The stillness pressed down on me like a weight.
A faint echo of a drip from the condensation upon the ceiling the only break in the silence radiating fromt he chamber.
The basilisk was slumbering here being kept restrained within the abode hidden behind Ole Salazars face—but I wasn't foolish enough to summon it.
Not yet at least.
The residual magical aura told me the beast was still alive, however somehow it seemed supressed, perhaps in a state of suspended animation to ensure the beast would not succumb to hunger in its long wait for a new 'heir' to arrive once more?
If I called it now and couldn't control it… well, there'd be no one left to tell that story.
So instead, I let my magic stretch outward, feeling the other energies woven into the chamber.
Not just the serpent's aura—there were three other total sources of magical aura located within the chamber beyond the basilisks monsterous presence right in front of me.
Hidden works of Salazar Slytherin, or perhaps things hidden behind by his followers after his exile from the school leading him to find magical pursuits elsewhere in the world.
The nearest pulse came from the base of a thick pillar near the reflection pool.
I walked toward it, the sound of my boots shallow and crisp against the slick stone floor.
The mirrored surface of the water trembled slightly with each step, distorting my reflection—half boy, half shadow.
The pillar itself looked ordinary enough, though age had blackened the carvings that wound around it.
I ran my fingers along the grooves of one etched serpent, tracing the inlaid runes.
There—one symbol was slightly raised, out of place.
I pressed it.
A click echoed, deep and mechanical.
The floor at the pillar's base trembled, and a narrow cabinet rose slowly from beneath the stone.
Dust and stagnant air burst outward as it locked into place with a heavy thud.
"Well, well," I murmured. "Secrets within secrets."
I crouched, brushing grime from the carved handles before pulling the doors open.
The hinges groaned, dry from disuse.
Inside—empty shelves.
Not a single scrap of parchment or vial remained.
Only faint dust outlines where items once sat.
I frowned. "So, you got here first, didn't you, Riddle?"
It fit.
The bastard had always been thorough.
Tom Riddle must've taken whatever knowledge this cabinet once guarded decades ago—spellbooks and experimental theories no less, a reason for his near meteoric rise to power decades later.
And now, all that remained was the ghost of a theft.
But with all things, especially dark magic it leaves traces, and the cupboard having born the tomes for centures was steeped in a feeling of corruption.
No doubt with such aincient tome from one who was recorded to be an almost otherworldly scholar when it came to the topic of flesh transfiguration, the idea of splicing ones own genome with the abilities and powers of magical creates was certainly a form of dark magic, one which twists the very fabric of nature itself.
A bit disappointed but no choosing to linger, i sighed at the thought of the works being almost wholly unusful for me, and my goals at this time.
My gaze drifted upward—to the immense statue at the end of the hall across the reflection pool.
Salazar Slytherin's stony face stared eternally forward, eyes blank yet filled with intent.
Something about the angle of the gaze… deliberate.
One would assume he was staring at the entrance judging or peering into the soul of the 'heir' who had come to stand before him in his hallowed hall, but now that i was here... his gave well it almost looked a bit cross eyed.
Stepping back a bit, raising my wand toward the reflection pool's surface.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
My body lifted cleanly from the ground, robes fluttering slightly as I rose higher and higher until I hovered level with the statue's eyes.
The spell hummed beneath my control, keeping me steady as I turned slowly in midair.
I aligned my sightline with the statue's gaze, tracing the invisible path of its stare.
Directly ahead—nothing but serpentine pillars and shadow.
But then I noticed it.
The statues eyes were not staring at the entrance, no instead they peered off to the right as if the man who cared the stone had forced a lazy eye.
Lowering myself with a lazy spiral, I dismissed the levitation charm and landed softly.
Traversing the path back down the chamber leading away from the chambers end towards the entrance.
Climbing up the ladder leading to the open cavern beyond, but not stepping through instead i moved along the simple ledge careful not to slip and fall.
My wandlight illuminated the rough wall near the ladder.
At first glance, it looked solid, but the magic pulsing faintly behind it told another story.
Almost reaching the far end i spotted something different, a single rough stone with an almost non-existant carving of a serpent on its face.
"Another secret?" i could help saying aloud before adminishing myself, i mean cmon its call the chamber of secrets not the chamber of a single secret.
First the simple library next to the reflecting pool then the sleeping Basilisk beyond the face, now a hidden space near the entrance where none might think to look constantly under guard of the sole occupent.
I whispered in Parseltongue, the sibilant tone curling through the air. "Open."
The wall responded with a shiver.
Stone slid back in overlapping layers, like scales retracting from a wound.
A thin seam of darkness widened into an arched passageway, faintly glowing with green runes.
My grin widened. "Bingo."
The air coming from this new room, was fresh? Either with a ventilation system up to the surface, or a preservation charm meant to keep the room at its optimum state even after all these years.
As i stepped forth into the unknown what came into my vision was awe inspiring.
The room beyond looked like a secret laboratory of sorts.
A library of shelves crammed with books lined one wall, while a table with all sorts of bits and bobs littered about lay in the center, on the otherside was a lower table with what looked to be the remains of some poor creature though thouroughly disected to the point i couldnt even hazard a guess as to what i was origionally.