Actually, just as Hermione had guessed, explaining everything to Hagrid in advance and having him cooperate with Harry's actions was meant to use Hagrid as a "mouthpiece," telling Harry and the others about the Basilisk through him.
However, Dumbledore did not know about this; Vaughn had merely suggested including Hagrid in the plan, reasoning that Harry would definitely seek Hagrid's help.
Dumbledore had not thought much of it; although Vaughn had mentioned the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk to him last year, Old Dumbledore never imagined that Voldemort would choose the Chamber of Secrets as the place to stage his fateful duel with Harry.
The reason Vaughn did this was because once the plan began, there was no time to waste, and even though Harry shared a soul connection with Voldemort, he was completely in the dark throughout the entire affair.
The only information he had grasped was the fake news Voldemort had deliberately leaked to him.
If Hagrid was not made to spill the beans, leaving Harry, Hermione, and the others to investigate on their own, there was no telling how long they would be searching.
"A Basilisk? What is that?" The bad student Ron asked Hermione almost instinctively.
In fact, Harry was the same; he had never heard of a Basilisk either, though the twin brothers knew a little, albeit not in detail.
Hermione's expression turned solemn as she slowly said, "It's a very terrifying magical creature, also known as the King of Serpents."
"Its size can become enormous, and it usually lives for several hundred years. Legend has it that it's hatched from a toad out of a cockerel's egg."
"A toad hatching—a cockerel's egg?" Harry felt that even in the wizarding world, this was a thoroughly unreasonable thing.
"Listen to me—" Hermione glared at him,