129: Chapter 129 Infiltrating the Secret Chamber

"Stay here, don't follow."

When Allen's voice came from inside the wall cavity, Draco had just scolded Flint back to the fireplace. No one heard it; only the knut inside Draco's sleeve warmed up slightly.

Draco looked down, his fingertips pressing against the coin, "Stop talking nonsense, come back alive."

"Don't mention my name."

"I'm not stupid enough to hand you over to Snape myself."

"Same for Nott."

"He's better at keeping his mouth shut than I am."

The knut went cold.

Draco put his hand back on the table and raised his voice to continue complaining about Gilderoy Lockhart, saying he wrote books faster than he ran away. A few people in the Common Room were led to laugh by him; Flint, unconvinced, made enough noise to quickly drown out everything else.

Allen had already passed through the stone wall of the Dungeon and was moving upward along the pre-set anchor points. The Castle's spatial layers opened up in his perception: staircases, pipes, hollow spaces behind portraits, and abandoned drainage cavities within the walls all became gaps he could use for leverage.

He did not take the corridors. Snape's patrol range covered the outside of the Dungeon, McGonagall's escort route blocked the main staircase, and Filch with Madam Norris were stationed on the first floor. On the normal routes, there were witnesses at every step.

"Walking through the walls saves trouble."

Allen tapped a stone gap with his wand, and a Spatial Thin Layer unfolded before him. He stepped through, and beneath his feet was already the pipe cavity outside the abandoned Girls Lavatory on the second floor.

From outside came Myrtle's shrill complaints.

"Someone is here to disturb me again! You all like to cry here, throw things here, and say here that I died in a very ugly way!"

Ron's voice trembled, "We aren't here to cry."

Gilderoy Lockhart's voice trembled even more, though he tried hard to sound relaxed, "Children, I must remind you that any operation requires the direction of a professional. I once dealt with a, um, similar plumbing problem in Armenia."

Harry interrupted him, "Shut up, Professor."

Allen stopped inside the wall, not revealing himself.

The sound of water in the lavatory was chaotic. Harry and Ron dragged Gilderoy Lockhart toward the sinks, with Myrtle floating around them, incessantly talking about the sink, glasses, dying here, and eyes.

Harry quickly found the tap with a small snake engraved on it.

"I have to speak Parseltongue."

Ron swallowed, "Then say it, mate, don't think too much."

Gilderoy Lockhart suddenly backed away, "I think it would be best to go call a Professor now."

Ron's wand pressed against his lower back, "You are the Professor."

Allen whispered from within the wall, "Even trash has its uses."

He didn't wait for Harry to speak. Opening the entrance with Parseltongue would leave a strong fluctuation; the Chamber of Secrets' protective patterns would reversely confirm the Parseltongue and the Castle's water system. If the Potter key position were exposed at the same time, the monitoring left by Dumbledore might wake up.

So he chose another path.

The blackthorn wand pressed against the structure inside the wall corresponding to the bottom of the sink.

Spatial Perception dismantled the mechanical interlocking layer by layer: copper pipes, stone grooves, snake-shaped locking tongues, with ancient magic runes pressed at the innermost side. Parseltongue was responsible for the command, the mechanics for releasing the latch, and the water system for opening the well.

"I can open the lock without speaking."

Allen pressed his left hand against the wall and traced a closed loop with his wand in his right hand. Spatial Displacement did not attack the locking tongue; it only shifted the three-inch structure containing the locking tongue half an inch to the side.

The tap outside made a click.

Before Harry could even utter a complete Parseltongue phrase, the center of the sink had already split to the sides. A circular pipe was revealed, a dark hole leading underground.

The three people in the lavatory were stunned.

Ron stuttered, "Harry, did you say it?"

Harry was also bewildered, "I only just started."

Gilderoy Lockhart seized the opportunity, "Very good, children, this shows that my encouragement has already taken effect."

Ron grabbed his robes, "You go down first."

