Chapter 72: Placing the Basilisk
"Sylvanus, are you sure you're not kidding?!" Professor McGonagall pursed her lips tightly and looked at Professor Kettleburn, who was stepping on the basilisk, with a very angry expression.
"Put such a dangerous thing in the forbidden forest adjacent to Hogwarts Castle. If it escapes and causes trouble for the students, will you be responsible? Or do you think sixty-two detentions Observation is not enough, you want to break your own record again?"
Professor Kettleburn smiled coquettishly, pretended not to hear, lowered his head and began to study the basilisk's body again.
"This is an absolutely rare species. I really didn't expect to see a basilisk in my lifetime." He looked at the position of the basilisk's eyes in wonder and said to himself, "My impression is that it looks like a snake. Reptiles such as geckos have no eyelids, but the basilisk can close its eyes. Is it because of its innate ability?"
Professor McGonagall saw Professor Kettleburn entering the working state of studying magical animals again. He glared at the old thorn in the professor's face angrily, then turned back, preparing to join the topic of Dumbledore and Dracula again. .
However, the moment she turned back, Professor Kettleburn slipped off the basilisk with an agile movement that was very inconsistent with his physical condition.
"What a mistake. I forgot that Minerva was still here." He muttered quietly, then put on the crutches and limped towards the door.
When he reached the door, he seemed to remember something and looked back at Dumbledore's position.
"Albus, let's discuss where the Basilisk can be placed in the Forbidden Forest next time Minerva is away!" he shouted.
Professor McGonagall was furious and chased after him, preparing to discuss an explanation with Professor Kettleburn.
Professor Kettleburn saw her following her, tapping the ground with a cane and walking faster.
The two old men left the room with an extremely vigorous pace, as if they were racing...
In a blink of an eye, only Dracula and Dumbledore were left in the room where the Mirror of Erised was, standing there looking at each other.
Because he understood the characters of the two old men, Dumbledore came to his senses first, walked over to the green basilisk, and gently stroked its cold scales.
Although Quirrell used some small tricks to get the Ministry of Magic to send an urgent letter to Dumbledore, he successfully lured him away from Hogwarts. But he didn't know that even in the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore was always paying attention to the scene in the castle, especially in the restricted area.
After Dracula left after Voldemort, in order to prevent the basilisk left alone in the room from causing trouble, Dumbledore specifically asked the phoenix Fawkes to carry him back to Hogwarts Castle. Then he knocked the basilisk unconscious, temporarily turning it into its current harmless and quiet state.
This is why Professor Kettleburn climbed onto the basilisk's body, but it never responded.
"So... is this basilisk the monster left by Slytherin to guard Hogwarts Castle?" Dumbledore looked at Dracula and asked curiously.
"It should be right." Dracula nodded lightly, "I should have thought of it a long time ago. The only magical animal that can survive for nearly a thousand years and also have powerful abilities is probably the basilisk."
He snapped his fingers in front of the basilisk's face, waking it up.
The basilisk opened its eyes in confusion. As soon as it opened its eyes, it saw the silver-haired demon standing in front of it. It was so frightened that it subconsciously closed its eyes again. It shrank back to the corner and coiled itself up. A big, indescribable mass...
"Professor Dracula seems to be very familiar with this basilisk." Dumbledore looked at the performance of the basilisk and laughed happily, "Oh, I almost forgot, you and Slytherin are old acquaintances. , it’s not surprising to know the pets he keeps.”
Dracula smiled and nodded. Immediately, his expression became unnatural.
Dumbledore just mentioned that the basilisk was Slytherin's pet. This suddenly made Dracula think that for fun, he forced this pet to use its natural magic continuously and exhausted its magic power many times... Could this be considered abusing Slytherin's pet?
Thinking of this, he gently patted the basilisk's big head and subconsciously made his movements gentler.
The Basilisk felt that Dracula's pat on the head was different from the past, and couldn't help but feel flattered. He closed his eyes and obediently rubbed his head against Dracula's hand.
In addition to being a little bit larger than 100 million, the current basilisk seems to have really become a house pet.
"Dumbledore, do you have any ideas about where to place this basilisk?" Dracula rubbed the cold, smooth big head of the basilisk, looked at Dumbledore, and asked, "It won't really look like this. Put it in the Forbidden Forest, as Professor Kettleburn said, right?"
"Forget it in the Forbidden Forest." Dumbledore waved his hand decisively, "Even if you don't care about the influence and conflict of the basilisk on the native species of the Forbidden Forest, you must at least care about one other thing -"
"I have always known that there are many bold students in Hogwarts who would sneak into the Forbidden Forest to take risks. If an animal like the basilisk, which can kill people with its gaze if not careful, is put into the Forbidden Forest, it will indeed be Too dangerous."
"So you also knew that students would sneak into the Forbidden Forest?" Dracula raised his eyebrows and looked at him with a strange look, "I thought the announcement you made at the opening party about not entering the Forbidden Forest was just a joke. I've never seen you take care of this."
"Ahem, occasional adventures help cultivate the courage, creativity and adaptability of young wizards." Dumbledore coughed dryly and explained, "So we should do it outside the Forbidden Forest while ensuring safety. I usually won’t stop adventure activities.”
"But how can you be sure that those naughty boys will not go to the depths of the Forbidden Forest?" Dracula asked.
"Don't worry, the most dangerous areas of the Forbidden Forest are equipped with corresponding protective magic. Little wizards cannot enter." Dumbledore smiled and blinked, "If they really enter the dangerous area , I must have let them go personally."
After hearing the second half of his words, Dracula couldn't help but curl his lips and stuffed a blood-flavored lollipop into his mouth without interest.
He had almost guessed it, and I was afraid that Harry Potter and his friends were going to suffer again——
When the time is right, the old principal will secretly unlock the protective magic in the Forbidden Forest for the destined savior, and allow him to venture into the more dangerous depths of the Forbidden Forest, thereby cultivating his so-called courage, creativity and resilience. Ability, test his character.
And this kind of long-term layout and training is what Dracula finds most boring.
He silently patted the basilisk on the head and changed the subject.
"Since you don't want to place it in the Forbidden Forest, do you have any other ideas?"
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