great-warnovel Chapter 56, Stage 3
Chapter 56, Stage 3
Following the scent, the two chased it all the way to the door of a washroom on the second floor.
"What's old Malfoy doing in the women's restroom?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
Because of a rumor that someone died there, girls don't like to come to this toilet, and it's usually quite deserted.
When they went inside, they saw that the original location of the sink had been divided into several parts, and a deep pipe opening was slowly closing.
The two exchanged a glance: "It's a secret passage!"
Hagrid took the lead, bracing himself against the sink with his strong hands: "Quick, let's go down too!" Hermione immediately leaped down, with Hagrid close behind.
The pipes were filthy and dark, stretching endlessly. Hermione felt herself sinking to a depth far deeper than the castle and dungeons, and she could hear Hagrid's heavy scraping behind her.
Finally, the slope of the pipe became gentler, and she and Hagrid flew out like cannonballs, landing on the wet floor. However, one of them was very experienced in combat (from his previous life), and the other was a Spider-Man with unparalleled balance, so neither of them landed in a mess.
"Is this... the bottom of the sewers?" Hermione asked.
Hagrid, his face serious, sniffed his surroundings, his expression grim: "This place... is filled with the smell of basilisks."
"I've never heard of this secret passage or this massive sewer system before."
"Aragok is uneasy... just like... just like fifty years ago..."
"Basilisk...The Chamber of Secrets!" Hermione suddenly realized, "Hagrid, you once said that the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, and a student was murdered. Is this the Basilisk? Is this Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets?!"
Hagrid slapped his forehead: "Oh, poor Myrtle! She was murdered in the toilet up there! So that was the entrance to the secret chamber!"
"My God! Fifty years have passed, and I have finally found the truth of what happened back then!" His expression was rich and varied. His face, covered with a beard and scorch marks, was filled with grievance, anger, resentment, and discomfort from the lingering smell of the basilisk.
"Fifty years ago, Lucius hadn't even enrolled yet, right?" Hermione warily observed her surroundings.
"It was Voldemort! He was in fifth grade then, but we all thought he was a good guy!" Hagrid gritted his teeth. "It was because of his report that I was expelled as a murderer!"
"Then everything makes sense." Hermione connected the clues: "Voldemort discovered the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago and controlled the basilisk lurking here, killing a student. But he didn't continue after that. Instead, he concealed the news of the Chamber of Secrets and the basilisk. Until today, Lucius, who had a deal with him, fled here in a panic. This is probably the escape route Voldemort told him after he succeeded."
She stared into the dark tunnel: "Is there any way to escape Hogwarts from here?"
Hagrid scratched his head, rummaging through his memories: "If it was a basilisk kept by Slytherin, over a thousand years later, the rats in the school wouldn't be enough for it to eat. There should have been a tunnel here that led to the Black Lake for the basilisk to hunt. Now, it should be a broken opening. Lucius should be able to go out through the basilisk's tunnel, and then he can Apparate!"
"That's not all." Hermione looked at Hagrid. "The mere smell of the basilisks here is already affecting your fighting ability, isn't it?"
Hagrid's face was grim, and he remained silent. The basilisk was the natural enemy of the eight-eyed spider, and he had no way to help Aragog resist this instinct; in fact, he might even be affected by it himself.
"He wants to duel me one-on-one here," Hermione said in a firm voice.
"As long as he's still in the school, the ghosts will continue to riot, and Dumbledore won't be able to intervene. Although I don't know the connection between the two yet—maybe it's the bell—it's clear that as long as he can hold off Dumbledore, Voldemort will win. The Brightstone, and everyone in this school, will all belong to Voldemort."
"And he can truly become the master of Malfoy Castle."
She turned her head: "Stay here, Hagrid. You can't go any further."
"Summon your spider swarm and clean this place up little by little. Let them help relieve the pressure on the basilisk, while I go after old Malfoy."
Hagrid shook his head vigorously: "Hermione, are you crazy? You're going to face Lucius alone? And what about a thousand-year-old basilisk?"
Hermione shook her head as well: "I read in the book that only Parseltongue can control the Basilisk, and this talent is not passed down in the Malfoy family. The Basilisk should have been taken away by Voldemort long ago. I'm just facing a rat that has run out of tricks and has used up more than half of its magic."
She waved to Hagrid, a burst of starlight igniting at the tip of her staff, and then rushed into the dark passage.
No one has been here for decades, and this must be Lucius’s first time here as well. Although she has lost Hagrid’s sense of smell, Hermione can still tell Lucius’s tracks by the footprints on the damp ground.
Moreover, after encountering the bell, her third eye became increasingly sensitive to it, and by following her intuition, she was able to accurately find the right direction.
On the way, she saw a huge snake skin and thought to herself that it was a good thing she hadn't let Hagrid come, otherwise she definitely wouldn't be able to walk by now.
Before long, she arrived at a stone wall with an open door. She could see a dimly lit stone chamber inside, with shimmering water on both sides and a figure standing motionless in place.
She stepped into the stone chamber, and the next moment, the braziers on both sides lit up one after the other, illuminating the stone chamber and the person standing there, Lucius.
"If Voldemort hadn't refused to teach me more Parsleyan, if he had been willing to let me bring the Basilisk here to raise."
Old Malfoy coldly retorted, "How could I be in such a sorry state!"
"You! That disgusting half-spider-man, and McGonagall, Dumbledore! You will all die under the basilisk's gaze!"
Hermione tilted her head, wondering where Lucius got his confidence from, thinking that a basilisk could kill McGonagall or Dumbledore.
"But it's fine as it is now. That disgusting spider monster can't get here, and we have plenty of time to spend together." Lucius smiled maliciously.
"I knew you'd come here alone. You brainless Gryffindors, you'll do anything when you're hot-blooded."
The dark gold bell on his shoulder continued to sway slowly, and as he slid his cane, the tip sparked black flames on the ground: "Come on, Granger, let's continue our duel from that day! Let's see how much you've learned in my class!"
The next second, three streams of black water formed venomous snakes, rising from both sides and lunging at Hermione.
"Pyroxene Meteor!"
Hermione stepped back, raised her staff, and a continuous stream of powerful blue meteors shot out from the sapphire, shattering the attacking snake heads into splashes of water.
With an ample supply of energy, she began to unleash the destructive power of the sapphire magic.
"The Realm of Magic!"
A complex magic circle unfolded beneath her feet, turning her robes blue, and Hermione's long hair flew in the wind, making her look like a resolute goddess.
The Realm of Magic – A magic circle inscribed on the ground that can greatly enhance the spell power of the magician within the circle.
In the past, starting from the tallest clock tower of the Reyalucaria Academy, a magic circle covered the entire academy grounds. A striking example of success resembled an instantaneous inspiration—the ability to transform a baby who couldn't yet walk into a magician.