From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

"Professor William."

Myrtle didn't cry all the time, as other ghosts said, or rather, she had already composed herself when she was invited to William's office.

Although it is strictly forbidden to go out alone in the castle at night, and even the professor is restricted, thanks to William's recent crazy conversations with ghosts, he managed to get other ghosts to summon the weeping Myrtle with a single letter.

"Hello, Myrtle."

William politely invited Myrtle to sit down, and then sat down in the chair opposite her.

“I don’t know why you’re looking for me, Professor William,” she shook her head. “Oliver Humbell (note) is not dead yet, and I don’t want to go any further.”

"It's understandable; after all, some people stay for certain reasons."

William nodded in agreement. "I have a question for you, not about continuing on, but rather, can we talk about how you died?"

Normally, ghosts don't shy away from death and might even enjoy discussing it, but William couldn't guarantee that the other person wasn't a weirdo.

Fortunately, Myrtle was a ghost more normal than any other ghost; when William talked about death, she even looked somewhat honored.

"I remember, I remember, of course I remember."

She looked impatient. "Olive Honbey laughed at me for looking like a four-eyed dog with my glasses on, so I hid in the toilet."

I locked the door and cried inside. Suddenly I heard someone come in, but soon I heard a boy's voice.

So I opened the door, yelled at him to go away and go to his own boys' restroom, and then—"

Myrtle puffed out her chest, radiant with pride, and declared, "I'm dead."

"Did he cast a spell on you?"

William was certain that the so-called boy was the Dark Lord, but a question arose—did the Dark Lord have this kind of fetish?

"No, I didn't hear any incantation. I only remember seeing a pair of frighteningly large yellow eyes."

"Eye?"

"Of course, I remember it clearly. After that, it felt like my whole body was grabbed and then I floated away..."

'Inferiority complex! It's not a weapon, it's a monster, a monster that's lived for a thousand years!'

William roared inwardly—a monster with enormous eyes, capable of killing with a single glare, and living for a thousand years, is rare indeed.

'Ask Hagrid, or consult a book; you'll find the answer soon!'

Note: Oliver Humbell, after mocking Myrtle, was relentlessly pursued and tormented by her ghost, even after graduation. Myrtle's antics forced him to seek help from the Ministry of Magic to expel her from Hogwarts…

Chapter 202 It's you, Basilisk!

After seeing off Myrtle, who had become quite talkative about death, William made an exception and rewarded himself with a piece of chocolate.

'Huh?'

He casually flipped open the gift card and found it was a brand new one.

HerpotheFoul (Note: This card really exists)

The first Greek black wizard to create a basilisk.

'Why are they stuffing all sorts of weird cards into the Chocolate Frog?' William muttered casually, preparing to stuff the cards into his already accumulated card pile.

But just as he was about to put the card in, he suddenly stopped.

'A basilisk?'

He seemed to have heard the word somewhere before, but he couldn't quite remember where.

My memory is hazy, but it must have been in Azkaban.

William tried hard to recall, and those random, incoherent conversations swished wildly through his mind.

A group of bored prisoners, tired of feeding fleas, started talking about Muggles and their legends, saying that there were basilisks in Muggle territory too—no, not the bored prisoners, but the centaur researcher with several publications, the one who almost came to work at Hogwarts with him!

'You ignorant fools, haven't you even heard of the basilisks in Muggle legends or the basilisks in the wizarding world?'

On the door and window of the cell next door, the professor, with a disdainful look, was explaining to William and his group—'That's right, if you put a male egg under a toad's body to incubate, it will hatch into a basilisk!'

'But what's the use?' William casually stuffed the card into his deck. 'Is there some kind of basilisk monster in the castle?'

He shook his head, put on his robes, and prepared to set off to find Dumbledore.

Although it was already midnight, the situation was urgent, and he figured the headmaster wouldn't mind—he'd seen plenty of similar scenarios where someone went to find Hagrid late at night, only to be double-killed by the real killer in Hagrid's hut after leaving the castle.

-

"Hold it in, William, don't laugh. For your salary, for your job, for your safety, please hold it in!"

In Dumbledore's office, William forced himself to control his expression.

There was no way around it; Dumbledore's pajamas were just too—too in line with his usual style, especially that flat-topped tassel cap, it was almost unbelievable that the First White Wizard was wearing it.

But Dumbledore's expression was anything but casual, as he looked at William with a serious expression.

"Professor William, has there been another attack?"

“No, Professor.” William looked at Dumbledore seriously. “If I’m not mistaken, I’ve figured out what’s in the Chamber of Secrets.”

"A secret room?"

Dumbledore's expression suddenly turned quite strange. "Where is it?"

“I don’t know yet, but I think I have the answer now about what’s inside the secret room—” William took out the parchment he had prepared and placed it on the table. “I found the victim from back then, and she told me what she saw.”

