The group headed over to Lockhart's office and knocked on the door. Unlike in the original story, Lockhart actually denied them entry when he noticed Hermione and Pro at the back.
Unfortunately, the poor bloke can't even successfully lock his door with a spell. So, Hermione easily barged in with a wave of her wand and a classic first year unlocking charm.
With no suspense, Lockhart was discovered to be packing up and preparing to flee. The idiot still acted like a first-class villain by telling the group all about his deeds. Honestly, the best way right now is to shoot his spells at unsuspecting students, but he still told them everything as if everything was in his control.
Of course, before he can even cast a single spell, his wand was knocked out of his hand. Like watching a cutscene, Pro silently stood in the back and watched Harry usher Lockhart off to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
Hermione who was walking next to Pro couldn't help but ask, "Is it really all right to do this? I mean, although he is a fraud, he is still a professor is he not?"
"There should be no problem as long as he doesn't remember anything," Pro replied with a smile.
Hermione glanced at Pro with a pout before she stated, "You're right. Just like how you were right about Lockhart being a scam. You probably guess this would happen long ago, so you suggested that we go to him. Brilliant, Pro.
Marching into the girl's bathroom, Moaning Myrtle did her diligent job as an NPC and pointed Harry towards the sink. Honestly, the boys had probably interacted with her so many times, and this is the first time she bothered to tell them useful info rather than crying or mocking them.
Then, Harry managed to open up the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets as expected. Honestly, Salazar Slytherin should have set a legit password in Parseltongue instead of simply setting the command to 'open up' in Parseltongue.
The cutscene then completed with Ron giving Lockhart a shove and sending him sliding into the pipe. Harry and Ron also jumped in after saying, "See you two down there."
"Well, it should be time for us to go. Don't worry, I'll catch you," Pro said with a smile as he gave Hermione a peck on the cheek, "See you down there."
"Mmm."
Then, Pro hopped into the pipe for a wild slide. Weeeee~ Thud.
"Ow. There really should be a soft cushion for landing. If someone accidentally lands headfirst, they might die," Pro muttered.
It didn't take long for Pro to hear Hermione's squeal coming from the tunnel behind him. Turning around, he saw Hermione sliding out and he reached out to catch her in his embrace.
Oof. Pro was knocked off his foot and fell on his back, but he managed to catch Hermione safely. Her soft body was now laying on top of his, and Pro didn't have any complaints as he wrapped his hands around her waist.
Hermione pushed herself up a bit before looking down at Pro and locking eyes with him. A faint blush appeared on her face.
"You all right?"
"Mmm."
The two continued to stare at each other. Hermione's bushy hair dangled and tickled Pro's face, but Pro's attention was focused on the lips that were closing in ...
"Blimey, what are you two doing?"
Oh. Forgot that they weren't the only ones here.
Hermione blushed and bounced back as she sat up like a frightened rabbit. She then hurriedly got off Pro before reaching out her hand to help him up. After getting up, Pro looked over towards the other three males where Harry was holding up his wand with the wand-lighting spell. It was clear that Ron was the c*ckblocker again, but Pro wasn't sure if he did it on purpose.
"C'mon. Remember, any signs of movement, close your eyes right away ..." Harry commanded before leading the way forward.
Pro made sure to hold Hermione and lagged back. Some events did not need his interference and some fools deserve what they get. Strolling through the dark, slimy tunnel, it didn't take long for the group to discover the enormous snake skin.
It wasn't known if it was an act, but poor Lockhart chose the perfect timing to collapse in weakness. Moments later, he managed to tackle Ron and steal Ron's broken wand.
"The adventure ends here, boys ... and girls. I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you four tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. Say good-bye to your memories!" Lockhart said with excitement as he faced off against all four of them, "Boys first. Obliviate!"
Whoosh! BOOM!
The broken wand obviously backfired and poor Lockhart was sent flying by his own spell. He crashed into the walls of the tunnel, causing it to crack. It didn't take long before rocks came crashing down to seal off their path, separating Harry from the group. Pro pulled Hermione into his embrace as he dodged the rubble that fell towards them.
"What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through- it'll take ages ... Pro, Hermione, you got any ideas?"
Pro shrugged as he pulled out his wand to begin lifting rocks with the levitation charm, "Guess we'll just have to do it the old school way, clearing it manually."
Hermione also nodded and pulled out her wand to help. Ron could only grumble and use his hands to help after he shifted Lockhart off to the side. Glancing at the pile of rocks that coincidentally fell at the right moment to separate the group, Pro couldn't help but feel that it wasn't natural, but he didn't manage to catch any signs of tampering.
"Wait there. Wait with Pro, Hermione, and Lockhart. I'll go on... If I'm not back in an hour..." Harry's voice hollered from the other side, "See you in a bit."
As the footsteps of Harry faded away, Pro smiled as he checked his quest log. He noticed the quests that require him to visit the Chamber of Secret were not completed yet, but he knew he could complete them soon. Sadly, he didn't get any new quests.
As for the quest to kill the basilisk, Pro simply ignored it. Only an idiot would jump head first into danger. He was glad that he didn't have to do the boss fight. He would rather fight Voldemort rather than a snake that could instant kill him if he accidentally locks eyes with it. Well, Pro wasn't claiming that he want to fight Voldemort. Pro would rather be the salted fish in the background.
