Chương 77: 077 Entering the Chamber of Secrets
Hermione dragged Bryan along the dark and dusty corridor on the third floor of Hogwarts Castle. She was in a hurry to show him the girls' bathroom at the end of the hall. "This is it, professor-" she said breathlessly.
Bryan remembered the stories he had heard from his female classmates when he was a student at Hogwarts. They said the bathroom was haunted by a ghost named Moaning Myrtle, who wore glasses and had died there. Myrtle was very possessive of the bathroom and would scream at anyone who tried to use it. She would also splash them with freezing water from the sinks and toilets, making them wet and miserable. That's why most students avoided that bathroom as much as possible. They didn't want to deal with the angry ghost while they were doing their personal business.
Bryan cautiously approached the rickety wooden door that led to the dimly-lit bathroom. He wrinkled his nose at the musty smell of dampness and decay. From one of the stalls, a thin stream of filthy water seeped across the cracked stone floor. Bryan guessed that this was the secret entrance to the fabled Chamber of Secrets, hidden somewhere in this room by the infamous Salazar Slytherin. He wondered why Slytherin had chosen a girls' bathroom as the location for his mysterious chamber. It seemed like a strange and whimsical choice for the cunning and ambitious founder of Slytherin house. Then it occurred to him that maybe this bathroom was not always for girls. Perhaps it was Slytherin's own private lavatory when he built the chamber centuries ago. The school staff must have changed its purpose over time to accommodate the female students.
"Here you come again! And with a Hogwarts professor this time too!" Myrtle's shrill voice rang out as she caught sight of Bryan and Hermione entering her haunted domain. The pearly-white ghost girl was perched atop one of the cubicle doors, happily humming an off-key song to herself. But upon noticing a professor had walked in, Myrtle's demeanor quickly changed to one of panic and she anxiously floated down from her cubicle and nearer to the floor, as if trying to make herself less noticeable.
Bryan peered with curiosity at the ghostly figure - he had only ever heard vague rumors about Moaning Myrtle during his school days and hadn't actually met her until now. As he looked her up and down, Bryan noted her thick, coke-bottle glasses and generally undesirable, gloomy appearance. After satisfying his curiosity about the infamous bathroom ghost, Bryan's gaze was soon drawn to the large, grimy pipe situated conspicuously in front of the row of sinks, which did not seem to fit with the rest of the bathroom decor.
"Myrtle, are Harry and Ron still down there in the chamber?" Hermione asked the ghost witch anxiously, her voice echoing slightly off the cold tile walls.
"Obviously they are," Myrtle responded in a wispy tone, her beady eyes peering out through the thick lenses of her glasses. Perhaps sensing the authority of a Hogwarts professor, Myrtle seemed reluctant to act too bold or presumptuous in Bryan's presence. She eyed the handsome wizard professor surreptitiously as she added with a hint of relish, "But don't worry too much, I'm sure your friends will be coming back up soon. In the meantime, I've been busying myself picking out toilets for them to arrive in!"
Bryan decided it was time to directly confront the ghostly witch and gain some answers. He patted Hermione gently on the shoulder, signaling for her to relax and letting her know he would handle this. Turning back to Myrtle, Bryan continued speaking politely but with an unmistakable firmness and authority in his even tone: "I have a question for you Miss Myrtle, which I very much hope you can provide an honest answer to - if I am not mistaken, the three attacks that happened earlier this school year were actually carried out by Ginny Weasley while she was controlled by outside forces. As you have been, ahem, 'living' in this bathroom for quite some time, surely you must have witnessed Ginny opening the Chamber of Secrets with your own ghostly eyes...am I correct?"
"You've known all along, haven't you Myrtle!" Hermione suddenly shouted angrily at the ghost in realization, her voice echoing sharply off the cold tile walls. Though Myrtle's wispy form emitted only a fuzzy silver glow, Hermione could still sense the sinister, self-satisfied look hinted at in the specter's eyes. "Everyone has been exhausting themselves trying to solve this mystery and identify the person who opened the Chamber," Hermione continued heatedly, "Myrtle, Harry, Ron and I have even been forced to spend countless hours brewing Polyjuice Potion in this dreary bathroom for over a month, exposed to the cold dampness! And yet it seems you've been secretly watching us struggle and enjoying a laugh at our expense this whole time!"
Hermione's heated words seemed to touch a nerve, and Myrtle's ghostly form swelled up in rage like an inflated balloon. She began floating toward Hermione rapidly as if wanting to get right in the young witch's face and give her an angry retort. But when Myrtle had halved the ten-foot distance between herself and where Bryan and Hermione stood side-by-side, the ghost found her path suddenly blocked by a swirling vortex of magical energy that Bryan quickly summoned. The size of a full moon, the mystical vortex glowed and pulsated with an eerie intertwining of silver and black hues. Myrtle halted abruptly, gazing into the cold darkness at the center of the vortex where a creeping black hole seemed to emanate the very breath of death itself. Having already experienced the chill of mortality once before in her time, Myrtle's ghostly instincts now took over and she recoiled in fear from the frightening magical display. The edges of her pearly spectral form appeared to blur and distort under the heavy waves of foreboding energy radiating from Bryan's spell.
