"—What you just said was human speech, not Parseltongue."
Ron tugged at Harry's robe from behind and reminded him in a low voice, "Shouldn't you ask that little bone snake how to pronounce it? Where did it go?"
"Doesn't know."
Harry muttered and pressed a hand to his forehead.
That lightning-shaped scar felt as though it were splitting open, making him dizzy. He felt it was already a miracle that he could remain standing without passing out.
Zheng Qing noticed the small gesture.
For no reason, it reminded him of how he had felt as a child.
"—Let's make our friend behave himself." He looked at the diadem in Reinhardt's hand, his gaze carrying a trace of coldness. "You can tell him that he isn't our only option."
"My mistake." The Blond Youth sounded faintly apologetic. A ball of golden radiance welled up in his hand and completely engulfed the silver-white diadem.
Not far away, Harry instantly felt a coolness wash over his mind, and the throbbing pain that had been surging through it vanished without a trace.
He did not look at the parchment in his hand.
A strange feeling suddenly rose within him. He looked up at Slytherin's enormous statue. It stood in the darkness, ancient and decrepit, its monkey-like face gazing down with an exceptionally calm expression.
"—Hiss, hisss!"
Without any deliberate preparation, Harry opened his mouth and naturally spoke a string of Parseltongue.
Slytherin's monkey-like face trembled slightly. Its mouth slowly opened wider and wider, eventually becoming a massive black hole. Rustling sounds came from within, and nearly everyone immediately imagined an enormous snake slithering out from the depths of that cavern.
"—A basilisk?!"
Hermione let out a low groan and looked at Zheng Qing as if seeking help.
"Put on your sunglasses."
The green-robed wizard