Dumbledore puzzled by Silan's words.
"You can speak in the Parseltongue without facing the Basilisk?"
He also believed that Silan's abilities only worked when facing real animals.
"I know a little," Silan replied. "I've heard the Basilisk speak; I can try to imitate it."
Dumbledore remained silent.
I only have a superficial understanding.
"As a novice wizard, don't you know a little too much?" Dumbledore thought to himself.
Silan looked at the little snake on the side of the brass faucet and imagined it was real.
He said, "Open it."
He clearly heard that what he was saying was not human language, but a strange hissing sound, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
Dumbledore, standing beside him, frowned and stared at him.
Without a doubt, this is the Parseltongue.
As far as he knew, there weren't many people who could Parseltongue.
Unfortunately, Voldemort could do that too.
Dumbledore looked at Silan with a complex expression, his eyes flashing with a meaningful glint.
Picture.
They look so alike.
Ever since the Sorting Ceremony, Dumbledore felt that Silan was too much like the Tom of the past.
Same bloodline, same background, same intelligence, even the same Parseltongue...
But Dumbledore also knew that this was a harsh criticism of Silan.
If his father hadn't joined the Order of the Phoenix, hadn't fought Voldemort, hadn't died on the battlefield, and hadn't donated the family fortune to the Order of the Order of the Phoenix...
Everything will be different.
As the sole heir of the Prewett family, Silan will undoubtedly inherit everything from the Prewett family.
Glory, wealth, and status will all be within easy reach.
He was supposed to be a little wizard born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but now everything has changed.
The Order of the Phoenix is inextricably linked to all of this.
Dumbledore was deeply conflicted when faced with the news of this heroic martyr.
On the one hand, he could never get over the similarities between Silan and Voldemort.
On the other hand, since Silan is the descendant of a hero and martyr, it is absolutely impossible for him to take a hard line.
So even if Silan and Voldemort are very similar, Dumbledore can't do anything to him; he can only guide him onto the right path.
This gave Dumbledore a real headache.
It's like a weasel facing a hedgehog, not knowing where to begin its attack.
After Silan finished speaking, the faucet emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly.
Then the pool started moving too.
The commotion interrupted Dumbledore's thoughts and drew his attention.
He clearly saw the pool slowly disappear from view, revealing a very thick pipe.
It's probably big enough for one person to squeeze in.
Dumbledore pulled out his wand. "I'll go in first."
Silan nodded, made way for Dumbledore, and followed him inside.
Behind the pipe is a slide.
With the help of the glowing light from the wand, Silan could clearly see that there were many other tubes connected to this one, branching out in all directions.
"The Basilisk probably roams around Hogwarts Castle through these pipes."
With that thought in mind, the slope of the slide lessened and gradually became horizontal.
Silan emerged from the pipe, where Dumbledore was waiting for him, holding a Transfiguration lamp. The light cast their wet shadows onto the damp wall, making them look like two sticky vegetable leaves.
"We'd better keep our heads down," Dumbledore advised, then stood beside Silan with his lantern.
The two people looked down at the ground and slowly walked towards the dark tunnel in front of them.
Their footsteps pattered on the wet ground, occasionally punctuated by the cracking sound of broken bones.
After walking in silence for a while, the two saw a huge snakeskin.
"Is this the Basilisk?"
Dumbledore raised his lantern and frowned at the enormous, shimmering green snakeskin.
Using the light, Silan estimated the length.
This snakeskin is about 20 feet long, roughly a little over 6 meters.
It was indeed a giant snake.
"I never imagined this Basilisk would grow so large," Dumbledore murmured to himself. "It's probably lived for a thousand years..."
Silan stared intently at the snakeskin, feeling quite puzzled.
If Slytherin spared the Basilisk so that someone would release it to purify the school, then this was clearly a huge mistake. Over a period of 50 years, the Basilisk only killed one person—that's incredibly inefficient.
"So... did Slytherin leave the Basilisk behind for some other purpose?" Silan couldn't help but wonder.
However, this information is not recorded in the original work, and Silan has no way of knowing it.
But since we're going to get the Basilisk anyway, we need to be patient and wait for the right opportunity.
The two men bypassed the snakeskin and continued deeper into the tunnel.
After turning one bend after another, they finally arrived at the end of the tunnel.
There stands a solid wall here, carved with intertwined and biting snakes, their eyes inlaid with huge, Winky emeralds that look almost real in the dim light.
"Open it," Silan commanded in Parseltongue.
An ancient, muffled sound emanated from the stone wall, carrying a hint of joy and allure.
The two snakes parted, and the thick stone wall slid apart from the middle, disappearing slowly into the distance.
"Looks like we've come to the right place." Dumbledore smiled, picked up his lamp, and went inside first.
Silan followed closely behind him.
This is a long, narrow, and dimly lit room.
Many stone pillars stood on both sides of the room, carved with coiled and intertwined serpents, towering high and supporting the ceiling that dissolved into the darkness above. The entire room was filled with a faint green light, and in the center was a long, eerie black shadow, like a giant serpent coiled within.
The two of them walked forward cautiously, the light flickering and casting their shadows into various shapes.
After passing one tall stone pillar after another and passing through the eerie shadow in the middle of the room, they finally saw a tall wizard statue.
The statue was pressed against the dark wall, seemingly carved out of the entire stone wall.
The wizard looked old and frail, even resembling a monkey.
His sparse, long beard almost reached the hem of the statue's robe, and his Padfoot trod on the smooth floor.
The carving style is not refined, and can even be described as rough, with bold and rugged lines that inspire awe.
"Salazar Slytherin ..." Dumbledore looked up at the statue's face and said slowly, "He was one of the Founders of Hogwarts."
After saying that, he looked around and asked, "But where is the Basilisk?"
"I might need to lure it out." Silan glanced quickly at the statue's mouth.
"This is too dangerous," Dumbledore said, frowning.
"Perhaps the Basilisk is still being controlled by someone; you're putting yourself in danger by doing this."
"For the safety of my classmates, and to save the Basilisk," Silan said resolutely, her voice filled with righteous indignation, "I must do this."
Looking into his resolute eyes and composed face, Dumbledore felt as if he were seeing Fabian in the past.
Yes, the child's last name Prewett.
He felt a little guilty for having been so harsh on Silan earlier, thinking he was like Voldemort.
Despite their many similarities, Silan was ultimately far kinder and more sincere than Voldemort.
I'm being far too sensitive.
Dumbledore sighed and nodded, "Alright, I'll protect you."
[Silver Tongue: Proficiency +1]
"Don't worry, Professor Dumbledore."
Silan nodded, walked to the front of the statue, and used Parseltongue again.
"Speak to me, Slytherin."