A ruined Hogwarts

The empty, dark secret room was silent and mysterious. Under the condescending gaze of the huge Slytherin statue, the giant snake coiled its long body leisurely, making the two little wizards next to it look extremely small.

Owen wears a pair of silver-white plain glasses, which gives him an elegant and elegant temperament. He stared directly into the basilisk's eyes through his spectacles, looking at the ferocious snake head that could swallow him whole, as well as the neatly arranged bright and beautiful green scales.

He had just done an experiment with a few mice in the box and confirmed that the anti-basilisk glasses he and Tom jointly made could prevent the basilisk from staring. This was the first time he carefully observed the entire basilisk.

The basilisk also stared curiously at him with its huge and bright yellow eyes like light bulbs, staring straight at him. Its huge head slowly came closer and hissed with its forked tongue.

Harry finally recovered from his confusion and accepted the fact that he became the heir. Fortunately, he had always been generous and soon became excited. At this time, he was dressed a little weirdly. Not only was he wearing his own round glasses on the bridge of his nose, he also wore another pair of plain glasses similar to Owen's. These were the backup anti-basilisk glasses made by Owen.

After understanding that the basilisk had no intention of attacking them, he plucked up the courage to approach the basilisk and quickly started chatting with it.

"Can you tell me about the incident that made you attack our heir?" Harry said with unbearable excitement. The basilisk suddenly turned its head in front of him, causing him to move away cautiously.

"I can't say." The Basilisk lowered his head a little, "I have the responsibility to keep secrets for every heir."

"Then can you stop attacking students?" Harry frowned, feeling extremely disappointed.

"I cannot disobey the heir's orders." The basilisk's voice was hoarse and calm.

"But am I not also the heir?" Harry quickly assumed his identity and said seriously, "Why don't you obey my orders?"

The basilisk stared at him for a while with its heart-stopping yellow eyes, seemingly lost in some philosophical thinking, and then said after a long time: "I will obey the orders of every heir...the one in front of me..."

"In other words, whoever appears in front of you and orders you, which one do you obey?" Harry narrowed his eyes.

"Yes." The basilisk said after thinking for a while.

"If we appeared in front of you at the same time, who would you listen to?" Owen asked enthusiastically.

"..." Faced with this century-old problem, the Basilisk fell silent, its eyes like lightbulbs flickering as if they were about to break down.

"Then can I order you to find that guy out?" Harry coughed lightly and asked with bright eyes.

"I'm sorry, I can't attack the heir. You can find another partner." The basilisk said slowly, looking a little pitiful as he put his head on the floor.

Harry was so angry that he crossed his arms and gritted his teeth.

"Is this a task assigned to you by Slytherin? To clean up the Muggle-born students in the school?" Owen stroked the hard scales on the basilisk's body with his fingers. The cold and smooth touch felt good.

"No. The old master kept me here mainly to guard the secret room and to help the heir." The basilisk said very honestly.

Harry was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect this to be the case. He hurriedly asked: "Doesn't Slytherin support the pure-blood theory and oppose the admission of Muggle-born wizards?"

"The old master really doesn't like them, but he doesn't want me to kill them either." The basilisk crawled slowly, its green scales reflecting the gleaming color in the light of the lighting spell, "Otherwise he wouldn't I am the only one left... Of course, the old master is really angry. So he wants to train his heir to carry forward his ideas and tell the world that his persistence is correct."

"You must also become the outstanding heirs of Slytherin and accept the inheritance and beliefs of the old master... Well, those inheritances have been destroyed. That heir has his own way, and I can't stop him..." The Basilisk drooped again. He lowered his head and rested his chin on the tip of his tail, looking autistic.

"He also asked you to attack others!" Harry said angrily. Most of his fear and anger towards the basilisk suddenly disappeared, and all his anger was directed at Voldemort.

"I don't really like doing this kind of thing... and I can't eat, it won't fill my stomach..." The basilisk turned to stare at Harry and said eagerly, "I want to eat spiders, big spiders..."

