HP: Azkaban's Outstanding Graduate

He really didn't want to repeat the mistake of "Eamon Blade," and didn't want to be blown to pieces for absorbing other people's magic.

……

As night deepened, when he hurried back to the castle, he stumbled upon an unusual scene in the entrance hall: Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were carefully carrying something, moving step by step toward the school infirmary.

“This is…” Sagres stepped forward, his handsome eyebrows furrowed, “Another attack?”

“Sagres!” Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief. “You’ve come at the perfect time, quickly lend a hand…”

Sagres waved his wand, and the figures in the hands of the headmaster and vice-headmaster floated up and moved slowly with their steps.

"What exactly happened?" Sagres asked seriously as he placed the young wizard's body on the bed in the school infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey has been awakened and is now examining the "statue" with her wand.

“Another attack,” Dumbledore said. “Minerva found him in the corridor.”

Sagrais bent down to examine the first-year student. The boy was still clutching a Muggle camera tightly in his hand, a look of terror frozen on his young face. The camera lens was shattered, as if it had been struck by something heavy.

“Colin Creevey,” Professor McGonagall’s voice tightened, “is a huge Potter fanatic. When I found him, he was clutching a bunch of grapes; he probably sneaked off to visit Potter.”

“Potter?” Sagres asked, puzzled.

"He broke his arm on the field today and is lying there receiving treatment!" Professor McGonagall said, pointing to the bed next to her that was covered by a curtain.

Sagres nodded thoughtfully.

“He was petrified just like that cat,” Ms. Pomfrey told them.

“Yes,” Professor McGonagall replied, “Luckily, Dumbledore happened to come downstairs to get some hot cocoa, otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do, we didn’t even bring our wands.”

Sagres glanced at the three of them. Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey were all still in their pajamas. Dumbledore's long, silver hair was loosely draped over his shoulders, indicating that they had all rushed over.

Ms. Pomfrey suddenly pointed to the camera Colin was clutching: "Could he... have taken pictures of the attackers?"

Dumbledore had already reached out and taken the camera off, and when he opened the back cover, a cloud of smoke mixed with the smell of burning immediately came out.

"Merlin!" both Ms. Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

"how so!"

"It was destroyed by powerful magic."

Dumbledore's expression was serious. "It seems that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened; there is no doubt about that!"

“What should we do, Albus?” Professor McGonagall’s voice lost its usual composure. “Are we just going to wait for Pomona’s mandrake to mature?”

“Let me do it!” Sagres stepped forward and took out a bottle of shimmering silver potion from his robe. “A powerful potion made from mandrake and phoenix tears. Just two drops will restore him to normal.”

"Where did this come from?" Professor McGonagall asked in surprise. "Last time..."

“This is precious, I won’t use it on a cat!” he said, taking out two drops of the potion and feeding them into the little wizard’s petrified mouth.

A miraculous change then occurred—the grayish-white stone color receded like a tide, and a healthy rosy glow spread across the boy's face at a visible speed.

Colin suddenly coughed violently, his chest heaving as if he had just been rescued from deep water.

“Oh, that’s wonderful, thank you Merlin! Finally…” Ms. Pomfrey said happily.

“You should thank me, and my friend!” Sagles said to Ms. Pomfrey, who immediately smiled upon hearing this.

“Yes, Sagres, thank you for everything you’ve done…” Ms. Pomfrey said with a smile.

Many of the healing spells she knew were modified by Sargeras, which is why she always held this young professor in high esteem.

Colin, gradually regaining consciousness, blinked blankly: "Where...where am I? I think I just had a nightmare..."

His gaze swept across everyone's faces, finally settling on the camera in Dumbledore's hand. Then he suddenly shivered. "There... there was something in the corridor. I wanted to take a picture of it, but it glanced back at me, and then... and then I... ended up here?"

At this moment, Snape, Lockhart, and others rushed to the infirmary.

Seeing Colin lying on the hospital bed talking, they all looked confused—Dumbledore's Patronus had clearly stated it was an attack, but the scene before them...

Dumbledore explained the situation succinctly.

When it was mentioned that Sagres had used a special potion to remove Colin's petrification, Snape gave him a meaningful look.

"So, you saw the attackers?" Lockhart said something serious for once, though his signature smile still made people uncomfortable.

“I saw a huge snake…it was going in another direction, and I was so surprised…I was thinking of taking a picture, but as soon as I pressed the shutter, it turned around…” Colin stammered. “And then, I came here…”

“A snake?” Snape repeated, squinting. “How big?”

"About... the size of a bucket, I can't remember exactly, I should take a picture of it..."

“I’m sorry, your camera is damaged,” Dumbledore said gently, “but don’t worry, I’ll find a way to fix it.”

Colin nodded gratefully.

Lockhart's smile vanished at this point, replaced by disbelief. "A snake as thick as a bucket? At Hogwarts? Inside the castle? Kid, are you trying to get attention, or are you mistaken?"

The professors exchanged glances, but no one responded. Ms. Pomfrey even rolled her eyes discreetly.

“As far as I know, no snake has the ability to petrify…” Snape said in a slick voice, his eyes narrowed. “Unless it’s a Gorgon? But they don’t have such a… robust physique.”

"Are you sure that's a snake?" Professor McGonagall turned to Colin and asked again, "Or some kind of snake-bodied, human-headed creature?"

