Chapter 106: The Crying Moaning Myrtle, The One Who Occupied the Bathroom

To be honest, everything that happened tonight was a bit beyond the professors' comprehension.

First, Silven was suddenly petrified by mysterious dark magic at Hogwarts, then attacked by a ghostly unicorn, and then Silven recovered for no apparent reason.

Before the professors could make sense of what was happening before their eyes, the just-recovered Silven threw them an even more unbelievable piece of news.

"Basilisk?"

Professor McGonagall repeated the name, completely at a loss for words.

Professor Flitwick beside her was tugging hard at his already sparse hair.

Even Lockhart had stopped talking, standing there at a loss, seemingly trying to figure out which chapter of his adventures to slot the basilisk into—but no matter where he put it, it didn't seem to fit… though come to think of it, what exactly is a basilisk?

"You mean, you saw a basilisk?" In the end, Dumbledore was the first to react.

"Yes, I saw it." Silven nodded. "A snake at least fifty feet long, with eyes as big as lightbulbs."

"Nonsense!"

Snape snorted coldly. "How could there possibly be a basilisk at Hogwarts? I daresay you were simply so frightened that you hallucinated."

Although the other professors weren't as blunt as he was, their expressions clearly showed they didn't quite believe Silven's words either.

After all, creatures like basilisks had been gone for several centuries now, and for Silven to suddenly claim he'd seen one in the school castle… it really was a bit hard to believe.

"But as I understand it, anyone who looks a basilisk in the eye is killed by it."

Dumbledore was the only one who didn't deny those words. He looked at Silven and asked softly, "Can you tell me how you escaped?"

"The unicorn's soul," Silven said. "I saw the basilisk through it, so I'm still alive."

"That sounds reasonable." Dumbledore nodded and looked up at his surroundings.

The ghost of that unicorn was already gone—no one knew when it had disappeared.

"Did you know that not looking directly into a basilisk's eyes means it isn't fatal? Or perhaps it was just a fortunate coincidence."

"I—I've read books about basilisks," Silven said.

"So that bottle of Mandrake juice was left by you as well, wasn't it?" Dumbledore continued. "To make it convenient for us to brew the Reviving Potion later."

"Yes." Silven nodded, rolled up his sleeve, and revealed the Changeling Lizard skin pouch inside.

"I made this during the holidays, and it happened to require Mandrake juice."

"Oh, a very primitive Changeling Lizard skin pouch." A look of understanding appeared on Dumbledore's face.

As an alchemist, he naturally knew that Mandrake juice was the key material for making a Changeling Lizard skin pouch, and he could also tell that Silven's pouch had only recently been made.

It wasn't strange for him to be carrying Mandrake juice on him.

Dumbledore stood up, first walking once along the corridor, then suddenly stopped.

"Let's go to the second floor."

"Dumbledore, you don't actually believe him, do you?" Snape couldn't help saying. "Perhaps this is nothing more than a prank—someone used a special Petrificus Totalus on Ollivander."

The main reason Snape thought this way was that Silven had just inexplicably returned to normal…

No counter-spell needed, no Reviving Potion to drink—just passing through the ghost's body and the petrification magic was lifted? If it really were a basilisk, how could it be that easy?

"Ah, Professor Snape, I am willing to believe Mr. Ollivander," Dumbledore said.

"But—"

"I suggest you come look at this." Dumbledore bent down and picked something up, holding it in his hand to show everyone.

It was a greyish-white thing, about the size of two coins.

"Snakeskin?" Snape was the first to recognize what it was.

It was the layer of skin a snake had shed—many potions required this ingredient, and he knew it only too well.

But why on earth would there be snakeskin inside Hogwarts castle? And judging from the patterns on it, that snake must have been very large.

Could it really be a basilisk?

Snape fell silent.

"Let's go." Dumbledore's expression was Solemn.

After he said those words, all the staircases changed direction, quickly forming a flight of stairs leading straight to the second floor.

"Mr. Ollivander." Dumbledore looked at Silven again. "We may be heading into danger next, and considering you've just been through a terrible attack, I suggest you return to the common room now."

"It's fine." Silven immediately stood up and, dragging his broken arm, was the first to step onto the stairs. "I can lead you there—it'll be faster that way."

Silven's attitude was resolute.

If he hadn't reacted quickly just now, if there hadn't been the unicorn's soul in Silvermane, he might have been bitten to death by the basilisk on the spot.

Even if he'd narrowly escaped, he'd have had to spend half the school year in a petrified state.

This matter couldn't just be left at that.

Besides, Silven had a vague feeling that the basilisk had come for him specifically—though he didn't know why, once was more than enough.

