Harry's "whoever comes back is a little puppy" was just childish talk—not that Louis would care even if Harry really turned into a dog.
That knocking and tapping Louis did on the statue earlier looked like he was searching for something, but in truth, he was leaving a marker so he could teleport back later.
Once he had visited a place, he didn't need keys anymore. He could skip the door entirely and appear straight inside the Chamber.
And the reason he wanted to return alone was simple: he had his own objective.
This place, which looked empty to anyone else—a damp, gloomy underground hall—held something extremely valuable in Louis's eyes:
Salazar Slytherin's statue.
There could be no better likeness of Salazar Slytherin than the one he carved of himself.
Which meant Louis could activate the statue—and awaken Salazar Slytherin.
And surely the Chamber wasn't as simple as what they saw. Behind that massive stone head, there had to be additional rooms, and not small ones either.
Otherwise, how would the basilisk have come slithering out of that mouth?
No need to rush, though. The chances of anyone else coming down here again were practically zero. It was empty, gloomy, damp, and even the basilisk corpse was gone—why would anyone visit?
Louis would leave now, then sneak back in later when the opportunity arose.
The three returned to the entrance. They were ready to head back to the castle. Louis originally planned to fly everyone back up, but Dumbledore simply summoned Fawkes, who took them all via phoenix flash straight back into the Headmaster's office.
"I hope the two of you will keep the Chamber a secret," Dumbledore instructed repeatedly. "Even though we found no danger, caution is never a bad thing."
"Don't worry, Headmaster. We'll be tight-lipped," Louis said with a pleasant smile.
Oh, he would definitely be tight-lipped—depending on what sort of bottle needed sealing.
Harry also made a solemn promise, looking as if he truly wouldn't tell a soul.
But Louis was certain that Harry would spill every detail to Ron Weasley within the hour, after which it would spread across Gryffindor House and then all of Hogwarts.
But so what? What could they do—form a sightseeing group?
Harry certainly wouldn't be the one to organize a field trip to the Chamber.
Louis and Harry left the Headmaster's office together. Just as they were about to part ways and return to their respective dormitories, Harry suddenly stopped Louis.
"Louis, can you teach me magic?" Harry asked, gathering his courage.
"Me? Teach you?" Louis looked at him, bewildered. "Why do you want me to teach you? You don't like Professor Flitwick's classes?"
"I feel like… they're not very useful," Harry admitted, scratching his head. "I want to learn magic that's really powerful."
"You want to learn high-powered magic?" Louis chuckled. "Have you finished everything in your textbooks?"
Harry lowered his head.
"…Not yet…"
"Then what are you rushing for?" Louis asked. "What reason do you have for needing powerful magic right now?"
"Uh… none, I suppose."
"Then what's the hurry? Just to look cool?" Louis snorted. "And what would you even do with large-scale destructive spells? Flatten a crowd and send yourself to Azkaban?"
"Of course not!" Harry yelped. He didn't fully understand what Azkaban was, but Ron and Hagrid had mentioned it—full of the worst criminals, guarded by terrifying creatures that sucked out your soul.
"Well then." Louis crossed his arms. "And honestly? I don't think you can learn extremely powerful spells yet. You don't have the magical strength to sustain them. How big a stone can you lift with the Levitation Charm?"
"Lift a stone? I've never tried… I don't think I can." Harry admitted miserably. Ever since he managed to levitate a feather in first year, he'd barely used the charm again.
And he'd always felt the Levitation Charm was weak—nothing impressive.
"You can't even lift a single rock with Levitation, yet you want to learn something like Meteor Firestorm? Stop dreaming." Louis splashed the cold water without mercy. "Any powerful spell needs enough magic to power it. You're talented, yes, but you're still not an adult."
Harry Potter's talent was unquestionable.
Even though he seemed more suited for aerial sports like Quidditch, his aptitude for spells was extremely strong.
In third year, he could knock Snape unconscious with a single Expelliarmus.
Spells like Sectumsempra, which he learned from a few lines of scribbled notes, he could use almost immediately.
By seventh year—barely an adult—he could go toe-to-toe with Voldemort.
But compared to Meteor Firestorm?
Louis didn't even know where that spell originally came from. The theoretical structure alone required over a dozen different magical principles working simultaneously. And that was merely theory; Louis hadn't truly attempted the full spell himself yet.
But even that theoretical framework would drain Harry dry in seconds.
Harry lowered his head in shame. Louis's words were harsh, but he couldn't deny the logic.
"If only there were a way to quickly increase my magic…" Harry sighed.
Hearing this, Louis gave him a rather strange look.
"Oh? You want to get stronger?" Louis asked, tone meaningful. "That may not be impossible."
"Really?" Harry's eyes lit up. "How?"
"I have here a potion of my own creation…" Louis's ring flashed lightly as he pretended to take out a crystal vial from his pocket.
"With it, you can gain at least the magical reserves of three fully-grown adult wizards. And it contains an unstable strengthening agent that may further enhance either your physical attributes or your magical power."
Louis held the Nannīchuan potion in his hand but did not immediately give it to Harry.
"But as I said, the mixture contains unstable components. There may be unpredictable side effects. I haven't tested them yet. I can only confirm it isn't dangerous."
The magical strength of three adult wizards?
Harry swallowed hard—discarding everything Louis said after that.
Side effects?
Gryffindor fears nothing!
Besides, Louis said it wasn't dangerous, so what was there to worry about? Even if he turned ugly—well, okay, turning ugly was unacceptable… but magic was amazing, wasn't it? Even if he became ugly, he could just turn himself back!
With that comforting thought, Harry steeled his resolve.
He looked at Louis with utter determination and declared:
"I'm willing to test it. I'll drink the potion!"
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