Simultaneously traversing: the pinnacle of all realms

Chapter 86 The Basilisk, Die!

Everyone was protecting Harry as they walked forward.

He was the key, and also the only student and child. McGonagall and Flitwick stood on either side of him, with Snape blocking his way directly in front, his black robes casting a straight shadow on the water.

The group walked up to the statue and saw that it was incredibly tall; even with only the head remaining above the water, it was still six or seven meters high.

Slytherin's ancient, monkey-like face looked down at them, its stone-carved whiskers hanging below the water's surface, each one individually carved and appearing slippery and wet in the fluorescent light.

"What a huge statue."

Harry blurted out, "Such a narcissistic Slytherin." He didn't say the rest of the sentence aloud.

Dumbledore stopped and looked up at the stone-carved face.

A golden-red shadow emerged from the darkness and landed on his shoulder. The phoenix looked at the statue and let out a low cry.

"The Basilisk is behind us," said Dumbledore. "Harry."

"Say 'Ash, Agatha, Selice!" Harry read it aloud, just as Dumbledore had taught him.

The statue's mouth slowly opened.

Deep within the gaping maw of the statue lies the basilisk, still asleep. The basilisk, sixty feet long and entirely dark green, coils in the dark chamber inside the statue, rising and falling slowly with its breath.

Dumbledore drew his wand and stood at the front of the group, shielding everyone behind him.

"Watch out! Everyone, don't look into its eyes."

Meanwhile, McGonagall's wand was already pointing at the two nearest stone pillars.

"Transform instantly!"

The top of the stone pillar began to expand and bend, and the serpentine statue came to life, gliding silently and forming a temporary stone barrier around everyone.

Professor Flitwick raised his wand, and a silver mist shot out from its tip, forming a thin, dim curtain of light above everyone's heads.

"If the basilisk awakens, I will block its view."

His deliberately lowered, high-pitched voice sounded somewhat thin in the empty, enclosed room, "Albus, it's up to you now."

Snape stood motionless in front of Harry. He did nothing unnecessary, simply placing his body between Harry and the Basilisk.

Dumbledore nodded, his wand tracing an arc.

A spell cast silently and without a staff, a spell whose name no one present could recall.

A beam of white light shot out from the tip of the staff, enveloping the basilisk's head like an invisible net.

The basilisk had just reacted to the sense of danger—then the white light suddenly tightened.

Before the basilisk could even hiss, its massive body froze. Those bright yellow eyes that Mommy Peach had seen before her death remained unopened until its demise.

No accidents.

The basilisk died in its sleep.

A curse.

When prepared, a basilisk that has lived for a thousand years appears exceptionally vulnerable in the face of Dumbledore.

Two highly experienced Aurors looked at Dumbledore's retreating figure with admiration; they too had once been Dumbledore's students.

If they were to come, it would be difficult to be confident of killing the basilisk in one blow, because powerful magical creatures all have considerable magical resistance, let alone a being like the basilisk, which is classified as the highest level of danger.

Dumbledore put away his wand. He stared at the enormous basilisk corpse before him for a long while, then turned away.

If the basilisk could be tamed, or even if it had never killed anyone, Dumbledore would not have chosen to execute it, after all, it was left behind by Slytherin, the founder of Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, as a dangerous creature of XXXXX level, the basilisk is characterized by its inability to be tamed or subdued. Since the basilisk is still a snake, it can only be controlled by the power of the Parseltongue.

"Gentlemen," he said, "we also need to get his body out of here. The Ministry of Magic needs evidence, Myrtle needs an explanation, and Hagrid—Hagrid needs an answer that everyone can see for themselves."

The basilisk's corpse was so enormous that even with the help of magic, it took a long time to drag it out of the pipe.

The reporter was extremely excited when he saw the basilisk's enormous corpse and kept taking pictures.

After all, the basilisk had not appeared for a long time, because breeding basilisks had been considered illegal since the Middle Ages, so the wizards present could only see its appearance in some materials.

The news of the secret room didn't spread until dawn.

Dumbledore's journalist friends published two reports on the front page of The Daily Prophet.

The title of the first article is: "A Mystery Unveiled in a Locked Room: A Thousand-Year-Old Mystery Finally Solved".

The accompanying image is of Dumbledore standing in front of the Chamber of Secrets entrance, talking to Fudge with his usual gentle expression, while Fudge beside him has a stiff face.

The title of the second article is: "The Truth About a Wrongful Conviction Fifty Years Ago: The Wrongfully Accused Half-Giant".

This report details how the 1943 investigation was hastily concluded.

The headmaster at the time, Armando Dippert, was eager to quell the panic among the young wizards and pushed Hagrid out to take the blame.

The investigators sent by the Ministry of Magic closed the case in less than an afternoon, citing "the dangerous creature Hagrid kept as aggressive." Whether that "dangerous creature" actually killed anyone was never investigated further.

Although the then Minister of Magic, Leonard Spencer Moon, was a very capable wizard who had long overseen the conflict between international wizards and Muggles, and also had a good working relationship with Winston Churchill.

But the Ministry of Magic has never been decided by the Minister alone.

The report also included a photo of Hagrid in his younger days, seemingly unearthed from somewhere—a boy a size smaller than he is now—but already very tall, smiling innocently. Next to the photo was the caption: "Fifty years later, he needs an apology."

Three days after the report was published, Fudge personally arrived at Hogwarts with an official document from the Ministry of Magic.

The document bore the seal of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and its contents were simple: all charges against Rubeus Hagrid in 1943 were dropped, his right to legally use a wand was restored, and a formal written apology was offered to him.

No one knows under whose pressure this apology was written.

Although Cornelius Fudge frequently sought Albus Dumbledore's help when he first became minister, he eventually began to suspect that Dumbledore intended to usurp his position.

But he forgot that shortly before the retirement of the previous Minister of Magic, Millison Bagno, many wizards had nominated Albus Dumbledore for the position on several occasions.

Dumbledore declined the position due to his own experiences; it was only on Dumbledore's advice that Fudge became Minister for Magic.

Now, however, Fudge is always eager to break free from Dumbledore's influence, perhaps wanting to prove himself.

Dumbledore gradually realized that Fudge was no longer the young Fudge he once was.

McGonagall took Hagrid to the hospital. He didn't cry—at least that's what McGonagall said later—but several Hufflepuff students who were there that day said Hagrid used half a roll of tissues to blow his nose.

Hagrid can finally use his wand openly—the wand hidden in the little pink umbrella.

When Hagrid's wand was broken, it was Dumbledore who secretly had it repaired.

Dumbledore took the wand from the umbrella and handed it to Hagrid, saying only two words: "Too late."

Hagrid choked up as he took the wand, saying, "Thank you, Dumbledore. Only you, and only you, have always believed in me."

""

Then he hugged Dumbledore and cried for half an hour.