Basilisk, Contracts, and Horcruxes (6)

Madara stood in the center of the Chamber of Secrets, his scarlet Sharingan slowly sweeping over the territory under his control. The enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin looked down on him from above, its stone eyes hollow and cold. Yet Madara could sense a trace of ancient magic lingering within that stone—the protective enchantment Slytherin himself had left behind a thousand years ago, meant to prevent the Chamber of Secrets from being abused.

Unfortunately, that protective enchantment had no effect on Madara. He was not going to "abuse" the Basilisk; he was going to "use" it. Before absolute power, any protective enchantment was meaningless.

He withdrew his gaze and turned toward the tunnel. His footsteps echoed through the empty Chamber of Secrets—once, twice, three times—then vanished. Madara's figure stretched and twisted in the darkness before finally turning into a shadow, leaving the thousand-year-old chamber as though he had never been there.

Hogwarts remained quiet that night. No one knew that the oldest secret of the ancient school had just changed hands.

Meanwhile, in the Hogwarts Library.

Carmichael sat in the farthest corner of the Restricted Section, a heavy ancient book spread open before him. His fingers rested motionlessly on the edge of the pages, as though he were contemplating some profound academic question. But if anyone looked closer, they would find his eyes vacant—his consciousness had just returned from his clone and was processing everything that had happened in the Chamber of Secrets.

He closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, then slowly opened them. A faint white glow shone from his clouded, lifeless eyes, magic leaking out beyond his control as his emotions fluctuated. A twisted, fanatical smile appeared on his marble-pale face.

He had found the Chamber of Secrets. He had witnessed Lord Madara subdue the Basilisk from