Severus clutched the book tighter, clearly displeased.
A smile appeared on Dumbledore's face, finding this child, whose emotions were completely exposed, much more endearing than his brother: "Child, I just want to check these two books to make sure they won't bring you harm."
"The Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts might sometimes still contain some Dark Arts artifacts left by previous generations." As he said this, he looked at Anne.
Dark Arts artifacts are extremely dangerous for Young Wizards; they often come into being accompanied by secrets and curses.
Anne nodded, agreeing with what Dumbledore said.
In her opinion, Thomas and Severus were still two children not yet of school age, with almost no ability to identify risks.
Anne looked at Severus: "Severus, let Principal Dumbledore look at this book. If it really is something bad, we absolutely cannot let it stay with you."
"This isn't anything..." Thomas gently nudged Severus, and the boy immediately obediently released his grip, placing them on the table.
Dumbledore's fingertips gently caressed the exquisite leather cover; it was not significantly different from many magical books he had perused.
Opening the pages, it was indeed as Thomas had said: the somewhat old parchment inside showed no signs of writing, seeming as if it had never been used by anyone.
Why would two blank notebooks be hidden in the Chamber of Secrets? Dumbledore instinctively felt something was amiss.
Especially considering that Thomas had previously referred to it as a 'notebook', while the other boy, Severus, had used 'book'.
That cunning boy was clearly hiding something.
He used every detection spell he could think of, but neither of the two books showed any reaction.
Although somewhat puzzled, he was confident in his magical attainments; this was indeed not a product of Dark Arts.
He then used 'Eye of Discernment' and 'Illusion Breaker', two ancient spells capable of penetrating most illusions and disguises in the world, yet they also returned without success.
Severus had been closely watching Dumbledore's actions, seeing him cast various spells on the books, only for them all to ultimately fall silent.
When Dumbledore stopped his actions, a hint of hesitation appeared on his face, Severus could no longer suppress the anxiety in his heart and mustered the courage to ask: "Principal Dumbledore, is there something wrong with these two books?"
His voice, though small, clearly reached Dumbledore's ears, breaking the surrounding silence.
Severus's fingers tugged at the corner of his clothes, crinkling it.
"Currently, these two books seem to have no problems; they are indeed not Dark Arts artifacts."
Dumbledore glanced at the nervous boy, put away his serious expression, and reverted to the somewhat playful and gentle old man: "But they possess a mysterious power that even I cannot see through."
This 'but' was very insightful, and Thomas immediately pressed: "Principal Dumbledore, so you'll return it to us, right?"
"Yes, child." The old man smiled, handing the books back to Severus, who immediately hugged them like treasures again.
"Many items in the Wizarding World have their unique consciousness. I think they chose you; this is your opportunity." Dumbledore continued, his voice deep and magnetic, as if it could penetrate hearts and reach the depths of the soul: "Remember, knowledge itself has no good or evil; the key lies in the heart of the person who uses it. Love and light will lead you to hope."
Thomas nodded obediently: As expected of a teacher, never forgetting to educate children and pour out motivational rice.
It was already past lunchtime. Mr. and Mrs. Brown apologetically declined Dumbledore's invitation and, with the two brothers, returned to Hogsmeade Village through the Headmaster's Office fireplace.
What Thomas didn't know was that when he took the Basilisk away from Hogwarts, all sorts of magical creatures in Hogwarts let out cheers.
"That stupid snake is finally gone!"
This Basilisk was truly detestable at Hogwarts.
It constantly slithered underground with its hard scales, scratching the flagstones into a mess, and its massive body often uncontrollably engaged in 'house-wrecking' behavior. Previously, Salazar would clean up its messes, but now there was no one.
It ate a lot and was always hungry.
Many sculptures and portraits suffered greatly; they were all pressed against the walls, forced to listen to this snake muttering: "So hungry, so hungry, so hungry, I'm really so hungry."
But Basilisks actually don't need to eat!
After the one-eyed Witch discovered Thomas's magical linguistic talent, she immediately had Hogwarts take them to find this Basilisk.
Hogwarts and Salazar had an agreement: any Parseltongue Speaker could choose to sign a contract with it, and the contractor could take it away!
If a contractor was never found, then it would have permanent residency rights at Hogwarts.
This was also the real reason why Thomas inexplicably became Slytherin's heir!
Dumbledore's fireplace was not connected to the Hog's Head Pub, which Thomas had only visited once, but to the familiar Honeydukes sweet shop.
In the end, they received a bag of sweets and a week-long grounding.
Night fell, and all was silent; the entire village quieted down.
A faint light shone from a window in Mr. and Mrs. Brown's house.
