"Salazar Slytherin." Ian naturally recognized the name of this statue; among the four founders, the most narcissistic one wasn't Gryffindor but this Old Deng who had tricked him before.
"Get out of the way, Old Deng!" Ian cursed as he gave the statue a kick, raising his magic wand to use his Level 5 awakened Extraordinary Traits' [Unlocking Spell] to open the hidden room behind the statue — the correct way to open it should have been "Speak to me, Slytherin, the greatest of the Hogwarts Four," but asking Ian to flatter someone who had tricked him in Snake-man language was truly impossible.
Fortunately, during the summer vacation, Ian had practiced the Unlocking Spell intensively, and now he had awakened the trait named [Destructing All Things], which granted Ian the ability to dissolve all locks with magic power.
Normally, the Unlocking Spell might just unlock physical locks, but Ian's current [Unlocking Spell] was no longer limited to that — besides opening physical locks, it could break magical seals and even unlock mental restraints.
Anything symbolizing "lock" and "key" could be opened. Just like other Extraordinary Traits, this power had surpassed the limits and rules of ordinary magic.
"Alohomora!"
Ian's magic directly hit the target.
He didn't spend much calculation to unlock the not-so-complex door mechanism. Slytherin also hadn't set up heavy defenses, as those who could reach here were all capable of Snake-man language.
Facing a recognized successor, Slytherin merely wanted to hear some compliments, never expecting the person entering this secret chamber had little fondness for him.
"Creak creak creak~"
Amidst a teeth-grinding sound.
The mouth of Slytherin's statue began to open, widening, revealing a pitch-black cavity behind the statue — this was originally the dwelling place of the Snake Monster.
Many speculated it to be Slytherin's true secret chamber. Ian had heard similar rumors, so without hesitation, he dived directly into the cave that lacked the guardianship of the Snake Monster. As soon as he entered, a damp, moldy smell rushed in, and there was no candlelight for illumination.
"Fluorescent Flickering."
Ian chanted the spell.
A ball of light detached from his magic wand and soared into the air.
It hovered around him like a small drone. As the light illuminated, the rather large cave's interior appeared before the little wizard.
However.
This hidden space turned out to be an unrefined shell of a room. There were no lavish decorations, no shining gemstones, just exposed rocks and soggy moss, appearing eerie and damp in the dim light. The air was filled with a mingled smell of old mildew and earth.
"It really is Slytherin's doghouse, no, snake's nest?"
Ian couldn't help but frown. He had initially hoped to discover some legacy left behind by Slytherin for his successors, but the scene before him was starkly different from his imagination.
Could it be that damn Tom had taken away everything long ago?
"Or maybe Slytherin was indeed very stingy." Ian couldn't help but remember Gryffindor's treasure, he hadn't given up searching for that peculiar founder's portrait.
After mentally mocking Slytherin, Ian looked around; there was nothing but rocks and earthen walls, not a hint of light, all seemed so miserly.
"Oh?"
Just as the little wizard planned to leave.
An unusual glint caught his attention. In a corner of the cave, on a seemingly ordinary rock, there lay a somewhat decayed Wizard Chess board.
The squares on the board were already blurred, and the edges were covered in mold from the passage of time, yet it still exuded a rather mysterious aura.
As if some magic was engraved on it.
"Something Tom without a nose wouldn't want?" Ian, disregarding whether there was treasure inside, added another grievance to the account he planned to settle with Voldemort.
"Checkmate."
Approaching the board, Ian saw the inscribed characters; on the empty board lay only a lonely chess piece — a stone king piece. Its surface was covered with a thin layer of dust, extremely sturdy, but looked like something of little value.
Perhaps this was why it was left here?
"But it seems to have traces of magic." Ian picked up the piece to inspect it, then he saw the piece open its eyes, a raspy voice seemed to come from ancient, overlapping sighs.
"A true king must learn to pierce his own throat with the thorns of his crown." The voice was somewhat familiar, like his good buddy Pandro's voice.
Although the tone sounded deeper and much older.
"Interesting."
Ian's eyes shimmered slightly, placing the piece into his money bag, feeling this item definitely had a story behind it, regardless of whether it was just self-comfort, it should be taken away.
"They kept me busy for so long and not a single hair was found." Ian was somewhat helpless, retraced his steps, and climbed out of the cave, walking out through the secret chamber's door.
"Boom roar roar~"
With intense shaking, the secret chamber's door closed again. Ian was about to leave to return to the surface, but looking back, he paused his steps.