Gilderoy Lockhart's early departure undoubtedly accelerated the disintegration of morale within Hogwarts.

This wasn't surprising. As rumors spread that the Charms professor had taken leave for Christmas, the little wizards' spirits seemed to fly away as well. If the teachers were all starting to plan and arrange their own holidays, how could the students be expected to continue focusing on their studies in the castle?

As for the announcement of Hogwarts Castle's renovation and the school's complete evacuation, it didn't seem out of place or strange in the slightest.

Especially when news spread that Mr. Filch intended to search the school for lingering students to help him clean cobwebs and unclog toilet pipes, the little wizards unanimously began packing their bags, afraid of being caught if they left school late. Thanks to the cooperation between the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, even those children from dysfunctional families or orphans received invitations from other magical families before Christmas Eve.

For example, Harry was granted permission to return to his godfather's house for Christmas, instead of going back to Privet Drive.

Meanwhile, Irina Ivanovna was invited to the Greengrass family. The elder Greengrass, a veteran member of the Board of Governors, naturally knew about the impending hunt this Christmas, and it suited their position to seize this opportunity to befriend a Shadow Prefect with multiple buffs.

As for Danilova, she received the treatment of a darling of the academy, with most of the Ravenclaw girls extending invitations to the "Key Miss."

"In short, after tonight, only we will be left at the school."

Aileen said to Hermione, Luna, and Hannah as dinner was nearing its end that day, "The four of us, plus some professors, officials from the Ministry of Magic, and a great snake that has lived for over a thousand years. This is destined to be a very interesting Christmas, isn't it?"

Not all of Hogwarts' professors were staying behind.

Keep in mind, this was different from the previous political deduction aimed at the non-magical world.

No one could know in advance just how many dangers were hidden within the Chamber of Secrets. Even Aileen, who was "cheating," couldn't fully trust Rowling's descriptions in the original work. The price for being careless in such a place would be too heavy.

Even a lion uses all its strength to hunt a rabbit.

What's more, a Basilisk with a thousand years of experience was locked inside.

The current Aileen was no longer the child who would naively believe in shooting world lines.

Under the flapping of her wings, the paths of the magical and non-magical worlds had long since deviated from their former course.

Therefore, Dumbledore took a rare hard line, pushing forward the clearing of the castle with extreme seriousness.

Out of safety considerations, most of the faculty and staff, including the four heads of house, were granted leave. After the evening banquet that day, they would pack their luggage with Argus Filch, Rubeus Hagrid, and others, and leave the castle on the Hogwarts Express.

However, to Aileen's surprise, the mobilization of the professors was particularly smooth this time.

The lavish global travel service sponsored by Gringotts, combined with the Ministry of Magic-signed all-territory travel visas, was one reason. On the other hand, many professors claimed to be tired of spending Christmas at school. Having such a rare opportunity for a publicly funded vacation, they naturally had no reason to refuse.

Of course, a small number of professors had some minor emotions.

For example, after the dinner, Professor McGonagall and Professor Trelawney blocked Professor Dumbledore in the corridor.

When the students "accidentally" passed by the corridor, they happened to hear Professor McGonagall protesting in a frighteningly stern voice, "I am the Deputy Headmistress of this school! The Transfiguration professor, the Head of Gryffindor House, I have the right to help at school—"

Unfortunately, the students didn't hear the rest.

"Eavesdropping on professors is not the right thing to do," Snape said coldly.

Whether it was the students' imagination or not, Professor Snape's face looked significantly more frightening tonight.

In Professor Snape's almost freezing voice, the students scattered in fear and did not continue to linger by the corridor.

As for Aileen and the others, they didn't show anything out of the ordinary.

"Well, we're going to Aileen's house for Christmas—"

When Ginny asked Hermione about her holiday plans, Hermione replied calmly without changing her expression.

Like her, Luna, Hannah, and even Aileen gave the same answer to this question.

Most little wizards wouldn't care where their classmates were spending Christmas, but Aileen didn't plan to leave loopholes in such places. At least for now, she didn't intend to let the Great Arcana appear in the public eye. However, this kind of covert operation made several little wings very excited.

