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"Drip, drip."
The sound of water droplets hitting the ground echoed through the silent basement. The green serpent, now lifeless and pinned to the floor by silver spikes, had lost its vital energy. Countless tiny droplets of blood filled the gaps between its scales, and as the blood congealed, the dripping sound gradually faded away.
The giant eyes of the basilisk were fixed on the stone door ahead, yet no longer did they gleam with the bright yellow light they once held. Instead, they had turned grayish-white, filled with a deathly stillness, radiating the bitterness of a life now withered.
It had been Salazar Slytherin's loyal pet, sleeping here for nearly a thousand years after its master's death, guarding the treasures of its owner and obeying the commands of new masters. Yet its life had been tragic.
It was seen as a mere tool, though its existence was indeed that of a tool. The basilisk had been bred by wizards using magic to serve as a vessel. It was not a true living creature in the complete sense but a living container meant to house the death curse.
Its eyes, which could kill any living being with a direct gaze, carried within them this curse—a dark magic even more evil than the Unforgivable Curses. Such dark magic existed in the wizarding world, though most of these terrifying spells were restricted by harsh conditions. Unlike the three Unforgivable Curses, they were not as convenient, but their power should not be underestimated. Humanity possesses an innate talent for destruction, and ancient wizards were no less intelligent than the ones today. Their only limitation was their "vision constrained by the era."
Tom Riddle, the wizard who proclaimed his evil to the world under the name Lord Voldemort, was no ordinary individual. He was handsome, intelligent, persuasive with his words, and able to sway others with his whispers. In dark magic, his achievements and research far surpassed those of an average wizard. His natural talent for curses was extraordinary.
The curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position at Hogwarts was real, one that caused numerous excellent or ordinary professors to suffer misfortune. Even Dumbledore could not dispel it. At the time, Tom Riddle was barely in his twenties, yet he had already ventured far down the dark path.
As the heir to the Gaunt family and Slytherin's bloodline, he had the power to open the Chamber of Secrets and control the basilisk. During his student years, Tom had unleashed the basilisk, believing in the legend that "Slytherin would purge all inferior bloodlines." He himself was a twisted blood supremacist, disgusted by the Muggle blood from his father that flowed through his veins. This led him down the frenzied path of pursuing pure blood.
The only unfortunate part was that, in his youth, he accidentally killed Moaning Myrtle, who was secretly crying in the bathroom. The student's death caused great turmoil at Hogwarts. The headmaster at the time, Armando Dippet, was not strong or influential enough to resist the pressure from the Ministry of Magic, which had long sought to interfere with Hogwarts. The Ministry even threatened to shut down the school.
His plans for the Chamber of Secrets were forced to halt due to this accident. Tom framed Rubeus Hagrid for the attacks, causing the investigation into the Chamber to be discontinued. When Albus Dumbledore succeeded Dippet as headmaster, he became wary of Tom. Tom's research on the Chamber came to a sudden stop, and he lost the chance to return to Hogwarts and fully uncover Salazar Slytherin's true treasures hidden in the Chamber.
After the failure with the Philosopher's Stone the previous year, Tom Riddle had lost a part of his soul—one-seventh of it—and had to be reborn through a Horcrux. As a dark wizard and the Dark Lord, he could not simply swallow his defeat. He sought vengeance, planning to make those who had wronged him pay with their lives.
However, he also feared death. Voldemort, who sought immortality, was both mad and cowardly. He knew Dumbledore was a powerful wizard. Their first meeting when Tom was 11 had left a deep psychological scar on him, like an insurmountable mountain. As long as the old man showed no sign of fatigue, Voldemort could not summon the courage to face him directly.
This fear of death became his greatest weakness. Since he could not risk his own life in revenge, choosing the right tools became critical.
Once again, he thought of the Chamber of Secrets, of the gift left by Salazar Slytherin for his heir to "purify" Hogwarts—the basilisk.
But the basilisk was too conspicuous. Even though the castle's extensive network of tunnels allowed it to move around Hogwarts in secret, it was still a beast—mindless and brutal. Having suffered defeat at the hands of Harry Potter, Voldemort would never underestimate this twelve-year-old "little wizard." He understood better than anyone what terrifying power Harry possessed.
The dark magic Harry wielded, a force Voldemort coveted, meant that Harry would become a historical figure in his own right. Harry Potter, who had mastered this darkness, would not be inferior to Voldemort in the slightest.
Voldemort never saw Harry as just an inexperienced child to be looked down upon. That would have been the most foolish thought. His madness stemmed from his deep immersion in dark magic, but he had not become a senseless lunatic. After facing death, his thoughts had become sharper than ever.
Thus, the task of revenge fell to his most trusted, closest companion—his loyal serpent, Nagini.
