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It was clearly an underground chamber, yet the floor here seemed to be paved with countless golden bricks. They sparkled with a dazzling light, and under the illumination of thousands of enchanted candles, they cast a golden glow upon the massive skeleton at the center.
The enormous skeleton of a dragon lay in quiet repose. Its colossal frame resembled an ancient, majestic mountain, with each bone segment so thick it would require several people to encircle it, as if it could have once borne the weight of the heavens.
The oppressive aura it exuded seemed undiminished even in death. It was impossible to tell how many centuries it had lain there, but its skull, larger than that of the mightiest living dragon known today, was still held high.
The hollow eye sockets resembled deep, dark voids, as if still gazing upon its past glory and grandeur.
“Hogwarts really did have dragons!” The shocking sight before Ian made his mouth fall open in astonishment. He immediately thought of the school motto; it seemed the phrase “Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus (Never tickle a sleeping dragon)” truly had its origins here.
He hadn’t expected the students to have guessed correctly! Perhaps even the professors at Hogwarts were unaware of this; otherwise, they wouldn’t have so confidently taught the students that dragons had no place within the school’s history.
“This is more than just having dragons; compared to this one, the Hungarian Horntail would seem like a hatchling,” Ian murmured in awe as he slowly approached.
His own size was like that of an ant in comparison to the dragon’s skeleton, and even attempting to climb onto one of its talons proved to be a daunting task. It was difficult to fathom how immense this dragon must have been in life.
“Perhaps only a giant could rival it?” The dragon’s bones were astonishingly thick, as if forged from the hardest of metals. They intertwined to form a breathtaking skeleton, still exuding the dragon’s might and power even after countless centuries of death.
“Clang clang~” Ian pulled out a hammer and struck the bone, hearing a resoundingly hard clang. As an alchemist, it was only natural for him to carry such peculiar tools.
“To brew this into a potion, I’d likely need to use Fiendfyre directly,” He mused.
Of course, Ian was also a potions master, so such thoughts were hardly out of place.
He was genuinely awestruck by the skeleton in the underground chamber; just the sight of it alone made him feel an almost suffocating pressure. Merlin only knew how formidable it must have been in life.
Even the smaller dragons of today possessed extraordinary magical resistance, so one could only imagine how much greater this dragon’s defenses must have been. Ian found it hard to conceive how such a creature could have been defeated or how it had come to rest in this hidden chamber.
He wondered if even the most powerful wizards could have pierced the defenses of such a terrifying beast.
“The four founders truly were the four founders… where on earth did they find such a dragon?” Ian retrieved his ”Housewitch’s Handy Box ” and placed it beside the dragon’s talon.
This alchemical device, equipped with sharp, enchanted teeth, immediately began its work.
However.
“Crack~”
Just as Ian had anticipated, the teeth of the ”Housewitch’s Handy Box ” were instantly damaged, unable to so much as scratch the surface of the dragon’s bone, leaving not a single mark on them.
At least in terms of bone density, the physical defense of the dragon in the underground chamber was unparalleled, and the damaged ”Housewitch’s Handy Box ” seemed to be mocked by the ancient bones that had lain undisturbed for over a millennium.
“Perhaps it’s the result of magical enhancement or some form of biological alchemy?”
Ian was still pondering the dragon’s origins when he noticed a line of glowing runes etched into the ground.
Each character was about the size of a palm, making them quite noticeable, but Ian had clearly been so captivated by the mountain-like skeleton that he hadn’t noticed them immediately.
“The last of the dragon race shall rest here; the era of dragons has come to a complete end.”
Thanks to his diligent studies and the knowledge imparted by his enchanted tome, Ian recognized the words written in ancient runes. He also noted that the elegant handwriting was unmistakably that of Rowena Ravenclaw.
“The era of dragons?” Ian realized he might have stumbled upon a secret in magical history that had never been recorded. He felt as though he could sense the essence of that era through Ravenclaw’s words.
Dragons once soared through the skies, ruling the earth; their every breath could make mountains tremble, and their every roar could shake the very foundations of the world.
“Blimey, why does it smell so foul?” Ian was somewhat relieved that Ravenclaw had indicated the last of the dragon race had perished; otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to sleep tonight, plagued by thoughts of whether there were still any dragon hybrids, dragon-slaying orders, or some convoluted lineage of the Black King and White King lurking in the world.
