A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Felix opened his eyes. The enormous creature had been shattered into several pieces, but there was no smell of blood.

He and Snape went up to it and found that it was a huge snakeskin, green and shiny, but covered with a layer of dust, making it look grayish-green.

“The basilisk is at least twenty feet long—and,” Felix said, “an excellent cutting spell, Professor Snape.”

Snape retorted, "You're not bad either, Felix. Your Stun effect is almost as good as the Explosion Curse."

Hermione and Dumbledore approached, and Hermione carefully examined the remains of the snake skin. A third of it had been blasted into fragments—a testament to Professor Hyp's magic—and the remaining part was cut in half with smooth, clean cuts, clearly the work of some powerful cutting magic.

The little witch picked up a piece of snake skin; it was hard as a rock, like a piece of metal, and she couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.

Dumbledore examined the basilisk's shed skin carefully. "It's been quite a while. It's probably left behind by the basilisk when the Chamber of Secrets was last opened."

Just then, a clear phoenix cry came from afar.

“We need to speed things up.” Dumbledore took the lead and walked ahead.

They rounded bend after bend, their feet splashing and sloshing through the wet puddles. Hermione felt the sticky sensation under her feet, her nerves trembling uncomfortably, and all she wanted was for this to end as quickly as possible.

Finally, they came to a solid wall with a round iron door embedded in it. The arrangement resembled the round door of the Gryffindor common room, but instead of a portrait, it featured seven intertwined snakes with large, glittering emeralds in their eyes. Their tails met, their heads spread out, completely sealing the entrance.

“It’s obvious we need an entry command or forced destruction,” Felix said.

Snape waved his wand, and under the influence of an invisible cutting charm, the iron switch burst forth with a brilliant green fluorescence. When everything returned to calm, the round iron door was intact.

Dumbledore ran his fingers over the twisted snake on the iron gate, then shook his head. "I can break it open, but that will take time." He looked at Felix.

Felix understood and took out a scroll, tossing it high into the air. The magic scroll quickly unfurled, spreading out to a length of seven or eight meters.

He tapped his wand on it and whispered, "Open." The words on the magic scroll began to twist, deform, and recombine, and soon a vortex appeared in the center of the scroll.

The four people present heard the magic scroll make a strange, hissing sound.

The next moment, the circular iron gate moved. From where the snakes' tails met, an even smaller snake swam out, circled the iron gate once, and then with a "click," the gate opened.

"Professor, what is this?" Hermione asked curiously, as she didn't know that magic scrolls had this function.

"It can translate my words into Parseltongue, provided that it has enough Parseltongue information stored inside."

Dumbledore said with admiration, "Is this the idea you and I mentioned during the interview, combining Muggle wisdom with magic?"

Snape and Hermione's eyes fell on him at the same time.

Felix said calmly, "It's just an experiment."

“Felix,” Dumbledore said, “there are not many wizards as open-minded as you left.”

The group continued forward, passing through a circular iron gate. Before them lay a long, dimly lit space. The space was shaped like a hammer, with the handle forming a wide passageway in front of them. On either side of the passageway were many stone pillars carved with coiled serpents.

These towering stone pillars support the high, dark ceiling, casting long, eerie shadows in the glowing green light.

At the far end of the space was an open area, shaped like the square head of a hammer. At the edge of the open area was a statue as tall as the room itself, pressed tightly against the dark wall behind it.

Felix recognized it almost immediately as a Slytherin statue; he had seen similar things in many books.

His gaze fell on the open ground, where a fierce battle was taking place.

A blind basilisk, thirty feet long, writhed wildly, each swing sending up a shower of stones, which a young wizard dodged in disarray.

It was Harry Potter.

Chapter 62 The Observer

“Headmaster, we…” Felix drew his wand.

Dumbledore did not answer, but instead fell into deep thought, as if he had fallen asleep.

"Headmaster Dumbledore!" Hermione exclaimed anxiously, stamping her feet.

Dumbledore pondered for a few seconds, then waved his wand, casting several Disillusionment Charms over their heads.

Felix overheard his conversation with Snape.

"I don't understand, Dumbledore..."

"What, Severus?"

"That child... Harry Potter, he's going to die!"

“I am here,” Dumbledore said briefly.

The conversation ended there, but Felix couldn't help but fall into thought—

Did Dumbledore want to groom Potter? Life and death are the best opportunities to inspire courage and potential, especially with this old man standing right there, in control of the whole situation.

or……

He suddenly recalled his conversation with Dumbledore when Potter's Parsley was exposed. The headmaster said he needed to confirm something—what could it be?

The group approached the battlefield silently. As they drew nearer, Felix noticed large patches of broken ice crystals on the open ground, and a dozen palm-sized, blood-stained black scales stuck to half of a collapsed ice wall.

The four arrived near a serpent-shaped stone pillar in front of the open space and dispelled part of the illusion spell's effect—which allowed them to see each other's positions.

