novelraw Chapter 87 The Road to the Secret Chamber
Chapter 87 The Road to the Secret Chamber
Chapter 87 The Road to the Secret Chamber
Today is Halloween, a very important day. As usual, Hogwarts will hold a banquet today, but in addition, Hogwarts has made an even bigger breakthrough this year.
"That's the masquerade ball proposed by me, Professor Gerald Lockhart, the renowned wizarding author, a five-time winner of the Most Beautiful Wizard's Smile award, and a recipient of the Order of Merlin, Third Class!"
Lockhart's voice echoed far down the corridor, and Loila instinctively avoided that direction.
There was no way around it—it was predictable that Mr. Lockhart would be surrounded by a lot of students, and she couldn't handle so many people.
It was already afternoon, and most of the students were heading towards the Great Hall. It was said that Dumbledore had hired a goblin band to perform music and plays—
To be honest, Loila was quite interested—of course, it was nothing compared to the magic circle!
Here I come, magic circle! Here I come!
Loila walked briskly down the road, even humming a little tune, looking very happy.
Who can be unhappy?
This is the secret room that Mr. Riddle was only willing to open for me!
Soon, Loila arrived at the girls' restroom on the second floor—she had never been here before because she had heard that a ghost seemed to live there.
These creatures, which can not only talk but also appear at will, pass through walls, and look exactly like humans, truly embody all of Loila's fears.
If they called them Vader, Dumbledore, or Snape, the horror effect would be even better.
However, for the sake of the magic array, Loila gritted her teeth and stepped inside.
It was damp here, with water up to a finger's width deep, but thankfully Loila was wearing her waterproof boots, so she wasn't worried about getting her feet wet.
This should be the place, right?
Loila looked around and, after confirming that she didn't see any ghosts, carefully took Mr. Riddle's diary out of the Space Extension Book.
"I've arrived," Loila wrote slowly.
"Then read it as I say." Mr. Riddle replied to Loila almost immediately, and then he wrote a string of strange letters in his diary.
What is this?
Loila stared at the diary, bewildered, unsure what to do—how was she supposed to read this? It wasn't even a word!
“Just pronounce it,” Riddle continued. “Pronounce the letters as they are pronounced.”
Upon hearing this, Loila looked around. It seemed a little embarrassing to read these strange things in public.
Fortunately, there was no one around.
So she pursed her lips and hissed softly: "Hiss hiss hiss—hiss hiss hiss—" (a snake's expressive hiss).
"Clatter".
Suddenly, Loila saw that the faucet in front of her had changed. She took a few steps back and then discovered that the sink had turned into a gradually descending channel.
This is a secret magic array!
Loila realized what this was in the next instant!
It was probably because it was filled with water—Loila hadn't even been able to read what was written on it—
But what was she just reciting? Loila felt like it was some kind of snake's cry.
Designing the combination lock array in this way is indeed a very safe thing to do—it's definitely much more reliable than lemon sorbet or honey candy.
However, looking at the downward passage in front of her, Loila still hesitated a bit—wasn't there any other entrance to the secret room? Like a staircase or something—this sliding pipe gave Loila an ominous feeling.
"Mr. Riddle?" Loila carefully wrote in her notebook, "A downward pipe has appeared."
"That means the secret room has been opened."
"Next, we just need to jump in and reach the secret room."
"There are a lot of magic arrays inside."
Looking at Mr. Riddle's seductive characters, Loila took a deep breath and raised her wand.
After she swept her wand and a thin membrane of armor appeared on her body, she nodded slightly and jumped inside.
"what!"
As she jumped into the passage, she realized that it wasn't a downward passage at all, but a pipe that resembled a sewer, like a slide.
She slid through the smooth pipe like a wet bar of soap until her screams could no longer be heard outside, then she plopped down on the ground. It was pitch black all around her—
Loila pursed her lips, raised her wand, and flicked it. A point of light appeared at the tip of the wand and then slowly floated to the top of her head.
"Alas!"
Upon seeing what was around her, Loila screamed and took a few steps back.
There was a pile of all sorts of bones, all of them seemingly animal-derived, and they were corrosive—just like the bones she and Luna had caught while fishing.
Is this the secret room?
She looked around—it didn't seem quite what she had imagined—but the next second, she saw a small passageway in front of her.
It seemed she had to go further in—she nodded slightly and carefully stepped over the skeletons on the ground, wand in hand, just in case any small bones got into her boots.
As she walked, she carefully looked around. This place should be part of the secret room. So, is there a magic circle here?
It doesn't seem so—she walked forward thoughtfully, and soon the road in front of her widened.
She could even hear the sound of running water.
Is there a bathroom inside the secret room?
She thought this subconsciously, and then quickened her pace.
Before long, as she turned another corner, the view suddenly opened up before her.
It was a very large underground hall, with a stone bridge extending from Royla's feet into the distance, surrounded by rising serpentine statues.
It looks like some kind of mysterious sacrificial site—but Dad said that the older the place, the more likely it is to have a magic circle.
Loila carefully observed her surroundings, then stepped across the stone bridge into the distance—but soon, she realized there seemed to be something in front of her—
What is that?
It looked like a broken tree trunk lying in front of Loila, its pitch-black appearance seemingly capable of swallowing all light.
"Huh—"
As Loila approached, she suddenly realized something.
This looks like—it looks like a snake—and—and I think I've seen it before—
This was written in Newt's tattered book—what was it again?—Loila looked at the motionless creature in front of her, but couldn't remember it for a moment.
After all, Newt's book—Loyla wasn't very interested in, it seemed to be about magical creatures—was it called "Fantastic Beasts in the Stomach"?
It's still from Fantastic Beasts: Where Are We Going? But that shouldn't matter. What matters is what this creature is—Hagrid seems to have mentioned it—yes—
Ah!
It's a basilisk!
Loila was startled when she received this answer.
Because she remembered that Newt's book seemed to have written that humans would die instantly if they looked into the eyes of the Basilisk!
Coco—why is there a snake monster in the locked room?!
Besides, didn't I come here to study magic arrays?
Loila instinctively reached for her diary to ask Mr. Riddle, but the next second, she saw the huge broken log in front of her begin to move gently.
The basilisk seems to have awakened.
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