"Aaahh!" Myrtle let out an earsplitting shriek, her glowing figure flickering rapidly as she turned and made a panicked beeline for the nearest toilet stall. With a loud splash, the ghost dove straight into the toilet bowl and disappeared from view, seeming to seek shelter from Bryan's terrifying magic.
"Professor Watson, you should not have let her off so easy like that!" Hermione said in a scolding tone, her kind heart showing concern even for the cruel ghost who had caused so much harm. Of course, the young witch did not yet fully understand exactly what such a dark display of magic could mean for a ghostly entity like Myrtle.
"There is little point in wasting time quarrelling with a spirit at the moment, Miss Granger," Bryan replied calmly as he dismissed the swirling vortex with a wave of his hand. He then turned and strode purposefully over to the large drainage pipe situated at the center of the bathroom floor. The pipe was pitch-black and exuded an unpleasant sewage odor from its dark depths. As Bryan peered down into the foreboding tunnel, his eyes took on an inquisitive glint. With his magical senses, he could perceive that the intricate enchantments that maintained the existence of this hidden passageway were linked directly into the vast, ancient magical foundations that supported the entire castle structure.
Bryan knew that magic, when taken to an advanced enough level, began to deal extensively with complex rules and systems rather than just raw power alone. To safely disable or unlock spells of such potency without destabilizing the entire structure required adhering to the specific 'rule set' put in place by the original caster - in this case, the notoriously brilliant Salazar Slytherin himself. Simply overpowering one's way through by force could have disastrous consequences. Indeed, Bryan realized that without Harry Potter's rare gift of Parseltongue to open the Chamber entrance, even he would be forced to completely uproot the entirety of Hogwarts castle itself if he wished to breach Slytherin's magic by brute magical strength alone!
"Do you think we should enter the Chamber, Professor?" Hermione asked nervously, peering down the dark, slimy pipe with uncertainty. "Won't it be dangerous down there with the basilisk lurking about?" Although her concerns were quite valid, Bryan recognized that the young witch's anxiety was also partly a result of her traumatic experiences with the Heir of Slytherin. As a Muggle-born, facing the legendary Chamber built specifically by one of Hogwarts' founders to purge the school of those with 'impure' blood like herself, it was only natural for poor Hermione to feel frightened.
"There is no need for concern, Miss Granger," Bryan gently reassured her with a calm smile. "No harm will come to you as long as I am here." Hermione still looked anxious but managed a small, grateful nod. Bryan decided exploring the ancient magical ruins left by medieval wizards could be quite thrilling indeed. The complex enchantments Slytherin had used just on the Chamber entrance alone provided valuable insights into rule-based environment magic that even Bryan had scarcely encountered before. But now was not the time for academic curiosity - there were still students' lives at stake down below.
Turning his attention back to the ominous pipe, Bryan considered their options. Simply sliding down the dark, slime-coated tunnel did not seem particularly wise or sanitary. After a brief moment of contemplation, Bryan formulated an idea and turned toward the nervous young witch beside him. "Please excuse any discomfort this may cause, Miss Granger," he stated politely before reaching out a steady hand to gently grasp Hermione's shoulder.
"Whatever do you mean, Profess- oh!" Hermione cut off with a startled yelp as Bryan swiftly enacted his spell. With his free left hand, he deftly flicked his wand in an upward motion, manipulating the fabric of his loosely hanging professor's robes to unwrap and swirl upward enveloping them both. Hermione's eyes widened in shock as her body was abruptly wrapped in the robe's silky folds. An icy sensation washed over her and the bathroom scene around them faded away into inky darkness. Gasping, Hermione glanced down to see even her own body had disappeared entirely! In its place she now appeared to be little more than a softly glowing, amorphous black shadow.
"P-professor, what is this magic you've used on us?" Hermione cried out in her alarm, though she was relieved to find she could still vocalize in her bizarre new form. Her voice seemed to echo strangely as if traveling through water.
"All shall be explained another time," Bryan answered, his calm voice somehow resonating directly into Hermione's mind. "But now haste is required, Miss Granger."
Without further delay, Bryan, likewise transformed into a wispy shadow, propelled himself and Hermione into the gaping tunnel opening. The two streaked swiftly down the clammy stone pipe, Bryan using magic to keep them centered as it twisted and turned at steep angles, plunging them ever deeper below the castle. As they flew down the main drain, smaller pipes occasionally branched off in all directions but Bryan adeptly guided them along the correct path. The already cold air grew even more frigid and damp the further they descended. Their rate of speed was extremely rapid, and before long Bryan sensed they were deep beneath the lake itself. Using his shadow vision he could just make out the rocky lakebed far below them through the labyrinth of drainage tunnels. But their destination still awaited...the fabled Chamber of Secrets.
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