“Regardless, this ancient secret likely predates even the time of Merlin,” Ian mused.
He gazed at the words on the ground, increasingly convinced that this was indeed Ravenclaw’s writing style.
“I thought this was Slytherin’s private chamber, reserved for his own use…” Ian was surprised by the true ownership of the underground chamber. He looked around and noticed that there were stone statues, each about ten meters high, positioned in all four directions, seemingly embedded into the walls and almost blending into the surrounding stone.
Each statue bore slight differences in detail, capturing the appearances and postures of the four founders. Each was adorned with exquisitely detailed relief patterns corresponding to the four houses of Hogwarts— Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw.
The reliefs looked as though they had been freshly carved.
The statue representing Gryffindor depicted a majestic lion, its mane as vivid as flames and its eyes gleaming with a fierce, unyielding light, as if ready to leap from the stone to face any challenge with bravery and determination.
The statue corresponding to Slytherin was carved in the shape of a coiled serpent. Its scales were intricately detailed, shimmering with a cold, metallic sheen in the dim light, and its eyes glowed like deep green emeralds, exuding cunning and wisdom as if plotting something in the shadows.
The statue of Ravenclaw depicted an eagle poised to take flight. Its feathers were meticulously rendered, as if ruffled by a gentle breeze, and its sharp beak gleamed like a blade. Its gaze conveyed an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a piercing insight into all things, its posture reminiscent of Rowena Ravenclaw herself.
The statue representing Hufflepuff depicted a gentle badger. Its image was endearing yet exuded a quiet strength, its paws firmly planted as if guarding something precious, and its expression was one of calm and steady resolve, perfectly matching the house’s values.
“So, this is a chamber shared by the four founders, or perhaps a place built for a specific purpose?” Ian walked up to the statue engraved with Ravenclaw’s emblem. Once again, he saw Ravenclaw’s notes, still etched into the golden floor in front of the statue.
“Piertotum Locomotor.” Ian softly read the glowing words on the ground, and his wand trembled slightly as if some invisible restraint had been broken. Then it erupted with a brilliant light.
Magic surged through the air.
“What the hell!”
Gripping his wand tightly, Ian realized what was happening. He quickly glanced at his screen, and sure enough, a brand-new spell had appeared on his list of known magic.
“Hong long long!! Hong long long!!!”
Before Ian could even begin to consider how to explain this to Snape, the underground chamber began to shake violently. The incantation, once spoken, acted like a horn rousing a slumbering giant. In an instant, the syllables of the spell reverberated through the chamber, awakening the ancient magic dormant within its walls.
At first, a faint tremor emanated from the walls, and fine stone dust began to fall like a gentle rain. Then, the statue representing Hufflepuff, carved in the likeness of a badger, began to emit a low, rumbling sound, as if its massive form was gradually stirring from a thousand-year slumber.
At the base of the statue, where it met the wall, mysterious runes flickered with a golden light, the glow spreading along the contours of the statue as though it were the lifeblood granting it movement. As the light flowed, the statue slowly lifted its heavy feet, detaching itself from the wall!
The statue’s movements were deliberate and unhurried, like a loyal guardian fulfilling its duty. The carved badger seemed to come alive, its eyes gleaming with a gentle yet resolute light, and its once-endearing expression now bore a solemn and dignified air.
“Thud, Thud, Thud~”
With each step of the ten-meter-high statue, the ground quivered slightly while the dragon’s skeleton remained towering and unmoving. Ian felt as though he were standing on unsteady ground, as if an earthquake had struck.
“Is this the last line of defense left by the founders?”
Ian felt as though he had been transported back to the first time he’d seen a giant in a wizard’s tale, and he stared up in awe at the towering statue, the overwhelming surge of magic leaving him utterly dumbfounded.
Deep within him, he felt as though he had established some kind of connection with the statue. Of course, this connection didn’t allow Ian to transform into light and merge with the statue, becoming a colossal ancient being in an instant.
“Raise your hand?”
Ian tentatively gave the command, and sure enough, the statue raised its hand in response to his thoughts, the golden light swirling around it as if gathering into some form of magical attack.
