"Lumos."
Hoare lit up all the light sources in the room.
What appeared before the three of them was a massive room.
So large, it was even bigger than the Great Hall.
"Wow."
"Wow."
"Wow," Hoare joined in.
"What is this place?" Harry looked around curiously.
"No idea, but it definitely looks like Slytherin territory," Ron said, referring to the room's decorations, all in the classic Slytherin colors.
Green and silver adorned the entire vast, empty room.
Well, not entirely empty; there were many large stones of various strange shapes.
"Hey, this stone looks like a centaur."
"This one looks like a porcupine."
"The carving is so good, it looks real."
Ron curiously examined the stones.
Hoare understood what this place was; it should be where the Basilisk played, and those stones might not have always been stones.
"Henry, this place is terrifying. We have to tell the professor," Harry said worriedly, his discomfort peaking after seeing these stones.
"Harry, we can't tell the professor," Hoare quickly stopped Harry from reaching for his wand.
"You're a brave Gryffindor, aren't you curious to explore such a mysterious place?" Hoare deliberately teased them.
"If the professors find out about this place, we won't have another chance to come back."
Harry's expression softened, and Hoare felt he was about to convince him.
Suddenly, Ron shouted, "Ahhh!"
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Harry and Hoare were startled and quickly turned to run towards the direction of Ron's voice.
"Ron!" Hoare was anxious, his voice filled with urgency.
"Ron!" Harry shouted.
When they reached the source of the sound, they saw a patch of white on the ground, looking somewhat terrifying.
"What are you so excited about?" Ron poked his head out from the white mass, his hair covered in white fragments.
Hoare pulled Ron out and shook him, causing many white pieces to fall off.
Harry was about to speak, but Hoare beat him to it, his voice filled with anger and concern, "Do you know where this is? You just run around carelessly!"
Harry couldn't help but glance at him.
"Who are you to be so fierce! I didn't mean to fall in!" Ron retorted loudly, his face flushed from being scolded.
"I..." Hoare started to speak but held back. It wasn't the time to reveal his identity yet; he had already thoroughly offended Voldemort.
Revealing his identity would mean bringing unimaginable disaster to the Weasley family, something Hoare couldn't accept.
"Henry's just worried about you," Harry explained for Hoare.
"Worried doesn't mean you can be so fierce..." Ron muttered, needing to save face.
Hoare closed his eyes tightly, then opened them, speaking calmly, "This is a snake's shed skin."
"What?" Harry was shocked. "So big!?"
"What!!!" Ron shuddered at the thought of his close encounter with the snake skin.
The shed skin hadn't fully unfolded, but it was already massive, piled up to half the height of a house. If it were spread out, it might take up half the room.
The original size of the snake was terrifying to imagine.
Ron took a step back, swallowing in fear, his voice trembling, "There's a snake here!!!"
Hoare sighed, "Not now, but if you keep dawdling, I can't guarantee it."
"So, Henry, you knew there was such a big snake here?" Harry's mind was sharp.
Hoare nodded. Since Harry and Ron had followed him down, Hoare planned to make the most of it.
"Let's go find an exit."
Though Hoare said this, they walked for a while before reaching the end of the room, where there was an intricately carved wall.
Hoare guessed there might be a hidden door here.
"Harry, it's up to you," Hoare pulled Harry to a snake carving.
Harry was puzzled.
"Greet it, like you taught me this afternoon."
After Hoare spoke, Harry still didn't quite understand, hesitantly hissing, "Hiss~ hiss~ hiss~."
Hoare worried Ron might be scared, so he glanced at him, but Ron's face was blank, looking utterly confused.
Hoare shook his head, sometimes knowing too much made one timid.
Following Hoare's guidance, Harry hissed for a long time, but the little snake on the wall remained motionless, and Harry's mouth was getting dry.
"Henry, I can't do it anymore, my throat hurts..." Harry's voice was hoarse.
Hoare let Harry rest while he tried.
"Harry, what were you hissing about?" Ron was extremely curious. From their expressions earlier, he felt like he was the only one who didn't know, which was a bit embarrassing, so he pretended to understand.
"Huh?" Harry was puzzled. "What hissing?"
"You were hissing for a long time," Ron demonstrated.
Harry was confused. Wasn't he just saying 'hello'? "Ron, was I really hissing?"
Ron nodded affirmatively.
Hoare, on the other side, took over Harry's task, hissing the only phrase he knew.
As he hissed, he examined the entire wall, which was covered with countless crawling snakes.
With so many snakes, which one was it?
Then, the statue's eyes blinked.
Hoare froze, trying to stay calm, shifting his gaze elsewhere, slowly stepping back.
The little snake seemed to sense Hoare had seen it and slithered directly in front of him.
Hoare lowered his gaze to the bottom of the wall.
His mind was racing.
Was this snake a magical tool or a Transfiguration creation?
It couldn't be a Basilisk, right? Haha, Basilisks are huge.
And he seemed to have seen its eyes without turning to stone.
Hoare recalled the little snake's eyes, a vivid green, just like Slytherin's green, which was why he hadn't noticed it initially.
Thinking of this, Hoare stopped retreating and directly looked at the little snake.
Now, the little snake was stunned, as if it had turned into a real stone sculpture, motionless.
Hoare raised an eyebrow, staring at the only snake on the wall with emerald eyes, stepping closer.
The little snake continued to pretend to be a stone sculpture.
Hoare reached out with his wand, pretending to poke the little snake.
The snake darted away from the scene.
"Henry? Are you okay?" Harry watched Hoare, who seemed to be daydreaming in front of the wall.
"Snake!!!"
Unlucky Ron, who had the little snake jump right at his face.
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