Immediately after, Dudley was stunned, somewhat puzzled why he'd suddenly said that name.
After thinking briefly without finding much information about it, he shook his head and temporarily set these doubts aside.
After a moment, Dudley glanced at the cave before him and retreated step by step.
This place was truly evil. He clearly hadn't entered this cave, but everything that happened before was like it was real, almost causing him to lose control.
What exactly did Slytherin put here?
While retreating, Dudley glanced at the two unopened rooms on both sides.
"Dudley, how are you? We called you just now. Why didn't you answer?" Harry's anxious voice came from the end of the passage.
Dudley's gaze narrowed slightly.
"I didn't hear it," Dudley replied.
"How long was I inside?"
"About fifteen minutes. I was keeping track of time," Hermione's voice came.
Fifteen minutes.
Dudley nodded inwardly. This time roughly matched the time in his mind. Everything that happened inside the cave had actually only occurred in his mind.
Turning a corner, Dudley saw Harry's trio waiting outside.
This scene seemed familiar. Dudley subconsciously stopped, looking at the three, afraid they would suddenly rush over and squeeze through the passage entrance, asking him to pull them in.
"Did something happen?" Borgin noticed Dudley's expression seemed off and asked.
"Nothing." Dudley shook his head and walked toward the passage exit.
Soon, he emerged from the passage.
"What's inside?" Ron asked somewhat curiously.
"Some books Slytherin left behind and such," Dudley said simply.
Hearing this, Hermione's and Borgin's eyes immediately lit up.
Hermione was excited because among these books might be rare editions she hadn't read, which she could borrow from Dudley later.
Borgin was excited because these books could sell for a high price. Slytherin's collection might include some rare ancient magic books. Just by spreading the word, there would definitely be many buyers.
Harry and Ron clearly weren't as interested in books, constantly asking Dudley if there was anything else.
Dudley told them about the magical creature corpses he saw, but didn't mention the unopened rooms.
Borgin seemed to see that Dudley was holding something back, but since Dudley didn't say, he didn't dare ask.
"Let's go. We can leave now," Dudley said.
"What about here?" Harry looked at the passage filled with terrible curses.
"Leave it as is. Ordinary people can't come here anyway." Dudley said after a moment's thought.
To enter here, one must know Parseltongue. Unless others could break through Slytherin's magic, they couldn't reach this location.
As they exited the basilisk's nest, Dudley glanced at the opposite passage.
From this position, he could only see where the passage turned, not the deeper section.
Suddenly, Dudley's gaze sharpened.
By a bit of reflected dim light, on a stone at the passage's turning point, he vaguely saw a pale human face.
Dudley's breathing hitched slightly. When he looked again, the pale face had disappeared.
Dudley didn't linger and climbed out from Slytherin's statue mouth with Harry and the others.
"Nothing happened, right?" Cole heard the commotion and quickly asked.
"Nothing, everything went smoothly," Dudley said.
"Dudley, that bird... is it Professor Dumbledore's phoenix?" Seeing Dudley approach, Cole pointed at a magnificent golden-red large bird perched atop Slytherin's statue.
"Fawkes?" Dudley saw the golden-red bird and opened his mouth in surprise.
Chirp!
Fawkes cried out, leaping from atop Slytherin's statue and landing on Dudley's shoulder.
"You grew so fast." Dudley gently stroked Fawkes' feathers.
Last term, Fawkes had swallowed the Killing Curse and transformed into a chick. In less than a year, it had grown large again, with very magnificent feathers, looking in excellent condition.
Fawkes gently nuzzled against Dudley, its eyes watching him.
"Has Professor Dumbledore returned?" Dudley inquired.
Fawkes gently nodded.
Dudley couldn't help feeling somewhat speechless.
That old man didn't come back earlier or later, but returned after Dudley had resolved the Chamber matters. He really knew how to pick his moments.
"Did Professor Dumbledore send you here?" Dudley asked.
Fawkes shook its head.
Dudley understood.
He remembered Dumbledore saying that at Hogwarts, if someone needed help, they would receive it.
Last year, Fawkes appeared at the critical moment, and this time it appeared again. Though it seemed a bit late.
"Um... will it tell Professor Dumbledore about our activities?" Borgin looked at Fawkes, his expression somewhat ugly as he asked.
He dared enter Hogwarts precisely because Professor Dumbledore wasn't at school and because Dudley led the way.
Now it was good. As soon as they came out, they were caught by Dumbledore's phoenix.
Cole's expression didn't change much.
Although he was a wanted criminal, he was Dudley's person. In this situation, Dudley would definitely take responsibility and wouldn't sell him out, so he wasn't worried.
"What Fawkes sees is equivalent to what Professor Dumbledore sees," Dudley said calmly.
Hearing this, Borgin's expression became even more strained.
"But you don't need to worry. You came to help, and I won't forget your contribution. Even if Professor Dumbledore doesn't like your arrival, seeing that you helped Hogwarts, he won't say much."
"That's good then." Borgin's expression eased somewhat.
"This basilisk's corpse..." Borgin looked at the massive basilisk corpse not far away.
"We hunted this. Naturally, it's our trophy." After speaking, Dudley walked over.
He waved his right hand, silently reciting in Hermes, folding the basilisk's corpse. Although the basilisk was huge, it was mainly in length. After folding its corpse, it wasn't so space-consuming, and Dudley collected it into the Mirror of Erised.
Then everyone walked together toward the Chamber's exit.
"Dudley, we've probably broken over a hundred school rules along the way," Harry couldn't help reminding Dudley.
After seeing Fawkes, the three youngsters basically hadn't spoken. Who knew if this phoenix would tell Professor Dumbledore what they said?
"With me here, it's fine," Dudley said.