How to Safely Borrow the Basilisk's Power

Instead of heading to the Slytherin Common Room, Sean bypassed the noisy playground and walked from the other side of the castle toward the Black Lake.

It's too troublesome to keep going in and out from there. Last time he went there, he ran into Goyle, who was still eating and drinking in front of the campfire in the early hours of the morning.

The secret Chamber of Secrets there has a passage leading to the Black Lake. The Basilisk is quite familiar with the bottom of the lake, so Sean changed the meeting place to the Black Lake.

Following the path north along the lake, and using the Levitation Charm to cross the cliffs with Dave, Sean circled around to the other side of the Black Lake. This was probably the farthest point within the Hogwarts area, facing the castle across the lake, and its border with the Forbidden Forest was blocked by mountains.

Finding a relatively open rocky spot by the lake, Sean pulled out a huge scale. It was a scale from the Basilisk's neck; by tapping it with a specific rhythm, the Basilisk could hear his call.

He dipped half a scale into the lake water, Sean tapped the upper part of it forcefully and quickly before retreating behind a rock.

Soon, the lake water churned, countless bubbles surged up, and the huge head of the Basilisk emerged from the Black Lake.

However, it would be a bit strange if an outsider were watching this scene.

On the Black Lake, a human and a snake stood back to back, while a giant Swooping Evil flapped its wings in mid-air.

"It's turning its head away," Dave thought to himself, Sean turned around.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the Basilisk; this creature was completely different from its legendary kin. It was highly intelligent and also quite simple-minded, and several encounters had already proven that it had no intention of harming Sean.

But the Basilisk itself is synonymous with death, so Sean should be careful to avoid disappearing for another seven days.

A hoarse, loud hissing sound came from the Basilisk's mouth, its large head, which was turned away from Sean, was still swaying slowly.

"You've come?" Sean, Parseltongue skills had improved significantly, easily understood the Basilisk's words and could even sense a hint of its joy.

Sean hissed, "Yeah, I promised to come see you in a while, but this time it's been a bit long. Sorry."

"Has it been a long time?" the Basilisk, slightly puzzled.

Sean was speechless. That's right, the concept of time for long-lived magical creatures like Basilisk is different from his.

Having come and gone in such a hurry last time, Sean now had time to chat properly, found a place to sit down and asked curiously, "Do you usually spend your time at the Black Lake?"

"No." The Basilisk seemed to understand that shaking its head meant "no" in human language. It shook its head, then stopped abruptly—it had promised the person behind it that it wouldn't turn its head.

"I rarely go into Black Lake except to hunt, partly because it's unnecessary and partly because there are dangers in Black Lake."

"Danger?" Sean frowned.

He had heard many legends about the Black Lake, but the stories always ended in one of two ways: either some kind of terrifying magical creature lurked in the deepest part of the Black Lake, or Godric Gryffindor never left and hid in the Black Lake.

The Basilisk's hiss carried a hint of solemnity, "It's a premonition from my instincts that there's a rift to the north in the center of the Black Lake, and I feel danger every time I get close."

"Is it some kind of magical creature or dark magic?"

"I can't explain it. I don't have this feeling about other creatures at the Black Lake, and those ugly half-human, half-fish creatures never go near there either."

Sean nodded thoughtfully. He remembered the message left by Slytherin himself: the four Founders of Hogwarts were drawn here by a message in a dream, and the Hogwarts area itself was very mysterious.

The crack in Black Lake probably really does hold some unknown secret.

However, just take it as a story. Even the Basilisk thought it was dangerous, so for him to go in and explore would be suicide.

Sean changed the subject, and the true purpose of his trip became clear.

"Aren't you bored staying here for so long?"

The Basilisk seemed a little confused, but it finally nodded. "There's something I didn't understand when I was a child, but as time went by, in your human terms, my intelligence improved, and I have many more emotions than those big fish in the Black Lake —they just hunt and reproduce, and my instinct is to hunt. But after a while, I sometimes feel my head is empty, and I can't muster any enthusiasm for the whole snake. I even think about going out and causing a ruckus in the Merpeople's nest."

