Ron, panting heavily, was the first to find Professor McGonagall.
"P-Professor! This is bad!"
Ron was completely out of breath, his face flushed red from both running and fear.
"Lucien…"
"What?!"
After hearing Ron's explanation, Professor McGonagall staggered violently, her face instantly turning pale.
She had to brace herself against the wall to remain standing, nearly losing her breath entirely.
"Lucien… how dare he? How dare he chase the Basilisk alone?!"
Her voice had beco sharp from extre shock and lingering fear.
At that mont, an absurd yet strangely fitting thought uncontrollably surfaced in Professor McGonagall's mind.
The Sorting Hat must have made a mistake back then.
Based solely on this outrageous level of courage, Lucien should have been sorted into Gryffindor.
"This Basilisk… why did it have to attack precisely while Dumbledore is away from Hogwarts…"
Without the slightest hesitation, Professor McGonagall imdiately strode out of her office.
As she walked, she drew her wand and flicked it sharply.
Several swift magical birds made of silver light instantly flew from the tip of her wand.
Like arrows released from a bowstring, they scattered throughout the castle corridors and sped toward the locations of the various professors.
The lawn had already beco completely unrecognizable after enduring the violent bombardnt of thunder and the Basilisk's furious thrashing.
Charred craters and overturned mud covered the battlefield, while the air carried a strange odor mixed with blood and burned flesh.
The Basilisk now lay motionless within the mud and rainwater, appearing completely limp as though it were truly dead.
Lucien stood calmly nearby.
The miniature vortexes within his eyes spun rapidly as he pierced through both the rain curtain and the Basilisk's flesh, observing the flow of magic inside its body.
"Alright. Stop pretending to be dead."
A faint, barely audible hiss erged from the Basilisk.
It sounded as though the creature lacked even the strength to lift its own head.
"Wait… wait a mont…"
Lucien's wand remained steadily pointed toward the Basilisk.
The vitality of this thousand-year-old King of Serpents was truly astonishing.
Even after enduring heavenly lightning, it was still alive.
The Basilisk continued pleading through frightened, intermittent hisses.
"I only need to borrow your heart…"
However, before Lucien could finish speaking—
The Basilisk, which had been lying limp monts earlier, suddenly exploded with hidden strength and violently launched itself forward.
But its target was neither Lucien nor Hogwarts Castle.
Instead, it charged straight toward the Forbidden Forest.
The Basilisk felt as though it must have slept for far too many years.
How had humans beco this terrifying while it slumbered?
That seemingly delicate young wizard was absolutely horrifying to the snake.
For now, the Basilisk no longer cared about the castle.
It only wanted to flee into the Forbidden Forest and hide.
The terrain there was complicated, and there would also be plenty of "food" available to restore its strength…
But before the Basilisk had crawled very far, a towering wall of nearly pure golden flas suddenly materialized out of thin air.
Radiating a sacred aura, the blazing wall stood like an insurmountable chasm, completely blocking its escape route.
Almost simultaneously, a ring of golden flas suddenly appeared, surrounding both Lucien and the Basilisk at the center.
The flas appeared strangely calm, radiating no heat at all, as though they were rely warm golden light.
Yet the Basilisk's instincts scread at it not to touch the flas under any circumstances.
"Alright. Once I deal with you, I still have other matters to attend to."
The voice, like a devil's whisper, echoed directly within the Basilisk's mind once again.
Lucien took a step forward and slowly began walking toward it.
Chirp!
A familiar crimson fireball suddenly appeared amidst the rain.
Young Fawkes flapped his still-immature wings and flew to Lucien's side.
Clutched tightly within his tiny claws was a ragged, patched, pointed hat.
The Sorting Hat.
"Oh? Fawkes, you didn't leave Hogwarts with Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Lucien looked slightly surprised as he reached out and took the hat.
The mont it landed in his hand, the slit-like mouth upon the Sorting Hat impatiently opened and loudly sang in the exaggerated manner of a bard:
"Behold! Thunder sweeps away evil, the sacred sword slays the demon serpent!"
Where exactly had this hat learned sothing like that?
Lucien reached his hand into the seemingly shallow interior of the Sorting Hat.
It felt as though he were reaching into a bottomless void.
Soon, his fingers touched sothing cold and solid.
A sword hilt.
Lucien steadily pulled it free.
A magnificent and imposing longsword appeared in his grasp.
Its hilt was embedded with dazzling rubies the size of pigeon eggs, while the silvery-white blade radiated a cold gleam, as though it could effortlessly cut through darkness and evil alike.
The Sword of Gryffindor.
...
Inside Hogwarts Castle, chaos had already erupted.
Nearly every window overlooking the battlefield was packed with terrified yet curious students.
Those who possessed binoculars desperately raised them, while those without strained their eyes trying to see the distant field.
"I can see it! I can see it!"
"There's fire! The flas are lighting everything up!"
With the help of the burning wall of fire, the students could barely make out the monstrous silhouette of the enormous creature, as well as the lone figure standing before the giant serpent.
"Lucien!"
The mont that na was shouted, the corridor beside the windows fell briefly silent.
Then an even louder wave of discussion erupted.
"rlin's wand! He's actually facing that monster alone?!"
"He's going to die!"
At the sa ti, Harry and the others had finally reached the castle entrance.
However, the heavy doors had already been firmly sealed shut.
Two suits of armor stood guard before the entrance with weapons in hand.
Clearly, the professors had already locked down every exit, forbidding students from leaving the castle and facing the Basilisk.
"Upstairs!"
Hermione gritted her teeth, turned around, and rushed toward the nearest staircase.
By one of the windows, Cho felt as though her heart were being tightly gripped.
She stared into the distance, where the wall of flas released thick steam that blurred her vision.
"Lucien, he…"
Cho's voice trembled uncontrollably.
Marietta, standing beside her, hurriedly tried to comfort her.
"Look, the professors are already heading there! The Heads of House are there too! Even the statues and suits of armor are following them, so everything will definitely be alright…"
But her friend's reassurance did nothing to ease Cho's anxiety.
She knew Lucien was brilliant and exceptional, but in the end, he was still only a twelve-year-old boy.
And Cho had already recognized the identity of that enormous serpent.
A Basilisk.
She could not even imagine how anyone was supposed to face a monster like that.
"Hurry… please hurry…"
All Cho could do now was desperately pray for the professors to arrive in ti and save Lucien.
At another window with an excellent view.
Malfoy helplessly watched Daphne snatch away his binoculars and lean half her body out through the window, her golden hair fluttering wildly in the wind and rain.
"Hey! Be careful!"
Malfoy could not help shouting.
If this young lady got overly emotional and fell out the window, he would probably have to dive forward and save her himself, preventing casualties unrelated to the Basilisk attack.
________
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