"So it's an interview." Tom understood, probably because Dumbledore was a bit worried, so he had come to find out what he was going to teach in advance.
But the interview must have been very lenient, since Dumbledore himself didn't seem to interfere with what the professors were teaching. Professor Trelawney had been playing tricks in the astronomy tower for over a decade and Dumbledore had said nothing about it. Nor did he meddle when Quirrell taught so badly last term, reading from a textbook and stammering.
So the position required very little from Tom, so little that he could confine himself to reading from a textbook and Dumbledore let him teach.
Tom mused, "For this school year, I'm going to start with my own books; they actually contain a lot of practical tools for dealing with dark creatures, and I'm going to have the children read them first."
Dumbledore nodded.
"And then there's Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is a defense against dark magic, and since we defend against it, we need to know what it is, and I want the children to learn about the common dark arts of the magical world and how to deal with them, and finally a few simple spells."
Dumbledore looked slightly surprised, "What Enchantments do you want to teach them?"
"Other than the Expelliarmus Charm and the Protego Charm." Tom answered without thinking, "One offensive and one defensive spell, that's enough for them."
Dumbledore had a slight doubt that Professor Lockhart in front of him really knew the two spells: being able to use them and being able to teach them were two different concepts, but it didn't matter, they wouldn't create any problems.
"Also, if possible, I was hoping you could help me find some dark creatures, Professor, so I could teach the children how to deal with them as well."
Tom finished his general idea of teaching, "Of course, I will add a lot of drop-in tests and, consequently, less homework. Personally, I don't like the idea of a final exam to determine grades, so I will add midterm exams and group work..."
There are few subjects I hate more than those with a lot of stuff to do and a lot of work. Some courses have midterms, finals, prelims, midterm, midterm, post, group projects, labs, and regular grades. Throughout the semester, it's so full of presence that you feel like you've taken it all semester.
But as annoying as it is, it's a class where you're sure to pass if you take a little bit of everything. It's a far cry from those classes where you get 50% on the final and 50% on the project.
Tom preferred the latter, however, so that only the last period of the semester would be busy and the rest of the semester would be "safe."
But after becoming a professor, Tom lived the way he hated most.
But this was clearly more than Dumbledore expected: no Hogwarts professor had ever been so energetic before him.
"Ahem, I have to remind you that you have seven years to teach." Dumbledore calculated the amount of work Tom was doing by doing this, and was suddenly a little worried that this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was retiring by sudden death due to overwork.
"Never mind, leave it to me!" Tom seemed to have it all figured out: teaching under pressure? No way! With so many students at his disposal, he wouldn't push himself.
"Very well." Dumbledore, seeing that his dissuasion was ineffective, agreed: the big problem was to ask Madam Pomfrey to give him some more potions to replenish his energy.
Tom left Dumbledore's office. However, when he returned to his office, he saw an open door and empty drawers.
Tom's eyebrows twisted, and this incident was something unexpected, something out of the blue.
But it was not a problem.
He had a plan for this.
Currently, Tom had countless things to deal with: stolen diaries, secret rooms, lesson preparation....
If you have a lot of things to do, how do you prioritize them? Is it in order of difficulty? Of course not, it must be a matter of priority. Right now, the most important thing is to get rid of the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Without the Basilisk, Ryddle is like a tiger with its teeth pulled out.
It's like playing a game where a new map has the strange environmental factor of falling mines and constant blood loss, where you trigger three or four quests, one of which removes a negative effect from the map, so it's only natural that you complete the quest that fixes the negative effect.
The basilisk plays that role.
The basilisk is in the Chamber of Secrets, and to get rid of it, you have to open the Chamber of Secrets, you need a way to open it and a place to open it, and Tom knows the place, the only thing he lacks is the Parseltongue language.
Parseltongue, the language spoken by snakes and snake-like creatures, is a word that by extension means a person who can communicate with snakes. It's a rare genetic gift, and almost everyone who speaks Parseltongue can trace their ancestry back to a famous dark wizard-Harry can do it because he has a fragment of Voldemort's soul. But as a Parser, you can communicate even if you don't know the language, as long as you know the pronunciation.
It's like if you don't speak French, but your friend tells you that the French words for "hello" are "tense" and for "goodbye" are "sass," and you say "tense" and "sass" to the French, and they'll understand.
