Chapter 1008 Secret Room

"It's really surprising that the entrance to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets is actually located in the girls' bathroom?"

Rufus Scrimgeour looked at his surroundings out of habit and spoke softly in a calm tone.

"It's unbelievable. How did the mysterious man discover the entrance to the secret room back then, and how did Slytherin hide the entrance?"

It was about one of the darkest, most dreary places he had ever seen.

Under a large stained and cracked mirror, there is a row of stone pools with peeling surfaces.

The floor was wet, and a few candles were burning low on their brackets, emitting a dim light that made the floor eerie. The paint on the wooden doors of the single rooms was peeling off and full of scratches; one door was off its hinges and hung precariously.

In the gap behind the door, the translucent Myrtle was carefully looking at the wizards outside, not daring to make any sound.

As the director of the Auror Office, Scrimgeour didn't care where the battle took place. He was more concerned about the outcome of the incident and the possible dangers in the surrounding environment - chasing criminals in the magical world. If you are not careful, you might end up with a snuff bottle. They can jump up and bite people to death.

Decades ago, the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts was opened, ultimately resulting in the death of a Ravenclaw girl.

In the corresponding files of the Ministry of Magic, the investigation situation at that time is recorded in detail:

After the incident, the Hogwarts School Board, all Hogwarts faculty, the Auror Office of the Ministry of Magic, and the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters of the Ministry of Magic jointly conducted a comprehensive search of Hogwarts, but failed. People find clues about the entrance to the secret room.

Obviously, as the first crime scene where Myrtle's body was discovered, this bathroom is naturally the scene of the investigation that attracts the most attention.

However, just like the explorations of Hogwarts teachers and principals in the past thousand years, people still have not found the legendary secret room.

At the same time, it was precisely for this reason that even if Tom Riddle framed Rubeus Hagrid to open the Chamber of Secrets and found evidence that Hagrid had tamed dangerous magical animals in school, Albus Dumbledore, the Transfiguration Professor at the time, still Insists that Rubeus Hagrid is innocent.

In fact, it wasn't just Dumbledore, but the professors at the school.

At that time, many Ministry of Magic officials and school board members also knew very well that Rubeus Hagrid could not be the heir of Slytherin.

Unfortunately, with the pressure of Hogwarts possibly closing permanently, they don't have time to find out the truth.

They must come up with a plausible solution to the wizarding community and parents as soon as possible.

It's so logical that raising dangerous creatures is enough to warrant expulsion - people have to save Hogwarts before personal justice.

As a scapegoat, Hagrid did not stay in Azkaban for long. After the school returned to peace, Dumbledore successfully obtained Hagrid's release from the Ministry of Magic and persuaded the then headmaster Armando Dippet to keep Hagrid. Train him to be a gamekeeper at Hogwarts.

Many people know that the person who actually opened the Chamber of Secrets has not been found, and the Chamber of Secrets still threatens Hogwarts.

Rufus Scrimgeour looked around, and his eyes finally landed on the old wizard who stopped not far away.

At this time, Dumbledore was bending down and carefully tapping an ordinary-looking pool with his wand.

Dozens of rays of light were flickering nearby, all of which were magical protections previously imposed by the Ministry of Magic and professors.

Scrimgeour frowned, glanced at Dumbledore who was serious, and drew out his wand.

"There should be only one secret room in Hogwarts, right? Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"Perhaps there are many more——"

Dumbledore straightened up and stared intently at the side of the copper faucet.

Just like when he inspected it decades ago, except for the small snake carved on the edge, there is no trace of the magic entrance up and down the pool, and even the water pipes below are not abnormal - Except it doesn’t come out of the water at all.

This faucet is not connected to the Hogwarts pipes at all. It is a decoration without any water function.

Damn it, why didn't he notice this detail back then?

"But the entrance to Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets should be right here."

Dumbledore sighed, glanced at the wizards behind him, and explained calmly.