"Emotional needs are a common trait among highly intelligent animals. You, a snake, have been staying here for too long."

"It seems... that's the case."

Sean then remembered something else. "There's another one of your kind inside the castle, did you know that?"

"I know." The Basilisk rubbed its scales against a protrusion on the rock. "But to be precise, it's not like me. Apart from looking similar, it can't communicate with me at all."

"What's the meaning?"

"Intelligence? Its intelligence is even lower than that of the ugly Merpeople. It only swims out of the pipe to hunt when it is really starving, and then quickly goes back after it is full. I have tried to communicate with it, but it only wants to eat me."

Sean nodded, resting his chin on his hand. Just as the Slytherin's Notes said, ordinary Basilisk have extremely low intelligence and only have the instinct to hunt and kill.

After chatting with the Basilisk about its daily life in the Black Lake, Sean hissed, "The Chamber of Secrets you're guarding is empty now. You don't really need to stay there anymore, do you?"

The Basilisk hesitated. "But my master's orders are for me to stay there... and kill the Parseltongue..."

"But it's been a long time since Parseltongue went there before me, hasn't it?"

"Yes, yes... I've thought about this. From a human perspective, I think the descendants of Parseltongue gain experience—like how there are very few big fish left in the lakes I frequent; they're getting further and further away from me. If Parseltongue comes to the Chamber of Secrets and doesn't leave, then his descendants can gain experience... Humans are much smarter than those big fish, aren't they?"

Sean clapped his hands. "That's exactly right! So there's no point in you just staying there."

"But, but..." the Basilisk seemed to be organizing its thoughts.

"Are you afraid your master won't be able to find you when he comes back?" Sean asked.

"No... Master didn't leave me to wait for his orders, and I also understand that humans like you will die much sooner than me, right?"

Sean's eye twitched. "That's a question... your emotional intelligence is low, little brother."

The Basilisk continued, "So, my master may have disappeared from this world a long time ago. I've been thinking, if my master is dead, should I still be guarding that place? I'm confused, but I've always been a snake, and there are no other creatures I can communicate with to give me advice."

There's hope! Sean's eyes lit up, and he coaxed, "Isn't this me? We can chat, and you don't dislike me, do you?"

"I don't dislike you. You smell wonderful, much better than those big fish." As he spoke, the Basilisk hissed rapidly, as if explaining, "I didn't mean I wanted to eat you."

"I understand," Sean said with a smile. "You want to be friends with me, right?"

The magic of the Parseltongue, combined with the Basilisk's high intelligence, allowed it to understand words very quickly. After a while, it nodded emphatically. "Yes, I want to be your friend."

"Isn't that perfect? Although you almost glared at me to death, it was an accident after all, and I've always been generous and friendly. I've decided to forgive you now."

"Ah, thank you," the Basilisk said gratefully.

"So we're friends now, right?"

"Yes, yes, friend." The Basilisk flicked its tail cheerfully, accidentally cracking a rock in the process.

Sean silently moved a little further away from the rock and continued, "Since we are friends and your master is no longer in this world, I think you might as well come with me?"

"Walk?"

"Yeah, a change of environment, a change of lifestyle, and a change of taste—don't you get tired of eating fish every day?"

"It's not greasy, and I only eat it once a month," the Basilisk corrected earnestly.

"Well, this is just a way of expressing it. You're too young to understand it yet."

"Oh, okay."

Sean looked up at the Basilisk, its metallic green head gleaming in the sunlight.

"Would you like to come with me?" Sean asked, his voice carrying a hint of seduction.

The Basilisk nodded quickly. "Alright, I'll go with you then."

Huh? So fast?

The surprise came so quickly that Sean was even stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected the Basilisk to be so agreeable—he had originally thought he would have to talk to the Parseltongue.

Overjoyed, he stood up briskly, dusted himself off, and said, "Then it's settled."

