Dumbledore hurried toward the Hospital Wing without even taking the time to straighten his beard.
A few minutes earlier, he had seen Professor McGonagall's Patronus, a silver tabby cat.
"Minerva, Filius, how are things?"
From a distance, he saw an anxious McGonagall standing at the door alongside an equally worried Flitwick. Flitwick was barely half her height. Lockhart was there too, joining the commotion. He simply could not bear to leave the spotlight for even a second.
"Just like the others. She's been petrified." The moment McGonagall saw Dumbledore approach, she seemed to find something to steady her.
The victim was Penelope Clearwater, a Ravenclaw student who excelled in both character and academics. She was also a Ravenclaw prefect.
"Percy Weasley found her in an empty classroom on the fourth floor this morning," McGonagall said.
Dumbledore immediately entered the Hospital Wing, and the other professors hurried after him. Madam Pomfrey was bending over Penelope, taking something from her hand.
-a small mirror.
Dumbledore immediately guessed how Penelope had escaped death at the basilisk's hands.
But even he had known nothing about this attack.
After discovering that the portraits in the Castle were Dumbledore's eyes and ears, Cyrus had naturally refused to repeat his mistake. He no longer let the basilisk move through the corridors, instead keeping it inside the pipes and only letting it emerge at the moment of an attack. Cyrus himself remained even better hidden.
"This is already the fourth attack, Albus. Three students have been hurt." McGonagall's face was full of worry. "I'm afraid we can't keep this under wraps any longer. What does the Board of Governors say?"
"There has been no response yet." Dumbledore shook his head. He had thought the Board of Governors might intend to close Hogwarts, but that had not happened. Perhaps