"Uh... can't you go find something to eat by yourself?" Harry's mouth twitched.

"I can't get out of the secret room by myself." The basilisk swung its tail, "I can only sleep, and occasionally I can catch a few little mice..."

Harry gave him a sympathetic look. He carefully raised his hand and patted the basilisk's nose, feeling that this big guy was not as scary as he thought.

"The heir asked you to attack several people, but only one person died. Are you showing mercy?" Owen suddenly had this idea, and he asked curiously.

"I'm just...not motivated...the old master doesn't allow me to eat people..." the basilisk replied in a weak tone, "Anyway, I followed the order and attacked. I don't care whether they die or not."

Owen and Harry looked at each other. No wonder most of the attacks in the school ended in an anticlimax. It turned out that the basilisk took care of the problem... You know, if the basilisk really wants to kill someone, it only needs to make up for it after petrifying the person. The tail is guaranteed to break people into pieces.

After a long day of work, Tom Riddle was working diligently to clean up the school, but the old basilisk in the workplace was dragging his feet... Tsk, I feel sorry for Tom for a second.

"Then do you want to leave here?" Harry said. He felt that letting the basilisk leave Hogwarts and find someone to take care of it would be the best option.

"I will not leave the chamber," the basilisk replied immediately.

"You don't have to go hungry outside." Harry said seductively.

"..." The basilisk was yearning for it, but still shook its head in pain, "This is the old master's order..."

"But Slytherin is dead," Harry said.

"But he will always be my master," hissed the basilisk.

"You made a loyalty oath to Mr. Slytherin?" Owen interjected.

"Well, I am only loyal to him in my life." The basilisk glanced at Owen, its bright yellow eyes making people feel scary and depressing. "He asked me to obey the orders of the heir, so I will obey you... "

"That's right." Owen nodded thoughtfully. This type of loyalty oath basically cannot be made with a second person. He doesn't have to worry too much about the basilisk having completely obeyed Voldemort, which is a good thing.

"Can I ask what that oath of loyalty looks like?" he said with interest. The magic that can restrain the basilisk must be very powerful, otherwise, even if Slytherin is a Parselmouth, it is impossible for the basilisk to remain loyal to him hundreds of years later.

The basilisk thought hard for a long time, and then came up with a profound magic. It's a bit like an unbreakable oath made between a person and a magical animal. Although it doesn't require witnesses, the process is more complicated and difficult, and the magic level of the wizard is also very high.

Owen wrote the magic down, then glanced at Nyx, who was sleeping soundly in his pocket. Nyx opened his eyes knowingly, and a look of arrogance and disdain flashed through his ruby-like small eyes. Even an unbreakable oath would be broken once it was reborn from the ashes.

Nyx stuck out his head and stared curiously into the basilisk's eyes. It was obviously not afraid of the basilisk's glare. The red eyes rolled cunningly, and it suddenly chirped briskly, biting Owen's finger coquettishly, then jumped out and was about to jump on the basilisk, but fell to the ground with a "snap".

Seeing the embarrassing appearance of his free-range chicken, Owen's mouth twitched and he wanted to crush this little thing.

Harry winked at Owen, pulled his sleeve to the corner of the room, and whispered furtively: "What do you think we should do about the basilisk?"

"There's no need to be so quiet, the basilisk can't understand human speech." Owen glanced at him lazily and spoke clear English.

"Yes." Harry nodded in realization, "I mean, we should tell Dumbledore about this, right?"

Owen yawned slightly and said matter-of-factly: "Of course, this kind of matter should be left to the principal." There was no trace of the crown in the secret room, and the basilisk was of little use, so there was no need to reveal the secret of the secret room. Hide.

"Then I'll tell him sometime." Harry nodded, his eyes suddenly brightened, "Do you think the crown or the diary will be hidden here?"

"It's possible," Owen said amusedly.

Harry was inspired, and for the rest of the time, he happily poked around in the Chamber of Secrets, jumping up and down with energy, trying to find Voldemort's Horcrux.

