For some reason, Tom felt a sudden surge of panic.
The moment the Basilisk landed, Will waved his Wand. The devices he had set up blared to life with the sound of roosters crowing!
The pile he had arranged beforehand turned out to be an assortment of Muggle radios and Communication Crystals used by Wizards.
In an instant, shrill crowing filled the underground chamber. Even though Will had plugged his ears in advance, the sound was almost deafening.
At the same time, Will scattered a handful of fine sand. The grains twisted and changed in midair, each becoming a magnificent rooster. Amid the din from the players, the flock began crowing at the top of their lungs.
The sand had once been real roosters. Will had turned them into sand with Transfiguration and stored them away. He had even made a special trip to Diagon Alley to get them.
Roosters had a powerful suppressive effect on Basilisks.
The poor Basilisk had barely landed before the crowing echoing through the cramped chamber nearly did it in. Books claimed that a rooster's crow would kill a Basilisk instantly, but that did not seem to be happening here.
Perhaps this Basilisk had simply lived too long and amassed too much Magic to die at once.
Still, after thrashing wildly for a moment, it collapsed with a crash. Only faint spasms continued to ripple through its body.
Will could not tell whether it was dead, and he had no intention of gambling on it. Mindful of the Basilisk's immense resistance to Magic, he waved his Wand and bombarded it with Aguamenti and Glacius. Before long, the entire creature was frozen into a solid block of ice.
Only part of its bloodied mouth remained exposed. One sharp fang was missing, removed by Will.
Staring at