Old Blood at Hogwarts

As Aaron slid down the tube, it felt like hurtling down a dark, slimy, endless slide.He could see many more pipes branching out in all directions, but none as thick as this one.Their pipe had twists and turns, seven twists and turns, and the slope was very steep all the way down.Aaron knew he had slipped deep, deep beneath the school grounds, even deeper than those underground classrooms.He could hear Harry, Hermione, Ron and others in front of him making a slight collision around the corner.

Then, just as he was starting to worry about what was coming next, he suddenly hit the ground.The water pipe became horizontal, and he emerged from the mouth of the pipe, falling to the wet ground with a pop.It was a dark stone tunnel large enough for a man to stand in it.Very close to him, Lockhart, Harry, Ron and Hermione were all crawling up from the ground covered in slime.

"We must be miles beneath the school." Harry's voice echoed in the dark tunnel.

"Lumos!" Aaron whispered to his wand, which immediately glowed brightly.He squinted his eyes, looked at the dark and sticky walls around him, and judged: "We're probably at the bottom of the lake."

Harry also used the Illuminating Charm to make his wand glow brightly at this time.He raised his wand and looked at the dark tunnel in front of him, and said to everyone: "Let's go."

The feet of the five people stepped on the wet ground, making a loud sound.

It was so dark in the tunnel that they could only see a small area in front of them.The light from the wand cast their shadows on the damp wall, making them look like monsters.

"Remember," Hermione whispered as they walked forward carefully, "whenever there is movement, close your eyes quickly..."

But the tunnel was as silent as a tomb, and they only heard an unexpected sound—a click. It turned out that Ron had stepped on a mouse skull.Harry lowered his wand and looked at the ground, finding the bones of small animals here and there.He led the way forward, turning a dark bend in the tunnel.

"Harry, there's something over there..." Suddenly, Ron grabbed Harry's shoulders and said hoarsely.

The five people stood still and stared.Aaron saw the coiled outline of a huge thing lying motionless on the other side of the tunnel.Aaron looked at the huge thing, his heart was beating fast, and he felt a dull pain in his chest.Lockhart pressed his hands tightly against his eyes, his face as pale as a ghost.

"Maybe it fell asleep," Harry gasped.He moved slowly forward sideways, wand held high in his hand.

Aaron followed Harry, always ready to cast the "Eye Spell".Aaron had demonstrated a few weeks ago that this spell could be used against the basilisk.

The light shines on a huge snake skin, which is green and very bright. At first glance, it looks like the skin of a venomous snake, lying coiled on the ground of the tunnel, and it is empty inside.Apparently the animal that had just shed this skin was at least twenty feet long.

"Oh my God!" Ron shouted feebly.

Hermione also opened her mouth in surprise.

There was a sudden movement behind them.It was Gilderoy Lockhart whose knees gave way and he collapsed.

"Get up," Ron said sternly, pointing his wand at Lockhart.

Lockhart stood up and lunged at Ron, knocking him to the ground.

Aaron, Harry and Hermione rushed forward to help, but it was too late.Lockhart stood up panting, holding Ron's wand in his hand, with his characteristic smile on his face again, showing his bright teeth.

"Kids, your adventure is over!" he said. "I'm going to take this belt to school and tell them that I came too late and couldn't save the girl, and as soon as you saw her bloody The dead body is a painful loss of reason. Say goodbye to your memory!"

He raised Ron's wand high above his head and shouted, "Forgotten!"

Bang!The wand suddenly exploded with as much power as a small bomb.Aaron covered his head with his arms and ran away, tripping on the coiled snakeskin and avoiding large pieces of rubble that fell from the tunnel ceiling to the ground.Then he stood up, facing a thick wall of rubble with only Harry beside him.

"What's going on?" Aaron was extremely surprised by the sudden explosion.

"It's Ron's wand!" Harry explained. "Ron's wand was broken by the Whomping Willow at the beginning of school. His wand has been unable to work this year and accidents often occur."

Then, he shouted across the stone wall: "Ron! Hermione! Are you okay? Ron! Hermione!"

"I'm here!" Ron's muffled voice came from behind the gravel wall. "I'm fine. Hermione's fine too. But the fool was unlucky - he got hit by the wand."