Thomas and Severus hid under the covers, the tip of a children's wand emitting a faint glow from Lumos.
Before them lay the two books brought from the Chamber of Secrets.
"Knowledge is the cornerstone of glory." When Thomas spoke this password in Parseltongue.
Several gilded characters slowly appeared on the brown cover.
"Introduction to Rune magic" and "Introduction to Potions," two unpretentious names, but their contents were far from simple.
They were both books and notes, and they had both belonged to Salazar Slytherin.
The old ancestor of Slytherin had written many annotations on them, seemingly to help young wizards learn.
The annotations were very detailed, and the language used in them was extremely plain and easy to understand, without any arrogance or obscurity. In some places, there were also his hand-drawn diagrams, making some obscure content simple and clear.
Thomas and Severus each held an exquisitely crafted quill. These were magical quills bought by Anne at the Literati's Quill Shop, said to be essential learning tools for young wizards in their literacy period.
These quills seemed to possess intelligence; when they encountered an unfamiliar word, they only needed to tap it lightly, and the quills would clarify it for them in the form of sound and virtual images.
The first time he used it, Thomas's mind was filled with: "Tap where you don't know, so easy" – the brainwashing ad slogan.
The two gradually became engrossed until midnight, when they finally curled up with their books and fell asleep.
The next day, they, as expected, overslept.
Seeing this, Anne shook her head helplessly and gently pulled the books from their hands.
Thomas was immediately startled awake; his gaze sharply swept towards the person by the bed.
Anne was startled by him and stopped her outstretched hand.
Thomas quickly reacted; his gaze returned to its usual state. He sat up and whispered: "Sorry, Anne, I overslept."
"No need to apologize, dear." The old woman also said softly: "Do you want to sleep a little longer?"
"No."
Severus was awakened by their conversation, rubbed his eyes, and sat up, leaning against his brother: "Good morning, Thomas, Anne."
"Good morning, Severus." Both were amused by his groggy appearance.
In the mornings, Thomas and Severus followed Anthony to the herb garden to learn about herbs, and in the evenings, they stayed in their room to read and study. Several peaceful and fulfilling days passed like this.
Thomas preferred Rune magic because some of its principles had similarities to the Qimen Dunjia he had studied in his previous life.
Severus, on the other hand, was obsessed with Potions, eagerly absorbing the knowledge from the books every day.
Several times, if Thomas hadn't forcibly taken the book from his hands, he wouldn't even have been willing to go to sleep.
However, Thomas was not a real child; he knew that children must maintain sufficient sleep, otherwise, they might not grow tall!
If his little bro grew up to be a shorty, well... that would also be very cute.
Such peaceful days were broken one afternoon.
Thomas and Severus were sitting side by side at the desk studying.
The Basilisk was sprawled on his back, incessantly muttering: "Thomas, I'm so hungry, I want to eat lambs, calves, big spiders!"
None of these foods were something Thomas could provide for it.
Furthermore, Thomas knew through the contract that the Basilisk could eat, but did not need to eat; it could replenish energy by relying on a wizard's magic or a magic circle.
This was also why it had been able to survive for a thousand years at Hogwarts.
So he was now accustomed to ignoring the verbal harassment of this little Basilisk.
Anne walked to the door; it wasn't closed tightly.
She couldn't resist peeking through the crack into the room. The two children sat side by side, seemingly studying very seriously, and she smiled admiringly.
Reaching out to knock on the door to announce herself, just then, she saw a small black snake with dark, gleaming scales crawling up Thomas's back towards his neck.
Anne's face instantly turned pale, and she said with a trembling voice: "Thomas, don't move."
"Severus, come here!" After saying that, she turned her head and shouted towards the living room: "Anthony, come quickly!"
Severus, not understanding why, reluctantly put down his Potions book and slowly walked towards Anne.
Thomas's body stiffened. He didn't obey Anne's command, because he already knew exactly why her voice had taken that sharp edge. He could almost feel the danger radiating from behind him. This was the moment. The moment to use his ultimate technique—his one reliable method of escaping trouble: the innocent-child-disarming-smile.
Slowly, very slowly, he turned around. With his hands hidden behind his back, he reached and expertly pulled out the tiny snake he had been trying to sneak past Anne. He held it up like a peace offering, forcing a smile so sweet it practically sparkled.
"Anne, Anthony," he said, voice softening into his most harmless tone. "Can we have a pet?"
Only then did the two elderly caregivers fully register what was happening—the stiff posture, the guilty smile, and the wriggling little snake Thomas was proudly presenting. And in that instant, they understood something was seriously, dangerously amiss.