Four sets of footsteps drew closer to the girls' bathroom on the second floor.
Harry and Ron escorted Professor Lockhart, with Hermione following behind. They walked down the dark corridor until they reached Myrtle's bathroom. Lockhart's legs trembled; every step felt like he was walking on cotton. Ron gave him a shove, and only then did he stagger forward a few more steps.
They made Lockhart go in first. Harry was pleased to see him trembling. Ron shoved him again from behind, and Lockhart nearly fell flat on his face, catching himself against the doorframe.
Su Yu stood before the circular sink, staring at the little snake carved into the side of the copper faucet. He had been waiting for them for quite some time, his hands in his pockets. Kurama crouched on his shoulder, its tail swaying back and forth.
Grindelwald leaned against the cold, mottled Dali washstand, a cigarette held between his fingers. His movements were unhurried and steady, his long knuckles loosely cradling the cigarette. With a slight movement of his fingertips, a tiny orange spark lit up the dim bathroom. Smoke curled up between his fingers and slowly dispersed through the air.
"You finally made it?" Su Yu turned to look at the four of them.
Su Yu's sudden voice startled all four of them. Ron clutched his chest, nearly scared senseless, and jerked backward into Harry. Harry's glasses were knocked crooked, and he quickly adjusted them.
Hermione's eyes widened. Excitedly, she rushed into Su Yu's arms and asked, "Why are you here?" Her face was buried against his chest, her fingers gripping the front of his robes.
Su Yu patted her back without explaining much. "I came with Professor Graves. Something felt wrong about this place. This should be the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."
Grindelwald muttered from the side, "Have I really lost all my charm? Such a big person, and she didn't even see me..." He looked down at himself, then at Su Yu, shook his head, and crushed his cigarette against the Dali counter.
Only then did Hermione notice the voice beside her. She hurriedly pulled away from Su Yu, straightened her robes, and greeted Grindelwald. "Hello, Professor Graves." Her voice was a little embarrassed.
Grindelwald nodded at her without saying anything else.
"Harry, come look here," Su Yu called. "Use your Parseltongue. It should open it."
Harry looked at Su Yu in surprise, but he still walked over to the sink beside him. He stared at the tiny snake carving and tried to imagine it was a real snake. Then his throat tightened, his mouth opened, and a strange hiss came out instead: "Open."
In an instant, the faucet was bathed in brilliant white light and began to spin. The copper tap rotated faster and faster with a harsh scraping sound. Then the sink began to move as well. The entire Dali counter sank, revealing a pipe. Its opening was pitch-black and only wide enough for one person to slide through. A damp, moldy smell wafted out, mixed with the stench of dirt and rot.
Ron leaned over for a look, then immediately pulled back. "W-We have to slide down that?"
"You can stay here," Harry said.
Ron looked around the dark bathroom, then at the pipe opening. He swallowed. "I'd better go with you."
"A wise choice," Grindelwald said teasingly.
Grindelwald looked at the entrance, then turned to Lockhart.
"Professor Lockhart, could you take the lead this time?" His voice carried an icy edge that allowed no refusal.
"Er, you don't seem to need me," Lockhart said. But as Grindelwald's gaze grew more dangerous, his voice became quieter. "Can we talk this over? If I go down there, wh-what do I get out of it?"
"I really think—" Lockhart had barely started before Grindelwald shoved him. Lockhart screamed as he slid into the pipe. His robes flapped once at the opening, then he vanished without a trace. His screams echoed up through the pipe, growing farther away and more muffled until they could no longer be heard.
Su Yu crawled into the pipe after him and slid all the way down.
Ron took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped in. Harry followed right after him. Before jumping, he glanced back at Hermione, and she nodded at him.
Hermione looked at Professor Graves. Graves smiled and said, "Go on. I'll be behind you." Hermione jumped in as well.
The pipe was filthy, pitch-black, and seemingly endless. Su Yu activated the Kurama Cloak, and golden light illuminated the inner walls of the pipe. Numerous other pipes branched off to the sides, but none were as huge as the one they were in. Behind him, he could hear Ron crashing through bends, Harry's startled cries, and Hermione's screams.
Near the end, the pipe leveled out. Su Yu shot out of it and landed steadily on the wet floor of a stone tunnel. The tunnel was tall enough to walk through, but darkness surrounded them. Lockhart was getting to his feet nearby, covered in sticky mud, with some unknown slime hanging from his hair. He looked as though he had just crawled out of hell, and his whole body was still shaking.
Ron and Harry came whistling out of the pipe as well, one after another, and crashed onto the floor. When Ron got up, he stepped on his own robes and fell over again.
When Hermione flew out, Su Yu leaped forward and caught her. Her face buried itself in his chest, and it took a while before she relaxed.
Grindelwald came out last. Not a speck of filth stained his clothes, and he looked as composed as though he were out for a stroll. He surveyed the area and said, "Salazar Slytherin probably dug this pipe himself."
"How do you know?" Ron asked.
"Guesswork," Grindelwald said.
"We must be miles from the school by now," Harry's voice echoed through the dark tunnel.
"Maybe we're under the lake." Ron examined the black, slimy walls around them as he spoke. He reached out and touched the moss on the wall, then quickly pulled his hand back and wiped it on his robes. "Slimy. Disgusting."
All six of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.
"Light!" Hermione muttered to her wand, and its tip lit up again. "Let's go."
They set off through the damp passage. Their footsteps were especially loud, every step accompanied by splashing water that echoed through the empty tunnel. The underground passage was far too long; they could see only a short distance ahead. In the wandlight, their shadows stretched across the walls, long and twisted, warping with the flickering light and looking terribly frightening.
