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Chapter 566: An Immature Idea
Chapter 566: An Immature Idea
"What are you looking for?"
Isabelle put away her newly completed essay on curses, poured herself a cup of tea, and walked over to Albert, curious about the books he was perusing.
"The natural predators of the Acromantula," Albert replied, looking up at Isabelle as she sipped her tea. He furrowed his brows slightly and asked, "What about the glasses I gave you?"
"I gave them to Katrina," Isabelle admitted without hesitation.
Ever since the night when Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, was petrified, Isabelle had realized the seriousness of the situation. Although she didn't understand why the cat hadn't died, she knew that the Basilisk's gaze had caused the petrification.
Albert had probably given her those protective glasses out of concern for this very situation.
"Your sister probably won't appreciate it," Albert said, gazing at his girlfriend and sighing. "I know you love your sister, but that girl is still sulking. To be frank, I don't have the time or energy to waste on her."
"No, she's not sulking anymore. I made Katrina temporarily forget about it!" Isabelle said, knowing that sometimes tough decisions had to be made. Although it might not be kind to her sister, she had altered some of Katrina's memories.
"Perhaps this is for the best," Albert nodded, deciding not to dwell on the matter. "My intuition tells me that the heir of Slytherin has their eyes on me.
"Is it because of your newfound fame?" Isabelle bit her lip lightly. "Have you told Dumbledore about all this?"
"It's useless," Albert said, closing his book and explaining. "After the cat was petrified, the headmaster probably suspected something, but that's as far as it goes." He continued, "About fifty years ago, a similar incident occurred at Hogwarts. The professors at the time searched the entire castle but never found the location of the so-called Chamber of Secrets, despite there being a death involved."
"But didn't you say that the monster in the chamber is a Basilisk, and you've guessed its location?" Isabelle asked, only to fall silent soon after.
Indeed, who would believe them if they claimed that the monster in the chamber was a Basilisk, yet they couldn't access the chamber itself? They had no evidence, and people would likely dismiss their claims as a joke.
Not even Dumbledore would readily believe them.
Hardly anyone was willing to acknowledge the existence of the Chamber of Secrets. After all, if no one had found it in a thousand years, wouldn't claiming to have discovered it without proof be seen as attention-seeking?
"So, are you looking for evidence to convince Dumbledore?" Isabelle inquired.
"That's not entirely inaccurate," Albert admitted, tapping his finger lightly on the cover of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. "The questions are: where is the chamber located, who is the heir of Slytherin, and what is the monster inside?"
"Can you scry for the answers?" Isabelle suggested, proposing the fastest and safest option.
"It's difficult," Albert said, glancing at the scrying crystal ball on the table. "My divination skills aren't that strong. The next attack will be related to Quidditch, or... it will probably happen on the day of the Quidditch match."
"I won't let you go on this dangerous mission alone," Isabelle said firmly, remembering how Albert had defeated Rowena Smith and understanding his capabilities. However, the Basilisk was too risky, and she was reluctant to let him face it alone.
"If you can predict when the attack will take place, we can inform Dumbledore and let him deal with the Basilisk," she offered a compromise.
"The heir of Slytherin must be monitoring the entire castle," Albert shook his head. "Otherwise, how could the Basilisk roam the corridors without being detected?"
"A Human-presence-revealing Spell?" Isabelle guessed the reason.
"Yes, so we need to master the advanced application of the Disillusionment Charm. That way, they won't be able to track me down easily with the spell," Albert explained as he took out a pocket-sized penny that had been enchanted with a Disillusionment Charm. Placing the coin in his pocket would immediately activate the charm, but... it was insufficient to counter the effects of the Human-presence-revealing Spell, and due to its crude make, its effectiveness was poor.
"Only magical items crafted with advanced Muggle-Repelling Charms can achieve that effect, and even then, it doesn't last long; the coin will revert to its ordinary state within a few days."
"You must have prepared something else, then." Isabelle said, her eyes fixed on Albert.
"The Basilisk has thick skin and strong magic resistance. Ordinary methods won't work; it's challenging to kill it."
In fact, Albert felt that the Basilisk in the novel had been unfairly killed off by the plot. Otherwise, with Potter's abilities, how could he possibly kill a Basilisk without instantly ascending to greatness?
Albert was self-aware and knew he couldn't rely on plot armor like Potter, so being cautious wasn't a bad idea. He didn't intend to fight the Basilisk head-on, even though he knew there would be significant benefits if he could kill it. But why not take the easy way out?
"I've prepared a lot of magical items for escape," Albert admitted. "Just in case I happen to encounter the Basilisk in the castle, I want to make sure I'm not caught off guard and can at least escape." Indeed, he had no plans to take on the Basilisk alone; that would be unrealistic unless he used Devilfire to turn the Basilisk into a roasted snake.
Isabelle hesitated, wanting to suggest that Albert find an excuse to take a leave of absence if things got too dangerous, and then return once the situation had blown over. But she couldn't bring herself to say it, knowing that Albert probably wouldn't choose to avoid the problem.
"Do snakes eat spiders?" Albert asked, guessing Isabelle's train of thought. He quickly changed the subject, saying, "If we're talking about natural predators, then we're probably referring to a predator-prey relationship, right?"
"I'm not sure about that," Isabelle sighed, offering a different perspective. "Could there be another reason why the Acromantula are afraid of the Basilisk?"
"Another reason?" Albert reopened the section on Basilisks in 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' Clearly, the author hadn't seen a Basilisk themselves.
His gaze fell on the line, 'anyone who makes direct eye contact with it will drop dead immediately.' After a moment, he exclaimed, "I understand now!"
"What did you realize?" Isabelle asked, curious.
"I think I know why spiders fear the Basilisk!" Albert jumped up from his armchair, excited. "Spiders have a very wide field of vision, up to 360 degrees, and they can't close their eyes. This means they are very likely to make eye contact with the Basilisk, resulting in instant death."
Isabelle didn't quite understand what a 360-degree field of vision meant, but she got the gist of Albert's explanation.
The two then discussed ways to prevent being ambushed by the heir of Slytherin. The Basilisk couldn't move through the corridors without making some noise, so they talked about how to detect its presence early and evade it.
Although Albert was a little displeased that Isabelle had given away the protective glasses he'd given her to Katrina, he was more concerned about her safety.
However, Albert had no intention of giving his own protective glasses to Isabelle. As a pure-blood witch, she didn't need to worry as much about being attacked, but Albert's situation was more precarious.
If he wanted to play it safe, Albert did have another option.
After the second attack, he could intercept Tom Riddle's diary from Ginny.
That would be the best opportunity.
The problem was what to do after getting the diary. That was the real headache for Albert. He could use various underhanded methods to squeeze all the value out of the diary, gaining more magic for himself, but what then? Should he really go to Dumbledore and tell him he'd found the heir of Slytherin? Or that he'd found another Horcrux of Voldemort?
That would be too absurd, going against his principles and likely causing a lot of trouble.
(End of Chapter)
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