Chapter 33 "The Chamber of Secrets"

On May 29th, during breakfast, Professor Sprout made an announcement that the mandrake root was finally ready for harvesting.

Tonight, they could proceed with the restorative draughts to cure all the petrified victims.

Seated in a quiet corner of the Great Hall, Skyler observed the Gryffindor table intently.

His attention was drawn to Ginny, who seemed to muster the courage to talk to Harry.

Just as she was about to speak her mind, Percy interrupted, causing Ginny to hastily depart.

Without drawing any attention, Skyler decided to quietly follow her.

Drawing from his prior experience with tracking, Skyler effortlessly cast the Invisible Phantom Charm on himself.

He discreetly trailed Ginny to the girls' bathroom located on the third floor.

Inside, Ginny hesitated for a while before opening a diary.

A cloud of smoke emerged from the book, slowly forming into a human-like figure.

Although the figure appeared vague, Skyler was certain it was the young Tom Riddle's remnant.

On the other hand, Ginny was in tears, blaming Tom for summoning the Basilisk and hurting people.

She even attempted to cast a spell, but it did not affect Tom's remnant soul.

With a sinister sneer, Tom compelled Ginny, who was struggling desperately, to follow his command.

Following the original story's plot, he aimed to control her to write on the stone wall outside.

However, just as Tom was about to exert his control over Ginny, he sensed an inexplicable alertness.

He swiftly turned in Skyler's direction, raised his wand, and exclaimed, "Who's there?"

Clearly, Tom couldn't discern Skyler's invisibility magic, but his sharp instincts led him to sense that something was amiss.

Dealing with Voldemort's younger self was not to be taken lightly, and Skyler knew he couldn't underestimate the foe.

Taking advantage of his invisibility, Skyler initiated the first move.

Employing silent casting and rapid-fire, he consecutively cast Flipendo and Expelliarmus.

The spells were sent Tom's way one after another.

Although Tom managed to manipulate Ginny's body and avoided Expelliarmus at such close quarters, when he attempted to evade Flipendo, Skyler quickly redirected the spell.

In his haste, Tom was sent hurtling into the air, struggling to regain control.

Desperately, he opened the entrance to the Secret Chamber using Parseltongue and fled within, unable to seal the entrance in time.

Skyler promptly donned the Night Cloak, armed himself with his wand, and charged into the entrance of the Secret Chamber.

Skyler followed a winding path through the water pipe, descending down a steep slope until he reached a dimly lit exit.

Casting a cushioning charm on himself, he leaped forward and landed firmly in a wet corridor.

Before him was a dark stone tunnel, spacious enough for a person to stand in.

However, Tom was nowhere in sight.

Casting "Lumos!" Skyler advanced along the tunnel.

At the tunnel's end lay a long, dimly illuminated room.

The space was adorned with thick stone pillars, intricately carved with coiling Basilisk's.

These pillars loomed large, supporting the ceiling that disappeared into the shadows high above, imparting an aura of enigmatic grandeur.

Skyler cautiously weaved through the stone pillars adorned with giant Basilisk's engravings, gradually advancing.

Upon reaching the area between the final pair of pillars, a colossal statue emerged abruptly before him.

The statue's height equaled that of the room itself, and it clung to the darkened wall in the background.

The stone had a faintly greenish tinge, giving it an eerie ambiance.

Skyler raised his wand to scrutinize the statue's visage—an old, monkey-like countenance with a scraggly beard that extended to the hem of the stone-carved wizard's robe.

The statue stood firmly upon the smooth room floor.

Positioned between the statue's colossal feet lay the prone figure of Ginny.

Tom's ethereal remnant soul leaned against the nearest stone pillar, intersecting paths with Skyler.

They eyed each other warily.

Tom inquired, "I thought my control over this foolish girl was quite discreet. To think someone discovered it long ago. Who are you? Did Dumbledore send you?"

Skyler sneered, "I know who you are, Tom. There's more than just Dumbledore who can deal with you."

Tom adopted a curious expression, "Do you truly know who I am?"

Contemptuously, Skyler replied, "Aren't you the remnant soul left by Voldemort through Horcrux creation, the result of murder during his youth?"

The mention of "Voldemort," "murder," and "horcrux" shocked Tom.

He'd seen information about Skyler in Ginny's memories—the top academic student, published articles in prestigious journals, held in high regard by two Professors, and yet only a second-year student.

Tom never imagined that this young wizard would unravel his most significant secret.

An expression of disbelief crossed Tom's face, but Skyler had no inclination to engage in idle chatter with his enemy.

Everything he'd said earlier had been to distract Tom.

Skyler was aware that curses he was familiar with wouldn't affect Tom in his fragmented state.

At this moment, he swiftly summoned the diary and simultaneously retrieved a pure silver dagger concealed in his robe's sleeve.

Within a fraction of a second, he infused magical power into the dagger and thrust it into the diary.

Tom let out a dreadful, protracted scream that seemed to pierce eardrums.

He convulsed, writhed, flailed his arms, and glared at Skyler with sheer malevolence.

He uttered a final hiss in Parseltongue before vanishing into dissipating smoke.

Skyler didn't lower his guard at this point.

Tom's last utterance could very well have been a spell to summon the Basilisk.

Indeed, the massive stone visage of Slytherin moved, its mouth gaping wide to form a colossal black void.

The Basilisk emerged slowly, a luminescent green creature radiating the sinister, captivating glow characteristic of a venomous serpent.

It was as thick as an oak tree's trunk, its upper body extending into the air.

Since the start of the school year, Skyler had never contemplated the tactics and spells to counter the Basilisk.

While he felt apprehensive, it was not overwhelming.

Just as the Basilisk slithered free of the statue, Skyler seized the brief opportunity to cast the Flashbang he had meticulously prepared.