However, Ian didn’t dare to test it in this confined space; if he accidentally caused the chamber to collapse and ended up buried beneath the rubble, he, unable to Apparate, would truly find himself in the Forbidden Forest of trouble, reuniting with his ancestors.
“If this is indeed a last resort left by the four founders, there must be a way to move them out, right?” Before Ian could figure out how to relocate the massive Hufflepuff statue,
“Crash, boom!”
Another violent tremor and sound erupted.
The serpent-shaped statue representing Slytherin also began to stir. Its coiled form seemed to be imbued with a soul, twisting and writhing as its cold stone eyes flickered with an eerie green light. The statue detached from the wall, leaning forward as if a long-hidden schemer had finally found the opportunity to strike.
As it moved, the snake’s body scraped against the ground, producing a hissing sound as though whispering ancient Slytherin incantations, the noise echoing ominously in the silent chamber.
The aura emanating from these two statues was entirely different, and as they stood up, they revealed the areas behind them— two stone passageways!
“Blimey!” Ian wasn’t the only one surprised.
Far above, Snape, who was who knows how many meters up, felt the magic he had cast on Ian’s wand falter. He immediately frowned and quickly pulled out the Marauder’s Map he had confiscated to check Quirrell’s location.
Seeing that Quirrell was still in his bedroom, Snape let out a slight sigh of relief. He thought that no matter how reckless Ian was, he wouldn’t dare to provoke a professor in their own quarters.
“That slippery layabones!”
Perhaps assuming that Ian had finally reached his limit and used magic to clean the toilets, Snape didn’t get up but merely muttered a complaint before returning to his experiment.
The potions in the cauldron bubbled away, and he was attempting to see if he could bypass Ian’s Infinite Firepower Potion and concoct a substitute for it.
…
Ian didn’t hesitate for long.
Seeing the two passageways revealed by the statues standing up, he weighed his options for a moment before diving into the passage behind the Slytherin statue. The long stone passage was far less grand than the ancient underground chamber, but it held its own eerie allure.
Having already broken the rules, Ian immediately raised his wand, casting a Lumos Charm to dispel the darkness in the passage. This was a secret tunnel that, while it didn’t leak water, was far more unpleasant to traverse than one that did.
The glow from Ian’s wand illuminated the passage, revealing walls that were dark and grimy, clearly untouched for years, littered with the remains of various small creatures.
Moss grew over the bones, which were covered in mold, and the mold seemed to be feeding off the moss, filling the entire passage with a nauseating stench. Ian felt his stomach churn.
He quickly cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself to avoid retching up his dinner. As he pressed on, Ian soon arrived at a platform connected to a tunnel.
“Creak, Creak~”
He poked his head out from the opened stone wall and immediately saw the outline of a massive creature lying motionless on the platform, resembling a lifeless sculpture.
“So, this connects to the real Chamber of Secrets,” Ian muttered.
The glow from his wand illuminated the platform, revealing the enormous, greenish sheen of a basilisk’s shed skin.
It lay coiled on the small platform, hollow and brittle, clearly belonging to Slytherin’s basilisk— a highly valuable potion ingredient.
Ian jumped from the stone wall onto the platform and immediately began to pack the snake skin into his enchanted pouch without a second thought. He then glanced toward the deeper area ahead.
He knew.
The Chamber of Secrets, along with its great treasure, was right there.
“I’ve uncovered an even more astonishing secret within Hogwarts today; I’ll have to come back for the basilisk when I have time,” Ian thought. After weighing his options, he dove back into the passage behind the stone wall.
A night’s time wasn’t much, and he needed to manage it wisely. Retracing his steps through the foul-smelling tunnel, Ian quickly returned to the spacious underground chamber.
The two statues were still standing there, maintaining their connection with him.
“Why didn’t the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw statues stir? I’m clearly a Ravenclaw, and I’ve received recognition from Lady Ravenclaw more than once!”
Ian was certain that the other two statues also concealed similar passageways behind them, but no matter how he tried to recite the spells he had just learned, the two statues remained stubbornly inert.
“Is this the meaning of ‘unapproachable’ for a cold woman and a passionate man?” Ian wondered aloud. He even attempted to manipulate the Hufflepuff and Slytherin statues to pry the other two founders’ statues from the walls, but after considerable effort, he achieved nothing.
The Ravenclaw and Gryffindor statues seemed as though they were permanently fixed in place. Perhaps the dragon skeleton could help lift these two statues?
