Salazar Slytherin: Good or Evil
The fact that Hogwarts is named after four great wizards from the early Middle Ages and the Founders of four magic schools is certainly not without reason.
Each of the four Founders possesses unique qualities and a particular type of student personality they admire.
Gryffindor is known for its courage, bravery, and extraordinary daring; Ravenclaw for its wisdom, knowledge, and exceptional intelligence; Hufflepuff for its diligence, tolerance, and loyalty; and Slytherin for its ambition, shrewdness, and composure.
However, this is not a perfect correspondence. For example, some young wizards possess different personality traits from different houses, which is why the hat dilemma occurs.
Furthermore, a person's personality traits can change dramatically throughout their life.
The Sorting Hat might sort a young wizard into Gryffindor when he's eleven, but as he grows up, he gradually loses the courage and boldness he had as a child. So, if given another chance to be sorted, he might end up in Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or even Slytherin.
It is precisely for this reason that the four Founders of Hogwarts infused their respective ideas into the Sorting Hat, ensuring that each house could recruit the most suitable students.
Salazar Slytherin, as one of the Four Founders at the time, had a close relationship with Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and especially Godric Gryffindor for a long time. His pursuit of shrewdness, ambition, and calm thinking was also recognized by the other three Founders.
Therefore, contrary to the rumors that often circulated among the other three houses, Salazar Slytherin was never an extreme Pure-blood advocate who only valued the interests of Pure-blood wizards; he was simply a teacher whose ideas differed slightly from those of the other three.
The most important reason for his conflict with the other three Founders was not his deep study of Dark Magic or his eccentric personality, but rather the dispute over whether or not to accept Muggle-born wizards into Hogwarts!
Contrary to centuries-old rumors, Salazar Slytherin's refusal to accept Muggle-born wizard was not out of contempt for wizards of mixed blood, but rather because accepting their children would expose Hogwarts to the scrutiny of Muggle.
In those days, the enactment of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was still a long way off, and the life trajectories of wizards and Muggle overlapped considerably. Witch hunts and anti-wizard movements were prevalent, and coupled with the fact that wizards had few systematic teaching methods and were few in number, they were severely lacking in combat effectiveness.
Therefore, many wizards at that time were persecuted by Muggle and were chased and forced to hide by the guards of lords in various regions.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was established against this backdrop.
Hogwarts has many moving staircases, numerous suits of armor to guard the castle, and multiple protective spells. Most of these defensive measures were created to deal with attacks from Muggle.
Therefore, if Hogwarts chooses to admit Muggle-born students, there might be some Muggle parents among them who are fanatically opposed to wizards. If the young wizards who enroll reveal the location and conditions of Hogwarts to their parents, then Hogwarts could face great danger.
This was the main reason why Salazar Slytherin opposed recruiting Muggle-born wizard.
So deep down he was actually worried about Hogwarts, after all, he was once a great wizard who was willing to fight for the common ideals of the four Founders for his entire life!
Therefore, in Xiwen's view, the more important reason for leaving a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets deep underground at Hogwarts was not to eliminate the Muggle-born wizard in Hogwarts, but to defend against the invasion of Muggle and to set up a secret weapon for the school to which he had dedicated his youth.
In other words, Riddle probably misunderstood Salazar Slytherin's meaning.
Xiwen looked up at Riddle and saw him leading the way, turning a dark bend in the tunnel.
Behind the bend, out of Riddle's sight, Xiwen quietly opened a Dimensional Gate leading to the girls' restroom where Fawkes and the Basilisk were.
Behind the golden halo, a gigantic Basilisk, its entire body shimmering green, gleamed with the vibrant light characteristic of a venomous snake. Its body was as thick as an oak tree trunk, making it appear exceptionally ferocious.
However, at this moment it stretched its upper body high into the air, its flat, large head wandering haphazardly among the stone pillars, as if it were drunk. Fawkes was circling its head, and the Basilisk angrily pounced on the Phoenix, revealing thin, long, venomous fangs like sabers in its mouth.
Fawkes deftly dodged and then swooped down. Its long golden beak plunged into the Basilisk's head, and instantly, a spray of black blood splattered onto the ground like a rain shower.
The Basilisk's tail lashed wildly, smashing many of the partitions in the girls' restroom to pieces. Only the restroom cubicle where Myrtle was located remained intact thanks to the Phoenix's protection.
Seeing that Fawkes had completely gained the upper hand, Xiwen breathed a sigh of relief and whispered in a voice Riddle couldn't hear, "If possible, spare its life, Fawkes."
Fawkes turned his face away, seemingly puzzled, but nodded his head covered in golden-red feathers and continued fighting the Basilisk.
After retrieving the Dimensional Gate, Xiwen turned the corner. The silhouette of a colossal creature lay motionless on the other side of the tunnel.
That was the Basilisk.
The light from the advanced wand's Lumos shone on the enormous snakeskin, making it appear a vibrant, emerald green—clearly the skin of a venomous snake. It lay coiled on the tunnel floor, which was hollow inside, resembling a large tunnel.
Riddle, unfazed, bypassed the Basilisk's skin and walked step by step towards what lay behind it. Behind it stood a solid wall, carved with two intertwined snakes, their eyes inlaid with large, Winky emeralds, just like real snakes!
"Open it." Riddle stopped in front of the wall and said in a low, hoarse hiss.
Under the influence of Riddle's Parseltongue, the two intertwined snakes slowly separated, and a crack appeared in the middle of the stone wall. The crack then gradually widened, slowly sliding to both sides and disappearing.
So this is Salazar Slytherin's real Chamber of Secrets!
Riddle entered the Chamber of Secrets first, then turned to Xiwen and said, "Come in, Rozier."
Entering the Chamber of Secrets, Xiwen and Riddle stood side by side on one side of a long, dimly lit room. Many stone pillars carved with coiled serpents towered high, supporting the ceiling that seemed to melt into the darkness above, casting long, eerie shadows into the room, which was filled with a mysterious, verdant atmosphere.
When the two reached a point parallel to the last pair of stone pillars, a statue as tall as the room itself suddenly appeared before them, pressed tightly against the dark wall behind it.
Xiwen craned his neck and saw the enormous face on the statue: an old, monkey-like face with a sparse, long beard that stretched almost to the hem of the stone-carved wizard's robe, and two large, gray Padfoot standing on the smooth floor of the room.
Riddle also raised his head to look at the tall statue.