Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Speculation on Slytherin's Legacy
Some creatures seem to inherently induce fear, like the Basilisk and the Acromantula.
Ino crouched down, carefully examining the Basilisk's corpse in front of him.
At fifty feet long, it wasn't extraordinarily large, about the same size as an Ice Forest Anaconda. However, the Basilisk seemed far more terrifying.
This fear didn't stem from its size but from an inexplicable intuition.
The most obvious example of this would be the Dementors, which aren't very large, yet few wizards can face them calmly.
...
"Why do you think it can kill with a direct gaze?"
After studying it for a while without finding any answers, Ino turned his head to look beside him.
"Why ask me? Why don't you experience it for yourself?"
Standing in front of the Basilisk, Lina stepped forward with her slender limbs, teasingly speaking.
Hearing Lina's suggestion, Ino hesitated no longer. This wasn't about being brave. If he was scared to face a dead Basilisk even with glasses on, he might as well stay in the sanctuary forever.
As he spoke, he stood up and walked toward the Basilisk.
When he met its large, orange-yellow crystal ball-like eyes, he felt a sudden stiffness and numbness.
But shortly after this brief moment of dizziness, the Basilisk's eyes were instantly covered with a thin layer of blue spider silk.
"How do you feel?" Lina asked from the side.
"Amazing. Even though it's dead, I can still feel the magical effect, like a charger, you know..."
Ino muttered, uncovering the Basilisk's silk eye mask once again. The feeling of numbness and stiffness struck again.
This time, having been prepared, the stiffness was significantly reduced.
Immediately, he thought of a possibility.
Perhaps the breeding of Basilisks was not as simple as the books suggested. If it only required a rooster and a toad to breed a 5x Basilisk, the magical world would have been in chaos long ago.
Or, the entire magical world, or even the whole world, would have been dominated by Parselmouths. After all, if breeding a Basilisk was easier than seven years of magical education, everyone would choose to tame beasts instead of learning magic.
"Lina, the Basilisk's eyes are alchemical creations!"
This time, Ino's tone was very certain.
Without waiting for Lina to respond, he turned and grabbed the oil lamp hanging on the red maple tree.
Although it was daytime, under the dim light, the deepest part of the Basilisk's pupils seemed to faintly imprint something.
"Wait for me here."
After speaking, Ino quickly left the sanctuary.
...
Half an hour later.
In the sanctuary, on a small frosted tea table, lay a two-inch-thick tome.
Next to the book was a piece of parchment covered in strange symbols.
Ino sat cross-legged, flipping through the book while occasionally referring to the parchment.
In the silent shelter, the only sound was the rustling of turning pages.
Lina stayed quietly beside an ice flower, while the previously present forest boa had been driven to the other side.
Interestingly, even though the forest boa was a transfigured creature, it still retained the nature of a snake, silently staying aside and barely moving for an entire day.
...
Time always passes unnoticed when one is focused.
Although the sanctuary's overall size had expanded several times, resembling a small square.
But despite the larger space, the interior had not increased in furnishings, not even a basic alarm clock.
Sitting by the small tea table, Ino had no idea how much time had passed.
The only noticeable change was the pages of the "Ancient Rune Dictionary" in his hand, which were getting thinner as he flipped through them.
Ancient runes!
Under the lamp's light, the pattern in the Basilisk's pupils gave him a feeling of an invisible book.
Thus, he speculated that it might be related to ancient runes.
However, as the pages thinned and he reached the last one, there was still no corresponding record.
This was very disappointing!
While Ino was lost in his disappointment, Lina broke the silence from not far away.
"Why don't you seek guidance? I remember telling you this before! Since you are nominally their apprentice, you should ask questions."
"But..." Ino hesitated, as he had selfish motives.
If it really were ancient runes, it would represent a new discovery, an unrecorded treasure.
"Your idea is good, but it's unnecessary."
Perhaps seeing through his hesitation, Lina slowly walked over, her slender legs brushing the books on the tea table.
"The world you live in is very strange! Very strange! They are unwilling to study magic or even learn it! But in such a world, there are countless precious pieces of knowledge. I've thought about it for a long time and still don't understand..."
Lina's voice was filled with emotion, but upon hearing her words, Ino was equally puzzled:
"I don't get it either. Clearly, no one is pioneering knowledge, yet there are so many treasures left by pioneers."
Though equally puzzled, he also understood Lina's implied meaning: hiding knowledge in this world was pointless.
A thick book of ancient runes, as a textbook for an elective course at Hogwarts, could be bought cheaply at Flourish and Blotts for a few Galleons.