That creature was far larger than the ten-meter-high statues.
“Reanimate the bones!” Ian raised his wand and directed it at the massive dragon skeleton in the center of the chamber, but this action only confirmed his suspicions about the magical resistance of the prehistoric beast. The bones remained lifeless, as unyielding as the stone walls themselves.
“GaZhi GaZhi~”
The skeleton of the dragon merely shuddered violently for a moment; Ian’s magic failed to control it. This wasn’t just a matter of the dragon’s innate magical resistance but also a reflection of Ian’s insufficient magical power and skill.
“Is this what it feels like to have a treasure trove but no key to unlock it…” Undeterred, Ian increased his magical output and attempted several more times, but the dragon’s skeleton only swayed in place, refusing to budge.
From the feedback of his failed attempts, Ian sensed that even if Dumbledore and Grindelwald were here, they wouldn’t fare much better than he did in controlling this skeletal beast.
“At least I still have you two,” Ian muttered, turning to the two towering statues.
Though riding on the shoulders of the statues wasn’t as thrilling as commanding the bone dragon, they were still the likenesses of the four founders, which carried a certain prestige.
He imagined riding the Slytherin statue during the Quidditch finals to cheer for his house, thinking it would utterly demoralize the Slytherin team and weaken their performance.
To be honest, Ian wasn’t particularly fond of Quidditch, but he was very keen on earning House points. He was motivated to prevent other houses from gaining an advantage.
And making a grand entrance? Who wouldn’t want to be the center of attention?
“I need to find a way to move you out; you should be standing outside the castle to intimidate the little troublemakers, ideally able to ‘lose control’ and stomp Quirrell and Voldemort into the ground,” Ian mused.
He looked regretfully at the two massive statues. After muttering to himself, he gave up on continuing to cast spells on the dragon bones.
The golden bricks on the ground were also tempting, so he pried one loose to weigh it, only to be slightly disappointed.
“Just gilded…” Ian didn’t know whether these bricks were for show or part of the dragon’s anti-corrosion treatment; he only knew that gilded bricks weren’t worth damaging the integrity of an ancient ruin.
“Don’t ruin my precious bone dragon just because you chipped a brick,” He scolded himself. Ian carefully replaced the gilded brick, still dreaming of riding the bone dragon.
Not being able to control it now didn’t mean he never would; if all else failed, he could turn the bone dragon into an alchemical artifact. He would eventually find a way to fulfill his ambition!
“I need to check the passage on the Hufflepuff side; if I’m not mistaken, it should lead to the Room of Requirement,” Ian thought. He had the two statues embrace each other, then severed the connection with them.
He glanced around the underground chamber one last time, ensuring he hadn’t missed anything, before diving into the passage behind the Hufflepuff statue. This passage was far cleaner and more orderly than the previous one.
Upon entering, the first thing that caught his eye was the smooth, polished walls, seemingly enchanted with some special magic.
Not a speck of dust or stain was present.
The ground beneath his feet was equally immaculate, flat, and smooth; every step felt solid, with no debris or puddles to hinder his progress.
“Hufflepuff’s ancestors certainly paid attention to detail,” Ian remarked.
Though this secret passage was also made of stone and lacked the grandeur of the underground chamber, it was far superior in air quality and the small, enchanted candles that lit the way compared to the Slytherin side, which now felt like a neglected storage room.
“Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur~” Having uncovered such a great treasure, Ian was in high spirits.
He even hummed a little tune as he walked, the faint, rhythmic echo of his footsteps particularly clear in the quiet, enclosed space.
Winding his way through the passage, Ian reached the end after about half an hour, facing a metal-framed obstacle. He gave it a gentle push, and it swung open with a soft creak.
Just as Ian had expected, the Hufflepuff secret passage led to the Hufflepuff’s golden room, now known as the Room of Requirement.
“Is it really this high up?” The picture frames on the walls opened like windows, and Ian’s head poked out from the secret passage, revealing that the high-hanging frames were about three meters off the ground.
“Accio Ladder!” Fortunately, the room was well-stocked with tools; Ian only needed to use a simple ”Summoning Charm” to retrieve a ladder, which he quickly climbed down.