Gilderoy Lockhart immediately screamed, "What? No, of course not, professionals need to coordinate from the rear!"

Allen inside the wall withdrew his wand; the entrance was open, but the protective patterns only recorded a fragment of Parseltongue and a mechanical anomaly. Very good, chaotic enough.

Inside the Portable Space, the Void swam against his spine, its silver pupils aimed downward. The cracked pocket watch shone brightly, causing the edges of the ebony box to make faint sounds. The golden patterns on the north side were no longer suppressed, as if they had finally waited for the key to approach the door crack.

"Key position confirmed." The old voice of the family crest sounded from the depths of the space, "Hogwarts eastern water route monitoring feedback, branch lineage approaching the outer layer of the Chamber of Secrets."

Allen frowned, "Quiet."

"Warning, there exists a high-risk serpentine magical creature, a soul fragment, and a life-draining ritual inside the Chamber of Secrets."

"I can see it."

Peter slapped the cage, his mouth screaming silently. The Void's tail tip whipped against the seal, the cage immediately tightened, and Peter hugged his head and shrank back into the corner.

Outside, Ron finally kicked Gilderoy Lockhart into the pipe. The scream slid all the way down, long and drawn out. Harry followed closely and jumped down, and Ron cursed before following suit.

Allen did not go out through the entrance. He waited until the sounds of the three people had slid far away before folding from within the wall to the side of the sink.

Myrtle turned her head, just in time to see a piece of clothing.

"Who's there?"

Allen raised his wand, and Spatial Displacement gently covered her line of sight. The ghost was stunned for a moment, seeing only the air by the sink shimmer, as if someone had walked by too quickly.

"Ignoring me again!" Myrtle screamed, "Everyone ignores me!"

Allen leaped into the pipe.

The descent was longer than expected. The pipe walls were slick, with old water and snake skin debris mixed together. Spatial Perception spread downward along the pipe, and every turn was shifted by him in advance. His body didn't hit any protrusions, but his speed was kept under control.

The blue light of the cracked pocket watch shone through the Portable Space, reflecting in his eyes again and again. The golden patterns illuminated the outlines of the ancient seals on the pipe walls: Salazar's Parseltongue door-opening, the subsequent water route monitoring, the key position feedback left by the Potter branch; several sets of structures were stacked together, mutually guarding against each other, mutually silent.

"No wonder the Castle kept urging." Allen whispered to himself, "You installed monitoring, but no one dared to come in."

The Void clung to the other side of the spatial entrance, its body tense. It made no sound, only pressing its tail tip against a deeper location on the map.

There was a massive, coiled shadow there.

Allen slid out of the pipe and landed in the damp underground passage. From afar came Gilderoy Lockhart's collapsing voice, which was quickly interrupted by the sound of falling stones.

"Obliviate!"

magic exploded, followed by a rumbling sound. A section of the passage collapsed; Ron's shouting was blocked outside by the stones, and Harry went forward alone.

Allen stood in the Spatial Folding on the other side of the collapse, watching the dust fall.

"Trash ruins things, as expected."

He did not go to save Ron. The collapse blocked outsiders and also blocked the path for the Professor to follow. With Harry going deeper alone, Tom would be more willing to speak.

Allen raised his wand, bypassed the collapse, and moved forward along the footprints Harry had left behind.

The sound of water underground grew heavier. Ahead, the snake-shaped stone door was closed, with two snakes entwined on it, and the magic of the Parseltongue opening remaining in the eye positions. Harry had already gone in.

Allen stopped in front of the door and reached out to press against the stone surface. The golden patterns on the north side of the Portable Space pressed against the stone door, and the ancient key position feedback finally connected. The cracked pocket watch gave a crisp ring, blue light rushed out from the cracks of the box, only to be pressed back by the Void with its tail.

The stone door did not open, but in Spatial Perception, a thin gap was revealed.

Allen walked into that thin gap.