Chapter 114 Son!!!
Cohen slipped into Myrtle's washroom during the lunch break.
Strangely, the ghost-repelling charm Voldemort left there last time was still effective—or perhaps he had lured someone else to help him cause trouble.
It seemed… Voldemort wasn't hiding in the Chamber of Secrets, but among the students.
Regardless, Cohen had to meet this basilisk relative—it was probably the only one in the Chamber of Secrets now; the original basilisk should only emerge from the Slytherin statue when summoned by Parsley.
It had been searching for him—quite pitiful, hiding all the way to Hogwarts just to find its blood relative, the Dementor, who came from the same laboratory as him…
Cohen successfully arrived at the faucet where the Chamber of Secrets entrance mechanism was located.
He was back to the problem he hadn't been able to overcome before.
How could he speak Parsley to a faucet?
"The dragon emerges from its cave,"
Cohen thought of a method—he should have tried it sooner, he always forgot.
A jet-black snake emerged from the tip of Cohen's wand, looking exactly like a real snake, writhing and crawling in the slippery sink.
Cohen had a strange feeling as he looked at it.
"Hiss." (Open)
This time, Cohen spoke in Parseltongue—and after the first time, he could clearly feel the presence of Parseltongue in his blood.
Cohen waved his wand, and the magically constructed snake vanished.
The faucet emitted a dazzling white light and began to spin rapidly—then the entire circular sink began to move, slowly disappearing from reality to reveal a very thick water pipe.
"Hiss hiss hiss..." (It's not that hard...)
Cohen muttered to himself.
Now, without the snake, he seemed to be able to speak Parseltongue on his own—like a newly introduced complex machine having a function switch flipped.
[Ding! Special Ability Unlocked: Parseltongue (9/10)]
The pipe was pitch black, long and winding. Slytherin didn't even bother to make the entrance look grand.
Perhaps it was because Slytherin himself could Apparate at Hogwarts, so he didn't need to decorate the exterior entrance; he only needed to make the inside to his liking...
Cohen crawled into the pipe, but didn't experience the disgusting feeling of sliding down a sewer.
After becoming a Dementor, it was much easier to swoop down the pipe, without worrying about getting covered in mud or accidentally hitting his head on the ground. After passing through
a bunch of branch pipes, Cohen stared at the main path and floated to the bottom.
Here was a dark stone tunnel. He transformed back into his original human form and lit his wand.
The tunnel was full of rat bones. Hogwarts must have had many rats, but the reason the castle never had a rat infestation wasn't because Mrs. Norris was particularly diligent, but because the Basilisk was working diligently here.
Cohen almost wanted to award it an award—if it weren't for Voldemort, it would probably have continued to work tirelessly as a free mouse catcher for Hogwarts, instead of becoming a terrifying murderous monster.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, Cohen saw some tattered, grayish-white snakeskin. The basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets hadn't shed its skin in a long time; its next molt was probably imminent, perhaps around Christmas.
There was no sound along the way—Cohen continued through the tunnel until he reached a wall carved with two giant, intertwined snakes, where he finally heard some movement.
It sounded like two snakes were whispering behind the wall, but due to the distance, he couldn't make out what they were saying.
Having come this far, it seemed impolite not to go in—
"Hiss…" (Open)
Cohen said to the wall.
The two intertwined snake carvings on the wall seemed to come alive; they moved apart, and as the wall cracked in the middle, they shifted, finally revealing the passage behind the wall.
That led to a long, dimly lit room, surrounded by stone pillars carved with coiled serpents. These pillars towered above the ceiling, which seemed to melt into the darkness above, casting a long, eerie shadow across the room, which was filled with a mysterious, verdant atmosphere—just like a snake.
Slytherin really loved snakes.
Cohen could see two souls at the far end of the room.
[Soul Strength: 40]
[Soul Strength: 40]
Both basilisks were there, hissing and chatting.
"Hungry... He made me kill... but I can't eat him..."
one basilisk said dejectedly,
"That man turned into stone... I can't eat him at all... Salazar didn't mention this... He only said that we could see the people in the castle when his heir came..."
"Idiot, I told you you're a country bumpkin and you didn't believe me..."
the other basilisk said exasperatedly,
"You have to stare directly into that man's eyes, he turned to stone because you stared into his reflection in a mirror..."
Both sounded male, no wonder Harry thought there was only one monster—it was really hard to tell the difference between their hoarse, deep voices without careful listening.
However, Cohen could tell from the content of their conversation which was the old basilisk and which was the new basilisk from the same laboratory as him.
"Wait... I smell something..."
the new basilisk hissed—it was crawling towards Cohen's location.
Snap!
One by one, torches lit up the pillars of the secret chamber, illuminating the enormous room completely in seconds.
Two giant, green serpents rose from the floor, staring directly at Cohen, one in front of the other—and Cohen stared back at them.
This time, Cohen clearly saw two pairs of yellow, vertical pupils—their gazes met—but nothing happened to Cohen.
A force from his bloodline met those gazes, neutralizing some kind of magic; this was why the basilisks couldn't harm themselves or their kind.
[Ding! Special Ability Unlocked: Death Gaze (5/10) (Can be Toggled)]
Damn it, does this ability only unlock when encountering a fellow basilisk? And why is the unlock level only half?
Cohen's expression was somewhat grim.
Fortunately, he could toggle it on and off, so Cohen wouldn't be unable to live a normal life—and the basilisks didn't seem to be able to control their stares.
And because snakes don't have eyelids, their eyes are always open, unable to even close them.
The older basilisk was a head longer than the newer one. It crawled behind, looking at Cohen with a rather strange expression.
This student, who looked like a human, possessed a similar scent—not strong, but easily discernible thanks to its keen sense of smell.
Cohen had smelled this student's scent through the door when the Slytherin heir had ordered it to kill someone.
He might be…
The older basilisk didn't speak, its gaze shifting to the newer one.
The newer basilisk seemed petrified—or rather, merely appeared so, its mouth opening and closing repeatedly.
Just as it was about to speak, Cohen felt as if he already knew what it was going to say.
"Son!!!"
the newer basilisk exclaimed excitedly.
"Get lost,"
Cohen replied calmly.
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(End of Chapter)