"So, we have to carry our suitcases and board the train nonchalantly first—"

Hannah looked at Aileen with an excited expression, glanced mysteriously at the classmates around her, and lowered her voice.

"And then sneak off the train and return to the castle before the Hogwarts Express starts? If we get caught, how should we respond? After all, most of the professors are also on the train. If they find out we're not in..."

"We're not getting on the train," Aileen directly burst Hannah's little excitement, "It's enough to create an illusion of boarding the train to put on a show. I specially asked the Hogwarts kitchen to prepare a batch of red wine for the professors, and Bill Weasley will help us cover."

"Oh," Hannah said dejectedly, pouting.

…………

Finally, the term ended.

A silence as thick as the snow on the ground enveloped the entire Hogwarts Castle.

However, Luna didn't find it dull, but rather very peaceful. Just thinking about how she, Hannah, Hermione, and Aileen could wander and play in Hogwarts at will made her feel very happy. Not to mention, Xenophilius would also be coming to Hogwarts for Christmas.

This meant that her father wouldn't be spending Christmas alone, and she would have so many friends to keep her company.

Employees from the Ministry of Magic arrived at the school one after another, but Cornelius Fudge only had lunch and then left Hogwarts.

As the supremely noble Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge naturally wouldn't stay in the castle to participate in the hunt for the Basilisk. Of course, the reason was that there was too much work in the Ministry of Magic, and he trusted the strength of Dumbledore and others. He would try his best to arrive when the hunt began.

Most of the Ministry of Magic's senior officials and members of the Board of Governors also used similar excuses.

In short, apart from the Aurors and field employees from the Department of Magical Catastrophes, the big shots obviously didn't plan to face the Basilisk directly.

Aileen and the others didn't care about these bureaucrats' ways. If they insisted on staying at the school, it would only make them feel constrained.

After all, if something unexpected happened, adding a group of senior officials from the Ministry of Magic to the memory rewind list might awaken the demons in the hearts of some Great Arcana. This kind of easy opportunity might lead to the premature outbreak of a civil war in the magical world.

However, based on some tacitly understood rules, everyone didn't choose to open the Chamber on Christmas Eve.

With Dumbledore's assistance and guidance, the wizards from the Ministry of Magic re-examined the drains around Hogwarts Castle, reinforced the magical barriers originally set up near Moaning Myrtle's bathroom pipes, and went over the combat plan for the next day.

Moreover, the school also had to conduct a final round of inspections to ensure that no students or professors were left in the castle.

At the same time, above the clouds of Hogwarts, outside the view of the Ministry of Magic's wizards.

The pre-war mobilization meeting of the Hyperion was also coming to an end.

"The time is tentatively set for two o'clock tomorrow afternoon."

"At that time, officials from the Ministry of Magic will arrive at the Chamber one after another, using a batch-suppression magical bombardment to advance into the Chamber."

"Albus Dumbledore and Newt Scamander will also be in the first wave of attack personnel, forming an encirclement."

Aileen tapped the display panel on the bridge with her wand, and a semi-transparent simulation of the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets appeared in mid-air.

Due to fear of the Basilisk, the ghosts dared not go too deep when exploring the structure of the Chamber.

Therefore, the three-dimensional terrain maps of Hogwarts and the Hyperion only had the middle and outer regions. The environment of the Basilisk's hibernation and hiding lair was still an unsettling black fog, which was what worried Aileen and the others the most.

"Based on the current deduction, the Basilisk should possess a certain degree of intelligence, temporarily estimated to be that of a normal child around preschool age."

Aileen said, her gaze sweeping across the Hyperion's bridge, her voice steady, clear, and full of authority.

The once spacious bridge of the Hyperion now looked a little crowded.

Apart from the three "reserve Great Arcana" sitting quietly in the corner listening, the "Black Robe Wizard" leaders of the Destiny Group, the leaders of the Gringotts Goblin Action Team, and the peacekeeping elderly group from Salzburg… almost all the elite forces had gathered here.

