"The legend of the Basilisk dates back to ancient times, born from a toad hatching a rooster's egg. Its gaze is deadly, and any creature that meets its eyes will die instantly," The Bloody Baron recited to Hoare as if reading from a book.
"Isn't there any way to deal with it?" Hoare propped his chin up, looking troubled.
The Bloody Baron seemed to remember something, paused, and then spoke, "A phoenix, a phoenix can be immune to the Basilisk's eyes."
Hoare understood why The Bloody Baron hesitated to mention it. Phoenixes are extremely rare magical creatures, and Hoare knew of only one, the only one in all his past and present memories—Fawkes, belonging to Headmaster Dumbledore.
"If I lure Fawkes, wouldn't Headmaster Dumbledore immediately know that I've gone to the Chamber of Secrets? I hope he doesn't suspect I'm the heir of Slytherin."
Hoare's muttering caught The Bloody Baron's attention.
"Perhaps—" The Bloody Baron paused, "you could go during the day." He spoke slowly.
"?" Hoare's expression was full of confusion.
What about the day? Does the Basilisk take strolls during the day?
"She likes to go out for walks during the day."
The Bloody Baron's words truly shocked Hoare. "She? Go out? For walks?" He didn't know which part to be surprised about first.
The Bloody Baron seemed puzzled by Hoare's surprise. "Yes."
Hoare nodded. He planned to wake up early and find Harry, then head straight to the Chamber of Secrets. The timing was perfect.
Goodness!
The Basilisk is a girl! And she likes to wander around!
But that makes sense; otherwise, she wouldn't have been tricked by Tom Riddle. After all, the man with a snake face had maxed out his looks in his initial form.
Now.
Hoare decided to sleep first. His mind was a jumble of true and false spells.
Before sleeping, he habitually glanced at his panel and was surprised to find a new spell added. The system was quite lazy.
[Ding]
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[Panel Update]
[A-Level Ability: Spells {Wandless Magic, Silent Spell} (Patronus Charm, Basic Transfiguration {Self-taught}, Petrificus Totalus, Finite, Tongue-Tying Curse, Body-Bind Curse, Leg-Locker Curse, Jelly-Legs Jinx, Stupefy, Alohomora, Levitation Charm, Summoning Charm, Reducto, Lumos, Shrinking Spell, Occlumency, Disillusionment Charm, Beginner Exorcism Magic {Self-taught})]
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The next morning, when Hoare woke up, it was nearly nine o'clock. Fortunately, it was still the holiday.
The Great Hall always had meals available.
Hoare quickly washed up, grabbed some materials he prepared for Ron, and headed out.
He prepared them on the side, mainly because Ron's grades were a mess!
You know, the Weasley family might be poor, but almost every child had excellent grades.
In Hoare's memory, Ron would become a Prefect later, indicating his grades were capable.
It's probably because it's his first time at school, hanging out with friends, with only play on his mind.
To prevent Ron from being nagged by Molly when he goes home for the holidays, Hoare felt it was necessary to save his foolish brother who only knew how to eat drumsticks every day.
When he arrived at the Great Hall, there were only a few people sitting around. At this time, Hoare surprisingly saw Harry and Ron.
Their heads were almost buried in their bowls.
There weren't many people staying at school, and there was no division by house at this time; everyone dined at a long table for the sake of liveliness.
Hoare plopped down beside them.
"Did you guys go thieving last night?" When they heard Hoare's voice, they looked up. Goodness, those dark circles were huge.
Even bigger than Hoare's, who had stayed up for two nights in a row.
Harry and Ron lazily lifted their heads. Seeing it was Hoare, they nodded slightly as a greeting.
"You guys..." Hoare pointed to his own dark circles.
Ron weakly said, "What's it to you..."
"You guys should go back and rest." Hoare looked at what Ron was eating, which was Ron's most hated boiled cabbage root.
Harry forced himself to stay awake, numbly stuffing a piece of bread into his mouth. "We'll rest after we finish eating."
Hoare took out his wand and tapped near the crystal flower pot on the table.
A menu appeared in front of the flower pot, showing the breakfast options for today.
Hoare ordered two ham and egg sandwiches and a glass of milk. The menu flickered and disappeared.
Two or three minutes later, the food appeared on the table in front of Hoare.
This quick and efficient method made Hoare wonder if it could be used to transport things or people.
Hoare enjoyed his breakfast, pondering.
"Harry," Hoare began, "I want to learn something from you. Do you have some time?"
"Sure, here in the Great Hall?" Harry quickly agreed, but Ron seemed to have something to say. He tugged at Harry's sleeve, casting a mysterious glance outside.
Hoare feigned disappointment. "If you have something to do, I'm not in a rush."
"No, nothing, we have nothing to do." Harry's words made Ron's cheeks puff up. He thought he was glaring fiercely at Hoare, then took a big gulp of milk, leaving a white mustache on his mouth.
Hoare chuckled softly at the sight.
Harry looked around, seeing no one paying attention to them, then half-stood and leaned toward Hoare. "A few nights ago, weren't we looking for information on Nicolas Flamel?"
Hoare nodded, indicating he was listening.
"Because I discovered someone is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and that person is in the school."
"But yesterday, I noticed Headmaster Dumbledore and several professors were hurrying around the school—"
"Yesterday?" Hoare recalled that he had been in the library all day yesterday, so it was normal not to know.
"Yes, yesterday."
Harry swallowed, "So I suspect—"
His tone paused, as if very nervous, "The Philosopher's Stone is missing!"
The Philosopher's Stone is missing!?
Hoare was shocked.
Isn't the Philosopher's Stone kept with Headmaster Dumbledore? How could it be missing!?
Who could take the Philosopher's Stone from Headmaster Dumbledore without being noticed?
Number 2? Impossible.
Even Voldemort at his peak couldn't silently take something protected by Dumbledore.
So who did it?
Hoare's brow furrowed. Without the Philosopher's Stone, the long-term Squib Potion would be in danger.
But since the professors were searching the school, it meant the Philosopher's Stone was still within the school and hadn't been taken out.
"So—" Hoare understood, "you two are also looking for the Philosopher's Stone?"
Ron and Harry nodded repeatedly.
"Do you have any clues?" Hoare asked, knowing Harry and Ron weren't that naive and wouldn't search blindly without clues.
Harry nodded, "Ron and I heard Headmaster Dumbledore tell Professor Snape that there were traces of a snake crawling in his bedroom."
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