Nyx's side didn't stop either. It chased the basilisk staggeringly, and finally succeeded in climbing on the basilisk's head. It opened its beak and burped, spitting out a small mouthful of black flames, which burned a scale on the top of the basilisk's head to black. cracking.

The basilisk roared, swinging its head and throwing Nyx away. Nyx hit a pillar and slowly slid down, and was almost beaten to pieces by the basilisk's tail, screaming and flopping around.

Nyx's crazy desire to die because he couldn't die began to emerge. Owen watched the show with a smile and said in his heart that he deserved it.

He rummaged through his suitcase and found an enchanted crystal bottle inside. He came to the basilisk and said, "Can I collect a little of your venom?"

"I need something to eat..." The basilisk stopped chasing Nyx and looked at Owen seriously.

"Okay, in exchange for food." Owen raised the corner of his mouth, "I'll bring you food next time. Come on, open your mouth, ah——"

Basilisk: Ah——

The huge mouth can swallow several Owens in one bite. The slender fangs are like silver swords embedded in the pink tender flesh, containing green and transparent venom.

Owen paid attention to every move of the basilisk, carefully collected a bottle of venom, and patted the huge snake's head with satisfaction.

"By the way, do you have a name?" Harry asked as he passed by in disgrace.

"No." The basilisk closed its mouth.

"Well, I thought Owen would be interested in giving you a name." Harry said, "He's pretty good at naming."

The basilisk stared at Owen.

Owen glanced at it and said casually: "Meow?"

"Chirp, chirp, chirp... quack—" Nyx flapped his bald wings and laughed like a duck.

The corners of Harry's mouth twitched, and he continued to search around while holding his forehead.

They stayed in the secret room until evening, and then let the basilisk carry them back to the second floor bathroom. Watching the pipe at the entrance to the secret room slowly disappear, the two looked at each other and sneaked back to the lounge.

…

Harry was excited about finding the Chamber of Secrets for a long time, but when he was about to tell Dumbledore about it, he realized belatedly that the principal had left Hogwarts again.

He could only wait anxiously for Dumbledore to return. Fortunately, things have been quiet in Hogwarts recently, and there is no news about the missing Peter Pettigrew. Lockhart, the substitute teacher, turned the Defense Against the Dark Arts class into a comedy performance class, and always eagerly pulled Harry to perform on the podium. Several Owens who were close to him also suffered disaster, and many of them appeared in supporting roles in comedy shows.

Harry felt that Lockhart was about to die, because Owen looked at Lockhart with more and more malice, and every time he was called to the podium, black energy seemed to come out of him. He felt Owen wanted to kill Lockhart, but so what? He wanted to kill that guy too.

The emotional contagion events that happen from time to time on campus have become interesting things that students are eager to follow. No one follows Madam Pomfrey's warm reminder and hides away. On the contrary, everyone is keen to experience the novel and interesting feeling. , which will become a topic of conversation for them all day long.

It was not until the next private lesson that Harry arrived at the principal's office on time that he realized that Dumbledore had not returned. He returned to the common room worriedly and said uneasily: "This is wrong. Dumbledore didn't tell me to cancel tonight's classes..."

"He is so busy, maybe he was delayed by something." Blaise repaired a petunias that cursed wildly, and said nonchalantly, "Besides, at his age, it is normal for him to forget something..."

Harry could only convince himself to believe this explanation, and absentmindedly flipped through the book on Occlumency he borrowed from Owen, and soon became immersed in it, forgetting other miscellaneous things. His progress in Occlumency was too slow and he had no clue at all. This only aroused his unwillingness to admit defeat. He has been pondering this magic for the past few days.

"I feel like I'm about to learn it." Draco grinned at him proudly. He and Daphne also became interested in Occlumency, recently studying under Owen's tutelage.

"This magic is easy to learn but difficult to master, Draco." Daphne took down the study notes carefully and said without raising her head, "It is easy to resist a rough invasion, but it is difficult to block a hidden invasion. Disguising one's thoughts can only be done by a master. matter."

