"So, exactly how did you..."
Harry sharply sensed the conversation veering off course. He stared into Hermione's eyes in silence for a moment, "Wait, you're changing the subject, aren't you?"
"...Alright, this has to do with the Professor, actually, he told me not to tell you."
Hermione, who really just wanted to play the Riddler, finally had no other choice but to drop William's name, and at the same time, didn't forget to soothe the two as curious as cats, "Don't worry, you'll clearly know the truth during this weekend's 'extracurricular practice,'—"
And so, in the eager anticipation of the two, Saturday finally arrived on schedule.
Early morning, just after breakfast, the two couldn't wait to drag Hermione, who was still reading "International News," out of the hall.
"Where do we find the Professor?"
Harry's mouth was still stuffed with half a piece of bread, making his speech a bit muffled.
"...Follow me."
Hermione exaggeratedly sighed, folded the Prophet Daily in her hand, and stuffed it into her school uniform pocket.
"Alright, alright..."
Thus, the two followed Hermione into the Slytherin Dungeon's entrance, "Honestly, Angelina is even crazier than Wood, that training schedule is packed fuller than our school timetable, I almost suspect Wood is using Polyjuice Potion to stand in as captain—"
Midway, Harry swallowed the bread piece, rubbed his somewhat sore jaw, and couldn't help but complain—
Ron nodded in agreement but then seemed to discover a blind spot in the logic, "But if that's the case, doesn't that mean Fred's been kissing Wood every day?" He was now Gryffindor's Quidditch team's goalkeeper, tasked with "not letting Gryffindor lose too embarrassingly" (the words of Fred Weasley).
The two exchanged a glance, then turned their heads away, uncontrollably laughing.
Between jokes, the group passed the statue engraved with Hogwarts' motto, descended the stairs, and finally entered a stone door behind the corridor—
When Ron stepped into this legendary "Map Chamber," his jaw remained slack, identical to his first-time reaction, clearly blown away by the surroundings.
"Merlin's grace..."
Ron's head spun like a top, the shimmering flowing magic runes on the surrounding walls and the energy specks permeating the air captivated all his attention. However, quite suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed something slippery and enormous flash by in a shadowy corner, causing a slight rustling sound.
Startled, he instinctively edged closer to Harry, his voice tinged with a tremor, "Wait a second, what's... what's that? Something's moving over by the wall corner?"
At these words, Harry looked towards where he pointed, about to speak when Hermione calmly extended her hand, softly calling, "Come here."
In the next moment, a vivid green shadow elegantly swam out from the shadows, winding up Hermione's arm until it obediently coiled in her palm—
It was a small snake, all emerald green with scales flickering a gemstone-like sheen, appearing incredibly exquisite, yet more striking was it wore a custom-made leather blindfold over its eyes, concealing possibly glowing serpent eyes.
"Is it... that Basilisk?"
After a moment of looking, Harry recognized it, this was indeed the Basilisk adopted by Professor William all those years ago.
"It's now the 'Gatekeeper'—one of them anyway."
Hermione gently stroked the Basilisk's cool, sleek scales, with the latter also cooperatively nuzzling her fingers, "Responsible for clearing some unwelcome small 'pests', relax, generally it won't harm anyone without permission… I think." Hermione said somewhat uncertainly.
Ron looked at this albeit shrunken but still unsettling Basilisk, swallowed his saliva, and said quietly, "Well, at least now it can't kill anyone by staring..."
After placing the Basilisk back into the shadows, the two's gaze was quickly drawn to the scene in the center of the chamber.
A gigantic orb made of some unknown silvery metal hung silently in the air, emitting a soft and steady white glow, spinning slowly, its surface gleaming like mercury, that light seemed to possess a magical allure, making one want to keep watching, even their mind...
"If you don't want to be absorbed and become part of it, stop staring for so long."
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from above, Harry and Ron looked up to see Cedric leaning half his body out from behind a railing on an upstairs floor built into the chamber at some point, a slightly teasing smile on his face.
"You..."
"Come up from over there."
Cedric pointed in a direction.
Following Cedric's guidance, the two ascended to the second floor via a discreet spiral staircase, here the view was obviously better, allowing them to take in the silver orb below and most of the scene completely—this was when they realized that those magic runes weren't only present on the walls and ceiling of the entrance, but everywhere within sight.
They're interconnected, twinkling with reassuring light.
At this moment, over a dozen people already stood neatly on the second-floor platform, all clad in uniform, sleek black training clothes, nobody turned at the two's arrival.
After a moment's hesitation, Harry and Ron ran to stand next to Cedric, who wore identical training clothes, at the back of the line.
"Diggory? Why are you here too?"
Ron was a bit surprised, apparently thinking this was exclusive access after clearing "William."
But, Harry answered for Cedric first, his tone carrying subtle envy, "Is there even a need to ask? Whenever the Professor has some 'good stuff,' he never forgets Cedric."
Cedric shrugged, accepting this statement wholeheartedly, "After all, he said I'm his 'disciple of lock art', right?"
"So what are you doing here..."
Before Ron could finish his question, Hermione suddenly reappeared after having vanished for a short while; she too had changed into a fitting black training outfit, her previously fluffy and thick brunette hair neatly styled into a high ponytail, making her look daring and spirited.
"Didn't I tell you to change clothes just now?"
Seeing the two still in their unchanged Hogwarts robes, Hermione asked somewhat puzzled.
"When you said that, they were about to be sucked into that orb—"
Before a confused Harry and Ron could react, Cedric helped explain.