Tom is not a descendant of a dark wizard and, naturally, no innate talent for the Parseltongue language. He had tried to open the chamber by looking up a "dictionary" and memorizing the pronunciation, but had failed.
So he decided to look for a different way: it's normal that I'm human and don't know the language of snakes, but what if I become a snake?
Parseltongue is not only the language of snakes, but also of snake-like creatures, the basilisk can communicate through Parseltongue. Occamy, naturally, falls into this category.
But now there is another problem: there is not enough space in Tom's ring.
His ring, on which five magical creatures can be engraved, is already complete: wizard, three-headed dog, phoenix, unicorn and fire dragon. If he wanted to engrave the Occamy, he would have to replace one of them.
Tom did not hesitate to replace the wizard Lockhart; the rest were not easy to add: the fire dragon was said to have been returned to the Fire Dragon Sanctuary by Newt; the three-headed dog, Fluffy, had been adopted by Newt; the phoenix was in Dumbledore's office and not easily accessible; and the unicorn was deep in the Forbidden Forest, where Hagrid and Voldemort were having trouble finding it.
Compared to these, Lockhart in his office was fairly easy to obtain.
But Tom was in no hurry to "clean up" Lockhart's form , and went ahead to Hagrid's hut to buy him some large, healthy roosters, each weighing two or three kilos. When Hagrid asked him why, Tom dismissed it as a teaching exercise.
The basilisk is a strange creature, they will run for their lives at the sound of a rooster, because the sound of a rooster is deadly to them, and since roosters are such a deterrent, there was no reason for Tom not to bring them with him.
After buying the rooster, he got out his kettle and copied the shape of the Occamy.
Everything was ready! It was time to head to the Chamber of Secrets.
The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is located in "Myrtle's Bath".
Myrtle's Bath is one of the most famous "attractions" at Hogwarts. Located on the second floor of the castle, it is haunted by a ghost: Myrtle the Weeping Woman.
Originally named Myrtle Elizabeth Warren, Myrtle the Weeping Witch was a Muggle-born witch who attended Hogwarts Ravenclaw School in the 1940s, but unfortunately, she was bullied because of her appearance.
In 1943, she lost her life when she accidentally stumbled upon Tom Ryddle summoning the basilisk.
After his death, he took on a ghostly form and frequented the bathroom, where he threw tantrums and splashed water everywhere, and female students stayed away from the bathroom, preferring to suffocate rather than go there.
However, there were some little wizards who took advantage of the unpopularity of the place and went there to do things that were against school rules, such as brewing forbidden magic potions.
However, Myrtle's actions have kept the other witches away from the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Of course, there is no security risk even if you come here every day to go to the bathroom....
But as safe as it is, the thought of a large basilisk thousands of feet below your buttocks is still very unsettling.
In the afternoon, the young wizards stayed in the Common Room of their House, and no one went to the First Floor, where the library was located, which gave Tom a chance.
He pushed a trolley up to Myrtle's bathroom while no one was there.
There were seven large roosters, each weighing six or seven pounds, totaling forty or fifty pounds, and each was energetic and lively. Had they been stuffed into ordinary sacks, Tom's little body would not have been able to control them. It must be said that Hagrid was very generous, and when he learned that they were teaching materials, he gave them away for nothing, not even a knut, and patiently packed them up for Tom.
To keep the roosters from crowing, Tom asked Hagrid to tie up all the roosters' beaks, wings, and claws and put them in cages.
As Tom entered Myrtle's bathroom, he heard the door open and Myrtle came out of the innermost toilet, and Tom saw the ghost for the first time.
Myrtle was a short, plump girl, and although her face was half hidden by her long hair and pearl-colored glasses, it was clear that she had a somber, brooding look.
When she saw Tom, she immediately yelped and growled, "Who's here? This is the girls' bathroom."
But when she saw Tom's face, her attitude changed and she let out a giggle, "Oh? A new face? Why are you here?"
Even though Myrtle was just a ghost, Tom didn't want to be stared at all the time.
So he gave Myrtle a blank stare, "I'm here, and it's none of your business."
This attitude infuriated Myrtle, and she screamed into the toilet, splashing water up to the ceiling.
"If you die here, you have something to do with it! Wait till you share this toilet with me!"