Tom: Dealing with Lucien is a piece of cake, Basilisk (4000 words)

The candlelight flickered in the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts's office.

Lockhart casually tossed a pair of gleaming gold glasses onto the table, then picked up the Peacock Quill and began writing rapidly in an Old Diary.

The ink smudged on the yellowed pages, detailing Dumbledore's announcement of the Basilisk's existence, the organization of the professors' search, and the distribution of the spectacles that could obstruct the Basilisk's vision...

Soon, Tom's reply appeared in the diary:

"The glasses don't matter. Our original plan was just to petrify those little wizards anyway. Now that the glasses are in the way, it actually makes things easier for us, doesn't it? At least we don't have to specifically look for water stains or mirrors anymore..."

"We don't need to worry about that student named Lucien; he won't affect our plans..."

Inside the diary.

Young Tom Riddle is playing with gold-rimmed glasses that are exactly the same as those in real life.

He scrutinized her for a moment, his cold, dark eyes remaining completely expressionless.

"The tail feathers of Thestral..."

He casually tossed his glasses up and caught them again.

"First they provided Mandrake, which accelerated the healing of petrification and disrupted the spread of panic. Now, they've created this..."

Tom's voice remained indifferent.

"This Lucien Grafton is definitely getting in the way."

However, he quickly suppressed this displeasure.

For Tom, the most important thing now is to accumulate enough life force to complete his resurrection.

As long as he can rebuild his physical body, everything will be fine.

The primary objective was naturally to control the Basilisk and kill Harry Potter first.

Dealing with Lucien, who had repeatedly caused trouble, was just a matter of course.

As for the so-called protective glasses?

Tom tightened his grip, and the gold-rimmed glasses suddenly shattered, turning into scattered specks of light.

"Even if this could truly block the Basilisk's gaze and save us from imminent death, so what?"

The Basilisk's enormous body could easily crush a human, its venom dripping from its mouth was enough to corrode bones and cause excruciating pain, and the hard scales covering its entire body had extremely high resistance to most spells...

"At that time, facing a group of panicked young wizards, the Basilisk will be able to carry out an efficient massacre even without using its eyes, simply by crushing them or spraying venom."

Tom leaned back comfortably on the wide back of the principal's chair.

"Hopefully, by then, that troublesome Lucien won't be too far from Harry Potter..."

Putting his mind aside, Tom Riddle stopped worrying about these trivial details.

He began writing new words on the blank pages of his diary:

"Friend, the plan remains the same. How's the material gathering for that potion I gave you last time, the one that temporarily boosts magic? It will make the magic's effects even more dazzling, and it's crucial for your 'heroic entrance'..."

Outside of the diary.

Lockhart saw the new handwriting appearing in the diary and wrote back:

"Oh, don't worry! We're almost all gathered; just one last tiny, insignificant piece of material is missing!"

However, the truth is that Lockhart had already gathered and prepared the potion.

He tested it on test toads, and it was indeed not a harmful magic potion; the toads even became exceptionally energetic.

It looks just like Tom said, a potion simply used to restore energy and temporarily stimulate magic.

Despite Tom's best efforts to help him so far, Lockhart remained cautious and careful about something he was about to drink.

In fact, Lockhart sometimes felt uneasy about Lucien's gaze, as if he could see right through him, but most of the time he seemed quite normal.

Lockhart suddenly felt an itch on the back of his neck, scratched it, and then continued writing and communicating with Tom.

In mid-air, a small spider, its body suspended by delicate threads, hung upside down, its eyes fixed on the diary and the draft beside Lockhart.

Extremely tiny black vortexes appeared, and the words became clearly visible in Lucien's eyes.

Hmm, a potion to unleash magic, let's take a look.

The rain poured down, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Lucien strolled down the corridor, a pair of silver-rimmed glasses perched on his high-bridged nose. Behind the lenses, his dark green eyes darted around, scrutinizing the young wizards who passed by.

After being supervised and distributed by the professors, the young wizards have all started wearing Thestral glasses or contact lenses.

"Lucien, is something going to happen at school again lately?"

Harry asked uneasily; he had also put on the Thestral glasses, the same style as before.

For some reason, Harry had an instinctive feeling that something was wrong these days, much like before he faced Quirrell last year.

"Yes, with these strict travel restrictions and the suspension of Quidditch Match, could it be related to the Chamber of Secrets?"

Ron rubbed his eyes; he wasn't used to wearing glasses, so he chose contact lenses.

