Bryan followed Newt's figure as they made their way around the wooden cabin toward its back area. Beside a vegetable garden where numerous garden gnomes could be seen darting around between rows of cabbages, carrots, and beans, there stood what at first glance appeared to be nothing more than a wooden door set horizontally into the ground.
However, Bryan immediately recognized it as an entrance leading to some kind of underground chamber or cellar.
"I'm absolutely certain that Wright will be delighted to see you," Newt said with genuine happiness glowing from his face, his eyes lighting up with enthusiasm.
He bent down and lifted the cleverly disguised grass cover that had been designed to blend seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. Before beginning his descent into the dark opening, he turned back to look at Bryan.
"After all," He continued, his voice carrying a tone of deep gratitude and respect, "you were the one who rescued it from that terrible prison where it had been confined and forgotten for nearly a thousand years, enduring conditions that no living creature should ever have to experience."
"Ahem, I certainly hope so—" Bryan replied, though his response carried a tone of uncertainty that he tried to cover with casual confidence. His mouth twitched slightly in what might have been an attempt at a smile, but his overall expression remained rather strange and difficult to read.
The moment they crossed the threshold and began their walk down into the underground chamber, a wave of cold, damp air struck them, rushing up from the depths below and enveloping them in its damp grip.
The air had a complex mixture of scents that made breathing somewhat uncomfortable and required a conscious effort to adjust to the musty fishy smell.
The cellar was utterly dark without a trace of light, like a dungeon for imprisoning criminals. Bryan was somewhat puzzled, not quite understanding why Newt, who treated magical creatures so kindly, would find such an uncomfortable dwelling place for the basilisk.
But when he followed Newt down the last stone step of the spiral staircase and took in the expanded underground chamber, he began to understand.
The staircase eventually opened into a massive rectangular chamber that stretched far beyond what the cabin above would make it possible. The enormous room was supported by a series of thick stone pillars that had been carved with reliefs depicting intertwining, coiling serpents in various poses.
These pillars supported a ceiling that disappeared entirely into the darkness above. The floor of the chamber consisted of hard rock that had been worn smooth by countless years of use, though it was currently littered with scattered animal bones. Most of these remains appeared to have belonged to rats, ferrets, and the occasional unfortunate garden gnome.
Through his magical sight, Bryan could clearly discern that at the far end of this impressive chamber stood a statue of an elderly Salazar Slytherin with a grim expression.
"I think you can see quite clearly, Bryan—" Newt said in a soft voice, making his wand emit a faint light, just enough to reveal a step or two ahead of their feet so they could avoid accidentally stepping into the numerous puddles of stagnant water.
"This has been designed and constructed to be roughly identical to the legendary Chamber of Secrets that you once descended into," Newt explained.
"Of course, I must admit that it's not quite as magnificent or architecturally sophisticated as the original chamber that Salazar Slytherin himself built, but this reproduction represents the very best that I could manage."
He gestured at the space around them. "I actually have an identical room built into my suitcase as well—both chambers were created for the same purpose, to provide Wright with familiar surroundings that would help it feel secure and comfortable enough to get proper rest after so many centuries of deprivation and suffering."
Bryan surveyed the chamber and nodded approvingly. "Did Headmaster Dumbledore provide you with detailed descriptions of the original Chamber to help you recreate it?"
"Indeed, Albus helped me in this," Newt said, taking large strides to jump over a puddle and turning back to speak in a low voice.
"After you rescued Wright from the Chamber of Secrets and handed it over to the Ministry of Magic, Cornelius Fudge seemed to believe that he could somehow use Wright's historical significance and nature to gain some personal glory and political advantage for himself,"
Newt continued, and Bryan could detect a tone of frustration and disapproval in his voice as he recounted these events.
"However, he very quickly discovered that the people working at the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures couldn't handle Wright."
Newt paused in his explanation to carefully steer around another obstacle in their path. "After several increasingly serious accidents that resulted in injuries to Ministry personnel and growing damage to Ministry property, Fudge finally had to swallow his pride and have someone discretely ask for my assistance in dealing with the situation."
His voice took on a tone of deep compassion and concern as he continued, "As I mentioned to you before, Bryan, Wright is the most difficult and challenging magical creature that I've ever attempted to help or rehabilitate in my life. When I first encountered it in Ministry custody, the poor creature had absolutely no companions, no friends, no social interaction of any kind, and had been receiving completely inadequate food that showed no understanding of a basilisk's complex dietary requirements."
The pain in Newt's voice became even more distinct as he continued to describe Wright's condition. "It had simply existed in that sunless, cramped room for nearly a thousand years, with no stimulation, no comfort, no hope of change or improvement in its circumstances. The psychological damage from such prolonged isolation and deprivation was truly heartbreaking to witness."
Speaking of the basilisk's terrible ordeal and the cruelty of its long imprisonment, Newt's normally gentle voice carried an edge of genuine deep anger.
"When I first tried to work with Wright, its mental state was absolutely catastrophic. It refused to communicate with me or anyone else, remaining constantly in a state of nervous tension and hypervigilance that prevented any possibility of trust or relaxation. It was unwilling to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time."
Newt shook his head sadly as he recalled those difficult early days of Wright's healing.