“It was a snake.” Colin shuddered. “It was huge, terrifying… a snake…”

Snape suddenly leaned close to Colin, his black robes unfurling like bat wings: "Let me get this straight—a giant snake as thick as a bucket, without using its fangs, just glared at you from afar and turned you to stone?"

He sneered, "I'm talking about real petrification, not just being scared silly."

“Severus, I believe Colin has no reason to lie.” Dumbledore raised a hand to stop the aggressive Snape, and then said with certainty, “Although we do not yet know exactly what it was… a snake!”

Sagres originally intended to use "memory replay" to retrieve what Colin had seen, but he suddenly remembered Myrtle's words—the spiders had all disappeared.

For snakes, which are natural enemies of spiders, there is only one possibility—

"Basilisk!"

"Sagles said firmly."

Everyone was stunned by this sudden word.

“The Basilisk?” Snape’s voice wavered slightly, a rare occurrence. “But the legendary Basilisk’s gaze…”

“It could be fatal!” Sagrais nodded. “But what if there’s no direct eye contact?”

"what do you mean……"

“Colin stared at it through the camera, while Mrs. Lorris probably saw it through the reflection in the puddles,” Sagles’s voice was particularly clear in the infirmary. “Indirect eye contact weakened the lethal effect, leading to petrification.”

"That's just your speculation..."

“I think…” Dumbledore’s voice suddenly became unusually heavy, “Sagres’s speculation is very likely true, because the Chamber of Secrets was opened once fifty years ago… and a student died as a result!”

Chapter 79 Discussing Countermeasures

“Therefore, we urgently need to solve two key problems,” Sagres said, scanning everyone present. “The exact location of the secret room? And—who opened it?”

“The location of the secret chamber is indeed a problem…” Professor Flitwick said, frowning. “After all, such a massive basilisk, trying to hide silently in the castle? That’s simply a pipe dream!”

Everyone's mind raced through every corner of the castle, from the towers to the cellars, but they couldn't find a reasonable answer.

“Flitwick is right,” Professor McGonagall added gravely, her lips pressed tightly together. “I can’t think of any place in the castle that could house such a massive object without leaving a trace.”

“Underground pipes!” Sagres pondered for a moment, then said with certainty, “For a snake, there is no more perfect hiding place.”

This is the most reasonable guess, unless the other party is a ghost snake.

“Hmph,” Snape interjected coldly, timely pouring cold water on the idea, “Nice idea. However, Hogwarts’ underground pipe system has been built over a thousand years and is already as intricate as a maze! Who has the ability, or rather, who has the patience to thoroughly investigate it?”

No one spoke. This was indeed a problem. The underground pipes of Hogwarts were too complicated. Most people would not be able to find their way out within half an hour of entering.

"Let's put aside the difficulties of the investigation for now..."

Dumbledore raised his voice, steer the conversation back to the core issue, "At this moment, our primary task is to ensure the safety of all students!"

His sharp gaze swept over the crowd. "We must be on high alert and not let the basilisk harm any of the children! Safety is the bottom line until a solution is found."

The professors all nodded upon hearing this.

"But I maintain that the most urgent task is to find the murderer!"

Sagrais's voice was filled with chilling murderous intent, "As long as we can find the murderer, we can follow the clues to the secret room, and then we can completely eliminate that serpent monster and prevent future troubles!"

By then, what trouble can an heir who has lost his claws and teeth cause? As for the basilisk, ha! It'll be lucky if it can withstand one of his spells.

The school clinic fell silent immediately.

Lockhart swallowed hard, and was about to speak when Sagrais gave him a glare.

“Sagress, I completely agree with your goal,” Dumbledore replied calmly, “but the safety of the students is equally important in the course of the investigation.”

The old headmaster glanced at everyone and asked, "Does anyone have any suggestions on this?"

Lockhart opened his mouth again, ready to offer his opinion, but Sagles glanced at him once more, and he obediently fell silent again.

"Perhaps...we should temporarily suppress the news?"

Professor McGonagall cautiously suggested, "If news of the basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets spreads, it may cause unnecessary panic among the students."

Upon hearing this, the other professors also imagined the scene of chaos in the auditorium and immediately nodded in agreement.

Dumbledore nodded slightly but did not speak.

“I have a brilliant idea!” Lockhart finally seized the opportunity to speak, puffing out his chest and flashing his signature smile. “Why don’t we start a dueling club! I, Gilderoy Lockhart, will personally instruct the students on how to protect themselves—after all, as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, this is my duty, and it’s also the best platform to showcase my… uh, my rich experience!”

After he finished speaking, he looked around expectantly, but few people responded.

Professor Flitwick was studying his fingernails with his head down, Professor McGonagall's lips twitched almost imperceptibly, and Snape rolled his eyes dramatically and let out a contemptuous snort.

"Practical skills take time to develop, Professor Lockhart."

Finally, Snape spoke up coldly, as if he hadn't heard Snape's boast, "What's more urgent now is to prohibit the students from acting alone, and no one is allowed to wander around the castle unless absolutely necessary."

He emphasized "prohibited" and "must not," as if he were deducting points from a disobedient student.

“That’s right,” Dumbledore nodded in agreement. “And you, Sagrais? What’s your opinion?”

After thinking for a moment, Sagres finally offered his opinion.

“I believe that students need to be provided with a minimum, but effective, level of protection…” he began slowly, but his tone was firm. “Everyone must wear glasses. This is mandatory! That way, even if they are attacked by a basilisk, the worst outcome will be petrification, not death.”