"Hogwarts was founded more than a thousand years ago. At that time, people didn't have the habit of setting up toilets. From the literature, most wizards at that time found a hidden place to solve the problem on the spot, and then used magic to remove it. As for men and women The habit of setting up separate bathrooms is a custom that only appeared in the past two hundred years... This is also a problem that I suddenly realized some time ago: maybe we thought too complicated before."

"Too complicated? What do you mean-"

Rufus Scrimgeour asked in confusion, continuing to wait for Dumbledore to unlock the magic barriers one by one.

Behind the two of them, Newt Scamander and other Ministry of Magic officials were strengthening the outer barrier while curiously pricking up their ears to pay attention to the conversation between Dumbledore and Scrimgeour. Most of them were talking about I'm quite interested in the secret room reasoning process.

"As far as I know, around the 18th century, Hogwarts Castle underwent a comprehensive renovation project."

Dumbledore unhurriedly removed the magic around him, recalled Elena's previous reasoning, and continued with a complicated expression.

"Hogwarts has planned a more sophisticated pipeline system, which can be said to be the largest project. Every floor and student dormitory are all within the scope of the pipeline renovation plan. During such a large-scale castle structure renovation process, we still have not discovered There are traces of the Chamber of Secrets. Then there are only three reasons: 1. The magic of the Chamber of Secrets hidden by Salazar Slytherin is beyond imagination. 2. From beginning to end, there is no Chamber of Secrets at all. And..."

"During the renovation process, someone discovered the secret room and hid it while everyone was not paying attention."

Rufus Scrimgeour's eyes flickered for a moment, and then Dumbledore spoke in a deep voice.

As the director of the Auror Office, he was very familiar with this matter - moles, this was the real reason for most of the unsolved cases.

"Yes, when I realized this, I specifically checked the person in charge of the renovation of the castle and the names of the students who studied in the castle in those years. In the end, we found something strange. , sponsoring the pipeline materials is...the Gunter family."

"Well, is there anything strange about this? Just because of blood?"

At this moment, Kingsley Shacklebolt, standing behind the two of them, asked curiously.

"Sorry, I mean, the Gaunt family was also a member of the Hogwarts school board at that time, right?"

Due to the previous public trial of Peter Pettigrew and the reaffirmation of Sirius Black, he had a slight impression of the name of this pure-blood family that had long since declined and died. Although they had always been known as the descendants of Slytherin, such a wizarding family in the wizarding world But there are too many.

However, as Peter Pettigrew "confession" to the public about the true identity of the mysterious man, it can be considered as a side confirmation of the blood origin of the Gaunt family.

"Oh, the problem here is very subtle. The Gaunt family is the pure-blood family that hates Muggles the most."

Dumbledore raised his finger, glanced at the small snake relief on the copper faucet, and whispered meaningfully.

"The wizards borrowed designs from the Muggle world to renovate Hogwarts Castle. Not only did they not strongly object to this matter, but they unexpectedly sponsored part of the raw materials? Even if the male student representative at the time was named Corvinus Gunn Te, that’s weird, isn’t it?”

"Needless to say, now we all know that the Gaunt family is indeed a descendant of Salazar Slytherin."

Scrimgeour shrugged, his expression became a little impatient, and he said roughly.

"However, these inferences are just inferences. Even if you know the ins and outs of that year, it doesn't make much sense now, right? After the secret room attack occurred decades ago, the Ministry of Magic and even you yourself also carefully searched this bathroom. Checked many times——"

"Parseltongue, that's what it's all about. The magical brand of Slytherin and Gaunt family members based on their blood."

Dumbledore smiled slightly, glanced at Scrimgeour, who was confused, and Kingsley, who was thoughtful, and explained with a smile.

"I just said that we have thought too complicatedly in the past thousand years - the 'key' left by Salazar Slytherin for his descendants is not some profound magic or a ritual that may be leaked or invalidated. As long as the secret room is found, At the entrance, just say 'open' in Parseltongue."

