Fawkes and Morris disappeared from the spot.
When their feet touched the ground again, the surrounding scenery had changed.
It's Chamber of Secrets.
Morris was standing at the foot of the Slytherin Statue, the air still thick with the lingering smell of blood.
Fawkes landed lightly on a fallen stone pillar.
Beside it, Dumbledore sat casually on a dusty broken pillar, holding a charred diary in his hand, looking down at it. He only slowly raised his head when he heard the noise.
"Ah, Morris, you've come."
Morris stepped forward and asked curiously, "How did you get in, Professor?"
"From the entrance, of course." Dumbledore closed his journal and said casually, "Although I understand Parseltongue, it still took quite a bit of effort to speak it."
He cleared his throat and let out a series of low, guttural sounds.
Hiss... hiss...
Morris was somewhat surprised.
This makes sense, though, since the password to the Chamber of Secrets is very simple; in layman's terms, it's just two words: "Open."
It's relatively easy to guess.
"By the way, Professor," Morris suddenly remembered something, "Could you tell me if there's anything wrong with my Parseltongue?"
Hiss...
A similar hissing sound came from Morris's mouth.
Dumbledore listened and nodded. "Very standard; at least I can't hear anything wrong with it."
Morris was even more confused. He said, "I hissed like that yesterday, but I couldn't open the passage to the Chamber of Secrets."
"That's not surprising, Morris," Dumbledore explained gently. " Parseltongue isn't just a simple language; it's more like magic... Every wizard has areas of strength and weakness. With practice, you'll master it."
magic?
Morris suddenly realized the key point.
Unlike ordinary wizards, he had an extremely high degree of control over the magic within him.
He did not use his magic when he spoke Parseltongue.
Perhaps that's the reason.
Try it again next time.
Putting aside the topic of Parseltongue, Morris looked at Dumbledore and said seriously, "Professor, why did you have Fawkes bring me here so early in the morning?"
Dumbledore stood up, looked at the Basilisk's corpse on the ground, and said, "After all, you were the one who defeated the Basilisk, so I felt you should be present when I dealt with it."
Morris looked somewhat helpless.
It seems his Basilisk is gone.
After all, this thing is, strictly speaking, an asset of Hogwarts.
Dumbledore seemed to see the fleeting disappointment in his eyes, smiled slightly, and added, "Don't worry, Morris. I'll only take one fang; after all, it's needed as key evidence to bring Hagrid back from Azkaban. As for the Basilisk's corpse... considering you're the one who truly solves the threat, it's yours."
"Um?"
Morris looked up.
This was somewhat unexpected for him.
"I think you'll use it well." Dumbledore winked.
"I will." Morris nodded.
Perhaps he misunderstood Dumbledore.
The other party had no interest in the Basilisk's corpse.
The saga of the Heir of Slytherin was thus resolved.
That afternoon, Morris returned to the girls' dormitory.
He channeled the magic within him, accompanied by his hissing sounds.
The passage to the Chamber of Secrets was successfully opened.
Just as I expected.
For the remainder of the Easter holiday, Morris went to the Chamber of Secrets almost every day, trying to repair the Basilisk's corpse.
This is a huge project.
For him now, the act of transforming the Basilisk into an undead creature is not important.
What truly captivated him was the process of restoring the Basilisk's corpse.
The Basilisk's corpse was enormous and intricately detailed, making it extremely difficult to restore it to its original state.
But this precisely ignited Morris's almost obsessive dedication to research.
Although progress was slow, he enjoyed it immensely.
Days passed by.
During a Charms class in late April, Professor McGonagall suddenly appeared at the classroom door.
"Excuse me, Filius." She nodded to Professor Flitwick on the podium. "Could you please have Black come out for a moment? It's very important."
Professor Flitwick, of course, would not refuse.
He stood on tiptoe and waved in Morris's direction. " Morris! Professor McGonagall is looking for you, go quickly!"
Morris was engrossed in a book about Patronus Charm —the lessons were no longer relevant to him, so he wasn't paying attention.
When he heard Professor Flitwick call his name, he looked up and belatedly replied, "Oh, okay."
Morris closed the book, put it away, and walked past rows of tables and chairs.
As he passed Professor Flitwick, he nodded politely in greeting and then walked out of the classroom.
In the hallway, he asked Professor McGonagall, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Professor McGonagall shook her head, her expression unchanged. "The headmaster is waiting for you with Hagrid."
"Oh, has Hagrid returned from Azkaban?"
"They were just picked up this morning," Professor McGonagall said.
The two passed through the castle and headed towards Hagrid's Hut.
By the end of April, the temperature at Hogwarts had risen, and the sun shone warmly on Morris.
Morris wasn't quite sure what had happened.
Was Hagrid going to specifically thank him?
There's no need to rush; just call him over during class time.
After delivering the item, Professor McGonagall returned to the castle.
Morris entered Hagrid's cabin and noticed that besides Hagrid and Dumbledore, there were two other people inside.
One of them was Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, who was sizing him up with a faint, condescending smile on his lips.
The other was a short, stout male wizard, wearing a pinstripe suit with a travel cloak over it, and he had a sly smile on his face.
It was Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Ministry of Magic. Morris had seen him in the newspaper before.
The atmosphere in the room seemed a little strange.
Hagrid stood awkwardly by his large fireplace, while Dumbledore sat calmly in a rather unsteady wooden chair.
"Ah, Mr. Black is here." Fudge walked up and patted Morris on the shoulder. "We were just talking about you. Brilliant, truly brilliant! To have resolved a crisis that had plagued Hogwarts for months at such a young age."
"Thank you, Minister," Morris replied politely.
What's going on here?
He looked at Dumbledore and found that Dumbledore had changed his expression and was now looking at him with a smile.
" Fudge wants to see you, Morris," Dumbledore began, "Because I told him you are the key figure in resolving the succession issue."
"Okay, I understand."
Morris nodded.
He didn't mind.
However, he glanced at Lucius Malfoy standing to the side.
What is this person here for?