With a dull impact, someone screamed: "Ouch." From the sound, it seemed that Ron had kicked Lockhart in the calf.

"What to do now?" Hermione's voice sounded desperate, "We can't get through it. It will take a long time to..."

Aaron looked up at the ceiling of the tunnel, where several huge cracks appeared.He had never tried to use magic to separate anything as big as these rocks, and it seemed inappropriate to try now - what if the entire tunnel collapsed?

There was another crash and an "ouch" from the other side of the rock.

[Staying here is just a waste of time. 】

Aaron made a quick judgment. He was about to speak when Harry shouted to Ron and Hermione: "Wait here. Wait with Lockhart. Aaron and I will continue." Go forward." Apparently Harry made the same judgment as Aaron, "If we don't come back within an hour..." There was a moment of meaningful pause.

"I'm going to see if I can move this rock away," Hermione said, as if trying to keep her voice steady, "so you can - you can get back in. And..."

"See you later." Aaron turned around and walked past the huge snake skin without waiting for Hermione to finish.Now that a decision has been made, apart from discussing countermeasures to achieve the goal, the rest is nonsense.Talking like this too much will not only not help things, but will also wear away the determination that was finally made.

Aaron and Harry moved forward carefully along the tunnel. Behind them, the faint sound of Hermione and Ron moving rocks could be heard faintly, but they were quickly lost.

The tunnel turned one corner after another.Aaron was in a strange mood at this time. He was obviously going to do something very dangerous, but he didn't feel much fear now.Although he was a little scared, he was more excited. Even Aaron himself was very surprised by this.He didn't know why, maybe he was an adventurous person at heart, maybe that's why he was sorted into Gryffindor.Every nerve in him was trembling. He was afraid that the tunnel would come to an end, but at the same time he hoped to reach the end of the tunnel quickly.Finally, he and Harry carefully turned another corner, and finally found a solid wall standing in front of them, with two intertwined snakes engraved on it, with large, shining eyes in their eyes. The emerald looks exactly like it is alive.

Aaron and Harry stepped closer, feeling their throats dry.They all guessed what to do next.

Harry cleared his throat and let out another low, hoarse hiss.

The two snakes separated.The stone wall cracked in the middle and slowly slid to the sides and disappeared.Harry and Aaron looked at each other and walked inside.

Inside is a long, dimly lit room filled with green and mysterious mist.Many stone pillars carved with entangled snakes towered up to support the ceiling that melted into the darkness above, casting long and eerie black shadows over the entire room.

Aaron and Harry stood there, listening to the chilling silence.Is the basilisk lurking in a dark corner behind a stone pillar?Where is Ginny?They drew their wands and advanced slowly between the stone pillars coiled with giant snakes.

Every cautious step they took produced a hollow, loud echo among the ghostly walls.They are always vigilant, ready to close their eyes tightly at the first sign of trouble.More than once, they seemed to see some movement, but upon closer inspection they found nothing.When they reached parallel with the last pair of stone pillars, a statue as tall as the room itself loomed before them, clinging to the dark wall behind.

They had to crane their necks high to see the huge face above - an old, monkey-like face.A long and sparse beard dragged almost to the hem of the wizard's robe carved from stone, and two large gray feet stood on the smooth floor of the room.Between the two feet, lying face down, was a small figure in black robes, with hair as red as flames.

"Ginny!" Harry called in a low voice and hurried to her side, "Ginny! Don't die! Please, don't die!"

When Aaron joined Ginny, Harry had knelt down, tossed his wand aside, grabbed Ginny by the shoulders, and turned her over.Her face was like marble, cold and bloodless, but her eyes were closed, so she was not petrified.Then, she must be...

Aaron carefully put his finger under Ginny's nose and felt the faint breath, and immediately shouted excitedly: "Harry, Ginny is still alive."

Harry immediately became happy and shook her hopefully: "Ginny, wake up. Ginny, wake up."

But Ginny's head drooped lifelessly.

"She won't wake up." Suddenly a voice sounded softly from behind them.

Aaron and Harry were both startled and turned around.

A tall boy with black hair was seen leaning on the nearest stone pillar, staring at them.The boy's outline was strangely blurred, as if there was a layer of foggy glass between them.