Thousand-Year Basilisk

Headmaster Dipper nodded in satisfaction. Hagrid had already been expelled; as long as Tom Riddle was dealt with, things would be easy.

Headmaster Dipper said with a smile, "It's getting late. Go back to sleep, Tom."

After bidding the headmaster farewell, Tom left the Headmaster's Office, but he did not return directly to the Slytherin Common Room.

Matthew followed Tom to the Girls' Lavatory—this was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

After Tom opened the Chamber, its legend stirred panic among the students. Not long ago, Hogwarts' Board Members, pressured by outside forces, had even begun planning to close the school, which would send Tom back to that hated orphanage.

He had long since discovered that Hagrid was secretly raising dangerous Acromantulas. Thus, he framed Hagrid, reporting to Headmaster Dipper that Hagrid was the one who opened the Chamber.

Headmaster Dipper also did not want the school to close, but he did not want the Chamber's legend to tarnish Hogwarts' reputation. He separated the student's death from the Chamber's legend, framing the incident as Hagrid privately keeping dangerous pets at Hogwarts, with the pet losing control and causing the student's accidental death.

Tom did not want Hogwarts to shut down, nor did he want to return to that hated orphanage. So he decided to seal the Chamber's secrets. He created a diary, storing a sixteen-year-old version of himself inside. He hoped that one day the diary would guide another person to follow in his footsteps and complete Salazar Slytherin's noble cause of "purifying the school." He also used Myrtle Warren's death to turn the diary into his Horcrux.

Tom placed the diary in the Chamber. He planned to retrieve it now and then seal the Chamber for good.

In the Girls' Lavatory's sink, there was a bronze tap engraved with a small snake.

Tom stood before the bronze tap and spoke in a cold, piercing Parseltongue: "Open."

The bronze tap engraved with the small snake emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly.

Then, the sink slowly shifted aside, revealing a thick water pipe.

Matthew watched Tom jump into the pipe. To avoid running into Tom, he waited a few minutes before entering the pipe himself.

Holding Preserved Egg, Matthew slid down the pipe. It was long and extremely winding, making him feel like he was playing on a Water World Amusement Park slide—except this slide was much longer and far dirtier.

After a while, sliding through a horizontal section of the pipe, Matthew and Preserved Egg shot out of the pipe and landed on the ground.

Matthew waved his wand at himself and Preserved Egg, and the grime clinging to them vanished instantly.

Through his Magic Sense, he could perceive Tom ahead in the dark stone tunnel.

The tunnel was utterly silent, the ground littered with the remains of various small animals.

He followed Tom for a while until they came across a twenty-foot-long empty shell—the shed skin of the Basilisk.

To avoid alerting Tom, Matthew suppressed his urge to stash the snakeskin into his Bag of Infinite Space. This was premium material!

Rounding another bend, they arrived at a stone wall engraved with two intertwined snakes, their eyes set with gleaming emeralds.

Tom spoke again in that cold, piercing Parseltongue: "Open."

The two snakes on the stone wall slowly parted, and the wall split open from the middle, gradually sliding to both sides.

Matthew chose not to follow Tom inside. To avoid Tom sensing the Basilisk's movements, he had to wait until Tom left before killing the Basilisk.

After more than ten minutes, Tom emerged, holding a diary in his hand that he hadn't had before.

Just as Tom was about to completely seal the Chamber, Matthew, who had been waiting by the stone wall entrance, quickly slipped inside.

Once the stone wall closed, Matthew aimed his wand at his throat. "Speak with Cats!"

This was the first spell Matthew had created. Before attending school, young wizards sometimes couldn't control their magic, unconsciously venting their excess power—like Harry Potter vanishing the glass at the zoo before school.

Matthew had experienced this too. One night as a child, he suddenly found he could understand Preserved Egg's language.

Though it returned to normal the next day, Matthew remembered the feeling. After many attempts, he created a spell to communicate with cats.

However, though Matthew created the Speak with Cats spell, he didn't understand its principles. He cast it purely by instinct and emotion.

"Preserved Egg, send out your clones to scout and find the Basilisk's location. Your main body and I must keep our eyes closed the whole time—looking at the Basilisk will curse us with petrification or death," Matthew instructed.

"Okay, meow~"

The voice Matthew heard sounded like a boy's voice before puberty. Preserved Egg's voice, transformed by the Speak with Cats spell, came out like this.

Preserved Egg flicked his tail. The tail detached from his body at the connection point and fell to the ground, splitting into ten segments.

Each of the ten tail segments transformed into a small black ball of fluff. Soon, the black fluff balls rapidly expanded, all ten turning into copies of Preserved Egg.

Then, Preserved Egg grew a new tail.

Nine of Preserved Egg's clones ran into the room ahead.

Preserved Egg was a black cat with a Spirit Cat Bloodline, inheriting the Spirit Cat's splitting ability. He could create clones, and the main body could share the clones' memories.

After Matthew advanced to Level 2 Wizard Apprentice, his Magic Sense radius increased to 50 meters. Combining Magic Sense with Preserved Egg's clones was Matthew's confidence to face the Basilisk blind. Without the staring curse, the Basilisk's threat was greatly reduced.

Matthew placed Preserved Egg's main body into the hood of his cloak behind his head, leaving one clone on the ground to guide the way.

At this moment, Preserved Egg said, "Found it. The Basilisk is inside."

The room was vast, with many massive stone pillars on both sides, each carved with a large snake, as if the snakes were coiled around and entwined with the pillars.

Deep in the room stood a giant Slytherin Statue.

The Basilisk was currently lying at the statue's feet.

Preserved Egg said, "The Basilisk isn't looking at the door right now."

Matthew opened his eyes and quickly surveyed the Chamber's environment.

He tried casting Shapeshifting Technique on the nearby stone pillars, but they seemed to be one with the castle, protected by it. His spell had no effect.

After casting, the effect of the Time Force that had been concealing his traces wore off.

Matthew and Preserved Egg quickly shut their eyes.

The Basilisk sensed the movement behind it and twisted its body to turn around.

Matthew struck first.

"Avada Kedavra!"