The diary didn't matter, but the basilisk had to die!

"Come back, Ollivander…" Professor McGonagall's voice came from behind. Silven turned a deaf ear and kept walking forward, even quickening his pace.

"I'll protect Mr. Ollivander. I killed a basilisk once when I was in Peru." Lockhart stepped forward. "I plan to write this into my next book, so leave it to me—no problem…"

"That won't be necessary, Professor Lockhart." Professor McGonagall pushed him aside and was about to go after Silven, when she saw Dumbledore raise a hand and say softly:

"It's alright, Minerva, don't worry. No one else will be hurt tonight."

Dumbledore's voice was quiet, but not a single person doubted the truth of those words.

If Silven were here, he would have noticed that Dumbledore now had a wand in his hand, oddly shaped, completely different from the one he'd seen last year.

"Catch up quickly—hopefully we can resolve this before dawn…" Dumbledore also stepped onto the stairs, then seemed to think of something and turned back to say: "Professor Lockhart, could I trouble you to stay here? If any students try to go out at night, please tell them tonight isn't a good time for it."

Lockhart's foot, which had just stepped out, froze mid-motion.

He definitely wanted to go along—everyone knew that the safest place in the Wizarding World was within ten feet of Albus Dumbledore.

Staying here—what if that so-called basilisk came back?

"Well… I'd rather help…"

Lockhart wanted to refuse, but Dumbledore gave him no chance to speak and walked straight down the stairs.

The other professors hurried to follow.

When only Lockhart was left on the eighth floor, he only hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and ran straight back to his office.

Meanwhile, Silven had already gone down the stairs to the second floor, and without stopping, made his way all the way to the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Fortunately, the professors were quick as well, and soon caught up.

"This is the place." Silven pointed at the bathroom door. "The basilisk came out from here."

With his mind full of the basilisk, Silven did not notice the complicated looks the professors behind him were giving him.

Just now, they had walked through three corridors on the second floor in total, but when Silven led the way, he had not paused at all, not hesitated, not distinguished directions — he had simply stopped right at the door.

They could not understand why Silven was so familiar with the location of a girls' bathroom, as though he had been there countless times.

"Are you sure it's here?" Professor McGonagall could not help asking.

The place where Silven had been petrified was the eighth floor, but this was the second floor — six floors and at least three corridors in between.

She could not figure it out no matter how hard she tried: how exactly had Silven managed to run through those three corridors and six floors under the basilisk's attack, and during the whole process, none of the professors had heard even the slightest sound.

"Yes, I saw it." Silven nodded firmly, his gaze absolutely resolute.

As the only person in this attack who had seen the basilisk and nearly been killed, no matter how unreasonable his words were, the others could only take them as reasonable — after all, he was the one who had seen it; the process didn't matter.

And at this moment, Snape also found another piece of snakeskin on the floor in front of the bathroom.

Just like the one found on the eighth floor, it could basically be confirmed to be from the same snake.

At this point, everyone had no choice but to believe it.

Dumbledore glanced at Silven. At that moment, Professor McGonagall was using bandages to secure his broken arm.

"Don't stray too far from me." His gaze flickered slightly, and he pushed open the bathroom door.

Everyone immediately heard a loud, piercing cry coming from inside.

It was a ghost, sitting on the toilet and wailing.

"Good evening, Miss Warren." Dumbledore said.

"Who's there!" Hearing this unusual form of address, Moaning Myrtle instinctively raised her head.

Upon seeing Dumbledore in front of her, she suddenly froze, even forgetting that she had been crying.

"Oh, Headmaster, sir, what brings you here?" Myrtle floated over to Dumbledore, even tidying her clothes a little, completely ignoring the professors behind.

"Something unpleasant happened at the school tonight," Dumbledore said. "Can you tell me why you were upset just now?"

"Someone took over my bathroom and drove me away with something!" Myrtle said in a pitiful voice. "They probably thought watching me being chased by Peeves was fun."

"And when did this happen?" Dumbledore asked.

Myrtle thought hard for a moment. "About an hour ago, I suppose."

Professor McGonagall frowned slightly, sensing something was off.

An hour ago — that meant someone had come to this bathroom around eight o'clock. The Halloween feast had only just ended not long before, and everyone should have been back in their common rooms — who would have made a special trip to this bathroom on the second floor?

Could someone be controlling the basilisk? — Professor McGonagall suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility.

Someone had come to this bathroom at night, and then the basilisk came out — how could there be such a coincidence?

But who was that person… a student, or a professor?

Thinking of a certain possibility, Professor McGonagall felt a chill run down her back, and her two hands clenched tightly together.

……

(End of chapter)