A week later, Gryffindor common room.
"Found it!"
Hermione carefully put away the notes in front of her, then turned to look at the startled Harry and Ron beside her.
"Harry! The voice you heard before was probably a Basilisk!"
"A Basilisk?" Ron was the first to react. "Harry heard a Basilisk's voice? Harry, can you understand snakes?"
"How is that possible, Hermione? What exactly is a Basilisk?"
Hermione picked up another notebook filled with copied notes and said gravely:
"A Basilisk is a dark creature rated XXXXX in danger level. Its breeding method is bizarre, and it is extremely rare and lethally dangerous. Usually, only dark wizards would attempt to create one.
"These creatures live exceptionally long lives and are at least fifty feet in length. Any creature that makes direct eye contact with a Basilisk dies instantly. Only a Parselmouth can control a Basilisk!"
"Parselmouth! Harry, you're a Parselmouth! Why didn't you tell us?"
"I'm a what?" Harry asked.
"You can understand the language of snakes, can't you? That makes you a Parselmouth!"
Harry had been about to argue, but he suddenly remembered something and widened his eyes.
"Once, at the zoo, I accidentally let out a huge python. It lunged at my cousin Dudley—it's a long story.
"At the time, the python told me it had never been to Brazil, and I somehow let it out. I didn't mean to. I didn't even know I was a wizard then."
"That's it, then. What you heard was the language of snakes! That's why you could hear that voice wherever you went while no one else could. Only you possess Parseltongue.
"Merlin's beard! There's actually such a dangerous creature inside Hogwarts Castle?"
Hermione's eyes were wide with disbelief.
At the same time, she was screaming inwardly, Professor Li Wei was right! Slytherin really did lock a Basilisk inside Hogwarts! This is absurd!
"I thought the Three-Headed Dog we saw last term was ridiculous enough. Now there's a Basilisk too. It should still be locked up somewhere and not released yet, right?"
Ron smacked his lips and continued asking.
"So what do we do now? Tell the professors immediately?"
"Wait, we should confirm it first! How about we go see Hagrid? Maybe this is another one of his pets?"
Harry stopped Ron.
For some reason, after learning that he was a Parselmouth, he instinctively found it unpleasant and did not want too many people to know.
"This can't possibly have anything to do with Hagrid, but I don't mind asking him about it first. Maybe he'll have some new information."
"Why can't it have anything to do with him? He can keep a Three-Headed Dog as a pet. Though having a Basilisk as a pet... all right, that does sound a bit absurd."
Hermione shook her head and gave them both a mysterious look.
"Do you know the legend of the Chamber of Secrets? Legend has it that, back then, Slytherin—"
"Wait, you mean Harry is the heir chosen by Slytherin? But he's obviously a Gryffindor."
After hearing the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, Ron stared at Harry in disbelief, and there was even a flicker of fear in his eyes.
Harry grew annoyed under that gaze and raised his voice.
"How could that be? I'm just a little different from everyone else. I understand the language of snakes, that's all. What does that have to do with anything? It's not like I plan to use it for anything."
"It has a great deal to do with it," Hermione lowered her voice. "Speaking to snakes was Salazar Slytherin's famous gift. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a snake."
Harry froze.
He suddenly remembered that the Sorting Hat had indeed wanted to place him in Slytherin. He had insisted on refusing it. Could it be...
"Wait, Hermione, how did you know about this?"
Rather than looking at Harry, Ron turned and questioned Hermione.
"Professor Li Wei told me. His knowledge is beyond anything anyone could imagine!
"I simply can't believe that someone like him had remained unknown in the wizarding world for so many years.
"I spent more than a dozen hours in the library this past week looking through materials, and I couldn't find even the slightest mention of the Chamber of Secrets."
"Professor Li Wei? That homework maniac?"
Ron looked thoroughly conflicted—he loved how the professor had them practice in every class, but he truly hated the crushing workload.
Not to mention that many people could not complete the memorization assignments he required, causing Gryffindor to lose all its points!
It was not just him. Almost every Gryffindor student felt the same way.
Other than Ravenclaw students and Hermione, almost no one completely liked that professor. They both loved and hated him.
Because points were deducted so frequently, Slytherin and Gryffindor, the two Houses that had originally ranked at the top, had fallen from first and second place to second-last and last in the House Cup standings in just one week!
They had gone directly from strong contenders for victory to fellow sufferers! Who could accept that?
They had heard that Professor Snape had been furious about it, but he had not gone to see Li Wei. Instead, he had savagely berated the Slytherin students in class with a look that could kill.
This was the first time students from the other three Houses had seen Snape lose his temper at students from his own House.
"Ron, Professor Li Wei's assignments are very meaningful. You shouldn't call him that."
Hermione corrected Ron solemnly.
"All right, all right, it doesn't matter. It's just a name."
Ron waved a hand dismissively.
But he no longer had any doubts about Hermione's source.
After hearing that the information came from Li Wei, Harry felt even more uneasy. He even wanted to go to Professor Li Wei for help.
However, he had not performed well enough in class.
Li Wei had taught for two weeks, and over four lessons, Harry had not even had a chance to speak with him.
Would it be strange if he suddenly showed up at his office?
At that thought, Harry pressed his lips together.
"Let's go find Hagrid first and see whether he knows anything about the Basilisk. Then we'll decide what to do!"
Defense Against the Dark Arts office.
The sealed area Li Wei had additionally carved out using the Untraceable Extension Charm had begun to take shape after a week of preparation.
The entire room had been continuously expanded into a circular maze, divided by nine partition walls.
The walls were built entirely from enchanted froststone, with fireproofing, isolation, concealment, and six layers of protective wards set around the edges.
"Is everything ready? Let's begin."
"Yes, Professor."
Two assistants stood at Li Wei's side. The three of them stood in the empty center of the maze, their expressions solemn.
[Fiendfyre Curse]
One of the most dangerous and darkest known forms of Dark Arts in the wizarding world.
When cast, it could transform into a series of deadly creatures made of flame, actively hunting down all living beings within range.
It possessed the ability to multiply without limit.
It could devour any flammable substance, whether physical or magical, growing stronger without end and never going out.
This flame could destroy almost anything. Ordinary objects and defensive magic went without saying; it could even destroy things that ordinary magic could not damage, including Horcruxes.
In the hands of Grindelwald, one generation's Dark Lord, this curse had been powerful enough to destroy all of Paris.
Its immense destructive power came with equally obvious flaws.
First, it was extremely easy to lose control of.
Using this curse in an enclosed space was almost no different from suicide, as Fiendfyre attacked indiscriminately.
Besides being easy to lose control of, the curse was not fast enough to take shape. Before the magic formed, it could easily be avoided.
Furthermore, the curse was extremely easy to block.
Although anything standing in its path would be burned to ashes, in a duel between wizards, sometimes all one needed was an instant.
But despite all these flaws, the Fiendfyre Curse remained an exceptionally powerful spell.
And what Li Wei wanted to study was how to improve upon those flaws after mastering the curse.
Before you continue