Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 105 The Basilisk Appears, and Xiren is Attacked
By the time Xilun had memorized all of this, it was already 9 p.m. At that time, the Headless Hunters started a new round of head-balancing hockey games, attracting away most of the ghosts.

He also took the opportunity to leave the underground classroom in a hurry. Perhaps there were more clues from the other ghosts, but he didn't need that many. Three would be enough.

More importantly, it's almost curfew time.

Siren wasn't worried about Filch, but the underground classrooms were Snape's territory, and he was a Gryffindor himself, so it was better to be cautious.

Especially after learning about Harry and Ron's ordeal, he really didn't want to be locked up by Snape.

Moreover, the underground classroom was too cold. Xiren felt as if his whole body was frozen and he couldn't control himself. All he wanted to do now was to get back to the common room as soon as possible and sit by the warm fireplace for a while.

When he came outside, Xiren saw the melancholy ghost again, but this time he did not disturb it. He simply walked quickly through the gloomy corridor and headed towards the steps leading to the foyer.

The candles on both sides were very dim, and when blown by the wind, they were reduced to the size of rice grains, providing virtually no lighting function.

"Fluorescent!" Siren whispered, and his wand glowed softly, allowing him to see the location of the stairs ahead.

Upon entering the lobby, my body immediately warmed up, the white frost on my hair quickly melted, and the damp hair stuck to my forehead, which felt a little uncomfortable.

Xilun wiped his hat with his hand and quickened his pace toward the stairs.

The foyer was empty at nine o'clock in the evening; not a single person was there. Even the people in the portraits seemed to be asleep. Moonlight shone through the door, falling on the armor and casting long shadows on the ground.

"This is kind of scary." Xiren suddenly felt a little nervous and subconsciously quickened his pace toward the marble staircase not far away.

Footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, interspersed with a faint rustling sound.

But when Xilun stopped to listen carefully, the sound disappeared.

The unease in his heart grew stronger. Xilun wasn't sure if he had really heard the voice or if he was hallucinating from being with the ghost for too long and being frozen.

He could only quicken his pace again, running at full speed up the marble floor and running all the way back to the eighth floor.

Only when he got here did Xilun relax a little, leaning on the railing and panting heavily.

Whether it's a hallucination or not, we're safe here now. After all, Dumbledore's office is on the eighth floor, so no one would dare...

"Awooo!" A shrill cat cry suddenly rang out from behind.

Xilun shuddered and reflexively turned his head to look in the direction from which the sound came.

The instant Xilun turned his head, two eerie yellow lights suddenly appeared in the darkness in front of him, which had been empty before—two huge yellow eyes, as big as light bulbs.

At the same time, Xilun heard the rustling sound again, very clearly, as if a huge creature was slowly crawling through the narrow passage.

Basilisk!
Can't go wrong.

Xilun froze, forcibly suppressing the urge to turn around and take another look.

But how is this possible?
He had already checked that there were no bloody words on the wall, Mrs. Lorris was fine, and Harry hadn't heard any strange noises. Everything seemed normal, so why did the Basilisk appear without warning?

And what's more, it happened on the eighth floor, right outside Dumbledore's office, where they attacked me, a proper pure-blood wizard?

Countless questions flooded Xiren's mind, but he had no time to think about them; only one thought remained.

run!
It seems like Siren is back to last year, when he was relentlessly chased by the crazed Luwei on the fourth floor. The only difference is that the location has changed to the eighth floor, and the three-headed dog has become a basilisk. The only thing that's the same is that they are equally deadly.

Moreover, the basilisk is more terrifying than the three-headed dog.

Xilun didn't dare look back at all; he could only keep his head down and stumble forward.

But how could a twelve-year-old wizard possibly outrun the basilisk? So Siren decided to use the same trick again, using the castle stairs to hold the basilisk back.

Just like last year when he held off the three-headed dog.

Siren simply forgot that Cerberus was under the influence of dark magic and had become completely irrational, but the Basilisk was not...

Just as he was about to run up the stairs, a huge tail lashed out from behind him.

