Immature Ideas

"What are you looking for?"

Isobel put away the Charms paper he had just finished writing, poured himself a cup of tea, walked over to Albert's side, looked at the book Albert was reading, and asked.

"The natural enemy of the Acromantula." Albert looked up at Isobel, who was drinking tea, and asked with a slight frown, "Where are the glasses I gave you?"

"I gave it to Katrina," Isobel confessed honestly without hiding anything.

On the night Mrs. Norris of Filch was petrified, Isobel realized the seriousness of the situation. Although he didn't know why the cat hadn't died directly, the Basilisk's gaze had caused Mrs. Norris to be petrified.

Albert probably gave her those Protective Glasses with that in mind.

"Your sister probably won't appreciate it," Albert sighed, looking at his girlfriend. "I know you love your sister, but she's still throwing a tantrum. Honestly, I don't have that much time and energy to waste on her."

"No, she's not throwing a tantrum anymore. I've told Katrina to forget about it for now!"

Isobel knew very well that some things required decisiveness, and although doing so might not be very kind to Katrina, she still slightly altered some of her sister's memories.

"Perhaps, this is the best outcome." Albert nodded, no longer dwelling on the issue, and said to himself, "My intuition tells me that the Slytherin Heir has his eye on me."

"Is it because of your reputation?" Isobel bit her lip slightly. "Have you told Dumbledore about these things?"

"It's no use. After the cat was petrified, the headmaster probably guessed something, but that's all." Albert closed the book and explained to Isobel, "About fifty years ago, a similar incident happened at Hogwarts. Because of the deaths, the professors searched almost the entire castle, but they still couldn't find the location of the legendary Chamber of Secrets of Secrets."

"But didn't you say the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was Basilisk, and that you even guessed the location of the Chamber of Secrets?" Isobel said, but then quickly fell silent.

Yes, even if you say the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is Basilisk, you can't get into the Chamber of Secrets, there's no evidence whatsoever, who would believe that? Everyone would just treat it as a joke.

Even Dumbledore wouldn't easily believe it.

Basically, no one is willing to believe in the existence of the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets. After all, no one has found the so-called Slytherin Chamber of Secrets in a thousand years. Isn't it just sensationalism to claim that you have found it without any evidence?

"So, you're looking for evidence to try and persuade Dumbledore?"

"That's not entirely wrong," Albert said softly, tapping the cover of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" on the table with his finger. "Where is the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets located? Who is the Heir of Slytherin? And what is the monster in the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Can we Divination the outcome?" Isobel suggested.

This is currently the fastest and safest method.

"It's difficult. My Divination abilities aren't that strong." Albert glanced at the Divination crystal ball on the table and said softly, "The next attack will be related to Quidditch, or rather... it will probably happen on the day of the Quidditch Match."

"I won't allow you to take risks," Isobel said firmly, realizing what Albert was about to do.

She hadn't forgotten how Albert had defeated Rowena Smith, and she understood her abilities, but the Basilisk was just too dangerous, Isobel was reluctant to let Albert take the risk.

"If you can predict when the attack will happen, you can tell Dumbledore and let him handle the Basilisk problem," she offered as a compromise.

"The Heir of Slytherin monitor the entire castle; otherwise, how could the Basilisk roam freely within it undetected?" Albert shook his head.

"The Traces Charm?" Isobel immediately guessed the reason.

"Well, that's why we need to master the advanced use of the Shield Charm so that the other side can't easily lock onto me with the Traces Charm." Albert took out a penny from his pocket, which was enchanted with the Shield Charm. As long as the coin was put into his pocket, the charm would take effect immediately, but... this thing alone could not block the detection of the Traces Charm, and because it was just a crude product, the effect was very poor.

Only magical items made with advanced Shield Charm can achieve the shielding effect, and even then, the effect is not long-lasting; they will turn back into ordinary coins within a few days.

"You must have prepared something else as well," Isobel said, looking into Albert's eyes.

"The Basilisk has thick skin and strong magic resistance, so ordinary methods are ineffective and it is very difficult to kill it."

Actually, Albert felt that the Basilisk in the novel died a very unjust death. It was purely a plot device. Otherwise, with Potter's abilities, how could he possibly kill a Basilisk? It's already quite remarkable that he didn't just die on the spot.

Albert was well aware of his own limitations and didn't think he could trigger a plot-driven death like Potter, so it was always better to be careful. He didn't intend to fight the Basilisk to the death, even though Albert knew that killing the Basilisk would probably bring considerable benefits, but wouldn't it be better to take advantage of the situation?

"I've prepared a lot of magical items for escaping, to ensure that if I happen to encounter the Basilisk in the castle, I won't be caught off guard and knocked down. At the very least, I need to find a way to escape." Albert really didn't intend to kill the Basilisk alone; that was very unrealistic, unless he used Fiendfyre to turn the Basilisk into roasted snakes.

Isobel hesitated, though she really wanted to tell Albert that if things got really bad, he should just find an excuse to take leave and come back when things calmed down. But she didn't say it, and Albert probably wouldn't choose to run away anyway.

Do snakes eat spiders?

Albert guessed Isobel's thoughts and quickly changed the subject, "If we're talking about natural enemies, I guess we're referring to a predator-prey relationship!"

"I'm not quite sure about that. Could there be other reasons why the Acromantula is afraid of the Basilisk?" Isobel sighed and offered another perspective.

"Other reasons?" Albert flipped back to the section about the Basilisk in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, even though the author had clearly never seen the Basilisk himself.

His gaze fell on the line, "Anyone whose gaze meets itss will die instantly." After a moment, he suddenly realized, "I see."

What came to mind?

"I think I know why spiders are afraid of Basilisk!" Albert jumped up from his armchair and said excitedly, "Spiders have a wide field of vision, even up to 360 degrees, and they can't close their eyes. This means that spiders can easily make eye contact with Basilisk, resulting in their immediate death."

Isobel clearly didn't understand what it meant to have a 360-degree field of vision, but he could probably understand why Albert said the spider was afraid of the Basilisk.

Next, the two discussed how to prevent being ambushed by the Slytherin Heir. The Basilisk couldn't possibly move silently in the corridor, so how could they detect it in time and avoid it immediately?

Although Albert was a little annoyed that Isobel had given the glasses he had given to Katrina, he was more worried about her safety.

However, Albert wouldn't hand over his Protective Glasses to Isobel. As a Pure-blood wizard, she didn't need to worry too much about the risk of attack, but Albert's situation was a bit precarious.

Actually, Albert had other options if he didn't want to take the risk.

After the second attack, intercept Tom's Diary from Ginny.

That's the best opportunity right now.

The real headache for Albert was what to do after intercepting Tom's Diary. He could use all sorts of sensationalism to extract as much value as possible from the diary and gain more magical control, but after that, should he really confront Tom and claim he'd found Dumbledore Slytherin Heir? Or reveal that he'd acquired another Horcrux from Voldemort? That would be absurd, contrary to his principles, and likely to invite a host of trouble.