"The Basilisk's eyes have plenty of research value. They might even be good for making a decent magical item."
That thought flashed through Harris Raymons's mind and immediately firmed his resolve to take the eyes with him.
He reached out, intending to catch them before they fell into the lake. Then he suddenly noticed something like blood vessels behind the pair of eyes.
What Harris Raymons did not know was that the eyes were not without a source of magic. They were still connected to the Blood Grape's roots, drawing power from the entire sea of plants.
The eyes spun once in midair, and their unfocused pupils aligned with Harris Raymons's gaze. In that instant, every hair on his body stood on end, as if Death himself had come knocking.
Buzz.
A pulse of magic burst from the Basilisk's eyes. That single moment of eye contact was enough to make Harris Raymons's body go rigid, freezing him in place like a statue.
Luckily, only a few roots had been used to retrieve the eyes, so the magical output was limited. As a result, the Basilisk's instant-death effect did not activate. It became petrification instead.
The eyes were whisked away at once by the roots, leaving behind only the petrified Harris Raymons, who fell into the lake and slowly sank toward the bottom.
The Basilisk's petrification was not literal stone transformation. If Harris Raymons really sank all the way to the lakebed like this, death was all but guaranteed.
Star transformed back into a raven and tried to wake him, but Harris Raymons's thoughts had already stopped under the petrification. He could not be roused at all.
Star then turned into black feathers again, trying to carry Harris Raymons away by transfer, but the silver patterns spread across Harris Raymons's body interfered with the formation of the transfer magic.
It seemed as though Harris Raymons's fate had already been decided.
And then, from the Black Lake, a dark shape shot over. Catching Harris Raymons's scent, the giant squid made a dramatic entrance.
What kind of person is the first to show up when you're in trouble?
Other than family who loves you, only your enemy. The only difference is that family comes to save you, and enemies come to laugh at you.
As Harris Raymons's number one enemy, the giant squid sensed his presence and immediately rushed over to "happily" play with him.
Still, while the giant squid disliked Harris Raymons, it was not so heartless as to leave him to die. After all, he was a Hogwarts professor, and a former Hogwarts student.
The moment it realized Harris Raymons had been petrified, the giant squid wrapped around him and hauled him up to the surface so he would not suffocate.
It was very familiar with this sort of rescue work. Every year, it saved plenty of drowning students.
Even so, while saving him, the giant squid could not resist tossing Harris Raymons into the air a couple of times.
Sadly, a petrified Harris Raymons was not a very good toy. Entertainment with no reaction soon bored the giant squid, so it simply dragged him along toward shore.
...
Inside the Chamber of Secrets, Leonard watched Harris Raymons get rescued and carried away unharmed, his expression turning a little strange.
"Getting saved by a giant squid you don't even get along with... that really is dramatic."
Shaking his head, Leonard stopped paying attention to Harris Raymons. He pulled back the roots at the pipe exit and began sorting through his gains.
The first thing was the ancient magic memory he had been suppressing in his mind. It included not only the method of casting the spell, but also the spell's origin.
The Eternal Wizard Odin, the wand Gungnir, and the magic Gungnir...
"Gungnir? Well, damn. The Spear of Destiny, huh? Eternal Wizard Odin... is this really not just some wizard giving himself an inflated title?"
As Leonard read through the memory, his expression turned odd.
Then again, maybe not. If it really was one of those ancient wizards, then perhaps "Eternal Wizard" was not that exaggerated a title after all. Muggles might well have recorded such a figure in vague legends that were passed down to the present.
"If all of this is true... then the so-called World Tree..."
Leonard's attention immediately shifted to the World Tree.
Ancient magic and all the stories behind it were important, yes, but to Leonard, plants were even more important.
The World Tree... leaving aside the terrifying attributes attached to it in legend, the fact that it was a unique plant alone made it more attractive to Leonard than the entire ancient magic system.
"It's a pity there aren't any clues about the World Tree, but... forget it. Something that huge, something that reaches heaven and earth, would be hard even for wizards to hide. If there's still no news of the World Tree by now... then it's probably either disappeared or dead."
Leonard shook his head, forcing those unrealistic thoughts aside, and took a relatively intact fragment of the jack-o'-lantern from the vines.
The fragment still carried the dim remnants of the sealing pattern. The moment it reached Leonard's hand, the ancient sprout wriggled out and licked all over it. The posture was indecent as hell.
Still, the benefit was obvious. Leonard immediately learned the ancient magic that had made Voldemort suffer so badly.
"Two ancient spells, a pair of Basilisk eyes, and various other Basilisk materials. What a harvest." Leonard narrowed his eyes in satisfaction and glanced around. "But the biggest prize is still this Chamber."
With a casual flick, he tossed more than a dozen enhanced Devil's Snare seeds into one corner.
Aside from the Devil's Snare specialized for sealing off space, the others had all been enhanced for stronger aggression and resistance to light. Once those grew up, any wizard who barged in here would have a very unpleasant time.
The Chamber was dark, damp, and connected to the Black Lake through the underground water system. It was basically a natural nursery for Devil's Snare. In half a year or so, this place would probably become a paradise for it.
There was still some time before the Blood Grape withered. Leonard checked Harry and the others, made sure they were all still properly unconscious, and then went to the very end of the Chamber.
There stood a huge bust of Salazar Slytherin.
The real inner chamber was actually hidden behind that statue, and the password to open it also required Parseltongue. It was just a bit more complicated.
But that posed no difficulty for Leonard. He had already prepared for it.
Vines wriggled and wove together beside him, taking on Voldemort's shape.
"He" stood there and opened his mouth, sounding out word after word as though testing his voice, then turned to the statue and spoke a stream of hoarse, incomprehensible hissing.
"Speak to me, Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the four founders of Hogwarts."