Volume 1

- Damn acramantulas. I hissed softly, confidently walking through the dark corridors of Hogwarts. I wasn't going to hide and hide in dark corners, as students usually do. My abilities are more than enough to hide from ghosts and tableaux vivants. Well, I was almost not afraid to meet professors in the corridors. No matter how particularly gifted students think, but professors also need rest. After two o'clock in the morning, they are almost impossible to find in the corridors.

Well, now it was already the fourth hour of the night. Not only has the hunt dragged on, I've been looking for decent prey for too long. So it wasn't easy to leave the living room either. First, I had to put my roommates to sleep, wait until no one was left in the living room itself, and then spend another half hour fiddling with those in order to get through Snape's alarm without disturbing or destroying that one. Dreary in general.

It's a good thing that not too skilled magicians live with me. I don't want to say anything about my squires at all, but Blaze Zabini, although he was close to the concept of "excellent student", but nothing more. This mama's boy did not try to study anything beyond the school curriculum at all, and he could not boast of willpower that could interfere with my charms. In general, yes, I didn't really have to worry about my neighbors. They will sleep until the morning without noticing my absence, unless, of course, I am late myself.

And there is such a possibility. My original plan has already moved away from the best of options. I've been hunting for too long. And the web of acramantulas, somehow, was not included in my plans. Fortunately, I was able to remove that from clothes and shoes, otherwise I would have to urgently brew potions. The cobwebs of these arthropod creatures are not even washed by the brownies, and I don't really want to lose one of the sets of clothes, despite the fact that I have six more spare ones ... I got thrift from Tom, that's for sure.

- Interesting! - I switched to parsentang, looking around the familiar toilet, where Tom's first horcrux was created. Over the past half century, he has not changed much. The ghost aura doesn't count, Myrtle died because of my mistake, although I still don't understand why it was necessary to create a ghost out of her… In general, yes, I knew that the passage to the secret room is now guarded by a ghost without any checks there. And here's the rest…

I don't know which smart guy decided to brew a polyjuice potion in the women's bathroom, but I have to admit, he's doing pretty well. So far, the potion threatens to come out, although not of the highest quality, but it should work, which, given the situation, is very good… And I'm also starting to suspect who, although it was already clear, and why he tried to blow up my cauldron at today's potions. Well, now at least it's clear why Potter and his gang decided to rob Snape. It is unclear only why he allowed it to be done, so pointedly ignoring them. Did you get instructions from the management?

It doesn't matter! The main thing is that I have now received, albeit a small one, but an excuse to blackmail the golden trio… Although no, only Granger. She's probably the one who's brewing the potion. And they won't do anything to Potter or Weasley for such a trick, but a Muggle-born can and will receive a substantial punishment. I'm sure the girl will understand this herself, so the find is really valuable.

It's a pity, but I shouldn't think about it now. The entrance to the secret room is already very close, and the transfiguration in my pockets is pulling more and more magic. Very soon, the spiders I killed risk turning back into themselves... and yes, I decided to use this particular entrance to the secret room precisely because of its speed. All the others, although they are much more convenient than this basilisk hole, but they are also much better hidden. And you'll have to tinker with the security system there, even the gift of the serpent can only facilitate the entrance, and not become a guaranteed key. And I don't have time for all this!

- Open up! I ordered, using the snakes' tongue and casting a weight-relief spell on myself. I imagined my further journey just fine, and therefore I began preparations for the "flight" in advance. Still, it's not very convenient to use the basilisk's manhole, you just can't do without additional charms.

- And why I'm not surprised. I sighed, noticing the traces of a recent human presence behind the open door. Someone recently used this entrance, most likely not even suspecting about the other ways leading to the Secret Room. Yes, and the basilisk entered the castle through this entrance ... well, I suspected something like that. One has only to recall the locations of the attacks, and the answer becomes quite obvious.

Casting the superfluous thoughts aside, I focused on maintaining the spell, walking straight into the tunnel that leads sharply down. A rather dangerous descent ... Fortunately, the charms of relief in a compartment with charms allow even the sharpest fall to be turned into a controlled descent. In my case, I didn't even need to strain myself too much.

The tunnel was wide, but having found a dusty stone with my feet, I slid along it quite confidently, almost without slowing down the speed of falling and confidently moving down. The path ahead of me was quite substantial, the Secret Room was at the level of the bottom of the Black Lake, which in itself is very deep, so I also descended from the third floor of the ancient castle.

- Ha. - it took my breath away, as soon as I flew out of the tunnel. Too musty air met me in the "front" part of the Secret Room. And the slight smell of decomposition added not too pleasant sensations. At least I landed on a rock, and not on one of the piles of bones that were scattered all over the room.

The only good thing is that in the next tunnel leading to the room itself, it was much cleaner. I really didn't want to waste time on overcoming whole slides with garbage. Wasting energy on another transfiguration would be just stupid. Very soon I may need these very forces in the fight against the king of snakes.

There was no certainty that I would be able to subdue the serpent without a battle, as such. I even brought a snake sacrifice just for my own peace of mind. If this unknown heir, I believe, not only Slytherin, but also the Potters, has already managed to subdue the snake, it will be very difficult to break the spell with something ordinary. And negotiations in this case will be simply impossible.

Although, knowing Potter, I wouldn't be too surprised if he didn't subdue the snake at all, but simply "hissed" with him to something concrete. Actually, it was precisely because of this opportunity that I decided to spend my time and energy on the prey of a snake dinner. Last time, Tom managed to subdue the snake so easily precisely because of his gratitude for the snake… Strange gratitude, but what else to expect from a semi-intelligent snake. Even the fact that he did not immediately attack Tom can already be considered gratitude.

- Thoughts aside! I ordered myself, noticing the gate that hides the Secret Room itself. That's it, it's simply impossible to delay this moment any longer. I can already feel the ancient aura of the serpent, and the key-password from the gate flies off the tongue by itself. My blood is literally boiling from carefully restrained emotions, and I'm finally ready.

Ready for anything. And to the battle, and to the conversation, and to submission… But I'm not ready for death. But, it is impossible to prepare for it at all, which means that you can forget about it for a while.