wet liquid, and that many tubes branched out in all directions.

Finally, the downward slide became horizontal. They came to a circular open space, the ground filled with water, and on the water were countless pale rat skeletons.

At this moment, they stood atop a massive pile of bones.

The tunnel was as silent as a tomb.

Dumbledore looked around with a serious expression. He had never seen this place before. He said softly, "A huge undertaking... It seems Slytherin has spent quite a bit of time on this."

The four walked toward the largest tunnel entrance, and in the distance, Felix saw a huge, coiled creature.

"Close your eyes!" he shouted quickly.

Hermione obediently closed her eyes, and Dumbledore and Snape simultaneously drew their wands.

Following his instincts, Felix unleashed a blazing red light, the wrist-thick incantation striking the colossal creature's body with a deafening roar.

At the same time, there was also a very subtle sound of wind—this was Snape's spell.

Dumbledore also intervened, casting a faint golden shield over the four of them.

After waiting a moment, there was no hissing or movement of the basilisk as expected.

Felix opened his eyes. The enormous creature had been shattered into several pieces, but there was no smell of blood.

He and Snape went up to it and found that it was a huge snakeskin, green and shiny, but covered with a layer of dust, making it look grayish-green.

"The basilisk is at least twenty feet long—and," Felix said, "an excellent cutting spell, Professor Snape."

Snape retorted, "You're not bad either, Felix. Your Stun effect is almost as good as the Explosion Curse."

Hermione and Dumbledore approached, and Hermione carefully examined the remains of the snake skin. A third of it had been blasted into fragments—a testament to Professor Hyp's magic—and the remaining part was cut in half with smooth, clean cuts, clearly the work of some powerful cutting magic.

The little witch picked up a piece of snake skin; it was hard as a rock, like a piece of metal, and she couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.

Dumbledore examined the basilisk's shed skin carefully. "It's been quite a while. It's probably left behind by the basilisk when the Chamber of Secrets was last opened."

Just then, a clear phoenix cry came from afar.

"We need to speed things up." Dumbledore took the lead and walked ahead.

They rounded bend after bend, their feet splashing and sloshing through the wet puddles. Hermione felt the sticky sensation under her feet, her nerves trembling uncomfortably, and all she wanted was for this to end as soon as possible.

Finally, they came to a solid wall with a round iron door embedded in it. The arrangement resembled the round door of the Gryffindor common room, but instead of a portrait, it featured seven intertwined snakes with large, glittering emeralds in their eyes. Their tails met, their heads spread out, completely sealing the entrance.

"It's obvious we need an entry command or forced destruction," Felix said.

Snape waved his wand, and under the influence of an invisible cutting charm, the iron switch burst into a brilliant green glow. When everything returned to calm, the round iron door was intact.

Dumbledore ran his fingers over the twisted snake on the iron gate, then shook his head. "I can break it open, but that will take time." He looked at Felix.

Felix understood and took out a scroll, tossing it high into the air. The magic scroll quickly unfurled, spreading out to a length of seven or eight meters.

He tapped his wand on it and whispered, "Open." The words on the magic scroll began to twist, deform, and recombine, and soon a vortex appeared in the center of the scroll.

The four people present heard a strange hissing sound coming from the magic scroll.

The next moment, the circular iron gate moved. From where the snakes' tails met, an even smaller snake swam out, circled the iron gate once, and then with a "click," the gate opened.

"Professor, what is this?" Hermione asked curiously, as she was unaware that magic scrolls had this function.

"It can translate my words into Parseltongue, provided that it has enough Parseltongue information stored inside."

Dumbledore said with admiration, "Is this the idea you and I discussed during the interview—combining Muggle wisdom with magic?"

Snape and Hermione's eyes fell on him at the same time.

Felix said calmly, "It's just an experiment."

"Felix," Dumbledore said, "there are not many wizards as open-minded as you left."

The group continued forward, passing through a circular iron gate. Before them lay a long, dimly lit space. The space was shaped like a hammer, with the handle forming a wide passageway in front of them. On either side of the passageway were many stone pillars carved with coiled serpents.

These towering stone pillars support the high, dark ceiling, casting long, eerie shadows in the glowing green light.

At the far end of the space was an open area, shaped like the square head of a hammer. At the edge of the open area was a statue as tall as the room itself, pressed tightly against the dark wall behind it.

Felix recognized it almost immediately as a Slytherin statue; he had seen similar things in many books.

His gaze fell on the open ground, where a fierce battle was taking place.

A blind basilisk, thirty feet long, writhed wildly, each swing sending up a shower of stones, which a young wizard dodged in disarray.

It was Harry Potter.