Chapter 163: The Chamber of Secrets Renovation Plan (Patreon)

“Basilisk shed skin. That’s an extremely rare magical material.”

Wade’s eyes lit up. Anything that had endured a thousand years of history would be extraordinarily valuable.

He had been in such a hurry the last time he came here—and even more eager to leave—that he hadn’t had time to collect this treasure.

Wade promptly took out a new bag enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm and carefully stored the shed skin inside.

The rest of the way was already familiar to him. As he continued forward, he laid down a new stone pathway, making full use of the building materials he had on hand.

He also placed candles along the route, hanging them from the ceiling to bring a faint glow to this dark underground world.

A few minutes later, he came upon a sturdy stone wall. Two intertwined serpents were carved into its surface, their eyes set with gleaming green gemstones.

Wade imitated the pronunciation Harry had used when opening the door and hissed,

“Open.”

The two intertwined serpents separated. The stone wall split down the middle and slowly slid apart.

“The mechanism for opening the door needs to be changed. Parseltongue is too inconvenient.”

Wade rubbed his chin thoughtfully before stepping into the dimly lit chamber.

“Lumos!”

A huge sphere of light flew from Wade’s palm and hovered beneath the ceiling, illuminating the entire chamber.

He looked at the stone pillars supporting the ceiling, the scattered statues of giant serpents, the statue of Salazar Slytherin standing directly ahead, and the Basilisk that had been dead for more than two months yet whose body still appeared remarkably fresh.

He couldn’t help feeling a surge of excitement.

From today onward, this Chamber of Secrets would become his secret base.

Alchemy and potion-making would both be carried out here, and its secrecy was countless times greater than that room on the eighth floor.

Of course, it still needed to be renovated.

Otherwise, it was nothing more than an empty room.

Wade gathered his thoughts and turned to leave the Chamber of Secrets.

He had already spent enough time here today. Until he finished designing the renovation plan, there was probably no point in coming back except to clean.

After returning to his dormitory, Wade sealed the entrance to the passage and moved his bed back into place. He then lay down and began thinking about what his secret base would need.

An alchemy laboratory was essential.

Nicolas Flamel had given him a batch of precious alchemical materials, and he needed to build a proper storage room to keep them safe. He couldn’t keep storing everything inside his suitcase forever.

The standard alchemical tools were already available in the room on the eighth floor of the castle. He could simply move a batch of them here and put them to use.

He would also need to design a furnace for smelting ores and other materials.

A potion laboratory was necessary as well.

The equipment for brewing potions wasn’t a problem. The real issue was the lack of potion ingredients.

He had to find a way to purchase a large supply of materials. Otherwise, even the most skilled cook couldn’t prepare a meal without ingredients, and all he could do was stare helplessly at an empty cauldron.

Aside from that, the main chamber itself needed to be decorated.

A garden, a fountain, and various other features would all have to be arranged.

He had no intention of living in the Chamber of Secrets permanently, but the environment would still affect his mood while working.

A few days later, Draco was discharged from the hospital wing.

His arm was still wrapped in bandages, but that didn’t affect his normal studies or daily life.

He knew about Harry and the others’ relationship with Hagrid, so whenever he encountered them, he would occasionally bring up things like, “My father is very unhappy about my injury,” or “My father is going to complain to the Board of Governors,” and “My father will make sure he can’t remain a professor,” just to ruin their mood.

“Master Draco, haven’t you had enough fun yet?”

Wade asked impatiently while eating breakfast in the Great Hall.

“Every time you see Harry and the others, you keep going on about ‘my father.’ Does Lucius know you’re this good at playing his name?”

“This is nothing.”

Draco lowered his voice and chuckled.

“I’m not planning to stop until they take the bandages off my arm.”

“Besides, once they realize I never actually intended to cause trouble for Hagrid and that Hippogriff, they’ll definitely be grateful to me. After all, I chose to let them off the hook!”

“I really admire your confidence.”

“There’s news about him!”

Seamus came running into the Great Hall, shouting loudly. He was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand.

“Sirius Black.”

A crowd immediately gathered around the newspaper.

Hermione looked at the location in surprise.

“Dufftown. That’s not far from here.”

“He isn’t going to come to Hogwarts, is he?”

Neville asked nervously.

“There are Dementors everywhere around here.”

“Dementors?”

Seamus scoffed.

“He already escaped once. Who knows if he won’t do it again?”

“That’s right. Black is everywhere.”

Dean spoke solemnly.

“Trying to catch him is like trying to catch smoke. You reach out your hand, and there’s nothing there.”

Draco whistled at the most inappropriate moment and said sarcastically,

“Looks like Potter has no way of catching Black after all. What a shame.”

“Why would I want to catch him?”

Harry asked.

Draco froze for a moment before revealing a sinister grin.

“You don’t know? I seem to remember that Weasley’s father also works at the Ministry of Magic. Didn’t he tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Come to think of it, they probably don’t want you taking any risks, which is why they want to leave Sirius to the Dementors.”

Draco leaned closer.

“But if I were you, I certainly wouldn’t sit around doing nothing. This might be your only chance for revenge.”

“Draco.”

Daphne glared fiercely at him.

“Are you trying to get him killed?”

“No. I’m just giving him a chance to learn the truth.”

“What truth?”

Harry asked impatiently.

“I suddenly don’t feel like telling you anymore.”

Draco wore an infuriatingly smug expression.

“After all, if you learn about it, lose your temper, and go looking for Sirius to get yourself killed, quite a few people will probably blame me for it.”

Harry was so angry that he wanted to curse.

Bloody riddler.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just trying to provoke you into doing something stupid.”

Ron warned him.

Wade lowered his voice and asked Daphne,

“What was the truth Draco was talking about?”

“Why are you suddenly interested in this?”

“Nothing. I’m just curious now.”

The so-called truth had nothing to do with him.

But it had everything to do with Sirius Black.

There was a bounty of ten thousand Galleons on Black’s head. As long as Sirius hadn’t been captured yet, there was still a chance to claim that money.

So Wade needed to gather as much information as possible.

“Actually, it isn’t much of a secret. Quite a few people in the wizarding world know about it.”

Daphne glanced around cautiously. Only after confirming that no one else was listening did she continue.

“The reason Harry Potter’s parents were found by the Dark Lord was because someone betrayed their location. And the person who betrayed them was…”

“Sirius Black.”

Wade couldn’t help drawing in a sharp breath.

No wonder everyone else was afraid to let Harry know.

If Voldemort was the enemy who murdered Harry’s parents, then Sirius Black was nothing more than an accomplice.

If Harry learned the truth and rushed off in a fit of rage to fight Sirius Black to the death, wouldn’t he simply be walking straight into a death trap?

How could Wade possibly allow that?

His Fool Card was far too useful as a shield.

It would be a terrible waste if it were destroyed now. He wouldn’t be able to find another one anytime soon.