"For example, this..."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and looked at the snake relief, making a strange hissing sound in his mouth.

Suddenly, the copper faucet emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly.

Immediately afterwards, the pool also started to move. The originally tight and solid wall of the pool rotated and moved away like building blocks. In less than a few seconds, it disappeared from everyone's eyes and was replaced by an extremely thick water pipe, even big enough to accommodate The width Hagrid drilled into.

"Fortunately, Parseltongue is not a magical language, it just has a special pronunciation."

Dumbledore said in an understatement, as if he just casually said something in Icelandic or some other unpopular foreign language.

"Professor Binns, as a ghost, can ignore the passage and travel directly down the dirt and stone walls for several miles to reach Salazar Slytherin's chamber of secrets. But if we want to go down, we'd better take this special route. A downward passage built for human companions——"

"Oh, there are more Parselmouth wizards in this world than just Slytherin wizards."

He turned his head and glanced at Scrimgeour, who was hesitant to speak, and the anxious Ministry of Magic officials.

"Parcelsus, he is the most famous Parseltongue in the Middle World. You should know what I am talking about, right? Mr. Scrimgeour. I am quite proud of my ability to learn new languages, elf language, mermaid Parseltongue, these are not any simpler than Parseltongue. Of course, compared to real Parseltongue, this kind of imitation is still very limited. After all, Parseltongue does not have grammar-"

"So, Professor Dumbledore, does this mean we can try to communicate first..."

A trace of expectation appeared on Newt Scamander's face, he considered his tone and stammered.

"Newt, I don't think-"

"Mr. Scamander, that monster down there must be eliminated!"

Rufus Scrimgeour's eyes flashed with a steely intensity, like an angry lion's gaze, blocking out the rest of Newt's words.

"It is too dangerous, and it has already carried more than one human life." He said with great determination, "Do you want new victims to appear, or are you trying to prove in front of the dead that it is actually Harmless magical creatures?”

"Oh, okay, okay." Newt sighed deeply, "You're right, this is the price it deserves."

"So, what's the next step? Who goes down first?"

Rufus Scrimgeour ignored Newt and turned to look at Dumbledore standing in front of the pipe.

Now that the entrance to the secret room has been opened, the extermination of the basilisk has also begun.

From now on, every step they take may be in danger. After all, no one can guarantee whether there will be a bloody mouth waiting at the exit. The more critical point is that, except for that terrifying beast, There may also be Slytherin's magic traps down there.

"I'll be the first to go down, followed by Newt."

Dumbledore said calmly.

As the most powerful wizard recognized in the wizarding world today and the headmaster of Hogwarts, this is the significance of his appearance here.

"I'll accompany you, Professor Dumbledore," said Scrimgeour.

There was a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Scrimgeour said, a smile on his resolute and weathered face, "At least in terms of physical fitness and reflexes, I don't think I will hold you back. Besides, if Unlucky enough—"

"A very reasonable proposal." Dumbledore nodded, "We both go down together, you look at the position behind me first."

The old man took out his wand and waved it around his body, creating a hazy magical light.

Scrimgeour also took out his wand and simply cast a few protective spells.

The two of them walked into the tube one after the other, stood back to back, and at the same time let go of their hands and let their bodies slide down.

After Dumbledore and Scrimgeour disappeared, the remaining wizards stepped forward in groups of two and slid down the pipe one after another after an interval of five to ten seconds. The underground network pipe of Hogwarts It's very complicated, and they don't want to bump into each other.

After everyone entered the pipe, Newt Scamander waved his wand to signal the outside, gritted his teeth and followed suit.

If possible, he still wanted to try to capture the basilisk in the secret room alive.

After all, this may be the oldest and last basilisk in the world today.

If Elena, Grindelwald, Flamel and others are allowed to take over, there will definitely be no room for mercy - those real demon kings have never shown any mercy when facing such high-risk and cherished magical animals. He will not hesitate to show his lethality.

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Great!