417 Chapter 417
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-Chamber of Secrets-
"Hmm, it's still the way I left it," I said out loud, looking around the old house of Salazar's late pet.
The chamber was still the same cold, damp and dark place, with the only difference being the absence of an immense serpent with a literally murderous gaze and deadly venom.
It had been a long time since I last entered the Chamber of Secrets, but now I had something to do in this place, and that's why I came here.
"This will need some redecoration, but after some work this will become a perfect base" I nodded to myself.
And yes, the reason I came to the Chamber of Secrets was because I intended to make it my new secret base at Hogwarts.
Before, my base was the Room of Requirement, but I wouldn't be able to use it as often anymore since now the twins also knew about its existence and used it almost every day to create their prank items.
And besides, I was in my fourth year, and if no drastic changes occurred in the timeline Umbridge would still come to Hogwarts the next school year.
And I was sure that if she came to the castle she would still try to disrupt our Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, imposing her absurd rules approved by the ministry.
And one thing would lead to another and in the end Harry and the other students would end up discovering the existence of the Room of Requirement, before using it as a classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts classes and a base for Dumbledore's Army.
"Well, it's not like I can't keep using the Room of Requirement. In fact, I just won't be able to use it as often" I shrugged.
I then started walking around the chamber analyzing the place and seeing what I should or wanted to change.
And obviously one of the things that I will definitely change, or better said, I will destroy, are these dozens of statues with the face of the founder of Slytherin house.
Even I who like the way I look wouldn't build a secret base and put my face all over the place. That's a lot of vanity, arrogance and ego for one person.
But thinking about it, I could imagine many other wizards and witches who value blood purity doing something like this.
"All the more reason I think these purists are weird and crazy."
But leaving that aside I continued to walk through the Chamber of Secrets, and arriving at the end of my inspection I stopped at the place where my battle with the basilisk took place.
The place where we fought was in the center of the chamber, where the immense full-body statue of Salazar Slytherin was, and the floor, walls and even the ceiling were cracked or destroyed.
And in front of the statue there was a large stain of dried blood, which was the place where I killed the XXXXX class creature.
'Speaking of the basilisk, I still have its corpse stored inside my suitcase' I remembered.
'I removed most of the poison from it and put it in jars and flasks, but I can still use its skin to make armor or other things that use animal skin'
'And besides, I'm sure that the other parts of the basilisk's body must be useful for something, like the organs, the eyes, the flesh and the bones.' I placed a hand on my chin.
And after reflecting a little, what came to my mind when thinking about the basilisk's organs was to create some potion using them.
'Well, I don't know if it's possible to make a potion with basilisk remains, but I know two people who can figure out what to do with them' and the image of Nick and Penny appeared in my mind.
"Now I just need to think about how to explain to them why I have a thousand-year-old giant basilisk corpse in my suitcase" I sighed, knowing that this wouldn't be an easy or normal conversation.
"But well, at least they are more understanding and calm than Professor McGonagall, Andy, and Merlin save me, my mom."
And I felt nervous and scared just thinking about what my mom would do if she found out about the basilisk.
'What is a bloodthirsty and dangerous creature compared to my upset mom' I sweatdropped.
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-Next Day – Black Lake-
"So does the second task have any connection to the Black Lake?" Stephen asked, sitting in the shade of a tree with our other friends.
"Well, Mandy and other Ravenclaw girls said they saw Krum swimming in the black lake, and unless he's crazy I don't see any reason for him to swim in that cold water without a good reason" Lisa commented.
"That's true" Padma nodded, "And besides, yesterday I saw Delacour in the library asking Madame Pince where the books about Hogwarts and about aquatic creatures were"
"Okay, I understand," Stephen said, but then he looked back, "What I really don't understand is what he's doing there."
And following the direction he was looking everyone could see me sitting on the edge of the black lake with my legs crossed and my eyes closed.
Everyone knew that I liked to relax in front of the black lake, but I had been in that position for about 20 minutes, completely motionless.
"I don't know... Maybe he's trying to connect with nature?" Lisa suggested.
"Yes, of course," Michael snorted, "And after that he's going to sell handmade vases in Hogsmeade, and on the weekends he's going to have tea with Professor Trelawney while they talk about which incense smells the best."
"The tulip incense with cocoa has the best smell, and on top of that it can keep away grumpy gnomes" Luna said, making everyone stop and look at her.
And she still had her dreamy look, but they noticed that there was a certain seriousness in her expression, which showed this matter was very important and serious to her.
...
...
...
"...Good to know" Terry said slowly, deciding to ignore this little information given by our peculiar friend.
And while they continued trying to guess what I was doing I continued to sit, but unlike what they thought I wasn't simply standing still or relaxing.
In fact, I was using my senses and my magic sensor to feel everything in the black lake without having to enter it.
Of course, I planned to swim into the black lake to explore the place someday before the second task, but for now I wanted to test the range of my senses and how well they worked by searching underwater.
And so far I was able to sense the creatures that resided in the black lake, but it was proving very tricky to sense more than the creatures' magical signature.
Usually with my senses I could feel everything around me, not just limited to living beings, but it seems that feeling things underwater was difficult if I wasn't in the water.
'Well, I've done some similar tests in the Room of Requirement, but it's different out here where the magic is more natural'
And then I was brought out of my thoughts when I felt someone sit down next to me and take a deep breath.
"Sigh... Nothing better than the smell of water, wet grass and earth," Luna said in a satisfied tone, making me smile slightly, still with my eyes closed.
"Really? Not even tulips and cocoa?" I asked, having overheard their conversation.
"Ah, the smell of tulips and cocoa is only good if it comes from an incense." she declared as if it were a fact.
"Yeah yeah. How could I forget that?" I playfully rolled my eyes.
"Don't worry, this is a rookie mistake" Luna said, and her voice was calm as always, but I could feel the amusement coming from her.
And opening one eye I looked at Luna, seeing that she was trying to suppress a smile, 'Cheeky girl' I smiled.
After that we both focused on the black lake again, and this time I wasn't trying to feel what was in the lake with my senses.
In fact now I was just relaxing, enjoying the presence of my new company.
But as I relaxed next to Luna I thought about the challenge of the second task, and then I remembered that the tournament organizers would probably use her as the hostage I would have to rescue from the lake.
'I know she won't be in danger, but I can't rest easy thinking about her unconscious at the bottom of the lake surrounded by creatures that may or may not be hostile' I thought, before sighing.
'But well, I guess this is just more incentive for me to do well in that task and save Luna quickly'
And then I looked at the girl next to me who was smiling peacefully.
'Yeah, I'm going to finish that task so quickly that the judges won't even notice'
End.
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