Malfoy felt as if he had entered an endless tunnel. It was pitch black and sticky, and the cold wind caused by the convection made his face hurt. It was like a sharp blade brushing past his ears. Some parts of the tunnel were very steep, and the tunnel was full of twists and turns. There were also some small tunnels that formed a fork, but it was obviously not wide enough for a person.
For safety's sake, Malfoy cast a levitation spell on himself to reduce the shockwave and avoid any accidents.
But it seemed that he had worried too much. The latter part of the pipe suddenly became horizontal. He emerged from the pipe and stepped steadily on the wet ground. Then, a dark stone tunnel appeared in front of him. The tunnel was big enough for a person to stand in.
"Flicker!" He waved his wand to illuminate himself.
Even though he had slowed down, his footsteps still made patter sounds on the wet ground. There was nothing in the tunnel except for the sound of footsteps, which accentuated the gloomy and desolate atmosphere. Not to mention, he could occasionally step on the skulls of various animals, which made cracking sounds.
"Is this the skin that guy shed?" Malfoy looked at the huge snake skin not far away. It was a dazzling bright green, and it lay coiled on the ground. It was hollow inside. Obviously, the animal that had just shed its skin was at least twenty feet long. If converted to meters, it was a huge guy that was six meters long.
The hunters in the forest would always say that they would rather face five hundred poisonous snakes than a python. If the former bit you, there might be an antidote, but the latter would directly strangle you to death. You would feel that the oxygen in your body was getting less and less, and your life was slipping away bit by bit. Watching yourself walk towards death was perhaps more terrifying than death itself.
Then, he had to face the snake monster now. It had a huge body and poisonous fangs. Combining the two, it even had an instant death hack.
Malfoy naturally wasn't here to die. His status at least wouldn't make Riddle use his ultimate the moment he saw him. Besides, Riddle had been silent for so long, and perhaps he was a little lonely. He definitely wouldn't be able to strike up a conversation with Lockhart. At most, Riddle would look at him like he was looking at a fool.
In the original novel, Liddell had to brag to Harry for a while before he started to kill him.
Still Malfoy walked across the great snakeskin, and the tunnel turned from turn to turn, until at last, carefully turning from turn to turn, he found before him a solid wall, carved with two serpents entwined with each other, and whose eyes were set in large, glittering emeralds, so that one knew that green eyes were not merely a word of description.
"It is indeed ineffective." Malfoy's body tensed up. He had wanted to change the shape of his buttons, but he found that it was useless. He tore open a rooster's roar letter and found that it was also like a deflated balloon. It was a "dud".
"As expected, he was prepared." Malfoy felt a chill in his heart, but it did not affect his plan.
"Open." Malfoy spoke to the two stone snakes in the Snake language that he had forcibly memorized.
The snakes on the wall began to move slowly until they were completely separated. The wall also split into two halves, revealing a passageway.
Malfoy went in head first.
He looked around. This was a long, dark room. There were many towering stone pillars around him, all of which were engraved with coiling snakes. These pillars supported the ceiling that melted in the darkness, casting long, treacherous shadows on the entire room that was filled with mysterious green mist.
"Being stared at by these things is really uncomfortable." Malfoy shuddered. No matter which angle he looked at it, he felt that the stone serpents were staring at him, making him feel oppressed and uncomfortable.
When he reached the last pair of pillars, a statue that was as tall as the room itself appeared in front of him. It was attached to the dark wall behind him.
It was an old, monkey-like face, with a long, sparse beard that almost reached the hem of a wizard's robe carved from stone. Two large gray feet stood on the smooth floor of the room. Between the two feet lay a man in an emerald green robe. His hair was wavy and golden.
"Sigh …" Malfoy sighed inwardly. Speculation was one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes was another. When he saw Lockhart, his feelings were still very complicated. He didn't think that this idiot would be so disappointing.
A figure suddenly slid out from behind the stone pillar. Malfoy knew at a glance that the person in question had arrived. The figure had a head of black hair and a tall figure, but his body wasn't completely corporeal. It was somewhat translucent, giving off the feeling that he was a ghost.
"Oh?" The youth spoke up. "I thought it would be Harry Potter who came here. I didn't expect it to be you."
"Let me think," he said, minding his own business. "Hmm, other than Harry, Lockhart admires you the most. Because you gave him a bottle of his favorite whiskey. How laughable. Draco Malfoy, right? " Liddell looked at Malfoy and said with a mocking tone. He seemed to be targeting Lockhart. So far, he hadn't shown any malice, perhaps because Malfoy was a pureblood.
"Lord Dark Devil King!" Malfoy began to show off his acting skills again. He clasped his hands in front of his chest, a fanatical look in his eyes, and sincerely shouted.
When Liddell heard the name, he was shocked. His eyes suddenly became sharp, as if he was about to start a massacre.
Malfoy completely ignored him. As if he had discovered something, he rushed straight to the diary beside Lockhart.
"Stay away from that book!" Liddell shouted sternly, a scarlet light flashing in his eyes. Malfoy ignored him. He quickly took out a bottle filled with bright red liquid and poured it on the diary.
