In 1943, the headmaster of Hogwarts was still Armando Dippet.

Dumbledore stood at the corner of the staircase in the Great Hall and saw Myrtle being carried out of the bathroom, covered in a white sheet.

At that moment, he thought that if he ever became the headmaster of Hogwarts, he would do everything in his power to protect everything about the school.

And now, an even more terrible future was not far away. He dared not take any chances. That was why he would rather exchange identities with Grindelwald to ensure the basilisk's execution went smoothly than give the Slytherin serpent even the slightest chance of survival—because he was Albus Dumbledore.

You see, just fifty years ago, Myrtle's death had almost pushed Hogwarts to the brink of closure.

Dumbledore couldn't imagine how terrible and dreadful it would be if Hogwarts lost four students this year.

As for why Ailina was so concerned, it was simple—the "reserve justice" miss.

It wasn't difficult to understand. Dumbledore asked himself, if it were him, and he knew that one day in the future a monster would take the life of Aberforth Dumbledore, his first reaction would be to draw his wand and kill that monster directly.

In fact, Ailina was doing just that. She was even more resolute than Dumbledore in her attitude toward executing the basilisk.

"After ten centuries of searching, months of negotiation and planning, we have decided to put an end to the Chamber,"

Dumbledore said, his blue eyes scanning the silent Great Hall, his tone gradually becoming relaxed and gentle.

"During the Christmas just past, we and the Ministry of Magic opened the Chamber together and killed the out-of-control creature that dwelled within—the basilisk created by the dark wizard 'Herpo the Foul'—the basilisk's skeleton and skull specimens will be displayed at the off-campus Magical Creature Culture Museum this week, temporarily closed to the public, with the Care of Magical Creatures professor determining the specific usage and visiting times...

"By the way, Myrtle Elizabeth Warren has also asked me to inform everyone that the second-floor girls' bathroom can now be used normally."

"Except for Myrtle's exclusive stall, all other stalls can be used normally... Also, on another note, Ms. Warren also said that she occasionally listens to your innermost thoughts in the stalls, and if you feel bullied on campus, you can seek help from her there—"

Dumbledore cast a bright glance toward the Weasley twins and added seriously.

"Of course, only for girls. Mr. Filch previously expressed to me that he is willing to listen to the boys' troubles."

At Hogwarts, campus bullying has always been a difficult and deeply rooted problem.

Or rather, this phenomenon exists in every school.

Although Dumbledore had some doubts about Ailina's suggestion and whether Myrtle could be competent in this role for the time being.

But he didn't mind trying it out for a while to see the effect. As for how effective Myrtle's "anti-bullying persuasion" would be, or the details in the actual implementation process, as a male wizard over a hundred years old, Dumbledore didn't have much of a say anyway.

Besides, this would solve the problem of the second-floor girls' bathroom being abandoned for many years.

This change alone was enough to convince a group of young witches and other female faculty members to support the decision.

"However, Professor Dumbledore, the reports in the *Daily Prophet* seem to have some subtle differences from what you said."

Just then, Bill Weasley suddenly raised his hand and asked seriously, frowning.

"When the Ministry of Magic answered reporters' questions, their statement was that they had eradicated the evil monster raised by Salazar Slytherin in the school, intending to periodically cleanse those students 'not qualified to learn magic,' and that all previous openers of the Chamber were heirs of Slytherin..."

Along with Bill's voice, a messy and noisy whisper resounded through the hall again.

Ever since Voldemort's downfall more than a decade ago, Slytherin House had been labeled as the "dark wizard" house.

Even with the combined efforts of Snape and generations of Slytherin students, who had defended the House Cup for six consecutive years, the alienation and resistance of the other three Hogwarts houses towards Slytherin had become more and more obvious. After this Christmas, it dropped directly to freezing point.

In the past week, discussions about Salazar Slytherin had never stopped.

The students of the four Hogwarts houses represent the ideals of the four founders.

This meant that if Salazar Slytherin was a dangerous wizard with "flaws in his character," then the Slytherin students selected according to his ideals had an "original sin" from the moment they entered the house—"Slytherin House is full of Azkaban inmates," "Potential murderers, the house of dark wizards"... Such rumors began to appear in Hogwarts and were becoming increasingly rampant.

In fact, under the impetus of some unknown forces, there were even voices calling for the abolition of Slytherin House.

"Slytherin is an inseparable and indispensable part of Hogwarts—"

Dumbledore paused, looked meaningfully at the Gringotts B-level member, and said without hesitation.