Even though he's usually a bit slow on the uptake, Ron noticed a significant change in the atmosphere inside the castle, much like the oppressive atmosphere of the thunderstorm.

Hermione, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke:

"Lucien, are these glasses related to the monster in the Chamber of Secrets? I think I read about them in a book before; some Magical Creatures can cause harm through their gaze..."

Listening to Hermione's narration, Lucien nodded slightly. This little girl was very clever and had read a lot of books.

I remember in the original book, Hermione was the first to discover that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was Basilisk.

"The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is..."

However, as soon as Lucien opened his mouth, Harry suddenly covered his ears, his expression pained and terrified, saying that he had heard that sound again.

Lucien didn't continue speaking, because he could communicate with animals and also hear the Basilisk's voice.

A faint, slippery, heavy friction sound could be heard.

Black vortexes suddenly appeared in Lucien's eyes as he looked at the wall at the end of the corridor.

An eerie and chilling magical power moved within the walls, or rather, within the pipes inside the walls.

The castle of Hogwarts has many pipes, which the Basilisk uses to move around the castle.

They've arrived.

Lucien flicked his wrist, and the Silver-Black Wand slid into his palm.

Outside the window, the rain poured down, and flashes of silver lightning occasionally tore through the sky, illuminating the slightly uneasy faces in the corridor.

Lucien walked unhurriedly down the corridor, a pair of exquisite silver-rimmed glasses perched on his high-bridged nose, his dark green eyes behind the lenses sweeping over the young wizards who brushed past him.

With the professors' strict management and distribution, the young wizards all wore specially made Thestral glasses.

"Lucien," Harry, still wearing his round-framed glasses, "Is something going to happen at school again lately?"

For some reason, he had been feeling a strange palpitation lately, almost exactly the same feeling he had before facing Quirrell last year.

Ron rubbed his eyes, which were still a little uncomfortable with the contact lenses, and chimed in:

"With strict travel restrictions and the suspension of Quidditch Match, could it be related to the Chamber of Chamber of Secrets?"

Even though he's usually a bit oblivious, Ron could sense the increasingly oppressive atmosphere in the castle, just like the oppressive thunderstorm outside the window.

Hermione, who had been silent, suddenly looked intently at Lucien.

"Lucien, are these glasses related to the monster in the Chamber of Secrets? I read about them in a book recently; some extremely dangerous Magical Creatures can cause harm simply by making eye contact..."

Listening to Hermione's speculation, Lucien nodded slightly. This little girl was quick-witted and well-read.

Yes, in the original story, she was also the first to pinpoint the true form of the monster in the Chamber of Secrets as Basilisk.

"You guessed right, the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is actually..."

However, before Lucien could finish speaking, Harry suddenly covered his ears, a look of pain and fear on his face.

"It's happening again... that voice... I heard it!"

Harry managed to squeeze out those words.

Lucien didn't say anything more, because he had heard it too—not through Parseltongue, but through the animal communication abilities granted by the Unicorn's blessing.

A slippery, heavy, and extremely uncomfortable scraping sound was faintly coming from deep within the wall, as if something enormous was winding its way through it.

Lucien's eyes behind his glasses suddenly changed, and a dark vortex rapidly swirled deep within his dark green pupils.

He suddenly turned his head, his gaze fixed on the solid wall at the end of the corridor.

A sinister and chilling magical power was moving inside the wall, or more precisely, within the intricate pipe system inside the wall.

The ancient castle of Hogwarts is filled with countless crisscrossing pipes, and it is through these pipes that the Basilisk moves through the castle.

They've arrived.

Lucien flicked his wrist, and the Silver-Black Wand slid steadily into his palm.

"Harry! What did you hear?!"

Ron was startled by Harry's sudden change in behavior, shook his shoulders vigorously, and anxiously pressed him for an answer.

Harry covered his ears tightly with both hands and said intermittently:

"That voice... it's... it's calling my name?!"

The words had barely left his mouth--

"Boom!!!"

A deafening clap of thunder, tearing through the sky, suddenly exploded, shaking the entire castle.

Almost at the same instant!

"Bang! Crack--!"

At the end of the corridor, the stone wall was cracked with countless spiderweb-like fissures, and rubble and dust fell down in a flurry!

Lucien swung his wand, and a gentle yet powerful magical force enveloped several bewildered young wizards near the wall, pushing them towards safety.

