The moment Draco appeared in the second-floor girls' bathroom, Moaning Myrtle, who had been assigned to guard this girls' bathroom... no, more precisely, to help watch over it, passed straight through a stall and appeared in front of Draco and Hermione.
It had to be said.
In such a cold, gloomy place, and in the middle of the night no less, anyone else would probably have been scared out of their wits by that scene.
"Isn't that Malfoy? Did you come to visit me? It's been a month... or maybe three months since we last saw each other."
"Don't stare at me, Hermione. I think spirits like her probably don't have a very clear sense of time."
Faced with Hermione's suspicious gaze, Draco, who had absolutely no interest in a female ghost... in Moaning Myrtle, felt that he needed to explain quickly. He and the other party were completely innocent.
In fact, ever since the day he defeated the Basilisk, Draco had never stepped into this place again, let alone seen Myrtle, who was somehow blushing in front of him.
Fortunately, the Myrtle before them seemed to realize her mistake as well. "Huh, now that you mention it, Malfoy, you really have grown a lot taller. You look much more manly now."
"..."
It had to be said.
This was probably the first time Draco had ever been teased by someone.
And by a ghost from the Dark Lord's era, no less.
Mm... If it had been Lady Ravenclaw instead...
Ahem!
In any case.
Draco did not continue dwelling on this and went straight to the point, asking Moaning Myrtle about the matter at hand.
"Have you seen..."
"Professor Snape? Er... I mean, Headmaster Severus."
Checkmate!
The instant they heard those words from Moaning Myrtle, Draco and Hermione exchanged a knowing look and nodded at the same time.
It seemed Draco's guess had been right.
Snape had indeed entered the Chamber of Secrets, and he was very likely waiting for them to arrive...
...
Passing by Myrtle, who had begun sobbing softly out of emotion, Draco led Hermione straight to the entrance sealed by magic.
The passage that had been destroyed back then had now been repaired by magic. In its place was...
"It doesn't look like a Jinx."
"It's a spell I've never seen before. Truly fascinating."
"Not only that, but in Hogwarts, where reckless use of magic would be noticed, this is basically impossible to solve."
That Miss Know-It-All Hermione was online again.
Without giving Draco any chance to speak, Hermione stepped forward first and began studying it.
What stood before them looked like a wall, but behind it was actually the pipe leading to the Chamber of Secrets.
Draco did not interrupt Hermione. Instead, he first noticed a spot in the corner of the wall, as if something there had drawn his attention.
And just as Hermione turned a pleading gaze toward Draco, she saw him silently take out his wand and tap the wall three times.
The strangely familiar sight nearly made Hermione cry out in surprise.
Click, click, click.
Before their eyes, the wall split apart to both sides in a short span of time, revealing a pitch-black, deep opening in front of Draco and Hermione.
"...Isn't this?!"
"Yes. The same trick as Diagon Alley."
"You knew about it already?"
"No... In fact, if Snape hadn't left a mark, I wouldn't have known this kind of magic had been used here."
Without Draco's reminder, Hermione would never have noticed that there was such an inconspicuous magical mark in the corner of the wall.
Or rather, the words were written there.
Three taps...