"How dare you!" Liddell raised the wand in his hand, but it was very uncoordinated. Lockhart's wand was too extravagant. It was covered with all kinds of patterns, but Liddell could only put up with it. Soon, he stopped.
"Oh, the taste of life." Liddell licked the corner of his mouth as if he was enjoying a vintage wine. He put down the wand. "What is this?" he asked.
"Dragon's blood." Malfoy seemed to have realized that he had lost his composure and stuttered out the word.
"Perfect!" Liddell said excitedly. It seemed that Malfoy had gained his trust. "Much stronger than this idiot's life force." As he spoke, he looked at Lockhart, who was lying on the ground, with disgust.
"How did you know these secrets?" Liddell still looked at him with suspicion. "My father told me." Malfoy tried to speak in a proud tone.
"Lucius, huh?" Liddell murmured. It was obvious that he knew almost all of Lockhart's memories. He was already able to connect the dots. "It seems that your father is very trustworthy under me." Liddell laughed.
"My father is unwilling to believe that you are dead. He firmly believes that the Dark Devil King cannot die. You are an omnipotent god. A body will not stop your footsteps." Malfoy continued to flatter the man in front of him. He saw that Liddell's body was gradually becoming solid. He was completely different from before. Earlier, Liddell looked like he would be blown away by the wind.
"That's why he chose to temporarily return to the Sorcerer Society to lay the foundation for your comeback. I believe you already know from Lockhart's mind that our family is very wealthy. We can definitely serve you like a dog or horse." Malfoy lowered his head. "So please forgive his betrayal." It seemed that Liddell was not going to raise his head until he forgave his father.
Liddell stroked Lockhart's gorgeous wand and said happily, "You and your father have already shown your loyalty through your actions. I am satisfied. How can I blame you?" He added, "If I wasn't a trustworthy person, I don't think I would have told your father such an important secret."
"Raise your head," Liddell said. His tone was much more dignified than before, exuding the authority of a superior.
"Oh, don't be nervous, child. I have always been very lenient with my loyal subordinates. Besides, you have done well," he said in a tolerant tone that made others feel uncomfortable. Can you imagine a young man saying such old-fashioned words?
"Yes." Malfoy slowly raised his head.
"Relax," Liddell said. Liddell said that a loyal subordinate and his son had found him and given him such great help. His mood instantly improved.
"Will that man die?" Malfoy pointed at Lockhart with a trembling finger, showing the fear a young man should have when facing a dead man.
"Oh, that's an interesting question," Liddell said happily. "It's a long story. The way I see it, the real reason why Lockhart became like this is because he opened up his heart to an invisible stranger, revealing all his secrets. "
Perhaps he had been holding it in for too long, or perhaps he wanted to show off to his loyal subordinate to increase his loyalty, Liddell began to talk about how he had bewitched Lockhart.
"To be honest, I've lived for so many years, but this is the first time I've met such a weirdo." Liddell couldn't help but laugh.
"He told me he embarrassed himself in his class. What's that called? Elves? Dozens of elves caused chaos in his class. I comforted him that he was actually very capable. "
"That's hilarious. I wonder if Dumbledore's eyes have gone bad from old age to choose such an idiot as the teacher for the Defense Against Black Magic class." He sneered.
"Fortunately, it's just a memory. If you knew you're worse than this idiot, you'd probably kill him immediately." Malfoy didn't forget to complain in his heart, but on the surface, he still looked like he was listening attentively to his leader's lecture.
"Then I saw him write in his diary that he was afraid that one day he would be discovered to be a person who didn't know anything other than the Amnesia Spell. He wanted to keep a low profile, but he couldn't help but show off those experiences that didn't belong to him. He kept blaming himself, and I kept trying to convince him that he was capable, but he just lacked an opportunity.
"I even told him to kill a chicken and told him that he could gain power by doing so. He really believed me. What a joke."
"Yes." Liddell pondered for a moment and continued, "That day, there was a Quidditch competition. To be honest, that kind of competition was the most boring sport I've ever seen."
"+ 1," Malfoy said in his heart, feeling like he had found a soulmate.
"He actually made the bones of the boy who defeated me disappear." Liddell laughed wantonly. "So I had to give him a reward," he said.
"He also wrote in his diary that he couldn't stand being looked at with suspicion anymore. He wanted real power." Liddell chuckled. "So I satisfied him."
"But there's nothing in this world that can't be exchanged with equal value. So he paid with his life." Liddell looked at Lockhart, who was lying on the ground, with disgust. "He should've died in a while."
"I'm very satisfied," Liddell said. "It seems that the assistant he defeated was also my subordinate. Draco, do you know what happened?"
Malfoy shook his head, feigning ignorance.
"Well, I can't expect a child to understand everything," Liddell muttered to himself.
"Well, my power hasn't fully recovered yet. I still need some time. You should go. I'll come find you again." He licked his lips. "The next time we meet, there shouldn't be any more mudbloods in Hogwarts," he muttered.
Malfoy only said one sentence in his heart, "Success." Later, he would directly run to Dumbledore's office and report to him. Then this year could end happily.
"However," Liddell said gloomily. He glanced at a pillar behind Malfoy. "You seem to have brought in a tail, and a filthy mudblooded one at that."