At the same time, he slapped his left hand into the pocket of his robe.

A dark red shadow suddenly darted out, rushing towards the end of the corridor with a sharp whistle.

"BOOM!!!"

The wall at the end of the corridor exploded completely with a loud bang!

Bricks and stones flew everywhere, and dust billowed out like a thick fog, obscuring the view.

Amidst the churning smoke and dust, a pair of enormous yellow "lanterns" radiating a cold light suddenly lit up!

Accompanied by a teeth-grinding "rustling" sound, large swaths of dazzling emerald green scales appeared and disappeared in the dust and mist, outlining a winding silhouette!

Just as those deadly yellow "lanterns" were about to fully emerge from the smoke and dust.

"Bang!!!!!"

A tremendous explosion erupted at the center of the smoke and dust.

A powerful surge of magical energy erupted like an invisible shockwave!

The enormous creature, which had just revealed its terrifying form, was struck hard by the force before it could fully display its true appearance. It let out a muffled roar of pain and was blasted away, crashing through the side wall once again.

Amidst the flying pebbles, his figure disappeared into the torrential rain outside the castle.

The smoke and dust dissipated slightly.

The dark red shadow stood quietly beside Lucien.

It was an exquisitely crafted Alchemy Puppet that radiated a cold, metallic sheen.

The doll's left arm was covered in charred and twisted marks, the result of being burned by violent magic in a short period of time.

A Sorcerer's Stone was embedded in his chest, which was flashing intensely with a red magical glow.

The damage to the machine's structure from such a high-power burst was still too great...

Lucien glanced at the doll, which was powered by a Sorcerer's Stone given to him by Nicolas, and he had designed and added Combat Module to it.

There is still room for improvement in terms of load-bearing capacity and energy dissipation.

Lucien's wand flowed with magic, issuing a silent command to the puppet.

Without any hesitation, the puppet stomped its foot, transforming into a streak of black and red light that crashed through the wall and chased after the Basilisk.

It was to drive the Basilisk to the open meadow outside the castle.

Lucien flicked his wrist, and several bottles of Petrification Antidote appeared in his hand, which he shoved into the arms of the dumbfounded Harry beside him.

The three little ones were clearly still reeling from the shock of the collapsing wall and the appearance of the monster.

"A few students were affected just now, go check on them first."

Just as the Basilisk burst through the wall, a few unlucky souls' eyes met the Basilisk's deadly yellow demonic eyes.

Although the Thestral Glasses blocked and neutralized the curse of death immediate, the Basilisk's eyes were still too close, and the powerful Dark Magic contained within them still petrified them.

After explaining everything in a very fast pace, Lucien had already strode towards the opening created by the Alchemy Puppet.

A strong wind, carrying icy raindrops, poured in.

"Wait! Lucien, what are you doing?!"

Hermione was the first to snap out of her daze, and seeing Lucien standing at the edge of the gap, a strong sense of unease welled up inside her.

But to the horror of the three men, Lucien had already stepped out of the gap and was plummeting downwards!

"Let's go protect the future of the Wizarding World!"

Lucien's voice drifted up on the wind and clearly reached the ears of the three.

Almost simultaneously, they rushed to the edge of the gap, instinctively reaching out to grab the falling figure.

"Call!!"

A fierce gust of wind swept up from below, making it almost impossible for the three of them to open their eyes.

Immediately afterwards, a dazzling golden figure pierced through the rain and soared into the sky!

Harry, with his best dynamic vision, could vaguely make out what appeared to be a Majestic Bird, its body wreathed in leaping arcs of electricity, with Lucien riding steadily on its back. In the blink of an eye, it sped off toward the meadow outside the castle.

"Harry! That's the sound you just heard!"

Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's arm.

"That's Parseltongue! The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is... it's a snake! Basilisk!"

In that critical moment, Hermione's mind worked faster than ever, connecting all the clues:

The gaze, the petrification effect, Harry speaking Parseltongue, the whispers only Harry could hear...

"Go find the professor right now!"

Hermione was still the first to regain her composure and energy.

Harry and Ron realized what was happening in unison.

Harry had only run a few steps when he remembered and shoved the Petrification Antidote he was holding into the hands of a student next to him who was pale with fright.

"Feed that to those petrified classmates!"

The three of them split up and ran wildly down the corridor, heading in different directions.

Going to find the professor together would be a waste of time; splitting up is the fastest way!

Quickly find the professor to save Lucien!