The Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin has always been a ticking time bomb buried within Hogwarts Castle.

Ever since Professor Binns paid the "damn" price last year and mapped out the path to the Chamber, hunting and disposing of the giant serpent has been on the annual agenda for Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic. Sealing it is just a temporary security measure; the only foolproof solution is to completely erase its life.

Obviously, neither Dumbledore nor Fudge intends to let their successors deal with this problem.

"The monster in the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk," said Aileen, calmly explaining, "It is a very dangerous killing creature deliberately bred by wizards—its most dangerous attack method is that it can use its gaze to attack its target. Anyone, or more accurately, the gaze of most creatures, will be instantly killed upon eye contact—it's instant death."

"Similar to... Avada Kedavra?" Hermione interjected nervously.

"Well, maybe worse—"

Aileen said bluntly, as she always thought overestimating the enemy was not a bad thing.

"The Killing Curse is an energy-based spell, and it has multiple effective conditions: directly hitting the human body and having a magic concentration that reaches the instant-death threshold. However, the Basilisk is different; it only needs to glare at you to kill you. And what's worse, the theoretical numerical value of human eye vision is 188 degrees."

Hannah and Luna put down what they were doing and looked at Aileen nervously.

"There are too few existing battle records about the Basilisk, and there is almost no evidence that can be used as a reference."

Aileen continued in a very serious tone, "If we analyze it in the worst possible scenario, we should use long-range attacks to end the battle during the hunt—close combat may be defended thousands of times, but as long as it fails once, someone will die."

"Do we... have to kill it?"

Luna asked softly, reluctantly. Her eyes were downcast, looking a little depressed.

Discussing how to kill a magical creature on Christmas Eve was not a pleasant thing.

"It seems so at the moment. Myrtle was killed by it—besides Myrtle, there are several other students in Hogwarts history who are suspected of dying under the Basilisk—if it decides to run rampant in the school one day, it will instantly turn Hogwarts into a living hell."

"But..."

Luna hesitated for a few seconds and bit her lip.

"Isn't it the dark wizards who manipulate the Basilisk who are really killing people?"

"Well, that's the view in *Defense Against the Dark Arts Theory*, right?"

Aileen glanced at Luna, who nodded slowly, and spread her hands with a sigh of helplessness.

"That's right, it's the dark wizards who harm the wizards, not the curses themselves—this concept is valid from a legal point of view. But there is still some controversy in the field of magical creatures. Many times we choose not the theoretically optimal result, but the practically optimal method."

"Parseltongue can control the Basilisk, that's what the ancient books tell us. But that's not enough to be the basis for humans to tame the Basilisk."

"For example, Fluffy. The reason why Cerberus could become the magical pets of wizards in the Middle Ages and ancient times is not just because they were powerful. More importantly, wizards have a way to sign contracts using magic to fundamentally achieve complete control—like this."

Aileen raised her right hand, and a faint blue flame bloomed from her fingertips.

A few seconds later, the flame gradually turned into a three-headed puppy, which was the contract between Aileen and Fluffy.

Looking at Luna who wanted to say something but stopped, Aileen waved her hand to disperse the contract flame and continued.

"Of course, as a 'killing weapon' created by wizards, I believe the Basilisk must also have corresponding manipulation methods. But... the Basilisk and Cerberus are essentially different. Even if it has corresponding manipulation methods, it must not have them now—"

"Eh? Why?"

"The Ministry of Magic will not allow any wizard to control the Basilisk, is that right?"

At this moment, Hermione suddenly spoke, thoughtfully looking at the stone walls around the castle.

"Even Professor Dumbledore, this is a very sensitive matter—no one would want to put their life and wealth in the hands of others' kindness. If the Basilisk is really as powerful and deadly as Aileen said, then it must not obey someone's orders."

"Well, that's pretty much the idea—"

Aileen said softly, putting down the "Permitted to Stay List" and tapping it on the table.

"The Basilisk is now defined as a 'weapon of mass destruction' high-risk creature. After several months of negotiation, the Ministry of Magic, the International Confederation of Wizards, and Hogwarts have unanimously decided to completely destroy it. The safety of all teachers and students at Hogwarts cannot be weighed on a scale."

