Chapter 160 - Return to the Chamber of Secrets

Everyone was sound asleep that night exhausted from the exams finally being over. Making sure to rectify the mistake from last time, Rowan transfigured a pillow to temporarily look like her. No, the illusion wasn't breathing, but if anyone woke up, all they'd see is her figure sound asleep in bed.

Walking into the bathroom, Rowan closed her eyes as she felt the map in her mind expand. Unlike apparition, her teleportation in the early stages required her to physically have been in said place before. However once, she'd been to said location the place was added to the map in her world mapscape. In her mind, there was a clear map of Hogwarts as the surrounding areas are mostly filled with plenty of blank spots all around except with a few faraway spots in red. But at her present stage, she couldn't teleport to those locations as she did not have the strength to do so.

Soundlessly, she teleported away to far below the school in the middle of the tunnel. Raising her hand high with Lumos, Rowan quickly saw her objective the giant snakeskin. Pointing her wand at it, she shrinks the snake down and wraps it around her neck like a scaly scarf for the moment. As to why, well, basilisk scales were not only rare but worth hundreds of galleons for a mere handful.

With another breath, Rowan teleports right before the last pillars of the chamber before the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin. Gazing up at the old monk-like figure, Rowan mutters, "You really were an ugly bastard," before walking over to the statue to look for steps or some form of hidden entrance.

With her nose almost to the wall, Rowan is unable to see anything before taking a step back to think. "Well, he certainly wouldn't make it easy to find," Rowan privately concluded to herself as she cast her eyes back at the statue.

Pausing to clear her throat, Rowan hisses, "Open for me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."

A loud cracking is heard as stairs pop out of the wall leading up to the mouth of Salazar Slytherin that opened wide. Shivering, Rowan carefully climbed the slippery, narrow stone steps that didn't have any sort of railing. Trying not to look down, she tries to count the steps that seem to go on forever. Quickly losing count, she gives up and solely concentrates on the step before her.

Abruptly the next step is gone with the last step plunging into the dark tunnel. Breathing through her nose, Rowan steps inside and holds her wand high to reveal a long dark tunnel heading below. Holding her wand close, she carefully takes one step at a time lest she triggers some sort of bobby trap. She wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if Salazar Slytherin planted bobby traps for the unwary.

The damp tunnel is filled with old skeletons with that of animals and the occasional person. Ignoring the human remains, Rowan keeps moving forward until she halts at what seems like a giant nest. Not seeing anything beyond old bones and scales, she carefully eyes the room. Salazar Slytherin wouldn't have just left a Basilisk for his descendant. But knowing dear old, Tom, his vanity and arrogance no doubt lead him to no look further than his dark desire to possess the King of Serpents.

For some time, Rowan furrows her brow before finally saying, "Open for the heir of Slytherin, heir to the greatest of Hogwarts Four." Hearing silence she purses her lips trying to think of something else when a low rumbling is heard. The back wall of the nest slides opens to reveal a dark void behind it.

With care, Rowan steps into the bone nest almost falling a couple of times. The bones creak rather loudly under her feet and a couple of times move all on their own as if something was hiding underneath. Trying not to shiver, she keeps her eyes focused solely ahead of her while holding her wand high trying to peer into the murky darkness that lay beyond. Pausing at the nest's edge she raises her wand to peer inside.

There inside a dim old laboratory can be seen. Stepping inside, Rowan sneezes at the dust as she wipes her nose on her sleeve. Walking over to the crumbled bookcases, all that she finds are long-ago moth-eaten book binds, and book pages that had long ago been eaten way and were nothing but piles of dust.

Turning back around Rowan approached the rotted laboratory to see that all the furniture had long broken with most of the items with it upon crashing to the floor. Any viable ingredients still unbroken in jars had long ago dried up. All that was left were murky gooey pastes in sludge black, olive-brown, and moldy white.

Turning to peer across the room Rowan sees a small passageway that once must have had a door that had long since rotted away except for very old blackened door hinges. Softly walking across the old stones, she pauses and stares at the narrow passage, before gingerly stepping inside. Holding her wand high, she follows the passage for a minute or two before arriving at a small chamber. The minute she stepped inside the ancient fireplace burst into flame immediately brightening the room up. The enchantments in this place had yet to completely fade away.

The furniture in the room was old and beginning to crumble with the scent of moths and mold. But still the old spells from a thousand years still held on just barely, but surely were nearing their end. There were no portraits nor much of anything else beyond the chair and a small table. A reading room once perhaps or merely a place for Salazar to collect his thoughts.

Glancing at the other end all that Rowan saw was a medium-sized chest made of snakewood that locked with a great black that had a snake curled around the hinge and was biting its own tail. Frowning she approached and stopped before it. Not daring to touch the dusty chest she says, "Open for the heir of Slytherin, heir to the greatest of Hogwarts Four." With a soft hiss the snake on the lock let go of its own tail as it slid loose and clattered loudly onto the stone floor.

With one hand Rowan slowly slid the trunk open to gaze inside. Her eyes widened at finding several still intact volumes inside, but most importantly a large round egg. There was a long lapse of silence as she simply stared at the basilisk egg for what seemed like ages before she gently picked it up with one hand. Walking over to the fireplace she carefully held the egg in hand, before raising it up and smashing it into the fireplace with all her strength.

A sort of hissing could be heard as the fire consumed the small snake embryo inside as the once basilisk egg was entirely consumed by the flames. Rowan smiled grimily to herself at the burning sight. She'd already met one basilisk and that was enough to last her the rest of her lifetime. Nor was she willing to loosen such a creature on the world after her death. No, it was far better to nip that bud of temptation right in the bud. Besides, she had plenty of Basilisk ingredients from a 1000 years Basilisk. Neither was in urgent need for anymore, ever.