"It sounds like this magic is very useful." Draco curled his lips, "How many people know Legilimency? How many people can practice it to the point where they can study people's minds without others noticing? ?”

"People who can do this will definitely not tell others everywhere." Daphne raised her smooth chin slightly, "You definitely don't want to show your mind naked in front of others, right?"

"Owen, how can I get started quickly?" Listening to the conversation between the two, Harry looked at Owen, who was huddled in the armchair with his eyes closed, and shook the book in his hand.

Owen opened his eyes and looked at him for a while, then smiled meaningfully: "If you have someone to practice with you, you will master it quickly."

Feeling the familiar feeling of being cheated again, Harry looked at him warily, feeling that Owen's eyes were malicious. He sighed, and finally fell into the trap obediently: "How to practice?"

"The practice of Occlumency requires restraining one's thoughts for a long time, throwing away all emotions, and disguising one's thoughts...Draco and Daphne did a very good job." Owen said slowly, "Of course, this method is not It’s perfect for those hot-blooded and single-minded guys.”

Harry was a little angry and felt like he was being criticized.

"So, there is another simple and crude way: let someone use Legilimency on you again and again. In the process of constant resistance, you will gradually become familiar with and master how to fight against it." Owen smiled. Say, "This is body memory. I don't expect you to learn to disguise your own thoughts. It would be nice to be able to shut out other people's thoughts."

"Let others use Legilimency on me?" Harry frowned, he didn't want anyone to see his thoughts at all.

"I just want to learn Legilimency recently and need a practice partner." Owen smiled slyly, like a little fox with soft black shiny fur.

"...Don't even think about it!" Harry glared at him. He is not a guinea pig!

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Voldemort is a master of Legilimency. He can see through all your inner thoughts at a glance." Owen whispered to him with a smile, "If you can't learn Occlumency, I'm afraid our savior will be killed by him in one encounter..."

The corners of Harry's eyes twitched, and the title of savior made him feel embarrassed. He hesitated for a while and then said: "...I'll think about it."

"It's up to you." Owen closed his eyes again.

The topic was brought to an end for now, and Harry continued his hopeless practice of Occlumency. Another week passed, and Dumbledore, who was supposed to teach him alone, still did not come back.

Owen also discovered that Dumbledore had not appeared at Hogwarts for two weeks, which made him doubt the other person's life and death. Even though the principal always disappears, he disappeared for too long this time.

The students didn't pay much attention to this incident. They were used to the long absence of the principal. But Owen noticed that the professors' expressions were becoming more serious and even worried.

Professor McGonagall has become even more serious in speech lately, always hurriedly walking out of the classroom after class. Professor Snape's face was always dark, and he deducted points from Gryffindor even more severely. Even Slytherin students did not get good results when they made mistakes.

Professor Flitwick always paces around the classroom restlessly during class, unable to stop for the entire class. Professor Sprout, who had always been gentle and kind, frowned sadly, and once accidentally dropped a thorny cone on the face of a little Ravenclaw wizard. Probably only Professor Binns from the History of Magic class was not affected and continued his hypnotic work day after day.

The most anxious among the students was naturally Harry. After not seeing Dumbledore again, he gritted his teeth and knocked on the door of the Potions office. He asked uncomfortably to Snape, who had a gloomy face: " Professor Snape, do you know where Mr. Dumbledore has gone? He has not been back for two weeks..."

Snape had a gloomy face and was silent for a while before slowly saying: "The last time he went out, he was supposed to come back in three days..."

"You mean...Mr. Dumbledore...had an accident?" Harry's face suddenly turned pale. He thought of Dumbledore's burnt hand that night.

"He is not dead, otherwise the castle would sense it." Snape's voice was low, and his empty eyes were looking at where he was looking. "Dumbledore...is missing."

"So, Professor, where did the Headmaster go when he left school last time?" Harry asked in a difficult voice.

"Unfortunately, no one knows except himself." Snape's face darkened.