Chapter 41
"Reached a consensus?" Snape scanned Lucian up and down with his icy gaze, then nodded "if that's the case then consider yourself lucky, but you should understand—there won't be a next time!" With that, he abruptly turned around and hurried to leave.
"Hey, Snape." Lucian suddenly called out to him.
Snape turned back, his tightly furrowed brows framing eyes that conveyed inquiry.
"Thank you for speaking up for me earlier. If you didn't always have dark magic on the tip of your tongue, you wouldn't actually be that annoying."
"..."
Snape's expression at that moment was as if he'd just swallowed a mouthful of poison. For some reason, he suddenly found this version of Lucian utterly repulsive—he couldn't understand why Lucian would say something like that; it didn't fit the man's character at all.
"Is your brain still functioning properly?" He forced himself to stay calm as he uttered those words, then flourished his robes in a dramatic turn and swiftly departed like an overweight bat.
In Lucian's office.
Jeffery paced back and forth uneasily, Camille sat in his seat without a word, while Cedric exchanged glances with the trio of Hermione, Harry, and Ron.
No one spoke up first; the four of them didn't dare break the silence in the room—as if doing so would trigger something terrible.
So Hermione began frantically signaling Harry with her eyes, occasionally adding facial expressions and small gestures.
[What do we do now—Professor Lucian won't be in trouble, right—Why is there a basilisk—Didn't we already tell Dumbledore?]
[How should I know—]
Hermione glared at Harry, then turned to Ron.
[What do you think about this—]
Ron nervously glanced left and right, timidly leaning closer to Hermione; his expression was like someone who'd just been kicked in the groin, enduring the lingering pain as he whispered "Hermione, is something wrong with your eyes?"
"..."
Hermione felt like she was going mad, how had she put up with this all this time? Didn't these people have even the slightest idea about the current situation?
Instinctively, she turned her gaze to Cedric—he was staring at the table in front of him with a worried expression. Just from his demeanor, Hermione knew he must have already figured something out.
The only problem was that Ron was sitting between her and Cedric, making it impossible to connect with him; time ticked by second by second, but Lucian still hadn't returned.
Both Ron and Harry felt an unbearable itch in their throats, desperately wanting to clear them, but they held back.
In this atmosphere, Jeffery suddenly spoke "Cedric, Hermione, you guys should head back first. Isn't it almost time for the curfew restriction?"
"Can I stay here until the professor returns? I'm really worried." In the admiring gazes of the three younger students, Cedric was the first to make the request—they had all been thinking the same thing.
Jeffery's tense expression softened slightly as he forced a smile "Go back for now. Don't worry. If the situation was truly bad, they would have started fighting already. The fact that they can talk calmly means Headmaster Dumbledore is indeed a reasonable person."
"Alright..." Cedric didn't insist further.
After all, if Professor Lucian didn't return all night, Jeffery wouldn't possibly let them wait here the entire time, seeing Cedric give in, the trio of Hermione, Harry, and Ron obediently stood up as well and followed him out.
"Bang."
After closing the door, Ron and Harry both let out long sighs of relief—they weren't familiar with the two assistants anyway. Unlike Hermione, who saw them weekly, sitting in there had been incredibly stressful.
Especially for Harry, who took all the blame upon himself—Professor Lucian was suffering an undeserved calamity entirely because Harry had impulsively gone searching for the basilisk, leading to the current outcome.
But once he relaxed, he couldn't help feeling that something was off. Why, even though Headmaster Dumbledore knew about the basilisk, would he still allow it to attack?
There must be some issue in the process.
"I think we should tell Cedric everything we've discovered so far. What do you think?"
"Tell him? Why?" Ron didn't understand—why share the secrets they'd worked so hard to uncover with someone else?
"Can we trust him?" Harry was a bit worried—he kept having bad premonitions lately.
"Listen! The Chamber's been opened for some unknown reason, and we have to figure this out, or everyone will be in danger! If there's another basilisk attack, the school might even close."
"Would it be that serious?"
"Of course!" Hermione waved her hands emphatically. "From Jeffery and Camille's reactions earlier, don't you understand how dangerous a basilisk is?"
Seeing the confused expressions on Ron and Harry's faces, Hermione suddenly realized—these two hadn't properly done the homework the professor assigned, and the professor hadn't yet covered basilisks in class. Only the study group members had spent extra time learning about it in advance.
With that in mind, she sighed and patiently explained "Every dark creature is classified by the Ministry of Magic's danger rating system.
"For example, Harry, the troll you defeated last term was a XXXX rated dark creature—very dangerous, requiring a wizard with specialised knowledge to handle. According to Professor Lucian, that level of danger typically needs a professor-level wizard to deal with."
"But while trolls have astonishing strength, their intelligence is extremely low, making them one of the easier ones in that category, a basilisk, however, is XXXXX rated—symbolizing extreme danger. It can easily kill adult wizards. Even the most experienced Aurors are often helpless against them, not to mention the basilisk's deadly eyes. With such a dangerous creature active in the school, the reason we haven't suspended classes yet is probably because Professor McGonagall and the others don't know these incidents are caused by a basilisk."
Harry's already grave expression tightened further.
If classes were suspended, it wouldn't just mean his wonderful school life ending early—it would mean returning to that home he hated half a year ahead of schedule. No way!
"Tell Cedric! I think he's smarter than us!"
"Harry!" Ron stared at him wide-eyed, not understanding why his friend had switched sides so suddenly.
"Mm." Hermione nodded.
"Cedric, wait a moment." She called out to the fourth-year prefect walking silently at the front.
He turned around, calmly looking at the three and asking "Have you discussed it?"
From the beginning, he had deliberately avoided interrupting them, giving them time to talk. But beneath his seemingly calm exterior, Cedric's heart was already burning with anxiety over everything that had happened tonight!
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