William quickly skipped over the questions he had written down and placed his finger on the points of doubt he had summarized.

"A thousand-year lifespan, enormous eyes, and the ability to glare at people can trigger a curse; I think that's enough."

“Of course,” Dumbledore said, a rare look of joy on his face. “Professor Celticburn and Hagrid will find this guy easily.”

“Phineas,” Dumbledore turned to look at the portrait behind him, “could you please go and call Professor Celticburn?”

-

"A thousand-year lifespan, enormous eyes, and just staring at people works?"

The old professor stared at the conditions William had written down and began to ponder them, while Hagrid remained silent, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"It's a basilisk!"

The two gave the answer almost simultaneously, and then Hagrid scratched his head sheepishly, "You go ahead, Professor."

“Alright,” the old professor was no longer sleepy from being woken up in the middle of the night. He held William’s parchment and gestured with his only hand. “Theoretically, a basilisk should be able to live for a thousand years. The first basilisk’s breeder, Helbo, had a basilisk that lived for almost nine hundred years. If Slytherin himself casts some kind of magic to extend its lifespan, a thousand years should be no problem.”

"Hmm, the basilisk attacks with its venomous fangs and eyes. Its eyes are particularly lethal, it seems..."

The old professor hesitated, then used his wooden prosthetic hand to slam his fist on the table.

"The first attack can be understood as it seeing the poor fat monk and then sending the student to the hospital, but how come so many people were unharmed in the second attack?"

"Could it be that he's nearsighted?"

A sudden remark interrupted, infuriating the old professor: "Is nearsightedness absurd? That's a curse-like power, how could it be weakened by nearsightedness?!"

Who is it?

William couldn't help but glance at it, but could only conclude that it was the painting behind Dumbledore that was speaking; he had no idea who it was.

'Dumbledore must be listening to a bunch of stand-up comedy routines all day long...' William thought to himself, irresponsibly muttering to himself about the portraits of the school principals.

"Perhaps aging has weakened his magical powers," the old professor shook his head helplessly. "It's hard to say for sure. I've only heard of basilisks that have lived for thousands of years..."

A thousand-year-old serpent monster, it has become a spirit even after changing maps.

William had no desire to get involved in such a high-level topic. If he were to consider it himself, he would need to bring along a dozen Dumbledores to be on the safe side. A thousand-year-old serpent demon is not something an ordinary wizard can bully.

"So, Albus?" the old professor suddenly perked up, "Where is that serpent monster?"

"Professor!" Hagrid's expression became anxious. "I said you have to explain, not arrest me!"

"I'm retiring next year!" The old professor said proudly, straightening his posture a bit, with an expression that said, "Dumbledore, I won't leave until you agree."

“I’m sorry,” William said apologetically, “I only have a guess about what it is; I haven’t found the location of the secret room yet.”

He had already anticipated the old professor's dejected expression, but Dumbledore interrupted him with a smile, "No, Professor William, you've found it."

"found it?"

William raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Yes,” Dumbledore said, pointing to the papers he had brought. “You don’t know Tom. He has never had that kind of hobby. He is an excellent student and would never do something like casually going into the women’s restroom.”

“So, without a doubt, the location of the Chamber of Secrets is over there,” Dumbledore said, tracing the descriptions with his finger, “right next to the toilet where Myrtle died.”

"bathroom?"

Different exclamations came from the portraits behind.

"No wonder I can't find it!"

"No wonder I didn't see any problems even after I repaired the entire school during the holidays. What wizard would dare to thoroughly inspect the girls' restrooms!"

……

Chapter 203 Shocking! The Principal Leads a Group of Wizards into This Place at Night!

William was speechless at this point—whether it was the portraits of the past headmasters behind Dumbledore or the Dark Lord.

Especially the Dark Lord. If you say he's not respectable, Dumbledore himself said that the Dark Lord had no bad habits and it was impossible for him to be spying on the girls' restroom. But if you say he's a person with firm beliefs who doesn't succumb to worldly desires, then how did he find out?

Surely they couldn't have found a map left behind by Slytherin—there probably isn't one, otherwise someone would have discovered it long ago.

It's strange, but now is clearly not the time to discuss this issue.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

The old professor stomped his wooden leg, making a creaking sound. "Let's go catch that basilisk monster!"

“Don’t rush,” Dumbledore said gently. “Wait for Minerva and the others. I’ll go and inform them.”

He looked at the old professor and said, “I assure you, it will be yours, Silvanos.”

Even from a great height, William could clearly see the childlike sulking on Hagrid's face—this gave him a completely new understanding of the subject of magical creatures…

"That's exactly what I've been waiting for, Albus!" The old professor smiled broadly. "Little Rubeus, I assure you, I will wholeheartedly recommend you for the position!"