Chapter 84: Snake Professor
Chapter 84: Snake Professor
On the first day of the new semester, Felix could sense the restlessness in the young wizards. They were all eagerly waiting for the class to end so they could go to the courtyard to see the Basilisk.
He cleared his throat, drawing the young wizards' attention, and then gently waved his wand. "Serpent Tongue." A cloud of black mist appeared, and a black-spotted Slytherin slithered onto the lectern.
It hissed, its slender body writhing continuously.
The young wizards raised their heads, craning their necks to get a better look.
Felix's wand traced the scales of the black-spotted Slytherin, and its appearance transformed dramatically. Its smooth scales became thick and solid, giving them a metallic feel. Its color turned a vibrant, toxic green, shimmering with the distinctive brilliance of a venomous snake.
Even its body swelled, and it lifted its flat snake head, its yellow eyes cold and menacing.
"Professor, is this... a Basilisk?" a student asked.
"Indeed."
"So, Potter and the others defeated this little guy?"
The young wizards in the audience murmured with disappointment. It was so small, only about three or four feet long. Especially when the small Basilisk coiled on the lectern, it looked even less imposing.
Many young wizards suddenly felt a sense of overconfidence, thinking they could do it too.
However, the Basilisk's appearance was still quite intimidating, especially its yellow eyes, which were genuinely eerie.
Felix neither confirmed nor denied their attitude, continuing, "The Basilisk's greatest threat lies in its eyes, which are extremely lethal. In other words, by the time you see it, you might already be unable to defend yourself."
The murmurs in the audience diminished.
"And—"
He waved his wand, and the small Basilisk on the lectern suddenly leaped off the table, startling the front-row young wizards, who leaned back in unison.
As it arched through the air and landed in the center of the classroom, the small Basilisk's body rapidly expanded.
In an instant, it grew over ten times its size, filling most of the classroom before they could react.
"Ah! Ah!" Many young wizards screamed, scrambling to avoid the massive Basilisk, but they soon discovered that its body had turned into a black mist.
A young wizard who had fallen to the ground mustered the courage to reach out and touch it, his hand passing straight through the black mist. He looked up to see several others with half their bodies inside the mist, fearfully inching their way out.
Felix, with a mischievous grin, said, "Yes, this is the Basilisk's true size."
After a while, the young wizards realized that the mist posed no harm to them and calmed down.
A few students, embarrassed, got up from the floor. One of them, a young witch named Campbell Jin, used her wand to stir the black mist, turning the scales near her into a swirling mass of black fog.
Many young wizards curiously mimicked her, and during this process, the black mist Basilisk moved and twisted its body through the small classroom, its massive form weaving through desks, books, and the young wizards themselves.
But now, most of the young wizards were no longer afraid. They enthusiastically poked at it with their wands, and the shadowy black mist occasionally sparkled with various colors.
After a few minutes, the Basilisk shrank back to its original size of three or four feet, its body turning from black mist back to a vibrant, green solid form.
"Professor, this is the true form of the Basilisk in the Chamber?" a young wizard asked in awe.
"You can think of it that way", Felix said, conjuring a chair and sitting down. "Since you're curious about the Basilisk, let it give you a lesson today."
The young wizards exchanged puzzled glances, but just then, a voice that sounded very much like Professor Hup emerged from the Basilisk's mouth.
"Open your books to page 79. We will be studying an excerpt from a manuscript translated by the Ancient Runes expert, Carlisle Matthew, in 1842. This manuscript dates back to about seven hundred years ago."
Many of the young wizards were startled, but having experienced something similar before, they managed to stay in their seats, their wide eyes fixed on the small Basilisk whose upper body was raised high at the front of the classroom.
They blinked in confusion and then glanced at Professor Hup, who was sitting calmly in the corner of the room, their minds swirling with a mix of complex thoughts.
The small Basilisk opened its mouth, revealing thin, dagger-like teeth. "Yes, it's me, your Ancient Runes professor. So, what are you all waiting for?" The Basilisk suddenly moved closer to the front row, causing the young wizard there to drop her quill in fright.
"Campbell, tell me what I just said."
"Professor, you just explained Rune Eoh, which represents the yew tree, symbolizing death and rebirth. It can also indicate continuity and maintenance", said Campbell Jin, a young witch, as she stood up, stammering.
"Very good, ten points to Ravenclaw", the Basilisk hissed.
Campbell let out a long breath of relief and patted her chest as she sat down.
"So, why aren't you writing this down?"
The other young wizards immediately began scribbling furiously.
Throughout the rest of the class, the young wizards gradually grew accustomed to the rather peculiar "Snake Professor." This Snake Professor slithered up and down the aisles, occasionally leaning in close to the less attentive young wizards, glaring at them with yellow eyes and shouting, "Stop looking at me, look at your books!"
Professor Hup, sitting in the corner, wore a constant, pleasant smile throughout the class.
As the class drew to a close, Felix stood up, waved his wand, and with the young wizards' reluctant expressions, transformed their Snake Professor back into a black mist.
"Tonight's homework is to summarize the content of the manuscript. You must write it on one parchment and use the knowledge you've learned in the third and fourth years."
The moment the bell rang, the corridor echoed with the sound of hurried footsteps and excited chatter as the young wizards rushed out, heading straight for the courtyard. In the fifth-year Ancient Runes classroom, the young wizards packed up their things in a daze and slowly made their way out of the room.
"Hey, Campbell, hurry up! Let's go see the Basilisk!" her friend called out, beaming. "I've been looking forward to this since Transfiguration class."
Campbell replied with a calm expression, "You go ahead."
"What about you?"
"I've suddenly lost interest in the Basilisk", Campbell said.
The young wizards who left the Ancient Runes classroom with her nodded in agreement. They had not only spent an entire class with the Basilisk but had also been taught Ancient Runes by it.
...
In the courtyard, a crowd of young wizards had already gathered, huddled together in a mass.
At the center of the crowd was a massive Basilisk, forty feet long, with a body as thick as an oak tree trunk. Its scales were as large as palms, rough and gleaming with a cold, green light.
(End of Chapter)
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