Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 101 Dumbledore's Cunning Moves

"Huff...huff...Professor Dumbledore, please wait a moment!"

Finally, after the opening banquet, Avada managed to catch up with Dumbledore before he returned to the headmaster's office, thus avoiding the awkwardness of having to answer commands one by one under the death stare of the stone beast.

"Mr. Ken? You wanted to see me?"

Dumbledore looked at the panting Avada with some surprise, unable to understand for a moment what could have made him so anxious to come to him. Then he waved his hand to open the passage to the headmaster's office: "Let's go inside and talk."

"Thank you so much, Professor."

Avada followed Dumbledore into the familiar headmaster's office. After drinking a glass of water and catching his breath, he spoke seriously, "Professor, in the time leading up to the start of the school year, I saw some fragments of the future again."

"Oh?"

Dumbledore immediately became serious: "What did you see, Mr. Ken?"

"I saw it... a gigantic snake, slithering somewhere in Hogwarts. It has sharp fangs and eyes that can petrify or even kill instantly. It will awaken this year and attack the students..."

"and,"

He interrupted Dumbledore, who was about to say something, and continued, "When I tried to find out why that monster appeared at Hogwarts, all I could see was a blurry image—a blank notebook with a black cover."

"A black notebook, and huge, deadly snakes with eyes that can kill..."

"I understand, Mr. Ken. Thank you very much for reminding me."

Dumbledore frowned and pondered for a long time before finally raising his head and expressing his gratitude solemnly, just as Avada was about to call out to him.

"The snake you saw was likely a Basilisk—an extremely rare magical creature with a danger level of XXXXX. Its characteristics match all your descriptions. As for why it appeared at Hogwarts, and the matter of the Black Notebook, I will investigate as soon as possible. Please allow me to thank you again, Mr. Ken…you may have saved this school once again."

As he spoke, Dumbledore's expression relaxed: "But now that we know this information in advance, we don't need to worry too much... You may not know, but basilisks have a very obvious weakness: they are afraid of the crowing of roosters, which can be fatal to them..."

"So you're going to keep a huge flock of chickens on campus, Professor?"

Avada asked questions out of curiosity while imagining the scene...

If a student accidentally hurts a chicken, will they be attacked by a whole flock of chickens? Or will they be hunted down by all the professors in the school?

"No need for that. Doing so would disrupt the normal teaching order and might even cause panic..."

Dumbledore smiled and replied, "My plan is to add a few roosters to every painting, and have them crow from time to time, ensuring that the crowing can reach every corner of the school... As the headmaster, is it too much to ask me to add a few chickens to the school's paintings?"

"..."

Avada fell silent; this was a path he had never envisioned.

The oil paintings covered almost every corridor and room in the school, so the roosters would also spread throughout the school in this way. The teachers and students would just think it was Dumbledore's usual prank, without causing any speculation or panic. And since the chickens in the paintings couldn't be killed like in the original story... it's hard to imagine how the Basilisk would survive the year.

I hope something bad happens to the snake.

"That sounds pretty safe, Professor," Avada exclaimed.

"Thank you for the compliment... Alright, it's getting late, you should go back and rest. You don't need to worry about the basilisk and that notebook anymore, just leave it to me, the headmaster."

……

With Dumbledore's guarantee and that no-escape insurance policy, Avada felt much relieved, with only one last thing to do...

"Harry, Harry!"

The next day at noon, Avada successfully intercepted Harry in the crowd heading to the dining hall, as he was walking alongside Ron and Hermione: "Could you come with me for a moment? I need your help with something..."

"I?"

Harry was stunned.

"Are you having trouble? Is there anything we can do to help?" Ron and Hermione asked, puzzled, but Avada politely declined with a smile: "Oh, no need. My matter with Harry is related to his traits; it shouldn't take long, it should be resolved in a little while..."

"Oh well."

Ron nodded and said to Harry, "Then we'll wait for you in the dining hall."

"Thanks... Let's go then, Ken."

As Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermione, he followed Avada's footsteps, asking curiously, "What's going on this time? Ken? And what does it have to do with my traits? Is it Voldemort again...?"

"I can't say for sure."

Avada shook his head, said nothing more, and silently led Harry to the door of the abandoned bathroom on the third floor: "This is it."

"This...is the women's restroom?" Harry looked at Avada with some hesitation.

"Yes, that makes sense."

Avada also felt that it was a bit inappropriate for two boys like Harry to barge into the girls' restroom in broad daylight, so he took out his wand and tapped it on his and Harry's shoulders, casting a Disillusionment Charm on them: "That's enough, go in."

Harry: ...

In the end, he was still pulled into the abandoned washroom by Avadala, his illusion charm was removed, and then, at Avadala's command, he squinted and strained to find the small snake carved on the sink...

"Say 'open' to it."

"Huh?" Harry was completely bewildered.

"I suspect there's something hidden here. Just do as I say."

"Uh... open it?"

Harry read it tentatively—in normal English.

"You have to try hard to imagine that this is a real snake..."

Avada twisted his arms, mimicking the movements of a snake: "Imagine it comes to life, crawling like this, flicking its tongue at you, looking at you, waiting for your command... and then say 'open' to it."

"..."

Harry remained silent for a long while, staring intently at the small snake for a moment, then his lips moved, finally emitting a cold, inhuman hissing sound...

No response.

"How could this be...? Is there really no secret room in this world? Or is it just a parallel world very similar to the original story?"

Under Harry's questioning gaze, Avada frowned, quickly thinking about something. Then she slowly walked to the toilet, bent down, and gently knocked on the toilet seat: "Myrtle, are you there?"

A translucent ghost suddenly leaped out of the toilet, startling Harry. She stared at Avada's face, her lips trembling, about to burst into tears…

"I'd like to ask you, how did you die back then?"

Avada interrupted Myrtle's buildup in time, allowing her expression to relax again.

"Oh, you're asking about that? I thought you were here to throw stones at me..."

She spoke in a lighthearted tone, surprising Harry that a ghost would be so willing to discuss the cause of her death: "I was hiding in this bathroom, crying alone, when suddenly I felt dizzy, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself a ghost!"

"...Is that all?"

Avada tentatively asked, "Did you see anything else? Like a pair of giant eyes or something...?"

"Hey, there's no such nonsense."

Myrtle said with a disdainful look, "You're probably some stupid student who heard some ghost stories somewhere and can't sleep at night because you're scared, right? Let me tell you, back in my day..."

"Alright, alright, I got it. Thanks for the information..."

Avada quickly pulled Harry out of the bathroom, a hint of relief and confusion in his eyes.

This is chapter 100, so I'll add an extra chapter to round it out.

(End of this chapter)