“Professor!” Hermione tugged at his sleeve. Behind the pillar, a young wizard was lying on the ground, with a tiny bird about the size of a palm next to him.

It's Ron and Fox.

"Headmaster, Weasley has been found."

Dumbledore glanced at the field, "Severus..."

“I’m watching,” Snape said without turning his head, his gaze fixed on Harry, his expression quite intriguing.

Dumbledore and Felix knelt in front of Ron, whose clothes were covered in dust and scratches, but whose body was unharmed.

The little phoenix beside it let out a soft cry, as if it were asking for credit.

It was obvious that it was this that cured Ron.

“Thank you, Fox,” Dumbledore said to it with satisfaction.

“Professor, Ron…” Hermione looked at Ron with concern.

“He’s fine,” Felix said, tapping the ring on his left hand with his wand. A vial of potion flew out, which he forced down Ron’s throat.

Ron's eyebrows furrowed.

In the open space, Harry's battle continued—

He hid behind a boulder, waving his wand. The palm-sized magical puppet unleashed blasts of icy energy mixed with ice crystals. The blind basilisk couldn't detect "her" at all, and could only launch repeated attacks across the entire area. Tiny specks of white frost remained on its tail.

Harry nimbly dodged a boulder the size of a human head, shattering the boulder barrier in front of him. He quickly jogged away, but the sound of his footsteps attracted the basilisk's attention, and the next second, its thick tail lashed out.

Harry immediately commanded the magical golems to stand in front of him, and with a series of "whoosh whoosh whoosh!", a cluster of ice pillars appeared out of thin air.

The enormous black serpent tail crashed down, and after a grating, teeth-grinding sound, the ice pillar and the magical puppet shattered into pieces.

Harry took the opportunity to tiptoe away.

The three professors hiding in the shadows simultaneously put down their wands. Felix couldn't help but glance at the pile of puppet fragments on the ground with a pang of heartache. Was it just ruined like that?

“Professor, I want to help Harry!” Hermione said to him.

Felix paused for a moment, then asked, "Have you thought it through?"

"Yes."

Felix dispelled Hermione's illusion spell and took a beaded pouch from his ring, handing it to her. "I was going to give it to you as a Christmas present, but I'll give it to you early—I don't need to explain how to use it, right?"

“No need, thank you, Professor!” Hermione said cheerfully.

She wasn't worried about Harry's safety; with two professors and the headmaster around, he was sure to survive. But she didn't want to see Harry face the Basilisk alone.

They are best friends!

Hermione carefully hid in the shadows, moving as quietly as possible.

On the field, Harry struggled to dodge the basilisk's tail and the flying pebbles. Without the help of the magical puppet, he was immediately at a complete disadvantage.

Harry hissed, "Quiet down!"

But the basilisk had gone mad; it had gone blind, which almost certainly meant its death—either by being killed or starving to death. What's more, they had broken into the secret chamber.

“Kill…kill…” the basilisk hissed and lashed out with its tail in response to the sound Harry made.

"Whoosh!"

A sharp whistling sound tore through the air as a lush green vine, as thick as a wrist, climbed up the basilisk's tail, abruptly halting its attack.

Harry looked incredulous.

Hermione!?

The little witch wrapped the other end of the devil vine around the stone pillar to fight off the basilisk's terrifying power. "Harry, run!"

Harry didn't have time to think about why Hermione was there. He ran away quickly, but tripped halfway. It was the Sorting Hat, the big silver bird, that brought him there!

Not long ago, the Basilisk discovered him, the intruder, and decided to kill him and Ron. At this point, no amount of parseltongue would matter; its words, "Master's command," were everything.

At the critical moment, a large silver bird suddenly appeared, not only pecking out the basilisk's eyes, but also briefly disappearing to bring him the Sorting Hat.

He didn't know why, but he believed the Sorting Hat would be useful in the current situation.

He picked up the tattered hat and put it on his head, muttering to himself, "Please help me no matter what."

There was no answer, but the hat was pressed down tighter and tighter, as if an invisible hand was desperately gripping the Sorting Hat on his head.

啷！

Something heavy and hard landed on Harry's head, nearly knocking him unconscious. Harry realized it was a gleaming silver sword with a dazzling, egg-sized ruby ​​set in its hilt.

Not far away, Felix's gaze froze. That was... the Gryffindor sword?

Are the four founders of Hogwarts, Gryffindor, a symbol of courage and faith?

He turned his head and stared intently at Dumbledore. Is this what you want to confirm?

Dumbledore didn't notice his gaze; his eyes, through his half-moon spectacles, fell on the basilisk, and his lips moved silently.

This gave Felix a vague sense of unease, a very eerie feeling. In his vision, the magic of the Basilisk, Harry, and Hermione was very conspicuous, but there seemed to be something else on the scene.

Under the illusion spell, he bent his finger and gently touched his brow. In an instant, the colors of everything before him melted and faded.

Only black, white, and gray remain.

Felix gazed at the battlefield ahead, his calm face masking a turbulent undercurrent.