A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

But the sound was faint, and Harry would lose track of it from time to time, forcing him to climb up and down to confirm its location.

The three of them ran for most of the day and were panting heavily.

"It went back? Maybe it just came out for a walk?" Ron asked expectantly.

“Absolutely not!” Harry said. “It wants to kill, it says it craves blood!”

"Tear you...to shreds..."

Harry jerked his head up; the voice was above him.

"It's upstairs!"

Harry ran upstairs quickly, leaving Ron and Hermione far behind.

As he turned a corner, he saw Justin coming alone from the other side of the corridor.

"He's out...murder...torn to pieces..."

Harry's face was filled with terror; it was too late. He shouted at Justin, "Close your eyes, Justin! Close your eyes! The Basilisk is coming out of the Chamber of Secrets!"

Justin, who had been avoiding Harry for the past few days, asked in surprise, "What?"

Harry didn't have time to explain; he had already clearly heard the "click-clack" sound. That must be the basilisk; it was about to come out and kill people!

“Obstacles everywhere!” Harry pulled out his wand and cast an Obstacle Charm that sent Justin flying, his face still showing surprise and fear.

Harry lunged at Justin to drag him away, but it wasn't easy—Justin struggled desperately after breaking free of the spell, and the two became entangled.

"What are you doing? Harry, what are you doing!"

"Shut up! I'm saving your life!" Harry punched him hard to quiet him down. "Listen! The Chamber of Secrets monster is out, and its eyes can kill, so close your eyes now."

The rustling sound came from the corridor and was particularly clear.

Justin closed his eyes tightly, his body trembling uncontrollably. Harry also closed his eyes, fumbling for his wand with one hand—his wand had fallen to the ground during their brief struggle.

“Are we going to die, Harry? I don’t want to die, Harry. I’m sorry I misunderstood you,” Justin said incoherently.

"Shut up!" Harry yelled, the clear echo reverberating down the corridor.

He stumbled upon a small stick, which was his wand, but he was completely unable to fight the basilisk, his eyes were still closed!

A door was kicked open, and the clattering sound grew closer. Harry judged that the basilisk was less than two meters away from them, perhaps with its head hanging right in front of him.

He could even smell a pungent, fishy stench.

"Get out of here!" he shouted.

"What?" Justin asked, trembling.

"It's not you, get out of here!"

Justin only understood the first half of the sentence. The second half came out of Harry's mouth in a chilling sound, like the hiss of a snake, but much more terrifying.

It was snake language, he realized instantly.

Harry kept speaking Parseltongue, telling the basilisk to "leave here" and "go back," and it worked; the basilisk stopped moving.

But it didn't go away; instead, it responded, "Murder... Master's command... Tear... Eliminate Muggles..."

"Get out of here!" Ha said in Parsley. "I command you to get out of here!" Thanks to his use of magic scrolls over the past two days, he had become much more fluent in Parsley.

"Master's order..."

“Your master and I are best friends, we’re on the same side, listen! You’re in danger, a powerful wizard is on his way! Get out of here right now!” Harry kept urging him on, not knowing if it would work, but Hermione had heard from Professor Hyp that Parseltongue could control snakes.

He didn't know if it was true or not, but he could only pray in his heart that it was true.

Finally, the basilisk moved. Harry held his breath, awaiting his fate—thankfully, the sound of the basilisk gliding away grew fainter and fainter until it finally disappeared.

"The killing cannot stop... The next attack... Soon... We've waited too long..." These were the words Harry heard from the ceiling; it seemed the Basilisk had returned to the pipes.

Justin collapsed to the ground, trembling, looking completely shaken.

“It’s over.” Harry opened his eyes.

A few dozen seconds later, Hermione and Ron caught up from behind, panting. "Harry, what happened?" They had lost track of them and taken a longer route.

Harry said with lingering fear, "The basilisk tried to attack Justin, but I stopped it."

"What—oh my god!" Hermione pointed to the scratch marks on the ground, "This is..."

"Yes, I encountered it head-on."

Chapter 59 Split Operations

Ron and Hermione's expressions at that moment were priceless.

Harry struggled to his feet. "Thanks to your information, Hermione, Parseltongue can indeed control Basilisks."

Hermione covered her mouth. "Harry, you almost died, you know that?"

“Yes, I’m sorry!” Justin said from the ground, “He did it to save me…”

He got up, wiped his hands on his clothes, and formally extended his hand: "Harry, I'm sorry, I've misunderstood you all along. I spoke to Professor Hyp, and he assured me that you were not the murderer, but I was terrified during that dueling class..."

“It’s nothing,” Harry said casually, extending his hand as well, and the two shook hands.

“A perfect outcome, right?” Ron said. “I don’t mean to spoil the friendly atmosphere, but I think we should inform the professor as soon as possible…”

“Wait,” Harry said, walking up to a wooden door that was ajar.