"I was very troubled by this situation for a long time and tried various approaches that had worked with other traumatized creatures, but nothing seemed to help Wright find any peace or comfort. Finally, almost in desperation, I thought of creating this special bedroom environment that would remind it of its original home."
His expression brightened as he continued, "I'm pleased to say that the approach did work, though it took considerable time and patience to see results. Although Wright still won't allow Tina or most other people to come near it, at least it's now willing to eat regular meals and sleep for longer time periods, which are essential for its physical and mental recovery."
Newt's voice took on a tone of indignant criticism. "I simply don't understand the reasoning behind Slytherin's decisions regarding Wright's living conditions.
If he truly wanted Wright to perform some important task or fulfill some crucial purpose after his death, why wouldn't he ensure that he could live more comfortably during its long wait?
I dare say that Wright would have been immensely happier and psychologically healthier during these thousand years if Slytherin had simply provided it with a mate."
Newt chattered on, defending the basilisk and indignantly criticizing Salazar Slytherin, looking somewhat like a parent whose child had been bullied at school.
"Perhaps you could try a more efficient way of communicating with the basilisk—I mean, Wright," Bryan could only say this.
Finally, they arrived at the statue of the elderly Salazar Slytherin.
Compared to the statue in the Chamber, the one Newt had created was probably only a third as tall, and Slytherin's image was far less lifelike than the one in the Chamber, showing a rigid and dull quality.
Bryan looked up at the statue and spotted his long-absent old friend curled up sleeping at Slytherin's shoulder. Honestly, it had been well cared for by Newt. Compared to his memory, the basilisk was somewhat fatter, and its green scales gleamed with a luster they hadn't possessed before. Of course, its eyes were still blind—that was Fawkes's handiwork.
"Most of the time, Wright remains in this sleeping state," Newt explained in a low voice. "This dormancy appears to be its main method of passing the long hours and days, and I strongly suspect that it's also Wright's instinctive biological mechanism for resisting the natural aging process."
Newt's voice took on the tone of sharing a fascinating professional observation as he continued, "You know, Bryan, a normal basilisk, even a particularly long-lived one can typically only survive for a few hundred years at most. But Wright has somehow managed to survive from the time of the four founders of Hogwarts until the present day—a period spanning at least a thousand years."
"Do you have any theories about whether Salazar Slytherin might have performed some kind of magical modification or ritual on Wright to enable such extraordinary longevity?" Bryan asked curiously.
"Hiss hiss—" Newt made a series of complex hissing sounds which surprised Bryan. He hadn't expected Newt to speak Parseltongue, and he was wondering whether this was a natural, inherited ability, or whether it was a learned skill.
The sounds that emerged from Newt's throat seemed to be some kind of summons. The basilisk slightly lowered its body, hesitated for a moment, but still slithered down along Slytherin's right arm.
Boom!
When the basilisk reached approximately the knee level of Slytherin's statue, it suddenly gathered its massive body and leaped up, launching itself through the air. For a brief moment, Wright's massive body flew through the chamber like some dragon, but quickly began to fall rapidly toward the floor below.
The impact when Wright crashed to the ground was tremendous, like a massive boulder dropped from a great height. The entire chamber seemed to shake from the force of the collision, and a cloud of dust and small debris erupted from the point of impact, temporarily obscuring vision and filling the air with particles that made breathing somewhat difficult.
The dispersing dust cloud had an unfortunate side effect of somewhat interfering with the basilisk's sense of smell, making it more difficult for the creature to accurately locate and identify the source of the familiar scent that had awakened it.
Additionally, being suddenly awakened from what had probably been a very deep sleep left Wright somewhat groggy and disoriented, not yet fully alert and ready to process complex sensory information.
It shook its massive head vigorously back and forth in an apparent attempt to dispel the clinging dust particles and clear its sensitive nasal passages, while its enormous body continued to move restlessly, constantly crushing and grinding the various bits of debris on the ground.
"Hiss... hiss hiss! (I've brought an old friend to see you, Wright!)"
"Hiss hiss! Killing, blood... old friend... descendant of Salazar..."
Bryan smiled slightly. He proactively raised his hand and waved at the basilisk.
"So... you're called Wright now, are you?" He said in a chatty casual tone. "It's been a very long time since we last saw each other, Wright. I'm quite curious to know if you still remember me."
The fierce wind that had been stirred up by the basilisk's massive body swaying restlessly back and forth through the air suddenly ceased completely, as if the creature had frozen in place upon hearing Bryan's voice.
Wright's raised head became absolutely motionless, locked in position as if time itself had stopped flowing around it.
The basilisk's two enormous eyes, each roughly the size of a carriage lantern, dilated to their absolute maximum extent, and it even forgot to retract the long, forked tongue that it had been flicking constantly.
In what seemed like a moment suspended outside the normal flow of time, the basilisk's massive body gradually began to lower itself... lower and lower until it was crouched close to the ground.
Bryan raised one eyebrow slightly. "How—"
Boom!
Suddenly, the basilisk whipped its massive body around with lightning speed and fled rapidly toward the far end of the chamber. Caught completely off guard by this sudden reversal, Wright rammed headfirst into the thick stone leg of Slytherin's statue with tremendous force!
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