After Ron finished speaking, he found everyone looking at him with strange expressions.
"Uh... I was just saying." Ron scratched his head embarrassedly.
The giant spider corpses from before hadn't been sold yet, but Dudley had already told him they could get at least a hundred Galleons, which was a huge sum for Ron.
You had to know; a brand new wand only cost about seven Galleons.
Now mentioning the basilisk, his first thought was that as an ancient magical creature, this monster's corpse would probably be very valuable. Definitely more valuable than giant spider corpses.
Moreover, basilisks also had deadly venom. Its poison was much more precious than giant spider venom. If they could sell it, that would be another fortune.
So for him, the basilisk held great temptation.
Of course, he also knew he didn't have the strength to hunt a basilisk alone. He was just mentioning it.
"Even if there are treasures in Slytherin's Chamber, they should've already been taken by his heir. It wouldn't be our turn," Harry said with some regret.
"Only the basilisk's corpse would probably be worth quite a bit of money."
"..." Dudley stared at them.
These two had really gotten obsessed with money.
Feeling Dudley's strange gaze, Harry said defensively, "The money I have at Gringotts needs to last me for years. I have to spend it carefully. If there's additional income, that'd naturally be best."
"Alright then." Dudley shook his head helplessly and looked at Hermione, who was deep in thought.
"You don't also want to sell the basilisk's corpse for money, do you?"
Hermione shook her head, then said thoughtfully, "I'm thinking, if I could research the basilisk and use its corpse as research material, could I publish some papers or something?"
"Of course, I don't have that ability now, but maybe later."
"Professor Dumbledore discovered the uses of dragon's blood when he was young. I think I could research the uses of basilisks."
Hermione said this with complete seriousness.
Dudley swallowed hard.
These three had probably lost their minds.
"Children, it's already very late. I must ask you to return now." Madam Pince walked over again, this time with a very stern expression.
"Alright, thank you, Madam Pince," Dudley said politely.
The four stood up, put all the books back, and left the library.
On the way back, Ron suddenly thought of something.
"Do you think, if the monster in the Chamber really is a basilisk, how does it travel through Hogwarts castle? There are so many people in the castle, plus professors. It shouldn't leave any traces at all."
"Sewers," Dudley said simply and directly.
Some things, when you haven't figured them out, you can't think of them no matter what. But once you understand, many problems become easily solved.
"When we first encountered that monster, the voice Harry heard was in the walls. Also, my magic mirror can reflect situations in all mirror surfaces around me. Previously, my investigation focused on possible mirror surfaces nearby, but I overlooked the water surfaces in the sewers," Dudley explained briefly.
"I see," Ron had a sudden realisation.
"Now the only problem is we still don't know where the Chamber is. We can only passively wait for the Chamber to be opened again," Harry said with frustration.
"Fifty years ago, the killed girl's body was found in a bathroom," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Is it possible that the Chamber's entrance is in some bathroom?"
"Not very likely," Ron shook his head. "Since the basilisk travels through sewers, it could enter any bathroom, couldn't it?"
"True," Hermione nodded.
"But this reminds us to be careful when using the toilet. Maybe there's a basilisk hiding in your toilet!" Dudley said with dark humour.
The three's faces changed as they developed an instant fear of bathrooms.
The next day, after last night's rumours had spread, news about Harry being a Parselmouth had reached every corner of the school.
Everyone avoided Harry like the plague, afraid that after provoking him, he would release monsters to petrify them.
Basically, wherever Harry went, people would step aside and point at him from behind, whispering.
"Can't they use their brains to think? I'm a Gryffindor student. How could I be Slytherin's heir!" Harry said in frustration.
This feeling of being wrongly accused was very uncomfortable.
"Harry, for them, being a Parselmouth means there's a high possibility you're Slytherin's descendant. They won't care which house you're a student of, or even what you've done for them before," Hermione consoled him.
"We'll go tell Professor McGonagall about the basilisk later and have her clear this up for you," Ron said while eating buttered bread.
"Ron, do you think if everyone knows the monster in the Chamber is a basilisk and I'm a Parselmouth, what will they think?" Harry asked earnestly.
Ron's mouth, which was chewing buttered bread, froze mid-bite.
"They'll think even more that I'm Slytherin's heir!" Harry slumped over the table despondently.
"It's over. Then it can't be cleared up." Ron's expression turned ugly.
"Unless we can solve the Chamber problem, Harry's identity as Slytherin's heir can't be cleared temporarily," Dudley said from the side.
"Scarhead, it must be you, right?" Malfoy walked over with an ugly expression, his face almost bloodless.
Having lost to Harry in last night's duel and learning Harry was a Parselmouth, many people thought Harry's next target would be Malfoy.
Almost everyone in the Great Hall looked over, but it was terrifyingly quiet.
"You're Slytherin's heir. You controlled that monster to attack Crabbe, didn't you?" Malfoy questioned with obvious fear beneath his anger.
"Slytherin's heir set up the Chamber to purge Muggle-born wizards, but you, as Slytherin's heir, betrayed him and violated the rules by attacking pure-blood wizards."
"You're truly shameful!"
"Only you would stay with those of dirty blood and attack pure-blood wizards."
"Just wait. I'll make you pay."
Without waiting for Harry to retort, Malfoy turned and left. His steps were somewhat unsteady, as if he'd been greatly affected by this matter.
Harry slammed what he was holding onto the table with a bang and chased after him.
Hermione and Ron quickly followed.
But Dudley was a step slower, frowning as he looked at Malfoy in the distance.
"The aura around him feels somewhat wrong... there's a faint sense of evil..."