Chapter 71

"Dong Dong Dong"

Harry and Ron stood in front of Lockhart's office door, looked at each other, and then Harry reached out and knocked on the office door.

Soon, a "please come in" came from inside.

They turned the door handle and opened the door.

In the office, Lockhart was sitting leisurely behind his desk, looking through a thick book. Harry took a subconscious look. It was Lockhart's autobiography, the magical me.

"Oh... Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley," he said, looking at Harry and Ron. "Is it important to come to me so late?"

"Yes, professor. We have something to tell you," said Harry. "We think it will help you."

"Of course! Of course... Come on, sit down and speak slowly." Lockhart stood up and pulled Harry and Ron to the next seat. When they were all seated, he continued, "come on, I'm listening!"

"Here's the thing..."

Harry said the information he and Ron got from the note and the corresponding speculation, and Ron added two sentences from time to time. Although the narrative process is somewhat messy, at least one key point is not missing.

When they had finished, Lockhart nodded.

"That's a good reason. Who would have thought that the secret room would be hidden in a dilapidated girls' bathroom!" Lockhart smiled as usual, but the smile looked a little stiff.

"Yes! That's incredible, but I care more about my sister!" Ron said impulsively.

"Ah, indeed! That thing - it's too unfortunate," said Lockhart. "I think saving talents is the most important. You just brought good news!"

"Going now?" Ron looked excited.

"Yes, of course! Go now!" Lockhart nodded decisively.

"I'll go too!" Ron answered at once.

It can be said that everyone in the Weasley family was desperate when they met things related to their sister. To be honest, Ron is very different from his usual timidity.

But Lockhart shook his head.

"No, I don't think I can let students take risks. It's my job," he said.

Harry looked at Lockhart again and again. He always felt that his image was different from that of the past.

"Professor Lockhart," said Harry suddenly, "I think we have to go. Ginny is taken. Neither Ron nor I can settle down and wait here."

"Oh -" Lockhart looked embarrassed and hesitated for a while, but finally agreed.

"You can go, but you must be careful," he said. "Remember, close your eyes as soon as there is any movement, and leave the Basilisk to me."

With that, Lockhart took Harry and Ron and hurried to Myrtle's bathroom.

They went down the nearest staircase, through the dark corridor with those words flashing on the wall, and came to the door of the weeping Myrtle's bathroom.

Lockhart took the lead and pushed open the bathroom door without hesitation.

The weeping Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the innermost toilet.

"Oh, it's you," she sobbed when she saw Harry behind Lockhart. "What do you want this time?"

"I want to ask how you died," said Harry.

The whole look of myrtle changed at once. It seems that no one has ever asked her such an honored question.

"Oh, that's terrible," she said with relish, "It happened here. I died in this toilet. I remember very well. At that time, Oliver Humber laughed at me for wearing glasses like a four eyed dog, so I hid here. I locked the door and cried inside, and suddenly heard someone come in... What they said was funny. I think it must be another language!"

"But what annoyed me most was that I heard a boy's voice saying live! So I opened the door, scolded him to go away, went to my boy's toilet, and --"

Myrtle thought she was great. She straightened her chest and glowed her face. "I'll die."

"How did you die?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," Myrtle whispered mysteriously, "I only remember seeing a pair of frightening yellow eyes. My whole body seemed to have been caught, and then I floated away..."

She looked at Harry in a trance.

"Then I came back. You know, I wanted to settle with Oliver humbey. Oh - she regretted laughing at me for wearing glasses."

"Where on earth did you see those yellow eyes?" asked Harry.

"Almost there," said myrtle, vaguely pointing to the sink in front of her. Harry and Ron hurried over.

Lockhart followed and looked carefully.

That sink looks ordinary. They checked it inside and outside, up and down, and didn't even let go of the water pipe below.

Then Harry saw a small snake carved on the side of a copper faucet.

"This tap never comes out," said Myrtle happily when she saw Harry trying to turn it on.

"Harry," said Lockhart suddenly, "try talking to it, in a snake voice."

"Yes, Harry, try it!" Ron followed.

"But -" Harry tried desperately to think back on his past experience, but this kind of thing can't be done by memory.

In the past, he always said snake man when he was facing a real snake.

Harry stared at the carved snake and tried to imagine it as a real snake.

"Open it," he said.

He looked up at Ron and Lockhart, but Ron shook his head.

"No, you're talking human," he said.

Harry turned to look at the snake again and forced himself to believe that it was alive. Harry thought that if he shook his head a few times, the flickering candle would make the snake look as if it were moving.

"Open it," he said, shaking his head.

However, Ron and Lockhart didn't hear that - a strange hiss came from his mouth.

Lockhart kept staring at Harry's mouth, not knowing what he was thinking.

Suddenly, the faucet emitted a dazzling white light and began to rotate rapidly. Then the sink moved.

They watched the pool slowly disappear from their sight, revealing a very thick water pipe below. It was more than enough to drill in alone.

Harry heard Ron gasp.

"I think," Lockhart said softly, looking at the entrance of the pipe, "it looks really dangerous. You'd better not go in."

Harry pursed his mouth and raised his head abruptly. He had made up his mind what to do.

"I'm going down," he said firmly.

He could not but go, since they had found the entrance to the chamber of secrets, and since there was still a small, weak and slim glimmer of hope that Ginny might still be alive.

"I'm going too," said Ron.

There was a moment of silence in the small bathroom.

"Well, well... At least, I'll go down and have a look. It's not too late for you to come down when I say 'it's okay'."

Lockhart said this, jumped decisively and slid down the pipe.

After a while, Harry and Ron heard a very subtle cry below. If they hadn't been listening carefully, they might not have heard it.

Harry and Ron nodded to each other, and then jumped in one after another.

Naturally, this slide will not make people happy. At least it can bring laughter to children without the facilities in the playground.

Inside, it feels like rushing down a dark, sticky and endless slide. They could see many pipes branching in all directions, but none was as thick as this one.

Their pipe twists and turns, seven turns and eight turns, and the slope is very steep all the way down.

Harry knew that he had slipped to a very deep place under Jen at school, even deeper than those underground classrooms. He could hear Ron following him, making a slight crash at the corner.

Then, just as Harry began to worry about what happened next, the inclination of the water pipe gradually became much smoother. After a while, he came out of the pipe and fell on the wet ground with a pop.

This is a dark stone tunnel, big enough for people to stand in it.

Very close to Harry, Lockhart was standing there with his wand, but his body was not as dirty and covered with mud as he was.

Harry stood aside, and soon Ron came out of the pipe.

"Clean up."

When Ron got up, Lockhart put a descaling spell on each of them. Suddenly, all the stains on Harry and Ron disappeared.

"Oh, thank you, Professor," they could not help thanking.

"We must be miles under the school," Harry said, looking right and left, his voice echoing in the dark tunnel.

"Probably under the lake," said Ron. He narrowed his eyes and looked around at the dark, sticky walls.

Then all three of them turned their eyes to the dark front.

"Fluorescent flashing!"

Lockhart raised his wand and whispered, and the wand shone again.

"Let's go," he said to Harry and Ron.

Three people's shoes clattered on the wet ground and made a loud noise.

It was so dark in the tunnel that even though Lockhart's wand glow spell was quite bright, it could only illuminate a section of the road. Their shadows are reflected on the wet stone wall. With the uneven surface of the stone wall, they constantly change and twist, looking quite strange.

"Remember?" Lockhart whispered. "Although it seems a little wordy, I must say it again... Once you hear something, close your eyes immediately!"

Harry and Ron responded immediately, saying they heard it.