The phoenix lifted its head and flapped its wings with an air of pride. Its puffed chest made Wade feel as though it resembled an overly pleased child.
It didn't linger for long, and perched on Dumbledore's shoulder for only a moment before taking off again. Its wings flapped with such force that they puffed out Dumbledore's hood.
"Boom!"
With a deafening explosion, a stone wall suddenly broke apart, and a ferocious serpent's head lunged out. Its flat, menacing head was smeared with black and red blood, and both of its eyes had already been gouged out.
Fawkes swooped through the air with a rush of wind, skimming over the basilisk's head. Its sharp talons mercilessly raked the serpent's wounds, causing black blood to spurt out.
The basilisk was nearly driven mad with rage, snapping and lunging at Fawkes in desperation. Its massive, terrifying body was fearsome by any human standard, yet it was utterly powerless against the nimble and agile phoenix.
"Even without anyone's help, Fawkes could handle the basilisk by itself," Wade said.
"But we mustn't deny the children their fun," Dumbledore replied. "Besides, we can't let it collapse the tunnel."
Indeed, pieces of rubble were already falling from the tunnel ceiling nearby.
Wade wasn't sure what spell the headmaster used, but with a single flick of his wand, the basilisk seemed suddenly compelled by some powerful attraction. Its head jerked sharply to one side, and after a moment of stillness, its enormous body quickly began crawling deeper into the chamber.
Wade and Dumbledore followed at a safe distance, ensuring they remained out of harm's way.
Both men used silencing spells to prevent their footsteps from alerting the serpent.
Ahead of them was a vast chamber, with a ceiling even higher than the Great Hall's. The space was lined with numerous stone pillars carved with coiled serpents, and at the far end stood an enormous statue.
The room bore clear signs of the chaos caused by Fawkes and the basilisk earlier. Rubble was scattered everywhere, and one of the statue's hands had been smashed off entirely.
At this moment, Fawkes perched triumphantly on the folds of the statue's robe and looked down at the basilisk slithering between the stone pillars.
The agony of having its eyes gouged out tormented the colossal creature. At times, it would pause, listening intently as if trying to locate its enemy; other times, it would erupt in fury, crashing and thrashing about in a desperate attempt to ease its suffering.
Suddenly, the basilisk reared up slightly and tilted its head in a way that could almost be considered cute, standing still in a poised position.
Wade and Dumbledore faintly heard the sound of approaching footsteps from the tunnel.
The basilisk grew eerily calm. It lowered its body and kept its head raised slightly, mimicking the behavior of a creature with fully functional eyes. It began to glide silently across the ground, inching closer to the source of the noise.
Its scales scraped against the floor, producing a faint rustling sound.
The basilisk's mouth opened just slightly, and emitted a deep, drawn-out sound, much like a human snoring:
"Hiss… haa…"
This sound was completely drowned out by the chatter and footsteps of the students approaching.
They had likely just learned aboveground that the basilisk was an extremely dangerous creature, yet deep down, they still approached the situation with the mindset of participating in a competition—
Nervous, yes, but also excited.
"Merlin, that thing earlier scared me half to death!" someone said fearfully. "Let's quit, okay? That basilisk has to be over twenty feet long!"
"Stop talking nonsense! If you want to be a coward, go ahead and leave!" another voice responded stubbornly. "I don't believe the school would let us participate in a life-threatening challenge!"
"Why did you all come down without knowing anything?" another student chimed in. "I just asked the professor... he said Headmaster Dumbledore ensured that the basilisk's gaze can't kill anyone!"
Hearing this, everyone immediately relaxed.
"Ha! If that's the case, then the basilisk is just a supersized ball python!"
"Since we succeeded last time, we'll definitely do it again! And this time, there are so many of us working together!"
"Be careful, its fangs are still deadly. Don't let it bite you..."
The students' chatter grew louder as they neared the entrance.
Although the basilisk couldn't see, it skillfully hid in the shadows. Its mouth was wide open, revealing sharp, slender fangs that gleamed menacingly.
The students, unaware of the danger, continued walking in. Perhaps because of their numbers, the ones at the front showed little caution.
"Facing a thousand-year-old basilisk... this has to be the best graduation ceremony I've ever seen! Way more exciting than writing an essay on 'The Causes of the Goblin Rebellions'..."
The boy who spoke stepped into the room, laughing. But his laughter froze on his face, replaced by an expression of utter terror as he saw—
A giant mouth lunging directly at him!
His mind went blank with fear. His entire body froze, unable to move, as he watched that enormous maw, capable of swallowing him whole, descend toward him.
Time seemed to slow to an infinite crawl. He could even make out the pink flesh inside the basilisk's mouth and its retracting forked tongue.
Suddenly, someone shoved him aside and pointed a wand at the basilisk, shouting,
"Confringo!" (Blasting Curse)
"Boom!"
Amidst the deafening blast and the basilisk's anguished scream, the battle between the students and the monster had begun.
…
Wade, of course, did not join the fray.
The basilisk might be terrifying to ordinary people, but since it couldn't deal with Fawkes, it certainly stood no chance against Wade's alchemical creation—the Fiendfyre bird, Mikael.
He turned to Dumbledore and asked, "What was that spell just now?"
When the basilisk was about to swallow a student, Dumbledore had silently cast a spell that slowed the basilisk's movements, giving the others a chance to rescue the student.
"A Slowing Charm," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Want to learn it?"
Wade immediately replied, "Of course!"
As Dumbledore kept an eye on the students, he taught Wade the incantation. Wade analyzed it using his knowledge of ancient runes and found it quite familiar.
"—Braking Charm?" (Arresto Momentum)
It was a spell he had learned in his first year.
"Correct. You could call it an enhanced version of the Braking Charm," Dumbledore said with a cheerful chuckle. "When I was sixteen or seventeen, I discovered that combining ancient runes with the Braking Charm produced rather fascinating effects..."
"It seems very useful," Wade remarked.
"Not always... You must understand that against opponents whose magical power is close to or greater than yours, this spell's effect will be significantly diminished," Dumbledore cautioned.
"Got it," Wade replied, waving his wand and muttering as he practiced the newly learned charm.
Dumbledore watched Wade while continuing to monitor the students' situation.
For him, multitasking was not difficult, especially since Professor McGonagall and others had also entered the Chamber of Secrets to assist in protecting the students and evacuating the injured.
Dumbledore observed Wade's progress. In just a few minutes, Wade's initial attempts, marked by mimicry and hesitation, transformed into smooth and fluid movements.
The flow of magic, which started awkward and tentative, suddenly became astonishingly refined—as if in the blink of an eye.
The basilisk, which had just sent a student flying, suddenly faltered in its movements. A student in front seized the opportunity to cast a "Diffindo" (Severing Charm).
The basilisk, of course, did not split apart. Only a few of its scales were blasted off.
Dumbledore gazed at Wade with an expression of deep admiration and faint complexity, appreciating how quickly he had mastered the Slowing Charm. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +235 Chapters
⭐MCU: Druid's Adventures (MCUDA)(⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 460
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