Just as Tom finished speaking, David felt the ground beneath him suddenly give way...
Clearly, the floor was collapsing!
The very instant the ground gave way, David's hands made a swift motion, and he silently recited an incantation in his heart.
"Dampen and decelerate!"
"Boom!"
The entire living room floor snapped like a chocolate bar broken by brute force, instantly splitting in two!
Tom and David fell straight through the gap!
Fortunately, David cast his cushioning charm just in time, so neither of them broke their legs from the fall.
"Ah! What on earth is happening? It stinks so bad!" Tom roared angrily.
Then Tom couldn't speak anymore, because the overwhelming stench rushed at him, choking him so badly he could barely breathe, let alone hurl insults.
David covered his nose and looked around. By this time, the dust kicked up by the collapsing floor had gradually settled.
The faint light filtering down from above illuminated the surroundings just a little bit, but further out, it remained pitch black.
Still, this was enough for David to realize where they were—they had actually fallen into the sewer!
"Gather air above!"
David silently recited the charm, casting a Bubble-Head Charm on both himself and Tom. Two transparent bubbles encased their heads, successfully sealing off the foul stench of the sewer.
Tom reached up in surprise, touching the transparent bubble over his head, and cast a complicated glance at David.
"Is this another piece of magic you just guessed?" Tom's voice came through the Bubble-Head Charm, sounding muffled.
"This isn't the time for that, Tom..." David watched his surroundings vigilantly.
Tom closed his mouth and made no further sound.
On one hand, David's ability to research and invent magic on his own made him feel deeply frustrated, and he didn't feel like talking anymore.
On the other hand, both of them were in grave danger right now...
Anything—human or otherwise—that could easily collapse a floor was definitely not something easy to deal with!
"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."
Amidst the swirling dust, a strange sound suddenly echoed.
Overwhelmed by extreme unease, Tom couldn't help speaking up: "Maybe we should run for it right now..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a massive snake head suddenly lunged out from the dark shadows ahead!
The ferocious snake head opened its gaping maw, baring sharp fangs as it lunged straight at Tom's head!
Struck by this sudden disaster, Tom was paralyzed with terror. His legs felt as if they were cast in iron, rooted firmly to the spot, unable to move a single inch.
He could only watch helplessly as the snake head lunged toward his head.
"Impedimenta!"
"Bang!"
The ferocious snake head was actually forced back half a meter by David's Impediment Charm!
"Tom! Stop standing there like a fool! Say something!" David shouted loudly.
"Ah? Say... say what?"
Having just been attacked by a giant snake and nearly losing his life, Tom had temporarily lost the ability to think.
Therefore, he couldn't process David's words at all...
Meanwhile, the giant snake shook its head and lunged forward once more.
"Bang!"
Another Impediment Charm struck its head, driving it back yet again.
"Tom! Speak to it!"
As David shouted, he cast a Petrifying Charm.
Yet the Petrifying Charm, which had always proven infallible, struck the giant snake only to be deflected away by its dark green scales...
Still, this bought them a moment of breathing room, and Tom finally snapped back to his senses.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss..." Tom's Parseltongue ability activated once more.
Parseltongue had a controlling effect on snakes, and this time, it indeed worked.
Upon hearing Tom speak, the giant snake actually stopped its attack.
However, even though it didn't continue its assault, it kept its head tilted, constantly observing the two human children in front of it.
"What did it say to you?" David asked, turning his head while keeping a wary eye on the giant snake.
"It..." Tom frowned. "It didn't say anything!"
"Then what did you say?"
"I... I ordered it to leave!"
At that moment, the giant snake was flicking its massive forked tongue, staring quietly at them.
"I think... maybe we should just leave first..." David spoke up first.
"I agree." For the first time, Tom agreed with David's suggestion wholeheartedly. "But... why isn't it obeying orders?"
"Maybe you're still too weak right now. Would you obey the orders of someone weaker than a chicken?"
Although David's words were blunt enough to deal a heavy blow to Tom's young and fragile heart, he had no energy left to dwell on that right now.
Just as the two of them were trying to figure out how to escape from here:
"Hiss!"
The giant snake launched another attack!
David hit its head with another Impediment Charm, but this time the effect was far worse than before.
It merely knocked the snake's head slightly off course, and its razor-sharp fangs grazed David's shoulder as they snapped shut against the ground!
With a pale face, Tom once again used Parseltongue to command the giant snake, "Hiss, hiss, hiss! (I order you to back down!)"
A flash of amusement crossed the giant snake's eyes as it raised its head, seemingly preparing to launch a second strike.
David's heart sank. In a confined space like a sewer, there was simply no way to escape in front of a giant snake like this.
It seemed they were left with no choice but to fight to the death...
However, this giant snake's magic resistance seemed absurdly high!
David was already bracing himself for a desperate fight.
There was no help for it; the time he had spent studying magic was simply too short. Had he been given even one more week to study, he wouldn't have been pushed to the point of risking his life!
Right at that moment, the giant snake's movements suddenly halted, and its entire body began to shake violently!
"Hiss..."
Watching the giant snake suddenly behave as if it were possessed, thrashing and hissing wildly, Tom looked at David in utter bewilderment.
"Did you do this?"
"If I had that kind of ability, would I still need to run? Stop talking! Let's get out of here while we still can. Once we reach the surface, we'll be safe!"
"Wait!" Suddenly, Tom grabbed David, turning to stare at the giant snake with a look of utter shock.
"What is it?"
"It... it spoke!"
"What did it say?"
David's brows knitted together. The snake must have said something immensely shocking to Tom, otherwise Tom, who treasured his own little life so dearly, would never have stopped.
"It said... we should run quickly! It's barely managing to control itself..." Tom looked at David in confusion.
David turned back to look at the giant snake. Sure enough, the snake's trembling body had steadied, but its eyes had grown much clearer, completely devoid of the ferocious malice they held just moments before...
"Tom... ask it what its name is." David looked at the giant snake, speaking thoughtfully.
Tom gave David a strange look, but did as he was asked anyway.
A moment later, Tom said, "It says its name is Nagini..."