Late night.
In the girl's bathroom on the third floor of the castle... near the left side of the stairway corridor, suddenly there were a few bursts of laughter and a piercing scream.
A ghost wearing glasses suddenly rushed out through the wall.
The next second, the wooden door of the bathroom was also opened from the inside.
Peeves, holding a water-filled balloon, followed laughingly. Hanging at his waist was a brand new package bag filled with balloons of various colors, with ample ammunition.
Not long after the two ghosts left, the originally empty corridor twisted slightly at a corner.
"Phew... they're finally gone."
Kael lifted the Disillusionment Charm and then went to the bathroom door and walked inside.
Because it hadn't been used for a long time, the old wooden door immediately made a teeth-clenching "creak" sound.
This bathroom wasn't big and was covered in dust.
But Kael didn't mind these; he went to the sink, looked around, and soon found the faucet engraved with a Little Snake on the side.
"It should be here..." Kael touched the snake and murmured, "The entrance to the Slytherin Secret Chamber."
Kael had hesitated for a long time before deciding to come here.
Because with his current ability, he had no chance of winning against a Basilisk.
Besides, he wasn't Harry; he wouldn't have the help of the Phoenix and the Sorting Hat.
But Kael came anyway.
Setting aside other reasons, even just for the Snake Shedding inside the chamber, he had to make this trip.
Like the Fire Dragon, the Basilisk was almost entirely a treasure, its Snake Shedding being an extremely rare Potion Material, selling for ten Galleons for just a palm-sized piece on the black market, and even then it was nearly impossible to find.
And inside the chamber, there's a piece almost twenty feet long, enough to pile into a mountain of Galleons.
It was pretty impressive he managed to hold back until now.
Kael touched the Little Snake again, uttering a strange hissing sound.
"Open..."
Even though Kael didn't need Parseltongue to converse with snakes or Fantastic Beasts, such ability was clearly not effective on the faucet.
So previously at Newt's place, Kael had specifically found a Rune Pattern Snake and learned a few phrases of its dialect.
While not necessarily authentic, it was definitely standard.
Because at this moment, the faucet emitted a brilliant white light, began to rotate rapidly, and then the sink started moving as well.
Kael watched the sink slowly disappear from view, revealing a pipe large enough for a person to enter.
Kael touched his suitcase, took out his Broomstick, and decisively entered the pipe.
The pipe was very dimly lit, with sticky substances all around.
Kael rode the Broomstick downward, making seven or eight turns before finally exiting the pipe.
Kael got off the Broomstick.
This was a dark stone tunnel, big enough for a person to stand inside.
"Lumos!"
Kael illuminated his Wand, cautiously walking forward.
Though the tunnel was too dark, he could only see a small spot in front of him, his shadow stretched long on the damp wall, looking like a monster.
The damp ground was littered with rat bones, something Scabbers would probably like.
Kael continued walking, keeping an eye out for any disturbances, ready to run at any moment.
A few minutes later, Kael turned a dark corner in the tunnel and finally found what he was looking for.
A huge outline, coiled on the other side of the tunnel, motionless.
Kael quickened his pace and raised his Wand hand.
The light fell on a giant piece of Snake Skin, emerald green and shimmering brightly, incredibly vivid.
Kael immediately opened the suitcase and stuffed it all inside.
Then he looked around but only found some scattered fragments of Snake Skin; this was the only complete one.
Seeing this, Kael gradually relaxed his tense nerves.
Having only one complete Snake Skin indicated that the Basilisk wasn't frequently active here.
If he guessed correctly, it should've been left behind fifty years ago... when Tom Riddle first opened the chamber.
Kael continued walking forward, but to be safe, he did not completely let his guard down; he still held tightly to his Broomstick.
All the way, driven by a frugal spirit, Kael didn't leave those fragments; he collected them whenever he saw them.
Going along like this, collecting as he walked, he soon reached the end of the tunnel, a solid wall blocking Kael's way after the final bend.
On the wall were two entwined snakes with big, shining Emeralds set in their eyes.
Kael reached out and pressed on one of the gems.
He suddenly thought if he could pry these gems off, then maybe the wall might never open...
Kael thought this, and he tried it too.
Unfortunately, no matter what method he used, whether by force or Magic, the gem showed no signs of budging.
It felt as if it was part of the wall itself.
After working on it for ages, Kael only ended up exhausting himself.
"Forget it, I won't try anymore..."
He looked up at the eyes of the two snakes, once again uttering a low and hoarse hissing sound.
The two snakes parted, the stone wall cracked open in the middle, slowly sliding away to the sides and disappearing. Kael reached into the suitcase, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
On the other side of the wall was a long, dimly lit room, with two rows of stone pillars engraved with coiled serpents on either side.
Upon reaching here, the Snake Skin completely disappeared, not a piece was found.
Kael held his Wand in one hand and in the other a chicken's neck, with the Broomstick tucked under his arm, moving slowly between the stony pillars entwined by giant serpents.
Every step he took created hollow, loud echoes in the shadowy walls.
Kael first carefully searched around, only when confirming that apart from the entrance behind him, there were no other pipe openings did he feel reassured enough to pass through the room.
In front of the last pair of stone pillars, Kael saw a statue as tall as the room itself, pressed against the dark wall behind.
The statue bore an aged monkey face, with a sparse long beard nearly touching the ground.
"Salazar Slytherin..." Kael squinted, muttering softly, "Doesn't look much, Madam Hufflepuff seemed more to resemble a legendary wizard..."
Kael raised his head; he knew, as long as he uttered the last Parseltongue phrase, the statue's mouth would open, and the Basilisk would fully awaken.
"Shall I awaken the Basilisk?" Kael thought hesitantly.