These past two days, Hermione always felt Harry and Ron casting her strange glances, which left her uneasy.
During class, the two had even chosen seats behind her and kept whispering and giggling. She could practically feel their eyes burning into her back. Unconsciously, she began inching closer to Kai Adler, seeking refuge beside him—much to his quiet bewilderment.
Since Kai had promised to teach them the Compound Charm if they gave Hermione a memorable birthday celebration, the two boys had been huddling together constantly, clearly scheming something big.
After class, Kai watched them bolt out of the classroom with suspicious energy, only to find the Weasley twins waiting for them at the door.
The twins?
Kai raised an eyebrow.
Fred and George were practically synonymous with chaos at Hogwarts. If they were in on this plan, the birthday celebration might be far more… eventful than intended.
Still, it was Hermione's birthday. A bit of fun couldn't hurt.
He just hoped they wouldn't test one of their explosive joke products on her.
Hermione trailed behind him with hesitation, then tugged gently at his sleeve.
"Tomorrow…"
"Yes?" Kai glanced at her, puzzled.
Hermione puffed out her cheeks slightly. "Never mind."
Kai chuckled silently. She was pretending not to care, but her every gesture betrayed a quiet anticipation.
Of course, he hadn't left everything to Harry and Ron. He had his own plans in motion for her birthday. But those would wait for the right moment.
When he saw her begin walking toward the eighth floor for their usual Room of Requirement session, he called out, "We're not training there today."
Hermione paused and looked over her shoulder. "Why not? I haven't learned Expecto Patronum yet!"
"We're still practicing—just somewhere new."
Before she could ask, Kai took her hand and pulled her into a quiet alcove. He gave her a subtle nod.
"Hold on."
With a gentle pop, the two of them vanished on the spot.
Hermione blinked. The surroundings had completely changed.
"The Headmaster really does spoil you," she murmured, quickly grasping the situation. "Letting you Apparate inside the castle."
Kai gave a mock sigh. "Perks of being his part-time actor."
Hermione nearly burst into laughter, but held it back and turned to survey the space around them.
They were standing in a vast, majestic stone chamber. Two elegant rows of smooth pillars lined the sides, holding up a high, arched ceiling. Overhead, a giant orb of magical light glowed warmly, illuminating every corner.
To their right, several bookshelves stood filled with neatly arranged volumes. A round table sat nearby, elegantly set with desserts and a steaming tea set that poured itself as if welcoming guests.
"Where are we? Are we still in Hogwarts?"
"Of course," Kai said casually. "You've been here before."
Hermione furrowed her brow, studying the stonework—then her eyes widened in realization.
"This is… the Chamber of Secrets?!"
Kai smirked. "Let's call it the Adler Chamber of Secrets now."
"But… the carvings?"
She gestured to the previously snake-covered pillars, now stripped of all serpentine décor.
"They were tasteless," Kai said with a shrug. "I cleaned them off."
"And the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin?"
She turned toward the back of the chamber where the grim visage of the Founder had once loomed. It was gone, replaced by a simple stone wall and a wooden door leading to a deeper chamber.
"Also removed," Kai replied. "It was ugly."
"But he was one of Hogwarts' founders—"
"What right does someone who believed only in blood purity have to call himself a founder of a school?" Kai cut in with disdain. "Education should be for everyone."
Hermione nodded slowly. She didn't fully understand what "education for everyone" entailed, but if Kai said so, it must be true.
"What about the Basilisk's body? Did you get rid of that too?"
"Not quite."
Kai nodded toward the far side of the chamber. Hermione turned—and gasped.
The Basilisk's massive body was curled in the corner like a giant coil of rope, its greenish scales shimmering faintly under the chamber's light.
"This thing is rare," Kai said. "I want to study it."
Dumbledore had told him its venom could kill instantly, even destroy Horcruxes. That made it fascinating.
Also… he was quietly curious about how it might taste.
He had tried snake meat once, back in his previous life, and remembered the flavor vividly. Basilisks were supposedly hatched from a rooster's egg, so… did they taste like chicken?
Hermione gave him a horrified look.
"Relax, just a theory," he said quickly. "I haven't cooked anything."
Changing the subject, she pointed to the wooden door in the wall. "What's behind there?"
"Come see."
Kai led her to the door and pulled it open. A narrow corridor stretched ahead, its stone walls lined with flickering sconces.
"You added these candles?"
Kai nodded. "The Basilisk could see in the dark. We can't."
"What do you mean?"
"That it used to crawl out through this very corridor."
Hermione's face paled. She began walking with exaggerated care, wary of stepping in leftover slime.
"I told you—I cleaned it," Kai said with a chuckle.
Hermione's face reddened, but she clung tighter to his robe and walked on.
Kai found it strange. She had faced the monstrous Basilisk without flinching, but was now squeamish about its tunnel. Girls were hard to understand.
After a while, they reached the end of the corridor. The space opened up into another stone chamber, smaller and dimmer. On the far wall, there was one more wooden door.
"This was the Basilisk's lair," Kai explained. "I cleared out the remains and debris."
Hermione made a face.
Kai opened the final door—and Hermione braced herself for another eerie passage.
Instead, what she saw left her speechless.
It was a room—simple, quiet, and completely out of place.
It looked like something from the Muggle world.
A double bed. A modest desk with a lamp. A wooden bookshelf filled with old books. A wardrobe. The air felt lived-in. Familiar.
On the wall above the bed was a faded poster of a smiling young German actor—perhaps a vintage portrait of Daniel Brühl in one of his early, hopeful roles.
Hermione turned to Kai in astonishment. "This… this doesn't belong here."
Kai stepped into the room, his expression distant.
Kai also looked at the room in front of him with a sense of melancholy. Everything in this room was exactly the same as his memories from his previous life. This was his bedroom when he was a high school student.
That desk and the lamp on it were filled with memories of him studying late into the night. It was here that he got into university, but he encountered an earthquake on the train to school and came to this world.
As for where these things came from, it can only be said that Transfiguration is truly a magical spell.
He didn't know why he had arranged this room like this. Perhaps, he just wanted to reminisce about the past...
Or, to remind himself that he, after all, was not from this world.