However, the Basilisk still had doubts. "I'm too, too fat. I can't shrink like your green moth, and my eyes are terrifying. I can't always keep my eyes closed—that might hurt you."

Green moth? Sean paused for a moment before realizing the other person was talking about Dave... He shook his head with amusement. "That's not a green moth, it's my friend, it's a Swooping Evil named Dave. And it doesn't matter that you're big, I have a way to put you inside."

"Dave, I got it... But what about my eyes?"

Sean licked his slightly dry lips, his hissing with excitement making it a little sharp. "Do you usually need your eyes to function normally?"

"No, I can smell the scent of the creatures around me, and, and..." The Basilisk struggled to find the right words.

"You can sense nearby vibrations to analyze your surroundings, and you can also sense the heat of living things, right?" Sean asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. How did you know? You're so smart..."

Snakes are all like that...

Sean continued, "So that means it doesn't matter if you're blind, right?"

"Yes." The Basilisk nodded.

Just as I guessed...

"Then let me ask you this: can your gaze not only kill living things, but also destroy inanimate matter?"

"Sure, if I want, but it won't be very powerful."

"Tell me more specifically."

"Hmm... If I desperately want to kill a creature, my gaze becomes even more deadly. At that moment, the object I see will be destroyed, and my gaze will cause the object to heat up..."

Sure enough, Sean remembered a scene from the original book vividly: the first-grader who loved taking pictures (of course, he now knew the boy's name was Colin Creevey) had been petrified. He saw the Basilisk's eyes through the camera, and he himself was petrified. The camera film melted, but the camera itself was not seriously damaged.

This proves that the Basilisk's gaze has limited destructive power over objects.

Sean walked over to the Basilisk and patted its hard, cold scales. "I have an idea."

"Really?" The Basilisk hissed, sounding delighted.

"That's right, but I need to hurry up and prepare. I'll be on holiday the day after tomorrow, so I hope I can make it in time."

"Okay, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Hmm... bend down..." Sean stretched out his hands to gesture the size of the Basilisk's head, then took out a measuring tape and measured the size of the Basilisk's head as it obediently coiled up.

After finishing his work, he said, "Just go back and wait for my message. See you in a couple of days."

"Okay, friend, goodbye."

The Basilisk never turned its head, and its eyes were tightly closed. It lowered its head and dived into the water, creating a huge splash before the lake gradually calmed down.

Sean cast a Levitation Charm on himself, then grabbed Dave's tail tentacle, and the two Swooping Evil back the way they came.

Feeling the gentle breeze blowing across the lake and onto his face, Sean raised an eyebrow.

"It's time to feel the power of technology and money."

Having safely returned to Hogwarts, Sean quickly wrote a letter.

Dear Dad:

"Are you, Mom, and Ayla doing well? I'm leaving for home the day after tomorrow, as I mentioned in my previous letters. I'm writing now to ask Mr. Wallop for a favor..."

"... You can think of it as a pair of glasses for snakes, of course, the size needs to be enlarged proportionally, and I will list the specific data below..."

"... The glasses should ideally be lightweight overall, the head strap should be adjustable, the frame should be made of a sturdy and resilient material, and the lenses should be double-layered, with the inner layer being transparent and heat-resistant, and the outer layer completely blocking the view of the inner layer. If possible, could you design a mechanical switch that allows me to quickly flip open one or both layers of lenses using a controller..."

"... This is my request. I desperately need this. Please, Dad."

"Love, Sean."

After writing the letter, Sean sealed the parchment in an envelope and quickly went to the Owlery. After handing the letter to Gugu, he put coins into the leg tubes of all the remaining public owls. If he had time, the tubes would be quite large, but thirty-odd owls should be enough... He bought a mannequin weighing several tens of kilograms, and an owl delivered it.

After watching the magnificent flock of owls, led by Gugu, fly away, Sean walked out of the Owlery with satisfaction.

This thing isn't afraid of being inspected, and no one can guess what it's for... If he can get there in time, he can take the Basilisk away first, and then go home and have his dad hire someone to design a custom-made one.

I'm such a clever little devil.