"As one of the school's four founders, Salazar Slytherin, like the other three, had a lifelong dream of establishing a place where magical knowledge could be passed down and the safety of underage wizards could be protected. Everyone is complex and has infinite possibilities. No wizard belongs 100% to any house. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry never defines the qualities of each founder or each house student."

"Salazar Slytherin was not a dark wizard, and he would never harm any underage student."

Dumbledore paused, his blue eyes scanning every face in the hall through his half-moon spectacles, and said solemnly.

"In the era when the four founders lived, the non-magical world and the magical world were at war. The philosophy upheld by Salazar Slytherin was not the pure-blood supremacy advocated by Tom Riddle and others in later generations. He was merely expressing his attitude from a cautious and meticulous perspective."

"Perhaps many students, and even people from all walks of life, will be shocked by the Chamber of Secrets that Slytherin left behind in Hogwarts—"

"Even the Ministry of Magic and outside newspapers and magazines are more inclined to summarize this matter in a simple and crude way."

"However, I believe that taking a little time to explain things clearly is infinitely better than simply labeling someone, every action, and every group. If we crudely define the basilisk in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets as completely evil or attribute all the tragedy to Salazar Slytherin's blood discrimination conspiracy, then it would be an insult to both Hogwarts and Slytherin."

As Dumbledore's voice fell, there was an uproar in the hall again, as expected.

Hermione saw that at the Slytherin table, many Slytherin students suddenly had a glimmer of light in their eyes again.

Ailina, on the other hand, seemed very calm. Like Dumbledore, she quietly waited for the hall's muttering to explode briefly and then gradually fall silent.

"In the wizard and Muggle wars more than a thousand years ago, the basilisk was a very dangerous 'magical weapon of war'—it is not a magical species born of nature; its reason for appearing in this world is the same as all swords and guns: to take the lives of others. According to some existing data, the duty of the basilisk in the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets was mainly to resist the infiltration of Muggles at that time after he left..."

Dumbledore coughed lightly, raised his gaze slightly, and looked over everyone's heads to the front of the Great Hall's door.

"In fact, we still do not fully know all the meanings of the basilisk in Hogwarts, and it is too early to draw conclusions now. After careful discussion by the faculty and staff, we have decided to hand over the task of exploring the truth to each of you present."

"Yes, the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets will become a semi-public area for exploration from today onwards."

"After a series of efforts and negotiations, the entrance to the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets has been moved from its original location to the corridor on the fourth floor—that is, the 'Dark Arts Defense Practice Assessment' site in the last school year. Through that entrance, you can directly enter the main pipeline leading to the Chamber of Secrets deep underground."

"More detailed entry rules, qualifications, and subsequent precautions will be posted on the bulletin boards outside the hall and on the fourth-floor corridor by Mr. Filch and Professor Apocalyps later—this exploration activity will still be in team mode. Out of respect for Salazar Slytherin, each team must have at least one student from Slytherin House and must not exceed half of the total number of people."

The Slytherin Chamber of Secrets is a vast and stable unused space, which is a very valuable venue resource in Hogwarts.

Just like Hufflepuff House's "Helga's Dungeon," the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets clearly also has the basic capital to become a "school-level back garden." Developing and exploring the Hogwarts piping system, lighting up, cleaning up, and transforming the environment of the Chamber of Secrets is even a very suitable task to exercise and improve the collaborative ability of young wizards and cultivate their autonomous living abilities—this is the "Hogwarts version of the homestead system"!

"Then, Professor Dumbledore, what exactly is the quality of Slytherin House?"

Just as everyone was still trying to digest the "new dungeon" proposed by Dumbledore, a voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned their heads and saw Draco Malfoy standing up, his pale face seeming even paler and more nervous than usual.

He looked directly at the old wizard standing in the middle of the faculty seats, thought for a moment, and repeated the question.

"The Sorting Hat sorts us into different houses based on our individual traits, so if Slytherin House is not about blood, not about opposing Muggles, not about wizard supremacy, then which of Salazar Slytherin's traits do we fit?"

"The Slytherin House's… unique qualities?"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, looked at Malfoy gently, and said with a smile.

"Hmm… Adoration of power, pursuit of the ultimate pinnacle of life, ambition, courageous but not reckless, sticking to what you believe is right, meticulous thinking, clear likes and dislikes… The most important thing is to have the perseverance to survive in chaos and not lose yourself or forget your original intentions—these are understandings from some Slytherin House headmasters, for reference only—"

The old wizard's gaze swept over those Slytherin little ones who had fallen into thought and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, I can only repeat some of the answers from previous headmasters later. As for the real answer, you can only find it yourself—"

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Yay!