Inspired by Muggle flash bombs, this spell had taken considerable research and effort to develop.

The Basilisk, momentarily blinded by the brilliant light, was incapacitated, allowing Skyler to enact his next maneuver—The Conjunctivitis Curse.

He rapidly chanted the spell twice, capitalizing on his sharp accuracy.

Even as the Basilisk thrashed violently, both spells hit their mark, blinding the Basilisk and effectively disarming its most formidable weapon.

The sightless Basilisk retained its capability to sense prey through its tongue's acute sense of smell and thermal pits.

Although it attempted to crush Skyler with its massive physical advantage, the young wizard, who was thoroughly prepared, wouldn't be caught off guard.

Skyler unleashed another of his original spells: Sonic Boom.

Just like the Flashing Spell before it, this Sonic Boom took inspiration from Muggle technology.

Skyler had long observed that the attack methods of modern wizards were too rudimentary.

Most relied solely on their spells' destructive power and evasion skills without considering tactics.

Only a few masters like Dumbledore and Voldemort, employed Transfiguration spells and strategic maneuvers in their attacks.

With his Muggle-world knowledge, Skyler imitated combat techniques used by special forces and developed a series of tactical spells.

He had initially modified the Lumosspell to create the Flash Bang for blinding opponents and, based on the Sonorusspell, crafted the Sonic Boom spell to create deafening noises to stun foes by enhancing volume and audio quality.

Skyler believed that true wizard combat should involve a variety of tactical spell combinations and adaptability in complex situations.

Wizards limited to spellcasting and dodging were too simplistic.

As the Sonic Boom detonated, creating a high-frequency cacophony, the Basilisk was immobilized by dizziness.

Skyler's silver dagger transformed into a gleaming silver sword.

With a shout of "Waddiwasi!" he hurled the Flying Sword like a javelin.

Enhanced by Waddiwasi, the sword traced a meteor-like arc through the air, unmistakably striking the Basilisk's brain between its two eyes.

The Basilisk writhed in agony before lying still on the ground.

After extensive preparation and a life-threatening battle, it was finally time to collect the spoils.

Skyler snapped his fingers to summon Dobby, and together, they disassembled the Basilisk's body, collecting valuable materials such as Basilisk's skin, Basilisk's eyes, Basilisk's gall, Basilisk's blood, Basilisk's venom, Basilisk's horns, and Basilisk's teeth.

Even the dozens of kilograms of Basilisk's meat were not wasted.

These materials were stored in Skyler's specialized suitcase space, with most items going directly to his laboratory and a few that needed refrigeration stored in a snow cave.

Skyler obtained valuable materials from the Basilisk's corpse.

Before leaving, he also collected Tom Riddle's diary from the ground, soaked it in Basilisk's venom for a time, and stored it in a special container.

Skyler then had Dobby transport him, Ginny, and the collected materials out of the secret room and back to the bathroom on the third floor.

Upon returning, they found that the entrance to the secret room was closed from the outside.

It appeared that this entrance automatically sealed itself after a certain amount of time had passed since opening it.

Skyler waved his hand, causing Dobby to Disapparate first.

As Skyler held Ginny and stepped out of the bathroom door, he unexpectedly encountered Harry and Ron, who had just arrived.

They looked at Skyler, who held Ginny, and each drew their wands, silently confronting him.

Although they didn't know that a Basilisk had been concealed in the secret room, Harry was able to deduce that the student who had perished there was Myrtle.

The entrance to the secret room was probably in this bathroom, and at this moment, Skyler was unconscious, holding Ginny.

The situation hung in tense uncertainty.

Skyler observed the bewildered expressions on the faces of Harry and Ron, trying to discern what the two youngsters might be thinking, given their connection to Slytherin.

Harry, mustering his courage, questioned with a hint of unease, "What's going on? Why are you and Ginny here?"

Before Skyler could respond, Ron, deeply concerned about Ginny's safety and overcome with unease, suddenly noticed something that alarmed him—Skyler had no magic wand in his hand.

The memories of humiliation he had endured at the hands of Skyler over the past year surged to the forefront of his mind.

In his anger and desperation, "Slugulus Eructo!" he let out a roar and attempted to cast a Slug-Vomiting Charm on Skyler.

However, in the heat of the moment, Ron seemed to forget that his wand was malfunctioning, and as he unleashed the spell, his wand made a series of strange crackling noises before exploding.

The explosion was so powerful that it sent Ron crashing into the bathroom wall, where he fell into unconsciousness.

Harry, too, was knocked to the ground by the shockwave, feeling quite embarrassed.

Fortunately, Ginny was protected by Protegowhich Skyler had cast earlier, and she remained unharmed.

As the dust settled, a soft moan could be heard from Ginny.

She gradually regained consciousness, looking around in confusion before her gaze settled on Skyler, who had been holding her.

Skyler gently placed Ginny down, trying to alleviate her discomfort, but she appeared to have misunderstood the situation and was overcome with panic, bursting into tears.

The explosion's noise had not gone unnoticed.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape arrived promptly.

The two professors didn't utter a word.

Professor Snape, taking Ron, swiftly headed to the school hospital.

Professor McGonagall led Harry, Ginny, and Skyler to her office.

It had been Ginny's roommate who had alerted the professors about Ginny's disappearance not long after Skyler entered the secret room.

After an extensive but futile search of every nook and cranny in the castle, they had no choice but to inform the school board and Ginny's parents, which ultimately led to Dumbledore's return.

Professor McGonagall evidently believed that Dumbledore's return warranted letting him handle the situation.

As they departed, a low rumbling and crashing could be heard emanating from the secret room, accompanied by a slight tremor in the ground.