"Still, I will need to enter the actual chamber to complete the quest. This can be done after Harry's boss fight."
Hermione quietly crept beside Pro before she whispered in a worried tone, "Pro ... will he be all right?"
"Yes, he'll be fine. After all, this should be his test," Pro replied in a soft voice.
"Test? What test?" Ron's voice butted into their conversation.
It was unknown how he was able to hear them from afar, but Pro had no intention to tell him about his speculations, "Nothing. We were just talking about the exams coming up. You do know we still have to study for them after this."
"Blimey. You two are still going about exams at a time like this? I really dunno why the professors can't just cancel the exams. I mean, wouldn't that be better for everyone?" Ron grumbled as he continued to move pieces of rocks.
"Didn't you listen to what the professors said? The exams are there to help them understand what we have learned. This is very important to our studies for next year. I'm sure the professors have taken into consideration the current events and must really believe that the exams are something we can't do without. I would suggest that you start studying for the exams soon. I've only seen you and Harry playing around instead of studying," Hermione lectured in a authoritative tone.
"Sheesh .. you aren't my mum," Ron mumbled before he fell silent, not wanting to argue further.
After a long, boring workout of moving rocks, the group managed to clear a part of the tunnel. Before they could decide on who to proceed forward, a spine-tingling background music began to echo in the tunnel. It didn't take long for the tunnel to light up with a flaming glow. Turning back, Pro barely caught the sight of a flaming bird whooshing past them and diving into the tunnel, leaving a trail of flames glittering in the air.
"Woah. What was that?" Ron exclaimed in amazement.
"That should be ... if I'm correct ... the legendary phoenix. It has the ability to regenerate itself and be reborn from its own ashes. I've heard that the headmaster kept one as a pet, and that should be it," Hermione explained.
"Blimey, so it came to help Harry then? As expected of the ..." Ron mumbled with an envious tone before his voice faded away towards the end.
Boom. Boom. Thud. The sounds of an intense fight echoed from afar. Ron's face paled a bit as he hesitated against stepping forward. Seeing Hermione tremble besides him, Pro gently grasped Hermione's hand to reassure he before he slowly strolled forward with her.
"Let's go. Harry should be waiting."
Of course, Pro knew the fight was still ongoing, but there was no need for him to stay back. The phoenix support is here, which removed the danger of the instant kill of the basilisk. Also, Harry's fight shouldn't last so long anyways. Perhaps, by the time he walked over, everything is over. Why do you think he is walking instead of running?
"Blimey, Pro, Hermione, are you really going to go ... I mean, that's a basilisk you know? Even the creepy, scary spiders are afraid of it," Ron uttered in a miserable tone, "What can a couple of students do against something like that?"
Glancing back, Pro chuckled before he replied, "You can stay back if you like."
Pro then continued to lead Hermione forward. Hermione also had some hesitations, but when she looked over at the confident and calm Pro, she also calmed down. With a cheerful smile, she squeezed Pro's hand and followed him.
As the duo walked down the tunnel, they could faintly hear constant hissing sounds echoing in the tunnel. The thrashing of something heavy was also heard. Suddenly, Pro heard the painful cry of the basilisk before the sound of something heavy crashing to the ground was heard. If nothing went wrong, Pro already knew the game was set.
The two finally passed through the opened chamber door and finally stepped into the Chamber of Secrets. Accompanied by the chime of a quest progress, Pro saw Harry stab a basilisk fang into a diary.
A dreadful, piercing scream escaped from the diary. Pro scrunched his brows a bit as he stared at the ending of the poor memory of the dark lord. As if sensing his gaze, the memory of Tom Riddle that was twitching around in pain glared at him and yelled, "It's you!"
Then, it cracked and dissipated. Pro blankly stared over and tilted his head in confusion, "Wait. What does this have anything to do with me?"
"Pro! Hermione! You're here! Where's Ron?" Harry exclaimed with a tired voice.
Before Pro could respond, the grunt of a princess awakening from her sleep was heard. Harry innocently ran over to complete his quest of rescuing the princess.
"Well, it ended well," Pro mumbled as he strolled over to the basilisk as Hermione went over to check on Ginny as well.
Putting on his gloves, he pulled out a couple of glass bottom and carefully collected some leaking venom. Pro also attempted to saw off the other fang of the basilisk, but he frowned when he noticed that it didn't fall off no matter how hard he tried.
"Huh? How did the other fang fall off so easily then?" Pro muttered as he glanced over at the suspicious fang stabbing the diary.
"C'mon, let's get out of here," Harry commanded.
Pro could only helplessly look back at the remaining fang of the basilisk with regret, but there wasn't anything he could do. It wasn't his spoils of war, and he had already shamelessly taken some venom.
"Well, let's be satisfied with what I got. Once I'm stronger, then I can take a larger share with no worries," Pro decided.
Hermione strolled up next to Pro and slipped her hand into his. She giggled a bit as she said, "Just look at them two. Don't they make a great pair. If only Harry wasn't so thick ..."
Chuckling but not commenting, Pro tightened his grasp on Hermione's hand before he followed behind Harry. Honestly, it didn't feel too bad to follow the protagonist and pick up spoils.
"There wasn't much danger this year because the plot was essentially followed ... I just hope I can deal with what is to come when I flip the table."