Looking into the Basilisk's Eyes
"Oliver Hongbei, what's her relationship with O'Neill Hongbei?" Xiwen pondered for a moment before asking.
Myrtle paused, then sobbed, "I heard Oliver Hongbei say that she has an older brother who's three grades ahead of her. She's always bragging about her brother's magical abilities, saying that O'Neill Hongbei can fight the top duelist in their grade for several minutes. It's impossible for me not to remember that!"
Upon hearing this, Xiwen's lips twitched.
The champion of the dueling tournament in the same grade as O'Neill Hongbei... wasn't it him?
It took Xiwen a while to remember that during a previous Dueling Class, he wanted to test the effectiveness of his newly fused defensive spell, so he didn't end the fight with a Disarming Charm as usual.
That one time probably gave his opponent a great deal of confidence.
Looking back now, it seems like my opponent in that duel really was O'Neill Hongbei from Ravenclaw...
"Why don't you come out of the cubicle and see who's standing outside?" Xiwen said to Myrtle was inside the washroom cubicle.
A short, chubby little witch shakily pushed open the door and peeked out from the cubicle. She had pimples on her face, wore thick glasses, and had long, straight hair.
When she saw the brown-haired senior wizard outside, wearing a prefect's Prefect Badge on his chest, her eyes widened involuntarily.
"You are... Rozier, the dueling Champion of Hogwarts?" Myrtle exclaimed in surprise.
"You recognized me correctly. It seems I do have a little bit of a reputation at Hogwarts," Xiwen said with a smile. "So, you can tell me whatever's wrong with you. There's no need to cry here alone."
"How about I drag O'Neal Hongbei over here right now and let him teach his sister a lesson?"
Myrtle opened her eyes wide in surprise and asked, "Really?"
Xiwen chuckled and nodded.
Just then, a faucet in the bathroom suddenly emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly. Then, the sink beneath the faucet also started to move.
To Myrtle's astonishment, the pool slowly disappeared from sight, revealing a very thick water pipe, almost large enough for a person to crawl inside.
Hearing the sound behind him, Xiwen involuntarily turned around and was suddenly struck by a pair of frighteningly large yellow eyes!
After looking into those eerie, terrifying yellow eyes, his whole body felt as if it had been grabbed, giving him the illusion of being carried away by the wind.
At this point, Xiwen vaguely realized that he had probably seen the Basilisk's eyes.
How could the Chamber of Secrets be located in such a convenient spot? How could Salazar Slytherin be so tasteless as to place the Chamber of Secrets to a girls' restroom?
"Go back to your washroom cubicle, now!" Xiwen shouted.
Then, with his last remaining strength, he laboriously moved to block Myrtle's view.
Driven by a lingering sense of responsibility, Xiwen finally snapped out of his daze and began to assess his physical condition after hearing her frightenedly close the cubicle door.
The illusion of his entire body drifting away with the wind grew stronger, and he finally sensed the Basilisk's rule-based magic affecting his soul. It was a magical talent that seemed poised to immediately strip away the integrity of the soul, and it felt as if Xiwen's soul was about to be completely eroded by this magic!
"Rozier, I really didn't expect to see you here." A graceful and pleasant young voice rang out, sounding to Xiwen as if it came from afar, lingering in his ears.
"I really didn't mean to kill anyone. I just wanted to inherit Salazar Slytherin's magic and will," the boy continued. "Why do you always have to be so strong? I see no hope of catching up with you. You've even perfectly accomplished what I once wanted to do."
"Why did you rush to consolidate the power of the Pure-blood families, Rozier? Do you know that I've always admired you, but I don't know why I feel like I've always lived in your shadow?"
"Since you were the first person the Basilisk killed, it seems fate has decreed this. I will now assume the role of leader of the Pure-blood. I will transform this Wizarding World into a paradise of pure bloodlines!"
The boy's words seemed to come from the heavens, or like waves of chanting; in a daze, Xiwen heard them more and more clearly, until finally he could even clearly discern who the owner of the voice was—
"But you're just a Half-blood, Riddle." Xiwen suddenly opened his eyes, looked into Riddle's dark eyes that were so close to his, and said softly.
It's true that the Basilisk's innate magic directly affects the soul, but unlike others, Xiwen doesn't have only one soul within him!
Furthermore, since Xiwen was actually an unusual being who could move freely with just his physical body, this attack that directly targeted his soul did not seem as fatal as the attacks on others.
Instinctively, the Sub-Soul that had long resided within Xiwen's body actively withstood the Basilisk's deathly gaze.
Since Xiwen's Sub-Soul was not a complete soul, the Basilisk's abilities could not be fully utilized. As a result, like the ghostly little fat Edmund Grub, his Sub-Soul was only transformed into a slightly stiff petrified state, without any life-threatening danger.
Once the Soul Body took over Xiwen's body, Xiwen's eyes became completely clear, staring intently at Riddle standing next to the Basilisk.
"This is impossible!" Riddle shouted in disbelief, staring at Xiwen who seemed completely unaffected. "Rozier, how could you be unaffected by the Basilisk? Who are you?!"
"There are many things in this world you don't know, Riddle, or rather, Voldemort, as you prefer to hear," Xiwen said slowly. "Learning is a never-ending process in life."
"Preaching, more preaching!" Riddle roared, losing his temper. "Shouldn't you then say that love is the greatest magic in the world?!"
"Riddle, we don't understand Dumbledore's words, nor are we qualified to comment," Xiwen said softly. "But as a great wizard who is extremely rare in history, his nearly fifty years of experience that surpasses ours is far more than just a matter of being slightly stronger."
"So I hope you will carefully consider what Dumbledore advised you. I must say, every conversation with Dumbledore, regardless of the time or place, has been incredibly beneficial to me."