Splitting Up

Grindelwald apparated them to the grass outside the immediate vicinity.

"Old Grindelwald, why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Old Dumbledore?"

"I'm rushing over after saving you all, aren't I?" With that, Grindelwald apparated again to chase after Dumbledore.

"Right!" Harry suddenly called out.

"What is it, Potter?"

"Do you think that girl killed by the Basilisk might become a ghost?"

"At Hogwarts, it's very possible. Why do you ask?" Ron looked at Harry strangely.

"Then do you think she never left the bathroom?"

"You mean Moaning Myrtle?"

Harry took a note from his pocket. It was clutched in Hermione's petrified hand. "This is what Hermione and I think. It's related to Myrtle, and even the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is there."

The three immediately prepared to go and see for themselves. Bing Huan stopped in place, wanting to say something. But Harry turned back first and said, "Go on, bring Hermione with you later to help us."

Bing Huan was stunned, and the three were smiling as they looked at him. "If I can't make it in time, you guys might die."

Draco scoffed, "If the five of us aren't afraid of Voldemort, why would we be afraid of a Basilisk?"

Ron added, "We're a team of five. Rescuing our friend is the most important thing."

"A bunch of reckless guys." Bing Huan smiled as he said this, "Wait for me."

Bing Huan flashed into the Headmaster's Office. Harry and the others went to find Myrtle. The two old men who were originally in the Headmaster's Office were gone, and even Fawkes was no longer on its perch. There was only a large bag of Mandrake seeds on the coffee table.

Bing Huan didn't hesitate, opening his mouth and stuffing a large handful in.

"Ugh!" The taste of Mandrake seeds wasn't very suitable for direct consumption; it had a reaction that caused physical discomfort. Bing Huan struggled to resist, fighting against his body's instincts.

"RELASHION"

A spell hit Bing Huan. His body, which had been fiercely rejecting the seeds, suddenly lost all strength, allowing them to enter his body and their medicinal properties to be absorbed into his blood.

"I didn't expect you to help me." Bing Huan gasped for air, looking at the man with long black hair behind him.

"I was just curious about you saying to extract the medicinal properties into your blood," Snape said coldly, looking at Bing Huan.

"Regardless, I owe you one."

Snape raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. With their cooperation, his blood quickly absorbed enough medicinal properties.

After Snape confirmed, Bing Huan went to the infirmary and looked at Hermione, still petrified on the bed. "Although you can be saved in a few more days, I can't stand another day like this. Come back."

Bing Huan tried to purify and condense the medicinal properties in his blood as much as possible. The bulging veins on his left hand showed that his blood had turned from red to a strange blue-green.

He pricked his palm with his finger, and the blood, filled with medicinal properties, dripped onto the petrified body, being slowly absorbed. Although his own blood was the carrier, there was a limit to the degree of purification.

Even though Bing Huan's face had turned somewhat pale, it was only just starting to take effect. Thinking that Harry and the others might already be facing the Basilisk, he gritted his teeth and used the spiritual power within him to force the blood out faster.

He had already lost more than a third of his blood. Bing Huan had to support himself with his other hand to keep from falling. Fortunately, it worked. Hermione had been freed from her petrified state. She frowned and gradually opened her eyes. "Huan?"

"A girl who doesn't let people worry." Relieved, Bing Huan collapsed into Hermione's arms, drained.

Hermione looked at the collapsing young man, and the familiar words echoed in her ears again. "I must have heard you say that somewhere." As she mumbled, she suddenly saw Bing Huan's palm still bleeding. She quickly took out a first-aid kit and bandaged him.

Seemingly having recovered, Bing Huan looked up and said weakly, "Take me to Myrtle's bathroom." Hermione frowned, "But you're like this!"

"Can't be helped. There are still three fools waiting for us to support them there."

When they arrived at the bathroom, the sink had already opened, revealing a passage leading down. Hermione cast a spell to let them descend slowly, with Bing Huan's arm on her shoulder. He used Crimson Trail to support himself with his other hand.

The three, separated from Bing Huan, arrived at the abandoned bathroom. Myrtle was gazing at the moon, thinking. She looked at Harry, "What do you want this time?"

"We want to ask how you died."

As if no one had ever asked, Harry's question seemed to energize her. "I died right here. Olive Hornby mocked me for wearing glasses, calling me a four-eyed dog. So I hid here. Then I heard another language. It was a boy's voice. I was just about to tell him to leave, and then I opened the stall door. I died."

"How did you die?" Draco found it a bit too brief.

"I don't know. I just remember seeing a pair of terrifyingly large yellow eyes. I couldn't even move, and I died."

"That's not right. Wearing glasses should only result in petrification, shouldn't it?"

"I was wiping my tears at the time, so I wasn't wearing glasses."

The three went to the sink Myrtle had mentioned. After inspecting it, they found a small snake carved on one of the faucets. Harry spoke a word in Parseltongue to open it, and the sink immediately reacted. After a flash of white light, a passage leading down appeared.

The three exchanged glances and jumped down together. After going down, to prevent any accidents, they quickly dripped the eye drops again.

"At least this way, the worst that can happen is petrification," Ron blinked. The taste of the eye drops was unpleasant.

"But if you hear any strange noises later, close your eyes first. You won't be able to do anything if you're petrified," Harry said as they walked forward.

They reached a brightly lit tunnel. On the ground lay a huge, glistening green snakeskin, very vibrant. It was clear that its former owner was a highly venomous snake, at least 20 feet long.

Opening another door with Parseltongue, they found themselves in a vast space. Opposite them stood a sculpture of a snake with its mouth agape.

Beside it was a humanoid sculpture with an old, monkey-like face and sparse, scraggly whiskers. It was undoubtedly Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin.

Underneath the sculpture lay a figure. The three approached and saw it was Lockhart. "I was wondering why he wasn't showing off today," Ron said, relieved that the victim was someone he disliked.

Draco frowned, looking at Lockhart. "Is he still alive?"

"He won't wake up." a voice said softly. The three turned to look at a tall, dark-haired boy leaning against the nearest stone pillar, watching them.

"Tom Riddle?" Although his face was obscured by the backlight, Harry knew for a fact that it was Tom Riddle.

Tom Riddle didn't know yet that they had already discovered his true identity. He approached Harry with amusement, picking up Harry's wand from the ground. "Harry Potter, I've waited a long time, always hoping for a chance to see you and talk."

Seeing his wand taken, Harry cursed his carelessness internally. "How about we talk outside?"

"No, right here, right now."

Seeing this, the three could only pray that Bing Huan and Hermione would hurry over.