Old Friend

Amosta followed Newt to the backyard of the cottage. Beside a vegetable patch inhabited by quite a few gnomes was an entrance leading down to a cellar.

"I think Lait will be very happy to see you."

Before lifting the grass cover and stepping into the pitch-black opening that breathed out a foul stench, Newt glanced back at Amosta and said happily,

"After all, you were the one who rescued it from the prison where it had been held for a thousand years."

"Ahem, I hope so—"

Amosta's mouth twitched, his expression strange.

The moment they entered the cellar, a cold, damp chill rushed at them, making it uncomfortable to breathe.

The cellar was so dim that not a trace of light could be seen, like a water prison for convicts. Amosta was somewhat puzzled. He could not understand why Newt, who treated magical creatures so kindly, had found such a place for the Basilisk to live.

But when he followed Newt down the final stone step of the spiral staircase and took in the expanded underground chamber before him, he understood.

Thick stone pillars lined both sides of the enormous rectangular room, carved with great serpents coiling and twisting around each other. They supported a ceiling that vanished into darkness. Animal bones lay scattered everywhere across the room's hard stone floor—mostly rats, ferrets, and gnomes.

Through his magical vision, Amosta also saw an elderly statue of Salazar Slytherin standing at the far end of the room, its expression grim and gloomy.

"I suppose you can tell, Amosta—"

Newt made his wand emit a faint glow, enough only to light the space one or two steps ahead and keep them from accidentally stepping into the puddles scattered everywhere.

"This is roughly the same as that legendary Chamber of Secrets you