First Entry into the Chamber of Secrets

"He's never this brave normally," Moriarty said, holding his forehead. "He's really too excited. I'll go down and check."

"The decree that frees the sky, let the stars summon our bodies and minds, Dimuaka!"

Moriarty silently recited the incantation and flew into the pipe.

"Ahhh—ah!" Marcus's loud yell echoed in the pipe. Moriarty felt as if he were wearing headphones, the 3D surround sound making him truly feel the beat in his left and right ears.

"Fly, Marcus!" Moriarty shouted forward. "If you really can't do it, adjust your position and slide down."

After about two minutes, Moriarty heard Marcus's intermittent voice: "Sir... I... will... try..."

Moriarty was amused. Fortunately, although this pipe had a steep slope, it was winding and twisting, and very spacious inside. Marcus wouldn't be in mortal danger, so Moriarty stopped paying attention to him.

Marcus slid down, deep into the ground beneath the school, until the curved pipe became horizontal. He emerged from the pipe's opening and fell with a splash onto the damp ground.

Moriarty flew over at the same time. "Lumos!" Moriarty pointed his wand around, observing the surroundings.

Marcus got up and looked at the pitch-black, sticky walls, stammering, "Sir, is... is this the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Clearly not." Moriarty increased his magic output, and a faint blue light flashed from the tip of his wand, illuminating their shadows on the walls.

Marcus then saw a dark stone tunnel, the ground littered with the skeletons of rodents. Water droplets clung to the walls, and a damp, cold aura surrounded them.

"Let's go," Moriarty started walking. "Remember to draw your wand."

The two continued forward, the path becoming more and more winding. Suddenly, a shadow appeared ahead. Marcus subconsciously uttered a spell: "Expelliarmus!"

"Crack!" A red light seemed to pierce the shadow and hit the floor.

"No need to panic. I think that's the shed skin of a Basilisk," Moriarty said with a slight smile, putting Marcus at ease. He also cast a "Lumos" and cautiously stepped forward.

The light shone on a green snake skin. Even though he was mentally prepared, Marcus was still startled. He controlled his trembling legs and swallowed his saliva, "Sir, such a large snake skin, that Basilisk must be at least twenty feet long."

"While size is certainly a terrifying factor of a Basilisk, another factor is its lifespan. For such an ancient monster that has lived for a thousand years, its survival skills and combat instincts far exceed ordinary imagination. So, it's best to be careful."

Moriarty gave Marcus a slight reminder. In his opinion, Salazar's Basilisk had been spoiled; for a thousand years, the Basilisk probably couldn't even fill its stomach.

Marcus nodded obediently. After Moriarty collected the snake skin, the two continued forward. After passing through one bend after another, they finally found a solid wall standing in front of them.

Two intertwined snakes were carved on it, their eyes inlaid with large, glittering emeralds.

"Ding! Ding!"

Moriarty tapped the emeralds with his wand repeatedly. Without even needing to speak Parseltongue, the two snakes separated. The stone wall split down the middle, slid to the sides, and disappeared.

"Let me go ahead of you, sir," Marcus said, as if all his strength had been drained, but his eyes were full of seriousness.

Finally showing some manly spirit. Moriarty was satisfied inwardly, but he didn't show it. Instead, he said, "Courage without wisdom is recklessness. Proving yourself requires true courage, not recklessness."

Marcus seemed to understand but not fully. He kept his promise, gripping his wand tightly, and slowly stepped into the stone wall.

They stood on one side of a long, dimly lit room. Many stone pillars carved with coiled, entangled great snakes rose to support a ceiling that dissolved into the darkness high above.

There was no sign of the Basilisk, and Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back at Moriarty, only to find his master had already walked deeper into the room.

"This is indeed Slytherin's architectural style, fitting our ancestor's taste." Moriarty surveyed the scattered stone pillars, which were remarkably similar in construction to the twelve pillars in the castle's Great Hall.

"As for this statue..."

Moriarty tilted his head back, his gaze fixed on the dark wall behind. Pressed against it was a statue as tall as the room itself.

"An ancient, monkey-like face, with a sparse, long beard? Is this the true appearance of my ancestor?"

Moriarty touched his chin with great interest. How interesting. It's not like I haven't seen Salazar's appearance before, and even if Salazar were old and on his deathbed, he wouldn't look like this.

He had confirmed it earlier: the Chamber of Secrets was personally built by Salazar, so it was impossible for anyone to have faked it.

This made the statue particularly intriguing.

Marcus offered a fair assessment: "Unless Salazar intentionally made his statue look hideous, I can't imagine how a model based on your distinguished appearance could result in such a monstrosity!"

The face of the giant stone sculpture suddenly moved. Its mouth opened, wider and wider, until it formed a huge black hole. A massive, jet-black creature burst out of the hole and slammed onto the ground.

The floor trembled. Marcus, who had been full of courage moments before, deflated like a leaky balloon and slumped to the ground, his wand nowhere to be seen.

"The Basilisk is here! Don't look at its eyes, run!" Moriarty shouted a warning. Marcus scrambled away, yelling, "Sir, you go first! I'll draw it away, go!"

Loyalty is commendable. Moriarty nodded. He continued to advise, "Use the Levitation Charm, fly behind it!"

"Unseal, no, liberate! Uh, Heav... Heav..." Marcus's tongue seemed tied in knots, mumbling incoherently. His face turned as white as a ghost.

The Basilisk wouldn't wait long for Marcus. It opened its gaping maw and lunged at him!

"Ah—" Marcus screamed again. Gradually, he felt himself floating. He opened his eyes and looked around, finding Moriarty beside him, watching him with a smile.

"To become my follower, one must possess two basic qualities: loyalty and bravery," Moriarty said solemnly. "Congratulations, Marcus Flint. You have passed the test I gave you."

Marcus's pale face flushed red. He exclaimed excitedly, "Sir, it is my honor! I..."

Moriarty interrupted him directly: "From now on, you may call me Young Master. My servants and subordinates all call me that. Starting now, I will invest a large amount of resources in you. You can write to your old father and tell him that the Flint family is about to rise again."

A loud hissing sound came from beneath their feet. The Basilisk had spotted them. It reared up, its two golden eyes scanning the area above like giant headlights.

Moriarty pointed his wand at the ground. "Whispering Serpent!"

The hissing of Parseltongue mixed with ancient Latin. The Basilisk seemed to recognize the Parseltongue, but its body was entwined by several whispering serpents.

A whispering serpent crawled onto the Basilisk's head. The Basilisk glared at the serpent with anger, and the serpent was petrified.

Moriarty knew the Basilisk's eyes could kill any person or animal that met its gaze in an instant. Although the Serpent's Tongue wasn't a true snake, it was petrified rather than dissipated.

A flash of lightning streaked through Moriarty's mind. Perhaps raising the level of the Whispering Serpent could start with "drawing magic from snake-like magical creatures"?

However, now was clearly not the time for contemplation. Moriarty landed behind the Basilisk, avoiding eye contact. He spoke in a low, slow Parseltongue, "My name is Moriarty Slytherin, a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin."

As the Parseltongue emerged, the Slytherin staff emitted a ball of silver light and a ball of green light, which intertwined in the air, outlining Salazar Slytherin's features.

The moment the Basilisk saw Salazar, its writhing snake body tensed as if electrocuted, then relaxed. Moriarty then withdrew the Serpent's Tongue.

"Hiss, hiss!" The Basilisk's voice became much gentler.

"Hiss hiss hiss, hiss hiss?" Moriarty began communicating with it.

Marcus stared, dumbfounded, at the man and the snake. At that moment, how he wished he were a Parselmouth too.