Dispute Over the Shed Snake Skin

"If this really is a safe place, perhaps we could bring students here for a field trip—but not now."

Professor McGonagall pressed her lips together, utterly serious.

Dumbledore nodded and shifted his gaze around them. They stood in a pitch-black tunnel built from massive piled stones.

The surrounding walls were dark and felt slimy, while the ground was damp, producing constant splashing sounds beneath their feet.

"Silvanus was right. We should be beneath the Black Lake now."

Dumbledore assessed their current situation, then winked at the professors and strode forward.

The tunnel was so dark they could not see their hands before their faces. Fortunately, the faint glow from their wands provided enough visibility.

The walls were wet, and the surroundings were as silent as a tomb. The six influential "figures" of Hogwarts walked through it without panic, carrying only caution toward the unknown.

Apart from Kettleburn. The one-and-a-half-legged professor strode along cheerfully, splashing through the water as he estimated the size of the thousand-year-old Basilisk he had never seen.

Until something beneath his foot cracked.

Kettleburn looked down and saw a mouse skull. Looking more closely, he found the floor densely carpeted with the remains of small animals.

"Oh, Merlin's socks!"

Kettleburn danced excitedly. Seeing these things, he could be certain that a magical creature definitely lived here.

Even if it was not a Basilisk, there had to be something else!

The professors said nothing and quickly left that "mountain of corpses, sea of bones." Dumbledore turned a small corner ahead, then slowed slightly.

"Ready for a surprise?"

No one answered. Kettleburn was still the first to hurry after him and reply casually.

"What surpr—oh, Merlin's beard! Th-that-that... it's beautiful!"

A colossal object lay across the tunnel, nearly blocking the way by itself. Kettleburn stared at it, his eyes glazed over.

"It must not have been easy, growing this large alone in a place like this."

Dumbledore smiled, waved his wand, and sent pinpricks of light spilling forth to dispel the darkness and illuminate the enormous object before them.

It was a huge shed snake skin, a vivid glossy green. At a glance, it was clearly the skin of a venomous snake. It lay coiled on the tunnel floor, hollow within, and appeared to be more than twenty inches long.

Professor McGonagall's gaze suddenly sharpened, and her lips trembled.

"The Basilisk really exists."

Such a dangerous creature had been living beneath Hogwarts all this time, alongside the entire school's staff and students. What if—what if it...

Professor McGonagall could not bear to imagine it. She could only be grateful that Dumbledore had discovered it now.

Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff and Herbology professor, and Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw and Charms professor, were equally incredulous, relieved amid their lingering fear.

Only Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin and Potions professor, had his eyes flicker repeatedly when he saw the enormous shed skin.

"Professor Dumbledore, you said this Basilisk was a gift Slytherin left for Hogwarts. Then I believe it should be kept by Slytherins, should it not?"

Basilisk shed skin was excellent Potions material, especially that of a thousand-year-old Basilisk. Even Snape was seeing a shed skin of this size for the first time.

"Hmm!?"

Kettleburn sensed something was wrong. He turned his head almost like a pumpkin, then hopped over to Snape's side.

"My dear Severus, I believe the Basilisk is a magical creature. Therefore, it would be most appropriate for an old professor of Care of Magical Creatures to manage it."

"Dumbledore said it was a gift left behind by Slytherin."

Snape spoke coldly. There was no need to yield on this matter.

Kettleburn wanted to say more, but Dumbledore's cheerful laughter reached them first.

"All right, my dear Severus and Silvanus. There is no need for either of you to argue over this. That Basilisk belongs to Hogwarts."

At those words, Kettleburn visibly wilted. But he soon brightened again—he still had several years before retirement.

Snape's expression remained unchanged, though his eyes still flickered.

"Just the Basilisk, Professor Dumbledore? What about this shed skin?"

"I doubt the Basilisk will shed only once in its lifetime. Once we find it, shall we take a look at its wardrobe?"

Watching Dumbledore beam, Professor McGonagall sighed helplessly to herself.

He was always like this, turning what should have been a serious exploration into something so lighthearted and pleasant.

The enormous shed skin remained where it was. The professors walked around it, and as they left, Kettleburn looked back almost every step, deeply reluctant to part with it.

After walking for quite some time longer, twisting and turning through the dark tunnel and passing many bends, they finally reached the end of their journey.

A solid wall stood before them, carved with two intertwined snakes. Each pair of eyes was set with large, gleaming green emeralds.

The professors looked to Dumbledore. He naturally stepped forward and made a soft hissing sound in his mouth.

"Open."

A sound so faint it could almost be ignored arose. The two emerald-eyed snakes separated, and the stone wall split down the middle, slowly sliding apart and vanishing to either side.

Dumbledore turned back to the professors, winked playfully, and entered first.

Beyond the stone wall was a long, dimly lit chamber. The first thing Dumbledore saw was a row of stone pillars carved with coiling, entwined giant snakes. They rose high to support a ceiling that disappeared into the darkness above, casting long, eerie shadows across the entire room, which was suffused with a mysterious green haze.

The professors entered as well. Seeing so many pillars wrapped in giant snakes, they somehow felt that this was only to be expected.

"I'd wager that if Slytherin had been a Care of Magical Creatures professor, snakes would definitely have been his favorite animals."

Kettleburn made a quip. Not a single professor refuted him. Even Snape followed Dumbledore with an expressionless face.

The chamber was vast and empty. As the professors walked through it, every step produced a hollow, resounding echo.

When Dumbledore reached the last pair of stone pillars, the professors suddenly saw a statue as tall as the chamber itself.

It was a statue of Slytherin, pressed against the dark wall behind it. The first thing they saw was an enormous, monkey-like face, aged and wizened, with a thin, scraggly beard that nearly dragged across the hem of its stone-carved wizard's robes. Two huge gray feet stood upon the chamber's smooth floor. It looked every bit like an evil wizard.

Dumbledore studied the sculpture before him. Beneath his half-moon spectacles, his pale blue eyes seemed to pierce through its surface and see what lay within.

"Albus, where is the Basilisk?" Professor McGonagall had indeed scanned the chamber, yet she had found no sign of life.

"It is inside its master's body."

In an instant, every professor turned their gaze to Slytherin's statue and raised their wands.