Slytherin Dungeon

Dumbledore turned his head to speak with a teacher who had greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.

Moriarty knew he was Severus Snape. Though he could not hear what they were saying, it was more or less related to Slytherin House.

In the span of a single dinner, Moriarty had found out that Slytherin had been exceptionally strong in recent years. Their three consecutive House Cup victories were truly more than just a boast.

There were hardly any outstanding students in the other Houses who, like William and Leon, could nearly rival adult wizards. Only Bill Weasley of Gryffindor could compare.

However, there were several students in the third and fourth years who could not be underestimated.

Moriarty looked at Gemma, the older student speaking with Lilith, then Charlie Weasley beside Percy, as well as Tonks at the Hufflepuff table—the girl who had interrupted Dumbledore's speech.

Moriarty knew that Dumbledore had an Order of the Phoenix, and that Charlie and Tonks would both become members after graduation.

So Moriarty believed Leon first needed to find out exactly what Bill was doing. Dumbledore could not possibly hand a task Bill had failed to complete over to a Slytherin.

In truth, it was not Leon who had caught Moriarty's attention, but Bill.

He had thought Hogwarts in 1988 would be peaceful, but now it seemed undercurrents were swirling beneath the surface.

A plan gradually took shape. Moriarty betrayed nothing on the surface, and when he swallowed the last piece of pudding, all the food on the table vanished.

Dumbledore rose and mentioned several points of caution, then led everyone in singing the school song.

It turned out not everyone could sing the school song as recklessly as Fred Weasley and George Weasley. The students could not bring themselves to raise their voices and merely hummed along weakly.

Only Dumbledore's voice was the loudest. Then he suddenly heard another resounding voice. Following the sound, Dumbledore looked toward the Slytherin table, where Moriarty stood tall and sang the school song to an ancient melody that sounded stirring and inspiring.

When the first little wizard began singing along with Moriarty, he shuddered, but his eyes soon lit up and his face filled with an inviolable, sacred expression.

All the students joined in. Every pore on their bodies seemed to open, and like Champions about to march onto a battlefield, they threw themselves into the chorus.

After the school song ended, Dumbledore applauded for a long time.

"Music has more charm than anything else we do here!" Dumbledore seemed eager to sing it again. "Young Mr. Moriarty, what melody were you using?"

"A battle song created by medieval wizards to face the Goblin Wars. It has no name, sir." Seeing Dumbledore's somewhat disappointed expression, Moriarty smiled faintly. "But I can write down the score and send it to you."

"That would be wonderful," Dumbledore said with a nod. "Now it is time for bed. Everyone, return to your dormitories."

The Great Hall erupted with a tremendous roar as the students all rose and began returning to their dormitories with their respective prefects.

The first-year Little Lions of Gryffindor were noisy, while the first-year little snakes of Slytherin maintained silence and elegance as they prepared to follow Leon to the Slytherin Common Room.

"William usually takes us back," Gemma told Moriarty before leaving. "This year, Leon volunteered to take on the responsibility. I think he's a little unhinged. He wants to prove himself far too badly."

"Hmph." Lilith snorted disdainfully behind Moriarty. "For nearly half a century, the Minchum family has been suppressed by other pure-bloods.

"Minister Harold Minchum was a hard-line minister. He wanted to curb the rise of the Dark Lord, but failed, so the Minchum family suffered the Dark Lord's retaliation.

"Now Leon is their family's only hope, but I don't think much of him. What achievements can you expect from someone who only struts around in front of girls? Maybe he'll challenge a giant to prove himself? Heh, don't make me laugh."

After hearing about Leon's background, Moriarty felt Leon would be even easier to control.

They walked for a while, and the floating staircase beneath their feet began to move. The little snakes hurried onto another section of stairs.

Leon reminded them, "Be careful of these magical staircases. Not only do they float in midair, they also move and rotate. If you cannot accurately remember every staircase, you may be sent somewhere no one knows."

Moriarty remembered his wand. With a try-it-and-see attitude, he lightly tapped the floating stairs with its end. After a loud crack, every floating staircase stopped moving.

Jericho cautiously jumped onto the staircase that had moved away earlier, then jumped back.

"That was awesome, Mr. Moriarty! How did you do it?"

"I think it is because the floating staircases cannot defy the Slytherin staff." Moriarty spoke thoughtfully. If that was the case, could the staff reveal other secrets within Hogwarts as well?

The little snakes gathered around Moriarty, all wanting to inspect the staff up close. For centuries, Hogwarts' staircases had rotated and moved every day, yet Moriarty had actually made them stop!

Lilith said regretfully, "I should have brought back the Sword of Gryffindor—perhaps if I had insisted a little more, I could have brought it back."

Feeling ignored, Leon's expression changed several times. At last, he said with a forced smile, "Young Mr. Moriarty has done well. Too bad I'm not a professor, or I would certainly award ten points to the House. Can we go now?"

The stationary floating staircases saved the little snakes a great deal of time. After passing the final section, Moriarty did not forget to restore the stairs' movement.