Voldemort had recognized Nagini's uniqueness early on. While he was in a weakened, ghostly form, struggling to survive in the forests of Albania, he had to possess smaller creatures, draining their life force to stay alive. Whether rats, birds, or snakes, he preferred snakes, but none of the creatures survived more than a week under his possession.
Nagini was different. Though she appeared to be just a large viper, she contained magic within her. Her power rivaled that of any wizard.
After draining the unfortunate Quirrell, Voldemort regained some strength. He barely reconstructed a magical body and returned to England with his loyal Nagini. He had intended to find his faithful servants, but upon returning, he realized that what he once considered loyalty was nothing more than a farce.
The two wizarding families that had once been most loyal to him were the Blacks and the Malfoys. The Blacks had been wiped out, and the Malfoys now had great influence in the British magical community. Voldemort chose the richest of his servants, but what he received was not a vow of loyalty but fearful, trembling eyes.
Voldemort was furious. For the first time, he tasted the bitterness of betrayal. He punished the disloyal servant, easily defeating a terrified, ordinary wizard. Even in his weakened ghostly form, dealing with such a servant posed no difficulty.
After punishing his unfaithful servant, Voldemort had intended to rebuild his body. He knew of the magic required to do so but hesitated. His disloyal servant brought news—news of the Philosopher's Stone. Rather than risk creating a plain, ordinary body, Voldemort, ever the perfectionist, chose to take a chance. At that time, he did not yet hold Dumbledore in the same fearful regard he did later.
Thus, he shifted his focus to cultivating a loyal assistant. The Malfoy family was no longer worthy of his trust, but their value remained. As a punishment, Voldemort took one of Lucius Malfoy's most cherished possessions.
His wife, Narcissa Malfoy, had most of her life force and magic drained from her. This energy was then transferred to Voldemort's most faithful servant—Nagini, the giant serpent.
Voldemort had conducted extensive research on curses, and after recovering some of his power, he turned his attention to studying this unique serpent. He discovered that Nagini was once a witch, but due to a blood curse, she had been transformed into a snake. Over time, she had forgotten her origins as a witch, becoming like a blank slate, a pure symbol in Voldemort's eyes.
Blood-curse beasts were not entirely obscure. Like the Malfoy family, the Greengrass family, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, was also affected by blood curses. However, they had found ways to counteract the curse, preventing affected women from turning into wild beasts, though the cost was that they rarely lived past forty, and thirty was considered a long life.
Voldemort "visited" this family and, without being detected, easily obtained all their research on blood curses. In just over a month, he had almost completely understood this ancient curse, much like how Severus Snape studied Wolfsbane Potion. Voldemort quickly deciphered the blood curse and achieved something no one dared to imagine.
He reversed the blood curse, restoring those cursed to be beasts back into human form. However, because the restoration of Nagini's body came from Narcissa Malfoy, Nagini did not fully return to her original form. Instead, she took on some of Narcissa's traits, such as certain mannerisms, radiant blonde hair, and pale, bloodless skin.
And thus, a perfect assistant was born.
He had Lucius gather his "allies," the wizarding families closely associated with the Malfoys. Voldemort implanted a new memory into their minds—one of a girl named Cassandra Malfoy. As the Dark Lord, he made sure his actions were seamless and undetectable. For these "witnesses," it was enough for them to have only a vague impression of her; there was no need for fully fleshed-out memories.
Getting an acceptance letter to Hogwarts was not difficult. The Acceptance Pen and the Admission Book only recorded qualified magical children born in Europe (not all of Europe, but the vast area centered around England). However, being outside this list did not mean a child couldn't attend Hogwarts. Every year, students from outside the district, like the Patil twins from India, sought admission. With proper verification, enrollment was easily granted.
From that day on, people tacitly accepted that Lucius had an illegitimate daughter, though it was not a particularly proud matter, and thus, it was not publicly broadcast.
However, the newly resurrected Cassandra had certain "flaws." She wasn't yet an ideal assistant. Thus, Voldemort did not involve her in his affairs last year. But by the following year, when she had regained some of her former self, Cassandra was finally capable of becoming his assistant.
As a blood-curse beast who had spent decades in snake form, Nagini possessed the ability to communicate with snakes. Even after regaining her human form, she retained many traits closely associated with snakes. The basilisk's death curse needed a magical serpent as its vessel, and conveniently, Nagini, now in human form, was perfectly suited to bear this curse.
Compared to the mindless, almost instinctual basilisk, Nagini—who retained her human intelligence—was a far more perfect container. Her bright yellow serpent eyes could open at any moment, whenever necessary.
And now, in the silent, empty corridor, faint footsteps echoed. A slender figure silently moved forward, stopping at the corner where an entrance awaited.
She blinked, and within seconds, her bright yellow, deathly serpent eyes replaced her clear blue ones. Her chin tilted slightly, and her agile tongue licked her lips, removing a trace of red that resembled fresh blood.
A distant footstep echoed, growing nearer.
(End of chapter)