Four Overlords, A Thousand-Year Dialogue

Kyle surveyed the Chamber of Secrets.

Not only had Riddle disappeared, but even the pillar on the left had lost all trace of the Sectumsempra.

Everything that happened before felt like an incredibly real dream.

But the pain in his thigh and the diary in his hand clearly told Kyle... it was all true.

Kyle walked around for a moment, then looked up at the Slytherin statue.

Even though I don't know what happened, I'll destroy the diary first... if the Basilisk is still inside.

"Speak to me..."

Kyle spoke in Parseltongue, but the statue's mouth did not open as before; instead, the snake-shaped statues on the pillars moved.

They came to life... and slithered down the pillar like real snakes, gathering around Kyle.

This familiar scene left Kyle completely bewildered.

It's confirmed, he was dreaming!

I guess I didn't hit him hard enough, that's why he didn't wake up.

Kyle gritted his teeth, just as he was about to pinch himself again... when a deep voice suddenly came from above the Chamber of Secrets.

"Okay, what do you want to say?"

"Who!" Kyle suddenly looked up.

At the same time, as the sound appeared, the snake statues that came to life began to connect with each other, quickly forming a huge circular archway.

A layer of transparent, wavy curtain, like a soap bubble, gradually emerged and filled the archway.

After the curtains swayed a few times, a middle-aged wizard wearing a green robe was revealed.

He looked at Kyle and asked expressionlessly, "Weren't you just going to talk to me?"

"You... I..." Kyle opened his mouth, but was too surprised to speak.

He thought of a name, but the idea was too absurd.

"Salazar, I think you should be more proactive. The child doesn't know what's going on."

Then, a second person appeared in the archway, a plump witch... She looked exactly like the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff in the common room.

"I must be dreaming!" Kyle muttered to himself.

"You don't, I assure you," a wizard in a red cloak said with a smile; he was the third person to appear from the archway.

Behind him followed a witch with a cold and aloof expression.

All four of them are here.

It took Kyle a while to come to his senses. He scratched his head. "No, this can't be..."

"I bet you already know who we are," the cloaked wizard said with a smile.

He also pushed up the pointed hat he was wearing, as if giving Kyle a hint.

"Yes... and I'm trying to convince myself that this is such an absurd thing."

Kyle looked at the four people in the archway. "In fact, in my understanding, you should be people from over a thousand years ago... I mean, how could I possibly meet you?"

"Because of time."

Salazar Slytherin said calmly, "You awakened the Basilisk, but you couldn't put it back to sleep because the lack of a specific command caused the Basilisk to instinctively destroy the special Time-Turner inside the statue."

He took a gold pocket watch out of his pocket.

"It has two parts, one in the future and one in the past. If the future is damaged, then it will form some kind of connection with the past."

Kyle nodded, seemingly understanding.

This means that Salazar Slytherin, a thousand years ago, already knew about his first summoning of the Basilisk.

Kyle had never seen or even heard of such an unbelievable method before.

This is practically foreseeing the future.

"But why... why didn't you show yourself then?"

"Because he can't do it."

Gryffindor laughed heartily and said, "His plan was originally meant to guard against me, fearing I would stew his Basilisk. Unexpectedly, he discovered you a thousand years in the future by sheer coincidence."

The time span is too long; communication between converters alone is simply insufficient for us to have a direct conversation with you...

Unless you've also altered the timeline, making yourself less "stable."

I think you must have been particularly obsessed with using Time-Turner at some point...

Kyle didn't say anything.

No wonder he always felt something was off; now he understands everything.

He didn't care about those certificates at all, yet unusually, he chose twelve courses... and applied for Time-Turner twice...

"It's you!" Kyle exclaimed in realization. "Then those voices I heard back then..."

"It's just some minor side effects," Gryffindor said. "Salazar thought you were trying to use the Basilisk for some bad thing, so he was a little too rough."

But it was mainly Rowena who wanted to see how far you could go, so she used a very interesting spell... let's call it Confundus Charm, using the statues in the castle as a medium to make you subconsciously hide the Basilisk from others."

Rowena Ravenclaw glanced at him indifferently, but did not refute him.

In an instant, Kyle felt his mind become incredibly clear, and all his previous doubts were resolved.

No wonder he hesitated every time he wanted to tell Dumbledore about the Basilisk; he never imagined it was related to the Four Founders.

After learning the truth, Kyle had a lot of questions to ask, but at that moment, the curtain suddenly flickered, and the appearance of the Four Founders became much blurry.

"We don't have much time left." Helga Hufflepuff stepped forward and shoved Gryffindor.

"Listen to me, child. I know you have many problems, but none of that matters now. What you need to do now is find a way to get time back on track, otherwise you may be trapped in a time loop forever."

"Let me give you a piece of advice, kid," Gryffindor said, "Never touch the Time-Turner, or you'll lose the protection of time."

"As compensation, I'll smooth over the effects of this Time-Turner for you." Slytherin glanced at him indifferently. "You can also take the Basilisk with you. The password to put it to sleep is... Sleep forever, awaiting tomorrow's glory."

"Your Occlumency is terrible." Rowena Ravenclaw spoke for the first time.

Her voice was calm, "This technique is not as simple as you think. Don't slack off. When you find yourself stagnating, then put on my Ravenclaw's Diadem."

As soon as Ravenclaw finished speaking, the image inside the archway turned into a thick mosaic and then disappeared completely.

The snakes that formed the archway climbed back onto the pillars, and the Chamber of Secrets returned to silence.

Kyle stood there and let out a long breath.

He actually met the Hogwarts Founders from a thousand years ago, and even spoke to them face to face.

This is unscientific... but magical.

Kyle wanted to sort out the bizarre experience he had just had, but he quickly remembered what Hufflepuff had said.

Judging from what she said, it seemed that she was not in the original timeline, and that she might be trapped here forever.

Without hesitation, Kyle immediately ran out of the Chamber of Secrets.

Outside the Chamber of Secrets, neither Professor McGonagall nor Harry were there... Kyle ran all the way to the end and returned to the castle through the tunnel.

The air was filled with the sounds of talking and laughter; Kyle hadn't seen such a lively scene in a long time.

He followed the corridor and soon found two students walking together.

"Hello," Kyle stepped forward and greeted them.

"Oh, I know you, Kyle of Hufflepuff," one of them said with a smile. "Hello, I'm Terry Boot of Ravenclaw."

"Sally-Anne Perks," the other said, "We're both Ravenclaw sophomores."

"It's an honor to meet you," Kyle replied. "Excuse me, where are you headed now?"

"Of course, I'm going to the Halloween Feast!"

"I heard that Headmaster Dumbledore has invited a Skeleton Dance Troupe," said Terry Boot's student. "This year's Halloween Feast is going to be spectacular!"