A red curse flared and instantly struck the Red-scaled Basilisk at close range.
But compared to the enormous creature dozens of meters long, the spell Harry fired was as thin as a cow hair. He even doubted whether his magic had broken the basilisk's skin.
"Ahahahaha..."
The great snake laughed so hard it swayed back and forth, its bright red tongue bouncing wildly through the air like a rubber band. Its sharp hissing sounded like countless claws scraping against glass, echoing through the sealed Chamber and becoming especially piercing. "--This is the famous Harry Potter? The child of destiny who defeated the Dark Lord? If this is all you can do, you could never defeat me... What a pity... If I had more time, I wouldn't mind having a proper chat with you, according to my usual habits. But now, the Magic Ritual is not yet complete. This really isn't the time to waste time... Legilimency!"
The enormous basilisk head silently lowered.
It fell before Harry.
Its crimson snake eyes met his.
Those eyes were simply too enormous. Standing before them, Harry could almost see his entire reflection in them, even the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead reflected with perfect clarity.
And in the instant he froze.
The basilisk's wild laughter abruptly stopped, turning into a bewitching whisper. Completely unprepared, Harry was struck by its spell. His mind instantly went blank, and Slytherin's gigantic statue and the Red-scaled Basilisk swayed and vanished before his eyes.
Images flashed rapidly before him like a carousel of lanterns. It was as though he had crossed through time, reliving every unforgettable moment from the past dozen years in an instant.
At six, he watched Dudley play with a newly bought toy airplane, his eyes full of envy... At seven, Dudley punched his glasses to