"Then why do we have to stay," Hannah raised her hand, looking confused, "I mean, since they've already decided—"

"Look... Professor Dumbledore, currently 111 years old; my grandfather, 109 years old; Scamander, 95 years old..."

Aileen counted them off one by one, her delicate little face full of filial concern.

"From the average life expectancy of the magical world and the non-magical world, these old people may not have a few good years left. Not everyone is willing to use the Philosopher's Stone to prolong their lives. If they suddenly don't make it one day, the high-level members of the 'Tarot Society' may suddenly face a vacuum—"

"Therefore, as reserve members of the 'Major Arcana', you must now participate in major decisions and accumulate experience in advance."

"On the other hand, we won't directly appear in the castle..."

"The Ministry of Magic will send Auror action teams and officials from the Magical Creatures Control Department. We may be in the headmaster's office or on a boat..."

"Boat, on a boat?!" Hannah's eyes became even more confused.

"Yeah. This is very important because the underground waters and underground space of Hogwarts are particularly complex."

Aileen explained with a serious face, "Even if we theoretically block all the discovered Chamber exits, we still have to consider the existence of unknown secret passages. If the Basilisk escapes into the Black Lake during the battle... we have to lock its position as soon as possible."

Hogwarts is located in the southern Scottish Highlands.

Not far away is the famous Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

Ancient concealment magic only confuses the geographical location in concept, and does not truly strip Hogwarts from the map.

If the Basilisk escapes from Hogwarts Castle into the Black Lake and sneaks into the external waters along the Black Lake, it would be a real large-scale disaster. Tracking and hunting a monster with instant-death ability in the vast and complex Scottish waters is definitely not a good thing.

"But, but..."

Hannah hesitated for a few seconds, gesturing vaguely in the air.

"Aileen, that Basilisk... should be very big, right?"

Although today was the first time she had heard of this strange and dangerous magical creature, judging from the measures and formations of the Ministry of Magic and a group of top wizards at Hogwarts, it was obviously not a small-sized magical creature like a Flobberworm.

"Well, adults are usually about thirty to fifty feet long."

Aileen nodded, thought about it, and added, "The one in the Chamber might be bigger, but not too much bigger."

"F-fifty feet?! Isn't that almost twenty meters—"

Hannah's eyes widened instantly, looking at Aileen, who was calm, in disbelief.

"You just said that we are monitoring the Black Lake on a boat?! If the Basilisk escapes from the Chamber, we are also responsible for..."

"Don't worry, it's a... big, big flat-topped fishing boat. It's very safe."

Aileen patted Hannah on the shoulder and comforted her with a smile, "I'll take you to visit it when the holidays come in a few days. Not to mention the thousand-year-old Basilisk left by Mr. Slytherin, even a fire dragon in its prime may be injured if it hits the side of the ship."

After being reinforced and strengthened by nearly a hundred wizards, the Hyperion was no longer the ordinary semi-finished aircraft carrier it used to be.

At the same time, this is the last layer of protection that Dumbledore and Aileen have buried for this operation.

If the Basilisk accidentally escapes and leaves the castle area, the Hyperion will launch a strike from the air as soon as possible.

In an open environment, this war fortress combining non-magical and magical top craftsmanship will let that Basilisk from more than a thousand years ago understand what justice falls from the sky and what the wheels of the times are rolling forward—the only trouble is that it may also have to reset the memories of the Ministry of Magic officials or add some heroic warriors to this list of deaths.

"So, the black shadow that Trelawney talked about that covered the sky of Hogwarts—"

At the same time, Hermione's eyes widened slightly.

She suddenly remembered the phantom hidden in the clouds that she vaguely saw in the sky above Hogwarts when she left Hogwarts last year after school.

"Just like magic, the Hyperion also exists—"

Aileen snapped her fingers lightly in the air.

Three cold metal cards fell in front of Hermione and others.

[Hogwarts - Hannah Abbott]

[Hogwarts - Hermione Granger]

[Hogwarts - Luna Lovegood]

Aileen's fingers gently brushed over the three metal cards, and pale blue flames imprinted her magical aura on them.

"This weekend, shall we go to the Hyperion to watch the sunrise together?"

————

————

Yay!