"Don't you think it's getting colder?" Ron shrank his neck.
"You're just scaring yourself," Hermione said without turning around.
"I am not."
"You are."
Harry did not join their bickering. He held up his wand as he walked in front, his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead.
The underground passage was as silent as a lonely grave. The first unexpected sound they heard was the crack of Ron stepping on a rat's skull—sharp and piercing.
Ron looked down, his face turning pale. "What is that?"
Harry lowered his wand and inspected the floor. Small animal bones lay scattered across it. The white bones gave off a cold gleam in the wandlight. Some had already crumbled into fragments, while others still retained complete skeletons.
"Probably leftovers from the Basilisk," Grindelwald said blandly.
"Harry, there's something up ahead..." Ron called hoarsely, grabbing Harry's shoulder. His fingers dug into Harry's flesh so hard that Harry lurched to one side.
Ron's outburst frightened Hermione too, and she hid tightly in Su Yu's arms. Even though she had activated the Kurama Cloak, Ron had scared her badly enough to make her afraid.
Ron and Harry, frozen with fright, peered ahead. Harry could only make out a huge, curved outline lying motionless around the bend in the tunnel.
"Maybe it's asleep." Harry took a breath and turned to look at the others. Lockhart had both hands clamped over his eyes and was huddled at the very back of the group, as if he wished he could squeeze himself into a crack in the wall.
Harry turned back to inspect the thing again. His heartbeat was almost painful. He narrowed his eyes as much as possible and slowly edged forward, holding his wand high.
The light fell over a giant snakeskin. It was a nauseating fresh green, coiled up and lying hollow on the tunnel floor. The enormous snake that had shed it must have been at least twenty feet long. The patterns on the skin were clearly visible, and its scales gleamed slickly in the wandlight.
"This is good stuff." Grindelwald reached out and touched it, his fingers gliding lightly over the snakeskin. "Basilisk skin. One of the rarest potion ingredients."
"Ah!" Ron cried out loudly at the sight of the skin.
Hermione poked her head out from Su Yu's arms and glared at Ron. Ron shrank back.
"Could you stop making such a fuss all the time?" Hermione said angrily.
"I was just startled," Ron muttered softly.
"You're taking it back?" Su Yu asked.
"Of course." Grindelwald really did roll up the huge snakeskin and stuff it into the pocket of his long robes. No one knew what spell he had used, but such a massive skin actually fit inside.
They continued onward, turning corner after corner through the underground passage.
Harry walked at the front, then suddenly stopped. "Listen."
Everyone stopped. A faint hissing sound came from far away, like something slithering across stone.
"Is it the Basilisk?" Ron's voice trembled.
"Doesn't sound like it." Grindelwald listened carefully. "It's probably water."
After a few more minutes of walking, an underground river appeared ahead. Water seeped out from cracks in the walls and gathered into a small stream across the ground, flowing into deeper darkness.
"This way." Harry pointed in the direction of the river's flow, and everyone followed him onward.
When they rounded the final bend, a solid wall stood directly before them. Two intertwined snakes were carved into it, their eyes set with huge glittering emeralds. The gemstones glowed a murky green in the wandlight.
Harry stepped forward, his throat dry. He imagined the stone snakes were real. Their eyes looked lifelike, as if they might slither down from the wall at any moment. He guessed what he had to do next. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker.
"Open," Harry said in a low, faint hiss.
The wall split down the middle, and the two snakes separated with it. The two halves of the wall slid smoothly apart and vanished from sight. A cold wind poured from the opening, carrying an ancient scent that had been sealed away for ages.
Harry and Ron trembled from head to toe as they made Lockhart go in first. Lockhart's legs had gone as limp as noodles, and he nearly fell after taking two steps.
They arrived at the end of a stone chamber. It was quite large and dimly lit, with only faint green light seeping through cracks in the walls. More giant stone snakes coiled around the towering pillars, casting long black shadows through the strange pale-green glow that filled the room. They climbed the pillars all the way up and vanished into the dark ceiling, whose top could not be seen.
Harry and Ron drew their wands and followed behind Lockhart, advancing slowly between the pillars carved with pythons. Every footstep echoed off the walls.
Hermione curiously poked her head out from Su Yu's arms. She felt that Su Yu and Professor Graves looked as though they were simply on an outing.
"Aren't you nervous?" Hermione asked Su Yu quietly.
"What's there to be nervous about?" Su Yu said, pulling Hermione a little closer. What he did not say was that compared to snakes, he was more afraid of insects. That was why he had not gone into the Forbidden Forest that night—like Ron, he was afraid of spiders. Whether he could beat them was beside the point. Fear was fear. He would rather fight Voldemort than face a swarm of spiders.
The hollow eye sockets of those stone snakes seemed to be watching every move they made.
"Professor Lockhart, walk faster," Ron urged from behind.
Lockhart's legs shook, but he still quickened his pace.
When they reached the last pair of stone pillars, a statue as tall as the chamber itself suddenly loomed before them, pressed against the black wall at the back. It depicted a huge, ape-like old man, his beard hanging all the way to the hem of his stone robes. His face was fierce, and his two massive stone feet stood on the floor, every detail of his toes clearly carved.
Su Yu stopped and looked at the statue.
"All right, now that everyone's here," Su Yu said, turning toward Lockhart. He spoke each word slowly and clearly. "Professor Lockhart, you've been pretending for a whole year. Aren't you tired?"
Before you continue