The little snakes soon arrived at a room resembling a basement. At the end of the room stood a thick stone wall.

"A stone door is hidden within that wall. Beyond it lies our common room."

A strange smile appeared on Leon's face. "Of course, that is the name used by all four Houses. Internally, we prefer to call it the Slytherin Dungeon.

"It lies beneath the lake. We can often see the squid in the lake through the windows, and if you're lucky, you might even see merpeople."

Leon walked several steps toward the stone wall and said without looking back, "Glory!"

The stone wall gave a click, and the stone door began to turn. The full view of the common room appeared before the little snakes.

The walls were made of black marble, while the emerald-green ceiling and chandeliers cast rippling reflections. The ceiling was carved from crystal, and the floor was covered in snow-white carpet.

Sofas and armchairs were arranged around a large fireplace, accompanied by an exquisite mantel, luxurious furniture, scattered Murals, and candlesticks that drew the little snakes' eyes.

"Never forget the password, lose the password, or reveal the password! Because no Slytherin will be friends with an idiot who does any one of those idiotic things."

Leon's severity pulled the new students back from their wandering thoughts. He swept his gaze over them and spoke without a trace of emotion.

"Perhaps you are excited because of the Sorting Ceremony, but Slytherin has no need for excitement. What it needs is calmness, focus, and ambition."

The little snakes listened solemnly to Leon's words. Even Lilith did not make a sound. After all, she was a Slytherin.

Leon looked at their reactions with satisfaction, but his words remained merciless. "From the moment you entered Slytherin, you should have cast aside the fantasies of childhood. You are no longer children.

"Many say a Slytherin will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. I believe there is nothing wrong with that, nor is it anything to be ashamed of.

"We are not those reckless lions. Only with a clear purpose can we find the shortcut to success; only by finding a target can we strike with one lethal blow like a venomous snake.

"History has seen many famous wizards from Slytherin House, such as Merlin—I assume you have heard of him. If you have not, remember it!

"Although students from the other Houses rarely mention this, I can tell you with certainty that Merlin once attended Slytherin House."

Jericho raised his hand. "Sorry, Prefect Leon, but according to research, Merlin was active even before the Four Founders of Hogwarts were born. How could Merlin possibly have attended Hogwarts?"

"Very good. You are Jericho Blench from the United States, aren't you? You've learned to ask questions!" Leon looked like a man-eating venomous snake. "Why not ask Young Mr. Moriarty about that? Perhaps, as the inheritor of Slytherin Castle, he possesses firsthand information."

Moriarty saw a sinister smile flash across Leon's face. Rather than argue with him, he calmly raised his staff and waved it at the stone wall. A line of ancient dark-green writing appeared on it.

"What is that?" Lilith asked. "What language is it? And... what does it mean?"

"Ancient Runic Script. It means time." Moriarty snapped his fingers. With a snap, the dark-green words turned into English.

Moriarty said to Jericho, "There is no doubt that Merlin did attend Slytherin, but there is equally no doubt about the mismatch in time that you mentioned.

"The inconsistency in time once caught ancestor Salazar's attention. He investigated Merlin's origins, but there was no further record.

"I found the final mention of Merlin in his diary. There were only those two words: time."

"Does that mean Merlin traveled through time?" Jericho looked as though he had just seen an American science-fiction blockbuster.

Moriarty patted his shoulder. "I don't think so, but it does indeed involve time magic."

"Time magic?" Lilith asked curiously.

Seeing Moriarty become the center of attention once more, Leon felt the authority he had established vanish. He interrupted the little snakes' conversation. "Why aren't you going to bed yet?"

Less than ten minutes later, the little snakes found their dormitories. Four people shared each room, which dissatisfied Jericho somewhat, but when he discovered Moriarty was his roommate, all sleepiness vanished.

Jericho was not the only one awake. Several other little snakes were not sleepy either, and they gathered around Moriarty as he sat on a sofa in the common room.

"Actually, I came to Hogwarts because of Mr. Moriarty." Jericho touched his hair and smiled a little sheepishly. "When my father heard that a descendant of Slytherin would be attending Hogwarts this year, he overruled all objections and sent me here."

"If that is the case, I guarantee you will not be disappointed." Moriarty accepted Jericho's friendship.

Lilith walked over. "If Leon knew you were from the Blench family, he would definitely regret treating you with that sarcastic attitude just now."

"Oh, there's nothing much to say about it." Jericho was not proud at all. "Wizards of the Blench family merely possess a little more talent for riding broomsticks than other wizards. I can't wait to take flying lessons."

Lilith's eyes flashed. "Mr. Moriarty is a flying prodigy too, isn't he?"

"I have only tried flying on a broom once. It felt exhilarating." Moriarty admitted it. But when it came to flying, ancestor Salazar was the expert. The second Spell he left behind was an improved Levitation Charm.

After chatting for a while longer, they wished each other good night and returned to their dormitories to sleep.