After all, in the worst-case scenario, the result of this operation failing would be to directly "rise up" and start an armed revolution.

Of course, the probability of this happening was almost zero. Aileen mainly wanted to add a few more layers of insurance and see if she could use this hunt to do some acting, trying to see the effect of her various armed forces working together.

"If we successfully seal off the Basilisk's range of activity and limit the battle to the Chamber below the castle, that would naturally be the best."

"No matter how dangerous or powerful the Basilisk is, it's still just a magical creature left by Salazar Slytherin more than a thousand years ago. When facing the magical extermination team led by the two top wizards in today's magical world, it will be difficult to stir up much waves—otherwise, Slytherin's descendants would have unified the magical world long ago with the Basilisk, and it wouldn't have briefly opened the Chamber generation after generation, only to let it sink back into silence."

Aileen supported her chin, the wand in her hand rotated in a semi-arc.

Then, the original three-dimensional image of the Chamber quickly shrunk, replaced by a terrain map of Hogwarts.

"But if, this probability, in the calculation, is at least around 20%-30%, the 'snake-catching team' led by Dumbledore and Scamander fails to take down the Basilisk in the first place, and it perceives the fatal danger and the gap in strength. In the presence of secret exits, it is likely to choose to escape. The Black Lake, the castle's pipes, the Forbidden Forest area... these places may all have some unknown exit."

"The advantages and disadvantages of fighting in open areas are both obvious. The wolf pack cannibalization tactic is the main one, don't have stupid rash casualties."

"But…"

Aileen tapped her finger lightly on the wand, her expression serious.

"The premise is that it must not be allowed to leave the Hogwarts range—if the Basilisk has the possibility of completely escaping, then the action team closest to it can freely take action according to the original plan. If necessary, the Hyperion will directly launch a saturation strike."

"As for the Chamber…"

Aileen tapped the console lightly, and a time prompt panel appeared.

"In the absence of Apparition and phoenix assistance, it will take at least an hour to return to the ground from the lake-bottom Chamber several miles below."

"If the Basilisk escapes, the 'Black Robe Wizards' please assist Mr. 'Tower' in completing the clearing as soon as possible, let those Ministry of Magic officials stranded above the castle have a good sleep, and at the same time start the second round of the Basilisk encirclement operation according to plan."

"In principle, I don't want to see the scene of the Hyperion saturation attack coverage—"

"Magical matters should be solved by magic."

Just then, Aileen suddenly stopped speaking and looked at the corner with interest.

"Huh? Miss Granger, do you have anything to add to this battle plan?"

Since there were many other members on the bridge, Hermione, Luna, Hannah, and others were now identified as "Captain's Secretary" and "Valkyria" operators. In terms of grade, they temporarily belonged to Grade A, but it was only an identity level and had no substantive power.

"I have a question, what if the Basilisk escapes into the Black Lake?"

Hermione put down her raised right hand, frowned, and tapped the shorthand book in her hand, and said softly.

"This should be the most probable situation, right? If the Basilisk escapes directly from the Chamber into the Hogwarts Black Lake, it can even swim directly out along the water flow—you know, the outside of the Black Lake is connected to nearly a hundred lakes and rivers such as Loch Lomond..."

"It's very simple, just temporarily block the exit of the Black Lake."

Aileen shrugged, said with a calm expression, glanced at the data on the virtual panel, and continued to answer.

"There is only one exit from Hogwarts Black Lake, with a width of about 290 meters."

"And the hull length of the Hyperion is 321 meters. After three o'clock tonight, the Hyperion will directly enter the deep-sea submersible mode from the suspended mode, and at the same time, it will play the crowing of the rooster to the surrounding waters through the ship's sonar after the hunting begins—if the sonar expulsion fails, and the Basilisk intends to pass through the gap below the hull, we can also choose to dive at high speed to block the road, or even directly smash it to death."

"The Levitation Charm… is not only one direction."

"Any other questions?"

Aileen looked around the bridge and nodded with satisfaction.

"Then, Happy Christmas Eve, I hope we can eat fresh snake soup tomorrow night... Dismissed—"