"With all this commotion, they must have noticed by now, right?"
After casting high-intensity spells for a prolonged period, the little girl was visibly fatigued. She retrieved two bottles of magical potion from her amulet, gulping down one herself with a few audible gulps. Wiping her mouth, she took advantage of the moment when no incantations were needed to ask her question. At the same time, she lightly patted Glenn, who was carrying her, signaling for him to open his mouth.
Glenn opened his mouth slightly, and Hermione uncorked the second potion bottle, feeding it to him.
The cool, refreshing magical potion slid down his throat, replenishing the void of magic within his body. After draining the bottle of its bright blue liquid, Glenn used his tongue to nudge the edge of the bottle. Hermione understood and took it back.
"Yes, they've arrived. Look ahead."
Glenn's eyes remained fixed on their target up ahead as he calmly responded to Hermione's question.
Hearing this, the little girl immediately looked up. However, there didn't seem to be any visible changes ahead. Despite its heavily injured and exhausted state, the Basilisk continued to flee desperately.
Wait. Perhaps there was a change after all.
The light above the Basilisk had dimmed.
Due to the snow-covered ground and the weather, the Forbidden Forest, which had been unusually bright earlier, was now shrouded in darkness again. It was as if the clouds that usually obscured the moonlight had gathered once more.
The area surrounding Glenn and Hermione, as well as the Basilisk and young Tom Riddle, was suddenly enveloped in a mysterious darkness. Yet, this sudden darkness, symbolizing fear and the unknown, did not instill even the slightest fear in the little girl on Glenn's back. On the contrary, Hermione was so overjoyed she almost wanted to leap up.
Well, jumping up was out of the question. Jumping off Glenn's back now would be no different from jumping out of a moving car.
But shouting out in excitement? That was entirely doable.
As if worried her voice wouldn't carry, Hermione puffed up her cheeks, took a deep breath, and released her grip on Glenn's neck. She relied entirely on Glenn's support of her lower body to stay fixed on his back.
Cupping her hands around her mouth, the little girl shouted as loudly as she could.
"Hagrid! We're here! The monster is right in front of us!"
It seemed Hermione had once again forgotten the fact that she was a young witch. In reality, amplifying her voice would have only required a simple Sonorus Charm.
Glenn thought the same but chose not to say anything. Since Hagrid had arrived, their plan had entered its final stage. Judging by the current situation, the outcome of this incident was already determined. He might as well let Hermione have her moment.
"In that case, it's time to activate the device," Glenn murmured softly. He then began concentrating on connecting with his alchemical creation...
...
"What?"
"Hagrid? Rubeus Hagrid? That big oaf?"
Up ahead, young Tom, nestled within the Basilisk's mouth, clearly heard Hermione's shout. Though hearing a familiar name in such a situation surprised him, he showed no other reaction.
Because Tom knew that even if that foolish man got involved, he wouldn't be able to make any difference.
"What could he possibly do?"
"He's nothing but a useless fool who likes to raise all sorts of ridiculous creatures."
Tom sneered disdainfully. Deep down, he didn't believe Hagrid's involvement would have any impact.
He seemed about to say more when a sudden, violent tremor interrupted his thoughts.
What followed was the Basilisk's agonized roar.
"What's going on?! What happened?"
"Damn it, the Basilisk's senses and consciousness are completely scrambled. I can't connect to it at all!"
Desperate to understand what had happened, Tom, unable to establish a link with the Basilisk, had no choice but to project his soul outward.
...
"This!"
The moment Tom materialized, he realized something was terribly wrong.
The Basilisk had stopped moving and was writhing on the ground in pain.
Its mouth—no, what used to be its mouth—was now a bloody mess.
No, it couldn't even be called a mouth anymore.
The Basilisk's lower jaw was completely gone. What remained of its upper jaw was bleeding profusely, the flesh charred and emitting black smoke. The black-red blood splattered across the white snow was shockingly vivid.
"An explosion? But... why..."
Faced with this scene, Tom froze for half a second before his memory took him back to ten minutes earlier.
Back when he was stuffed into the small black box in the Room of Requirement.
Inside that box, it wasn't just his diary that had been placed...
There were also numerous small black cubes of unknown purpose.
At this realization, Tom's survival-driven, chaotic thoughts finally cleared. A chill ran down his spine.
"...Could it be that back then, that person already anticipated this scenario?!"
Tom's teeth clenched in fury. He finally understood the purpose of those strange objects.
That damned person had surrounded his diary with explosives!
That person knew he was bound to the diary. If he ended up on the defensive, his only means of escape would be through the Basilisk. And precisely because of this, that person had planned accordingly.
"Curse it... that damned person!"
"Is this really the end?"
"..."
"No..."
"No..."
"No! I still have a chance. The Basilisk's lower jaw may be gone, and its brain might have been concussed by the explosion, but its bodily functions are still operational!"
"If I can get my diary swallowed into its stomach, it can still escape with me!"
Tom's previously despairing expression turned resolute once more. In the face of death, people often unleash unparalleled determination. At this moment, he refused to surrender to despair!
"I still have a chance!"
Tom quickly located his diary, which had been blown away, and returned to it. Abandoning any pretense of concealment, he immediately began issuing commands in Parseltongue to the Basilisk.
"Basilisk! Get up!"
"My diary is about ten meters behind you, under the bushes on your right. Go and swallow it into your stomach!"
"Move quickly! It's not over yet! We still have a chance to survive!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Welcome to visit my Patreon, read the early chapters, and enjoy your reading!
patreon.com/DarkGolds