Time goes back a little bit to earlier in the day.

It's Tuesday, the third week of the new school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

If calculated according to the calendar of the parallel world, it should be September 17, 1991, except for those who were born on this day, in the eyes of most people, this is just an ordinary day with no special meaning.

However, for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this is destined to go down in history one day.

Because......

There was a lovely butterfly flapping its wings, pushing the story that should have happened a year later to the present.

Hogwarts Castle 1st floor, staff lounge.

Dinner was over, and one by one the professors pushed open the door and walked into the faculty lounge.

It was a long room, surrounded by wooden panels filled with old dark wood chairs that did not match, a dilapidated wardrobe by the wall, and an armchair in front of the fire, though it seemed that no one had sat in it for a long time, and it was covered with a thick layer of dust.

Most professors had bewilderment written on their faces, even Minerva McGonagall, as vice chancellor.

Although at the dinner table, Albus Dumbledore told everyone to go to the faculty lounge after dinner, saying that there was an important matter for all the professors to discuss and decide, but the specific matters did not reveal much.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been discovered, and this time it's real. ”

As the last professor walked into the room, Dumbledore whispered as he looked around at the confused professors.

"Just this afternoon, Professor Binns discovered the legendary Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts Castle, and if nothing else, the monster left behind by Slytherin was inside. ”

"The Chamber of Secrets?!!The Chamber of Secrets of Salazar Slytherin?!

Professor McGonagall let out a low exclamation, her brow furrowed heavily.

"Professor Dumbledore, haven't you organized a search of all the rooms in a Hogwarts castle before? ”

"No, we were all wrong...... This is because the chamber does not exist in the main area of the castle. ”

It wasn't Dumbledore who answered Professor McGonagall, a shriveled voice floating out of the corner of the room.

Everyone turned their heads, and saw that Professor Binns had almost become completely transparent, leaving only a thin pale gray, as if he would be blown away by a strong blow.

"Professor Binns, what are you ......?"

Professor Sprout covered his mouth with his hands and stared incredulously at the ghost professor who had taught her, even the discerning knew that Professor Binns was in a terrible state right now.

"Curse? no, it seems to be the effect of some kind of powerful magic. ”

Professor Flitwick had a grim look on his face, and he looked at Professor Binns carefully, "What the hell is going on, Professor Binns? ”

"Don't worry, it's just a little soul shock, just rest for a while. ”

Professor Binns shook his head, his ethereal body slowly drifting down to the armchair by the fire, his face a much more agile look than before, but the voice became more and more ethereal, mixed with some strange noises.

"The entrance to the chamber is in the girls' bathroom on the second floor, and there is a small snake relief under a pool, and you can go down the main pipe connected to the pool to reach the chamber left by Salazar Slytherin. ”

Bang dang.

Standing at the edge of the crowd, Professor Quirrell's body shook, his face turned pale, he clutched the back of a chair tightly, and asked in a particularly strange trembling tone, "You, how can you, how can you be sure that this is the legendary secret room?!"

"Salazar Slytherin's sculptures, traces of magic, skeletons and giant snake movers...... Of course, there seemed to be some rough magical protection set up by later generations along the way, which did cause me some trouble. ”

Professor Binns slowly raised his head, his cloudy eyes looking at Professor Quirrell standing in the corner, and after about four or five seconds, he continued to open his mouth and whisper in a hoarse, shriveled voice.

"I know Salazar Slytherin very well, and the arrangement and the traces of magic that remain are definitely done by his own hands, and those giant snake moults perfectly explain the question that has plagued us all these years - what did Slytherin leave behind in this school, and what killed those children?"

"Basilisk, yes, I should have realized it a long time ago. ”

Dumbledore's lips quivered, and a look of pain and remorse flashed in his blue eyes.

"Slytherin, Pipe, and Snake...... What a simple reasoning, only this legendary monster can use the pipes of Hogwarts to travel around the castle and take people's lives silently - not even the simplest message and warning signal can be issued. ”

As a professor who witnessed the tragedy, Dumbledore knew even more than Professor Binns. For example, he knew that Hagrid's eight-eyed spider had not killed but had fled into the Forbidden Forest, that Myrtle Elizabeth Warren had seen a pair of huge yellow eyes before she died, and that the Slytherins' most unique magical talent was Serpent Language......

So, when Binns approached him that afternoon and told him about his discoveries, Dumbledore almost immediately confirmed Professor Binns' hypothesis that the monster that killed the students was the basilisk.

"So, Dear Professor Albus Dumbledore, are we going to get rid of that monster?"

Filch said, clenching the broom in his hand, and looked around the room warily, as if the basilisk would emerge from a corner in the next moment.

"No, I'm still hesitating...... That's why I need to ask for your opinions. ”

Dumbledore shook his head and said solemnly.

"The basilisk has a long lifespan, and if I'm not mistaken, it should still be sleeping in the chamber beneath our feet, waiting for the descendants of Slytherin to wake it up. Now, we have two options......"

"The first option is to gather the power of the Ministry of Magic, take the initiative to enter the secret room to encircle and suppress, and remove the terrible hidden dangers in this castle. Frankly speaking, even when it comes to dealing with such an unknown ancient magical creature, I am not 100% sure of victory...... There are still too few knowledge and records of basilisks, and if there is any deviation, it is likely that someone will be sacrificed. ”

"The second method is to put more magic seals at the entrance to the chamber and keep it guarded so that it can never come out of the chamber. However, no one can be sure that this protection will work forever, and that the entrance we have now found is the only way for the basilisk to get out. ”

Dumbledore paused slightly, glanced at the professors who were lost in thought, and took a deep breath.

"Anyway, I think the Ministry of Magic and all the students have a right to know about this - I'll write to Cornelius Fudge later, and before that, I'd like to hear what you have to say......"

......

Half an hour later.

An empty classroom not far from the Hufflepuff common room.

"Well, that's pretty much it. ”

Gellert Grindelwald grinned and looked at the white-haired ball in front of him.

"If nothing else, some officials from the Ministry of Magic will come to Hogwarts tomorrow to discuss how to deal with this matter...... So, I guess Albus won't have the time and energy to help you deal with the editor-in-chief of "Singing and Singing" tomorrow, and you can only figure out how to reply to the letter, what are you going to do?"

"Isn't there still a grandfather, since you took the initiative to tell me, there must have been a solution. ”

Elena blinked, took Grindelwald's big thin hand and shook it from side to side, revealing an innocent and lovely expression, as if she was a granddaughter who was spoiled by her grandfather, and said sweetly.

"There is a way, but ......"

Grindelwald raised an eyebrow, narrowing his eyes rather comfortably, his voice deliberately dragging out.

"A top-notch dish from the East, called Flower Chicken. I guess I'm the only one in the wizarding world in Europe who knows how to cook this dish, and it's definitely something you've never tasted before. ”

Elena did not hesitate to give her chips, she was already very familiar with this kind of "exchange", and when she was at Newmengard Castle before, the old and the young had done it many times.

"Deal. Grindelwald nodded happily.

In fact, the safety of Hogwarts didn't matter to him at all, just temporarily dismiss the students according to his idea, and then gather a large number of adult Aurors, jointly use the lethality charm, and forcibly kill the big snake, there is no need to make Dumbledore as complicated.

In comparison, what he cared more about was the piece that Elena had depicted before, the grand idea that could change the entire pattern of the wizarding and non-magical worlds - the Age of Magic, fundamentally creating a time dimension that belonged to wizards, such a wonderful idea, why didn't he think of it at that time?