“Click~”
The frame closed up again as soon as Ian landed, unlike the connection to the Slytherin Chamber, which had remained open. Thankfully, Ian had no intention of returning through the frame; he needed to focus on studying how to move the massive statues and how to control the dragon’s skeleton.
There was no rush.
After all, the treasure was right there, and no one else knew about it except for Ian.
“The four founders clearly didn’t know the exact locations of each other’s secret rooms, yet they were certain that each had one; it must be because of that underground chamber connecting the four directions,” Ian mused.
He looked up at the now-restored frame, which showed no signs of anything unusual. The only thing hanging in the frame was a single candle, with no portraits in sight.
“I still have plenty of time to explore. I just wonder why the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor statues won’t move; could it be because I haven’t found their Chambers yet?” Ian felt this speculation was quite likely, as he had already known the locations of Slytherin’s Chamber and Hufflepuff’s golden room before awakening the statues.
There might be some enchantment on the statues in the underground chamber that could sense whether the intruder possessed certain qualifications.
After all, the young portrait of Gryffindor had mentioned that one needed to find his Chamber to gain recognition, and such a criterion could naturally exist for the other founders as well.
“Too bad Lady Ravenclaw didn’t tell me about her secret room last time,” Ian muttered regretfully, placing his wand back at his waist. Although he still reminisced about this unique adventure, he had to bring himself back to the reality of his predicament as the time on the wall approached dawn.
“Cleaning the toilets…” He took out the set of cleaning gear again, contemplating whether to use magic to complete Snape’s punishment, as he was sure Snape had already detected his wand usage.
If hard work wasn’t going to be recognized by the boss, it might be better to slack off and do a half-hearted job. If he ended up scrubbing the toilets by hand and still got a detention from Snape, that would be even worse.
“Scourgify!”
“Scourgify!”
“Scourgify!”
…
After a brief analysis of the pros and cons in his mind, Ian quickly decided to go all out. In a short time, he managed to clean all the toilets in the castle— having magic at his disposal made him incredibly efficient, as one person could easily match the output of an entire cleaning crew.
“Dual wands might be more effective, but wands are the key to unleashing productivity,” Ian thought. Having discarded the cleaning gear, Ian not only completed the task before dawn but also took the time to return to the Room of Requirement for a hot bath, both as a habit and to wash away any lingering potion smells from Snape’s dungeon.
Feeling refreshed, he returned to the Ravenclaw common room, ready to grab his textbooks and head to breakfast and class.
“Where did you go last night?” The bronze eagle knocker, to Ian’s surprise, initiated a conversation.
“Is this a riddle to open the door?” Ian seizes the opportunity in the eagle’s words, hoping for an easy entry.
“Of course not,” The eagle replied, its voice soft and almost whimsical.
“Then I’ll just wait here for the other students to come out,” Ian said, knowing the eagle would likely try to challenge him. He wasn’t about to give it the chance to quiz him.
“I’m just concerned about your mental well-being.” The bronze eagle tilted its head, its tone almost teasing.
“I’m perfectly fine; in fact, I found a great treasure last night,” Ian replied, confident that the eagle, despite its sometimes finicky nature, wouldn’t gossip like the Fat Lady.
“Is the great treasure that thing on you?” The bronze eagle asked, its curiosity piqued.
Ian was momentarily stunned.
“What do you mean?” He asked, puzzled. He hadn’t brought anything out from the underground chamber, and he’d even changed into a fresh set of robes.
Just as Ian was beginning to doubt himself, the eagle spoke again.
“Come here and give me your hand.” Ian, though wary, placed his hand in front of the bronze eagle. Despite his caution, the eagle pecked him hard, its speed too quick to avoid.
“I knew you would…” Ian winced, pulling his hand back. He had been ready to unleash a string of curses at the eagle, but the words died in his throat as he noticed something strange.
“What is this!?” Ian was astonished to see a green pattern, about the size of a ping-pong ball, gradually appearing on the back of his hand.
The design was identical to the engraving on the tap leading to the underground chamber in the abandoned second-floor bathroom— a serpent biting its own tail.
Ouroboros.
“Have I been cursed by Slytherin?” Ian muttered, his brow furrowing in concern.
“No,” The bronze eagle corrected him softly.
“You have been chosen by Slytherin,” It clarified, dispelling Ian’s misunderstanding.
(End of this chapter)
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