Its tail was as thick as an oak tree trunk, a vibrant green, with the lustrous sheen characteristic of a venomous snake.

The moment Xilun touched the tail, he was flung away and crashed heavily into the wall.

A sharp pain shot through his arm. When Xiren got up again, the basilisk was only a few steps away from him, and he could even smell a strong, fishy stench.

One can imagine that the basilisk had already opened its mouth and was pouncing on him.

All of this happened so fast that Xiren had only just taken out his wand.

A blue unicorn emerged from the tip of the staff and headed straight for the basilisk.

But Siren knew very well that unicorns were no match for basilisks; living unicorns were no match, and soul-like unicorns were even less of a threat.

But at this time, it can play a crucial role.

Through the unicorn's blue body, Xiren finally saw those cold yellow eyes.

His consciousness began to fade, and his body stopped moving in the blink of an eye.

"Clink..." A small bottle fell to the ground from between his stiff fingers, making a crisp sound.

At this moment, the serpent monster that was swooping down suddenly stopped, stretching its upper body high into the air, as if searching for traces of its prey.

As for the nearby Xilun—to the basilisk, it was just a stone, odorless and cold, no different from the wall next to it; it wouldn't use its venomous fangs to bite the stone.

So the basilisk saw the unicorn.

Siren turned to stone, but the unicorn he had used as a "shield" remained unchanged; in the basilisk's eyes, its bright blue body still shimmered. It even lowered its head and forcefully rammed into the basilisk's head.

Then it passed through the basilisk's body.

The basilisk felt as if it had been burned by something, making a painful hissing sound. In a fit of rage, it opened its mouth to bite the unicorn, only to be burned again.

It felt like biting into a ball of scorching steam.

Seemingly knowing it couldn't do anything to the creature in front of it, the basilisk decisively ran away, but the unicorn seemed to have no intention of letting it go, chasing after it all the way.

Soon, they disappeared, leaving only the petrified Xiren sitting on the ground.

Xiren was in a strange state; he couldn't move, but he wasn't completely immobile.

Because he could clearly feel the wand being held in his hand, that familiar touch of his fingers on the wand, it was definitely not an illusion.

Xiren also saw a cat rushing up from downstairs and jumping onto his lap.

It's Tom...

Xilun remembered that he had heard a cat meow when he reached the eighth floor, which allowed him to avoid the basilisk's gaze.

That cat must be Tom.

Fortunately, it was downstairs at the time and didn't see the basilisk's eyes directly.

Xiren wanted to pet the cat's head, but unfortunately he couldn't move his arm... Come to think of it, his fingers seemed to have been blown by the wind just now, was it because of the silver mane?

Siren, who had turned to stone, sat there for a full minute before the professors, who had heard the commotion, finally arrived.

The one running in the lead wasn't even Dumbledore, on whom Sherren had placed high hopes, but Professor McGonagall.

Upon seeing the motionless Xiren, she was initially a little angry, but upon getting closer, she realized something was wrong.

"Get up, Mr. Ollivander, why are you sitting in the corridor... Good heavens, what's going on!"

“Petrification Charm,” Snape said ominously as he emerged from behind. “Perhaps Mr. Ollivander is trying to stop a student from going out at night.” Snape didn’t name names, but all the professors present knew who he was talking about.

Last year, Harry, Ron, and Hermione petrified Neville, who was trying to stop them, in order to leave the common room during curfew.

The professors all know this.

“It’s not curfew yet, Severus,” Professor McGonagall said.

“But using the petrification charm on a classmate is just as bad,” Snape said, pressing his wand against Cyren.

Tom, who was lying on Siron's lap, immediately bristled, arching his back high, baring his sharp teeth, and making a series of "hiss...ha...hiss...ha" sounds at Snape.

“Get away, you stupid cat, I’m saving him,” Snape said, frowning.

“Leave it to me,” Professor McGonagall said, and immediately transformed into a tabby cat.

Before she could do anything, Tom retracted his fangs and claws and slowly hopped to the side.

An awkward silence followed.

"Let's end this farce quickly."

Snape waved his wand, and a silver light fell upon Cyron.

