Preventive Measures

Over the weekend, Lin Du's office and private laboratory.

The air was thick with a scorched smell, and the strange Magical Fluctuation had yet to fully subside.

At the center of the room, deep-red Fiendfyre had just been suppressed inside a specially made obsidian cauldron, still unwillingly spitting sparks.

Lin Du lowered his wand and let out a soft breath.

The experiment just now had been quite dangerous—

When he recited the incantation, "Ignis Daemonicus," Fiendfyre surged from the tip of his wand, but began to spiral out of control after traveling barely a foot.

As though it possessed a will of its own, the flames greedily devoured the dragon-scale fragments he had added, instantly swelling into a roiling sea of fire.

Twisted faces constantly emerged from within the flames—afterimages left behind by the creatures Fiendfyre had consumed, silently screaming amid the deep-red blaze.

Lin Du tried the Freezing Charm, protective spells, and even several Dark Magic countermeasures, but not only did they fail to suppress the flames, they became fuel for them, making the fire rage even more fiercely.

"Restringo Igneus!"

He had no choice but to cast three Binding Charms in succession while simultaneously using his wand to trace intricate Ancient Runes.

Magic Power intertwined in the air, forming an invisible cage that forcibly compressed the restless flames back into the center of the cauldron.

The process had drained a great deal of his energy, and fine beads of sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

Chao Feng lightly leaped down from the top of the bookshelf, its golden eyes gleaming faintly in the dim room.

"Finally over? Every time I watch you mess with that thing, I feel like you're playing with fire."

Flicking its tail, it casually asked, "Come to think of it, that Miss Know-it-all mentioned someone hearing strange voices before... who do you think it is?"

Lin Du picked up a piece of velvet cloth and wiped his wand without looking up. "Harry Potter."

"Oh? You're that sure?"

"The Chosen One ought to have some unusual 'traits.'" Lin Du's tone was calm. "His connection with the Dark Lord runs deeper than outsiders imagine. It isn't surprising that he can hear things others cannot."

"Then do you think... it really is a Basilisk?" Chao Feng jumped onto the workbench and tilted its head at him.

Lin Du set down his wand. "Considering what Selene mentioned before—that Dark Lord's Relics might be hidden within Hogwarts—and the secret of Transcending Death... it is most likely one. A Basilisk, along with a Horcrux, fits the Dark Lord's style perfectly."

He paused and looked at Chao Feng. "What about you? As a magical creature yourself, can't you sense anything unusual within the castle?"

Chao Feng snorted unhappily. "The magical field at Hogwarts has been a mess for a thousand years. Ancient Magic, protective spells, the lingering thoughts of all sorts of ghosts and portraits... it's all mixed together. Trying to precisely identify the aura of one specific creature from that stew isn't so easy."

It scratched its ear with a claw. "Still... there really has been an unpleasant, cold, evil force flowing through the castle's plumbing lately. It makes me very uncomfortable."

"Looks like the legend may not be entirely groundless." Lin Du walked over to the bookshelf, seemingly looking for a particular book.

"Tsk, tsk. A living creation containing the culmination of Dark Magic, a thousand-year-old Basilisk... doesn't that tempt you? Don't you want to go 'study' it?" Chao Feng asked in an encouraging tone.

"Tempt me?"

Lin Du turned around, his face expressionless. "And then what? Go alone against a fifty-foot Basilisk that kills anyone it looks at? There might even be one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes lurking nearby."

He shook his head, walked to the bookshelf, and ran his fingertips over a row of ancient leather-bound books.

"Not to mention that simply finding the entrance to the legendary Chamber of Secrets would be an enormous problem. Hogwarts has been explored for over a thousand years. How many wizards have tried to find Slytherin's little 'gift'? Has anyone succeeded? No."

He pulled out a hefty volume titled Hogwarts' Unsolved Mysteries and Architectural Paradoxes and casually opened it to a page containing an intricate sketch of the castle's pipe system.