Yet, it still sat on the shelves, gathering dust. Meanwhile, Lockhart's novels remained prominently displayed, even though he was imprisoned in Azkaban, his books were still on the shelves.
"I've been overthinking..." Ino sighed.
An entire book of ancient runes lay untouched, and he was hiding his new discovery; it seemed a bit laughable.
"It's not that you're overthinking, it's just that this place is peculiar." Lina's voice held a hint of comfort.
Though he sensed the comfort, Ino didn't continue the conversation.
After all, he and Lina were both outsiders, and their understanding of the magical world was limited to old stories.
But trying to understand a world through a storybook was clearly nonsense.
...
After the conversation ended, Ino unintentionally noticed the Frost Anaconda quietly crawling on the side.
It seemed that with Lina away, it wanted to coil around the ice flower again.
He didn't know why, but even though it was just a transfigured creature, it was always persistent about the flower, always trying to get closer whenever it had the chance.
"Lina, what do you think about putting this thing's eyes on it?"
Ino pointed to the Basilisk and then to the coiled the frost anaconda.
Sixty feet long, the frost Anaconda was even bigger than the Basilisk. Fitting it with the Basilisk's eyes would be more than sufficient.
If it weren't for other plans, he would've already skinned the Basilisk and pasted the skin onto the Anaconda.
A fake Basilisk, not afraid of a rooster's crow, would be perfect for scaring people.
Though he had this thought, he currently lacked the ability to execute it, at least not until he completed his elective course.
Although the process was simple, replacing eyes wasn't like making a snowman, where you could just bury something in a snow pit and call it done. For such a rare Basilisk, more preparation was needed.
Moreover, this Basilisk was bred by Salazar Slytherin.
He had a feeling that this Basilisk might be Slytherin's legacy, or at least part of it.
Especially after discovering the ancient rune-like pattern in the Basilisk's pupils, this feeling grew stronger.
Some things being invisible didn't mean they didn't exist.
...
In the Slytherin dormitory.
After finding nothing in the research, Ino asked Fide to take him back to the dormitory.
Lazily lying on the bed, he glanced at the clock on the shelf; it was half-past three in the afternoon.
From getting up in the morning to kill the Basilisk until now, he had spent six or seven hours in the sanctuary without realizing it.
Just as he was about to take a belated nap, he remembered one more thing: he needed to report the Basilisk to Dumbledore.
"Fide! Take the skin on the ground to the old man with the white beard upstairs!"
Ino instructed the air.
He didn't mention the name because the silly phoenix still couldn't remember names. Only with position and appearance descriptions could it barely manage to deliver packages.
Facing such a shortcoming, he had no solution.
Given that it could take a week to find a Basilisk even with an accurate entrance, expecting more was unrealistic.
If it were Fawkes, with a clear entrance, it probably wouldn't take more than a quarter of an hour to locate the Basilisk precisely.
But as the saying goes, no matter how good someone else's is, it's still someone else's.
Though Fide wasn't very smart, he enjoyed the fun of training a pet.
All things considered, there were gains and losses.
After assigning the task to the phoenix, Ino finally let down the bed curtain.
Enjoying the leisurely afternoon of the weekend.
...
At the same time.
Compared to the castle's tranquility, Hogsmeade was bustling with activity.
Every year, on the first weekend after school starts, Hogsmeade always sees genuine excitement.
Especially for third-year students who have just started, hardly anyone misses the first weekend's outing.
As one of the most iconic shops on the street, Madam Rosmerta's Three Broomsticks was somewhat quiet.
However, Madam Rosmerta was used to this.
Compared to places like Zonko's Joke Shop and Honeydukes, a bar that only served food seemed a bit dull. It was normal for it to be empty.
But running a bar meant she didn't plan to earn students' money. After delivering five bottles of Butterbeer to the red-haired student, she quietly returned to the bar.
In a corner of the bar.
Ron opened a cold Butterbeer, took a few sips, and sighed in satisfaction. Next to him sat three others: Harry, Ginny, and Hermione.
"Harry! It's okay. My dad is already in contact with Professor Dumbledore, and we'll probably know soon."
Ron said, occasionally glancing at the fireplace.
"Thank you, Ron." Harry replied absentmindedly.
Although he seemed indifferent, his hands gripped the Invisibility Cloak tightly.
Ginny noticed this but uncharacteristically didn't offer comfort.
She knew well that nothing she said would help, so she just stayed quietly with Harry, waiting with him.
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