Chapter 310: Confrontation

Harry felt something pulling his soul away, leaving him dazed.

Everything here felt unreal—the walls had double images, the pool seemed to bubble with water, yet he couldn’t hear anything.

“No….”

He placed the alchemical frog on his hand, then laid the fang atop the diary:

“Tell me how to get in!”

The diary remained motionless.

“Let me try.”

Ron grabbed the diary and pulled with all his strength, but some inexplicable force made it impossible to tear—even with all his might.

Now they were certain the diary was dangerous.

Ron, panting, set the diary on the edge of the pool, where a tattered pen lay inside.

The moment the pen touched the diary, something miraculous happened—the ink was absorbed, and a line of writing surfaced:

【Speak in Parseltongue: Open】

……

Harry and the others no longer had time to hesitate.

Hermione ran toward the headmaster’s office, while Harry and Ron charged into the Chamber.

The tunnel of the Chamber was silent as a tomb; all they heard was a sudden snap—Ron had stepped on a rat’s skull.

Harry lowered his wand and examined the ground, finding bones of small animals scattered everywhere.

Harry fought hard to suppress the images of what had happened here.

The Basilisk had emerged—Wizard Sean’s alchemical creations had all been petrified… what about him…

Harry plunged forward, rounding a dark bend in the tunnel.

“Harry, there’s something over there…”

Ron said hoarsely.

Both froze, staring.

Harry saw the massive, coiled silhouette of a creature lying still on the other side of the tunnel.

Their wandlight glinted off a huge, vividly green snake skin, unmistakably that of a venomous serpent, coiled motionless on the floor—empty inside.

Clearly, the creature that had just shed this skin was at least twenty feet long.

This discovery weighed heavier on their hearts.

After running through the dim corridor, they finally stood at the edge of a long, dimly lit chamber.

Before them stood many stone pillars carved with entwined serpents; they looked around but saw nothing.

Harry dripped ink into the diary, then raised the fang threateningly:

“Tell me—where is Wizard Sean?”

The diary trembled for a moment:

【Finally fooled. It took me great effort to influence… that fellow you mentioned is indeed troublesome—I couldn’t handle him even for a moment.

But my target isn’t him—it’s you, Harry Potter.】

“What do you mean? No—tell me where Wizard Sean is?!”

Harry pressed the fang closer.

【The fang… where did you get it? But it doesn’t matter—you’re here now, you came on your own;

As for that fellow—if he came here… hah, he’s probably dead.

But before you die, I have many questions for you, Harry Potter.】

Ron was struck as if by lightning—he collapsed onto the floor, dazed.

He’d even forgotten they were in the Basilisk’s lair.

Harry couldn’t see clearly—he roared and drove the fang straight into the diary.

With a terrible, prolonged, ear-splitting scream, ink gushed violently from the diary, streaming down Harry’s hands onto the floor.

Then a dark shadow stood before him.

“You brought this on yourself, damn thing!

Speak to me, Slytherin—the greatest of Hogwarts’ four founders!”

The shadow was that of a tall, black-haired boy, summoning something.

Far away, Slytherin’s massive stone face stirred. Harry and Ron watched in utter horror as its mouth opened wider and wider, until it became a vast black void.

Harry and Ron knew what he was doing—so Harry raised the fang again:

“I’m waiting for you—Harry Potter!”

The shadow twisted and writhed, flailing its arms, screaming in agony…

Harry and Ron shut their eyes.

“Run!”

Harry said.

Then he seemed to collide with something.

“Harry?”

He heard a voice he knew better than any other.

Wizard Sean stared at him in confusion—he was about to crash into a stone pillar.

“S-Wizard Sean… did I really die…? I’m sorry… I came too late…”

Harry turned his head and saw Ron—he could no longer speak.

Ron… was dead too…

Ron’s reaction was even more violent—he rolled his eyes back and fainted instantly.

“You didn’t die, Harry.”

Wizard Sean had arrived following the plan map, just in time to see Tom summoning the Basilisk—then get stabbed by Harry.

He looked at the book—ink still dripped steadily from its pages.

The Basilisk’s venom had burned a hole through the diary, hissing as black smoke curled from it.

Inside the hole, darkness clung—its shadow thin as smoke:

“Impossible… how could you have defeated the Basilisk…?”

Tom stared at Wizard Sean, dazed.

Wizard Sean could feel he was powerless—two seconds later, Tom let out a final, furious growl and vanished.

Freed from Tom’s influence, the diary now seemed ordinary—some handwriting even remained:

Wizard Sean spotted Hagrid’s name instantly—he waved his wand and the diary opened:

【Big Sha Hagrid, clumsy and trouble-prone, causes trouble every week—he keeps a werewolf pup under his bed and sneaks into the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls.

But I must admit, even I didn’t expect the plan to go so smoothly. I thought someone would realize Hagrid couldn’t possibly be Slytherin’s heir.】

It seemed Hagrid could be cleared…

Wizard Sean thought.

“Wizard Sean?”

Harry finally seemed to snap back to reality,

“You defeated the Basilisk?”

He asked in disbelief.

Wizard Sean nodded.

Harry finally relaxed completely—his eyes turned red again, overwhelmed by the dizzying joy of having him back.

“Looks like you two did well too?”

A kind, wise voice chimed in.

Ron stirred—he sat up and saw Hermione and Dumbledore.

In an instant, he felt the entire wizarding world had collapsed.

“Hermione… how did you die too?”

He sobbed.

Hermione punched him in the chest—jolting him awake:

“I’m not dead!”

“Oh—haha—”

Dumbledore smiled warmly.

Realizing he’d made a fool of himself, Ron turned bright red and stood frozen in place.