"The castle's magical field itself interferes with many detection spells, not to mention concealment spells at the level of the founders. The entrance may have been made Unplottable, Non-traceable, or even hidden by older Bloodline Detection Magic. I don't speak Parseltongue. Even if I were standing right in front of the entrance, I might not notice a thing."

He snapped the book shut and glared at Chao Feng irritably. "Other than lying on top of the bookshelf and making sarcastic remarks, what help can you offer? Should I expect the nose of an 'Auspicious Beast' like you to sniff out the Chamber of Secrets through hundreds of feet of stone and ancient magic? Or should I expect you to wrestle the Basilisk?"

"Hey!" Chao Feng immediately bristled, its tail sticking straight up like a rod. "I am the noble Chao Feng! Strategic observation and early warning are my specialties! Besides, I simply refuse to lower myself to the level of brutes who rely on brute force!"

Ignoring its protest, Lin Du continued, "Besides, since this involves one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes, it is no longer simply a Basilisk problem. This is clearly something Dumbledore should worry about. Why should I wade into this muddy water and invite trouble? That headmaster would not appreciate anyone casually interfering with his 'training plan for the Chosen One.'"

Chao Feng, however, was unconcerned. "That may be true, but what if that giant snake wanders out one day and accidentally kills a few students with a glance? As the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, you might have a hard time explaining yourself. After all, you do have quite a record."

Lin Du fell silent for a moment, then walked to his desk and pulled out a sheet of parchment.

Chao Feng's words had indeed struck at the concern he had been deliberately ignoring.

Dumbledore might believe his explanation, or at least investigate it seriously.

That old man's thoughts were difficult to fathom, but he possessed keen judgment when it came to major matters of right and wrong.

But what about the Ministry of Magic? What would those bureaucrats think?

A wizard who studied Dark Magic and had a "record" of being hunted by the Ministry of Magic had only recently begun teaching at Hogwarts, and then a deadly Basilisk appeared in the castle... it was practically the perfect script delivered straight to certain people.

That idiot Cornelius Fudge was surely desperate for an excuse to strengthen the Ministry's interference in Hogwarts, or to divert the public's attention from certain matters.

When the time came, Lin Du would be the ready-made scapegoat—

"A dangerous dark wizard infiltrated the school and released an ancient monster that endangered student safety." Was there any accusation more convenient than that?

Even if he could ultimately prove his innocence, it would still become a long, utterly troublesome dispute, enough to destroy the peaceful research life he had only just managed to obtain.

"You're right," he said in a more solemn tone, dipping his quill into the ink. "At the very least... I should remind the headmaster to strengthen his precautions. We cannot wait until something truly happens and give certain people an opportunity to make an issue of it."

He began writing quickly. "There may be a Basilisk lurking in the castle. I recommend strengthening nighttime patrols and watching for unusual activity, especially within the plumbing system... This way, at least I will have fulfilled my duty to inform him."

He quickly finished a short letter and sealed it with magic.

"Chao Feng, make a trip to the owlery for me and send this letter to Dumbledore."

"Me? No!" Chao Feng immediately bristled and leaped off the workbench with a look of disgust.

"I refuse to go anywhere near that place full of bird feathers! And I don't want to see that gaudy, conceited, tone-deaf phoenix Fawkes! Every time it sees me, it acts like it wants to sweep me out with its tail feathers, as if nobody knows how beautiful it is! Why is a bird so narcissistic?"

Lin Du looked at it helplessly. "Why are you, an ancient Auspicious Beast, competing with a phoenix?"

"Who's competing with it? It's the one that doesn't like me!" Chao Feng said, craning its neck.

"Last time, I merely said its singing sounded like a Mandrake crying, and it chased after me spitting sparks for half a day! Go yourself, or send one of your paper cranes. Just don't ask me!"

"A tin of Junshan Silver Needle." Lin Du interrupted its complaints.

Chao Feng immediately seized the letter in its mouth and vanished.

If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you do not lose it next time.