Basilisk

Basilisk—that was its name.

Nearly a thousand years ago, its creator and master, Salazar Slytherin, had given it that name.

"Serpent Monster," "King of Serpents," or "Great Serpent"—those were the titles wizards used for it. Basilisk knew that wizards feared and dreaded it, but it did not care, because it had its mission.

Before Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts Castle, he had left behind a secret chamber... One of Basilisk's duties was to guard the secrets within until Slytherin's Heir returned.

For a thousand years, Basilisk had roamed beneath the castle, surviving on rats, bats, and the occasional bird... Food was scarce, and it often went hungry. Sometimes, when the hunger became too unbearable, it would slip into hibernation on its own.

It had never intended to appear within the castle, because it knew full well that the castle would not welcome it... Its appearance would bring nothing but panic.

Moreover, Salazar Slytherin had instilled its mission within it.

Some said that Salazar Slytherin had wanted to drive every Muggle-born wizard, as well as every young wizard without sufficient Magical Ability, out of the school... Basilisk understood that this was not the truth.

No one loved this castle or cherished this school more deeply than Salazar; not even his three former closest friends... Even though he had died far across the ocean, Basilisk could still feel its master's undying longing for Hogwarts.

Salazar Slytherin had opposed Hogwarts accepting Muggle-born wizards for a simple reason: he believed they could not be trusted.

In that era when the Witch Hunt ran rampant, when Muggles and wizards were utterly hostile toward one another, when any wizard could be reported at any moment and sent to the stake... Even a duelist as exceptional as Godric Gryffindor had once been seriously wounded in a battle against Muggles.

Therefore, Slytherin believed that accepting young Muggle-born wizards was an enormous risk. There was no way to know whether they would reveal Hogwarts' existence to Muggles; once Hogwarts' secrecy was broken, a new war between wizards and Muggles would be imminent!

Without question, Slytherin's views had not won approval. In the eyes of his three friends, Muggle-born wizards were a sign of extraordinary talent; moreover, if they did not take in more fresh blood, wizards would only stagnate and destroy themselves... They had a fierce argument.

In the end, Slytherin lost; he ultimately left Hogwarts Castle and left the school.

Yet even after leaving the school, Salazar Slytherin had never intended to harm those young Muggle-born wizards... Because he had always believed that he was still Hogwarts Headmaster. Even the young Muggle-born wizards were still his students.

A headmaster would never harm his students, not even the students he disliked!

This, too, was the mission instilled in Basilisk.

It had lurked beneath Hogwarts for over a thousand years. Besides protecting Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, it was also meant to guard the castle and the people within it.

But fifty years ago, the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.

Basilisk had been delighted, because it believed its mission would soon be complete.

But to its surprise, its new master was completely different from the Slytherin of old. That "Slytherin's Heir," Tom Riddle, held views far more radical and cruel than Salazar Slytherin's...

He believed that all the "Mudbloods" and "Squibs" at Hogwarts should be killed!

Basilisk had tried to communicate with this new master, hoping to persuade him... But it had failed!

Tom Riddle paid no heed to its opinions whatsoever... In his eyes, Basilisk was merely a crude beast.

Worse still, Tom Riddle was a Parseltongue... To a giant serpent, Parseltongue was its destined nemesis. No snake could refuse the commands of a Parseltongue—not even the King of Serpents.

Basilisk had been forced to accept its new master's commands, leave the Chamber of Secrets, roam the castle, and attack lone Muggle-born wizards.

But Basilisk had kept trying. It knew that direct eye contact and the venom in its fangs were both fatal to wizards... So under its new master's orders, it had always made small adjustments.

During its attacks, it avoided letting its gaze strike those poor students. It always did its utmost to appear before them only when direct eye contact was impossible—when they saw it indirectly. Though this still caused them great harm, at least it spared their lives.

Nearly ten students had been attacked, and Basilisk had done everything it could to keep them alive... Until an accident occurred...

Tom Riddle's new target had been a girl wearing thick glasses for severe nearsightedness... Basilisk knew that with the glasses blocking its gaze, its stare would not be lethal. But during the attack, the girl had been crying, and in her tears, she took off her glasses...

She died...

Basilisk had fallen into deep self-reproach. It began resisting its new master's commands.

But Parseltongue was too deadly to serpents; its resistance had been almost futile.

Fortunately, after that girl died, Tom Riddle never opened the Chamber of Secrets again... Basilisk had thought it was free.

Until half a year ago, when the Chamber of Secrets was opened once more by the same person.

Basilisk curled up in a small nest within the Chamber of Secrets, licking its wounds.

For the past half year, just as it had fifty years ago, it had been forced to attack Hogwarts students under the commands of Parseltongue.

But during an attack three days ago, it had been injured.

A hulking wizard had wounded it with a Strange Wand... Something seemed to remain in the wound, and even with a serpent monster's powerful healing ability, it had been difficult for the injury to heal.

Basilisk felt that its body had grown much weaker.

Several sounds came from above the Chamber of Secrets.

Could Tom Riddle have come again...? Even while it was injured, did he intend to create another attack at Hogwarts?

Basilisk slowly crawled out of its nest.

But it was not Tom Riddle's utterly cold voice; the voice opening the Chamber of Secrets this time belonged to a young boy, and it was much gentler.

Besides the boy's voice, there were many footsteps.

The footsteps of several adult wizards.