"Could this be..." Hermione covered her mouth.

“Possibly,” Harry said, “but it should leave now.”

He pushed open the door and went inside.

Ron and Hermione followed behind him.

It was a very small room, filled with dust, with a long trail that disappeared into a wall.

“Do you think there’s an entrance to a secret room here?” Hermione asked.

“We discussed it, didn’t we?” Harry carefully examined the area where the basilisk’s traces had disappeared. “There might only be one entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, but to facilitate the basilisk’s movements, Slytherin may have left more than one exit in the castle’s pipework.”

Ha, speaking in a parsley voice, said, "Open it." Justin, who had just entered, shuddered.

The wall didn't react at all, which disappointed him.

Ron guessed, "Harry, if this exit really was prepared by Slytherin for the Basilisk, he must have set special conditions—"

“Conversely, that means the real entrance to the secret chamber certainly doesn’t have these restrictions!” Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Ron said with a look that said, “The problem is finally solved.” “We just need to notify the professor, whoever it is, as long as it’s not Lockhart…”

Harry said, "No, you should go and inform the professor."

The three looked at him, puzzled.

“Listen, you go find someone, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Hyp, even Snape will do.”

"And what about you, Harry?"

“I’ll follow it closely, just in case the basilisk comes out again. Judging from my conversation with it, it’s not exactly a good-natured creature. What if it loses its temper and attacks halfway through…” Harry gave them a meaningful look. “We’ve already guessed the real entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, haven’t we? We’ll meet there!”

Harry took a deep breath and ran away quickly.

“Let’s go!” Ron and Hermione immediately sprang into action.

“Wait!” Justin stood up. “I’ll help too.”

Hermione and Ron exchanged a glance. "Alright, if you find any professor, tell him to go to the abandoned girls' bathroom where Myrtle usually stays. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk. Tell the professor to be careful not to look into its eyes."

The three split up and acted separately.

Meanwhile, Harry was running towards the bathroom when, just as he was about to arrive, he met someone at a corner and the two collided violently.

Harry's glasses were knocked off, and he was in a lot of pain, which reminded him of when he fell off his broom during a Quidditch match. He glanced at the young wizard opposite him and recognized him from his hair color as Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy was also badly hit; his expression was blank, as if he had been stunned by the impact, and a black notebook flew out of his arms.

“Potter…” he said, his eyes glazed over, then finally came to his senses, “Potter!”

Harry picked up his glasses from the ground, stood up quickly, and said, "Get out of here, Malfoy!" He left immediately.

Draco, who remained where he was, glanced around blankly, then his expression suddenly turned terrified.

"hu~hu~"

Harry ran all the way to the girls' restroom. He pushed open the door and ignored the puddles on the floor.

He cautiously probed in a Parsley voice, "Are you there? Monster in the secret room?" while simultaneously preparing to close his eyes at any moment.

After waiting a few seconds, just when he thought everything was safe, he heard a rustling sound.

It's a basilisk!

Harry followed the faint sound, deducing that the Basilisk had returned through another conduit. Based on their previous analysis, while Hogwarts Castle was riddled with various conduits, the Chamber of Secrets couldn't be hidden within one; therefore, there must be a single, unique connection between the two.

And this place is the entrance to the secret room.

Their discussion concluded that the entrance to the secret room was most likely located in the place where Myrtle was killed—now the abandoned girls' restroom—because Myrtle had enthusiastically recounted that she had heard a boy's voice on the day she died.

This boy could only be the heir to the secret chamber from the previous generation!

Following the faint sound, Harry arrived at the center of the washroom, where a row of circular sinks stood. He gently placed his schoolbag aside, ignoring the puddles on the floor, and lay down, pressing his ear against the metal pipes of the sinks.

After a sound like a sticky, flexible tube scraping across the ground, the sound completely disappeared.

After waiting quietly for about ten seconds, Harry stood up, walked around the sink, and carefully examined it. As expected, he found a small snake pattern on the side of a faucet.

Unable to contain his excitement, he whispered in a snakeskin accent, "Open it."

Suddenly, the faucet emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly. Then, the sink also started moving, and Harry watched as it slowly disappeared from sight, revealing a very thick water pipe.

Harry waded through the puddles and peered out. The pipe in front of him was pitch black, as if it led straight to hell.

Harry hesitated about whether to go down. In the past, he would have jumped without a second thought, given his past experience of being locked up by Professor Hyp and spending two days copying down records of past young wizards' reckless behavior and punishments. He felt confident he could pull it off.

"What are you doing?"

A very melancholy voice appeared behind him, very close, as if speaking right next to the back of his head.

Harry was startled, slipped, and fell into the secret passage, disappearing from sight.