Dudley kept falling into the darkness below. Before long, he heard Cole landing.
"No problems here. You can all come down," Cole's voice traveled up the passage.
Hearing this, Dudley accelerated his descent.
Soon after, Borgin and Dudley landed one after the other.
This was a dark stone tunnel. The surrounding space was quite large—even the adult Cole standing here didn't seem cramped.
"Lumos," Cole recited the spell, and the tip of his wand emitted a weak light, illuminating the tunnel's situation.
"We're probably several miles underground now. It's hard to imagine how Slytherin built this Chamber," Borgin said, looking around.
Bang Bang Bang...
While speaking, Harry's trio slid out from the tunnel and fell onto the ground.
"This place is really deep," Ron couldn't help saying.
"At least the basilisk isn't waiting for us here," Harry looked around.
Hermione shifted her body and picked up a broken bone from beneath her.
"This couldn't be a bone the basilisk left from eating, could it?" Hermione said.
Dudley came over to look, then nodded. "Very likely. And judging by the appearance, it seems to be bones from large fish. Some drain here probably leads to the Black Lake, or possibly even to the ocean."
"Hogwarts Black Lake leads to the ocean?" Cole asked in surprise.
"I once heard Professor Dumbledore mention that beneath the Black Lake is a direct connection to the ocean," Dudley said affirmatively.
"This also explains why the basilisk can survive underground for long periods—because it can enter the ocean to hunt."
Hearing this, Borgin couldn't help but frown. "If that's really the case, then this basilisk's size might be much larger than we expected."
Before coming, Borgin had researched quite a bit about basilisks.
This ancient magical creature had an extremely long lifespan and could enter dormant states, surviving for long periods without eating or drinking.
But if that were truly the case, the basilisk's size couldn't be too large, because without food supplementation, it could only maintain the most basic survival.
However, once this place could directly connect to the ocean, the situation would be completely different.
With an abundant food source, the basilisk's size would become enormous. And the basilisk's abilities were directly proportional to its size.
In other words, the larger the size, the stronger the basilisk's power, and its scales could resist even more powerful magic—which was very unfavorable for everyone dealing with the basilisk.
"So we need to be extra careful. Once we hear any movement, close your eyes immediately," Dudley said.
"But if we all close our eyes, how do we deal with the basilisk?" Ron couldn't help asking.
"I'll find a way to control it. You just need to release spells in that direction," Dudley said.
Cole and Borgin exchanged glances, both recalling the scene of Dudley controlling the Whomping Willow earlier.
"I have anti-petrification potions here. You can drink some, just in case," Borgin said, taking out several vials from a pouch hanging at his waist and handing them to Dudley's group.
"Don't worry, I'll drink too."
As Borgin spoke, he casually grabbed one from the vials and gulped it down.
"Taste is average, but whatever."
Seeing Borgin so straightforward, Harry's group glanced at Dudley.
Dudley opened the vial, smelled it, and after confirming there were no problems, signaled for Harry's group to drink.
"Aren't you drinking?" Harry asked.
"I don't need to," Dudley shook his head. He had the Solar Ring—petrification had no effect on him.
Besides, he didn't really trust Borgin that much. Among the group, someone had to not drink this thing.
"Let's go."
Seeing everyone had drunk the anti-petrification potion, Dudley walked forward.
Cole tactfully walked ahead of Dudley.
"Lumos!"
Dudley whispered in Hermes.
The next moment, a bright orb of light appeared beside Dudley, slowly rising and floating above everyone's heads like a small sun.
The light fell—much brighter than the faint glow at Cole's wand tip.
"Much more comfortable this way," Borgin said with a smile.
Dudley's magical accomplishments truly made both Borgin and Cole increasingly amazed.
After walking about a hundred meters—
"Wait!" Cole, walking at the front, suddenly stopped, his expression grave as he pointed his wand at a spot not far away.
Everyone's gaze also turned that direction and discovered what appeared to be a huge shadow coiled on the ground.
Swoosh!
The next moment, the orb floating above Dudley's head immediately flew out, illuminating the distant situation brightly.
"That's... shed skin?" Dudley frowned.
The distant shadow looked like a coiled giant snake, but when the light completely illuminated it, they immediately realized something was wrong.
It was just a layer of skin.
"This basilisk's size really exceeds our imagination," Borgin said, his expression unprecedentedly grave.
"This shed skin is already very large, but that basilisk's body should be even bigger than this skin," Cole said.
The group carefully walked over, looking at the withered snakeskinright before their eyes.
"Um... basilisk-shed skin isn't common, right? Should be quite valuable, right?" Ron stroked the shed skin and inquired.
For a moment, everyone fell into silence.
"It is worth some money. Especially such a complete and massive shed skin—I believe quite a few wizards would want to collect it," Borgin spoke up.
"Not bad," Ron nodded with satisfaction.
"Ron, why are your eyes full of money now?" Hermione couldn't help saying.
"Just say whether you want it or not," Ron rolled his eyes.
"Want it," Hermione nodded.
Why not take it for free? This was all Galleons that could reduce her parents' financial burden.
Harry smiled helplessly.
Dudley suddenly felt he'd corrupted these simple students.
It was because he'd gotten used to poverty in that other world, causing him to think about money whenever he saw anything in this world. And now, under his influence, Harry's group also liked to measure everything with money.
Everyone continued forward. Anyway, the shed skin wouldn't run away on its own—they could come back for it after dealing with the basilisk.
After walking not far and turning a corner, they saw a wall blocking their path. On the wall were two snakes intertwined together.
Their eyes were inlaid with large, gleaming emeralds.
At this moment, Dudley clearly felt Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking beside him—six eyes emanating bright light as they stared at those emeralds.