"Tell me who did it."

Looking at the confident Snape, Siron really wanted to tell him to take a good look... "At least make sure the stone has dissolved before you ask."

"What's going on?" Snape also noticed Cyren's unmoving eyes.

He waved his wand again.

"Break the curse and dispel it!"

This time it was a blue spell, but it dissipated immediately upon contact with Xiren's body.

It doesn't work at all.

Snape was getting a little embarrassed, especially after seeing the silly cat make a strange face; his hand gripping his wand cracked.

Why did he feel like he was being mocked by a cat?

Fortunately, Lockhart and Flitwick arrived at this moment, along with Dumbledore, who was late, which broke the awkward atmosphere.

However, Dumbledore was also unable to undo Celeste's petrification.

A white light illuminated the dim corridor. Dumbledore walked to Shiron's side, carefully observed his condition, and gently touched him with his wand.

"This must be a very sophisticated form of black magic."

“Dark magic…” Professor McGonagall clenched her fists tightly against her chest.

"You mean a student was attacked by dark magic at the entrance to the common room?"

"This is simply absurd... Who is it?"

"I'm afraid only Mr. Ollivander himself knows the answer to that," Dumbledore muttered to himself.

“It’s a pity I wasn’t there at the time,” Lockhart said. “I remember something similar happened in Ouagadougou, and I’ve written about it in detail in my autobiography…”

Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued to stare at Dumbledore.

"How is Ollivander doing now?"

"Completely petrified."

"Can't it be solved?"

“There is still a way,” Dumbledore said. “Professor Sprout recently acquired some mandrakes, and once they grow to maturity, they can be used to make a potion to remove Mr. Ollivander’s petrification.”

“Yes,” Professor Sprout nodded, “but the mandrake is still very young and may take some time to mature.”

“Leave the preparation to me,” Lockhart said. “I…”

“Excuse me,” Snape interrupted him rudely, “I think we shouldn’t have to wait that long.”

He was holding a small bottle in his hand, which he had picked up from the ground while casting the spell.

The bottle had already been opened, and Snape brought it close to the opening and took a sniff.

“The juice of mandrake.” He raised an eyebrow. “It’s not exactly fresh, but it can still be used to make resurrection potions.”

The professors exchanged bewildered glances.

Why does this feel so strange? Dumbledore just said he needed mandrake juice, and then he found this stuff right next to him.

It's as if someone deliberately placed it there.

But who would do that? It couldn't be the person who used the petrification spell on Ollivander, could it?

“In any case, this is a good thing,” Dumbledore said. “Until the resurrection potion is ready, let’s bring Mr. Ollivander to my office.”

He waved his wand, and Siron floated up.

The professors surrounding the area parted to make way, revealing what lay beyond.

“Unicorn…” Professor McGonagall was stunned, and couldn’t help but ask, “Dumbledore, are there still unicorn ghosts in the school?”

Dumbledore didn't speak; he was also a little confused about what was going on.

He had never heard of the ghost of a unicorn in Hogwarts Castle.

Then, to the professors' incredulous gaze, the unicorn began to run, head down, charging at full speed.

It seemed like only a blink of an eye before it arrived in front of everyone.

The professors wanted to do something, but how could they possibly stop a ghost? They could only watch helplessly as the unicorn crashed into Siron.

"Dong dong..."

The next second, it seemed as if a heartbeat could be heard all around.

After the unicorn charged, Xiren felt a warm current rapidly spreading from his chest outwards. He seemed to hear the sound of shattering glass, and his stiff body regained sensation.

At the same time, he fell from mid-air to the ground, landing squarely on his already broken arm.

"Ah!" The intense pain made Xilun cry out.

Wait, he can make a sound now?

Xilun was taken aback at first, but after regaining his senses, he immediately shouted:
"A basilisk! It's a basilisk that attacked me!"

He disregarded his broken arm, found Dumbledore in the crowd, and shouted:

"I saw it! The basilisk crawled out of the girls' washroom that always leaks, in the third corridor on the left side of the second floor. There's also a ghost named Myrtle in there!"

……

(End of this chapter)