Chương 53: Chapter 53: For help
Earlier ~~~~
Hermione knew she had to run faster. It was as if she were racing against Death itself. She had to find a way to save whoever was in danger.
She searched her memory and stumbled towards the principal's office. She knew that only Dumbledore's Phoenix's tears could cure the basilisk's poison.
Professor McGonagall or other professor might be able to defeat the monster, but it might take too long. Even Snape's potion would take time to prepare. Only the tears of the Phoenix were the fastest option.
She remembered the moment when Draco had almost completely pierced her arm with the basilisk's poisonous fangs to save her. The hot, red blood had even splashed on her face, and she could still feel its residue on her skin. She felt another dizzy spell coming on.
"I caused all this chaos," she thought.
She wouldn't be foolish enough to think that Draco was moved by her tears and turned on Voldemort. He was clearly prepared, with either dragon's blood or unicorn's blood at the ready. He had planned well: the former was used to gain the trust of others, and the latter was used to face unexpected situations like today.
In fact, if it weren't for her, Dumbledore might have easily defeated the basilisk by now.
"I can only add to the confusion," Hermione thought bitterly, recalling Draco's behavior and feeling ashamed of her doubts about him. She blamed herself for disrupting everything.
Almost everyone in the corridor looked at Hermione in surprise, not only because she was wearing a Slytherin robe, but also because of the blood on her face.
"What's going on? How are you wearing a Slytherin robe?" Percy, the Gryffindor class leader responsible for the Christmas tour of the corridor, reached out to stop Hermione. He looked at her in surprise, his glasses flashing with skepticism.
As a senior, he had to ensure the safety of the students and report any emergencies to the professors. Hermione was normally a well-behaved student, but she had been spending a lot of time with Harry and his brother lately.
Unexpectedly, Hermione was only stopped by Percy who pushed him away. He stumbled back a few steps and almost fell. It was unacceptable for a prefect boy to be pushed away by a young girl.
"Sorry," Hermione said as she continued to run forward without looking back. Even if it was an apology, Percy didn't feel much remorse for it.
She kept climbing the stairs, one floor after another.
For the first time, she hated the school's arrangement of the principal's office being eight floors up. How much time was being wasted? Sweat dripped from her already thick and messy brown hair, and the sweat stains solidified as she ran. She didn't even notice.
On the third floor, she saw the stone beast guardian that symbolized the dawn of victory and remembered something like a dream--
She didn't know the password.
"Bibi Duowei beans, licorice wand, butter beer..." Without much hesitation, she began listing off the foods she knew one by one. She knew that the password set by Principal Dumbledore was usually a snack.
When Hermione said "Lemon Snow Treasure," the stone monster finally jumped aside, and the wall behind it split in two, revealing an active spiral staircase. She ran up the stairs, anxious to get to the principal as quickly as possible. She felt that the escalator was rising too slowly and wished she could just run up with her own legs.
She tried to keep herself from thinking about the most terrifying scene. Dumbledore and her return to the Chamber of Secrets, only to find the basilisk or maybe a dead body left behind by the basilisk, with the forgotten Professor Lockhart there too.
She shook her head, trying to calm herself down.
She thought of the confident look that Draco had given her before leaving and chose to believe him.
The ladder spiraled up slowly, and finally, she saw the door with the brass door knocker in the shape of a sphinx and eagle head. She didn't pay any attention to the door knocker. She just wanted to knock on the door as soon as possible to find the principal.
She found that the door was fake and heard a somber, disgusting voice coming from inside.
"Look, Principal Dumbledore, I don't think you have fulfilled your responsibilities now. How many students have been attacked?" The voice paused before saying, "I thought that monster would only attack Muggle students, but now the Weasley child has also been attacked, which proves that all students are in danger."
"That's really a polite child, but because of your incompetence, he is now lying in the school hospital and can't move."
"Disgusting!" Hermione couldn't bear the man's words. He was pretending to praise Ron to achieve his goal, which made Hermione's nausea unbearable. She pushed open the covert door.
Inside the principal's office, she saw a simple round table surrounded by people, most of them well-dressed. She guessed these were the school's directors. Across from her stood a calm Dumbledore with his hands on the table, his ten fingertips facing each other. Despite the accusations, the old man's face full of wrinkles seemed unsurprised.
"Look, you see. This is the student Dumbledore taught in the position of principal, rude and uncultivated," Lucius' voice rose, and the other school directors nodded in agreement. They were all pointing at Hermione, seeming very frustrated with the yellow-haired girl who had suddenly interrupted their meeting.
"My students can't judge you yet." Dumbledore's voice was like thunder, shocking everyone. He changed from his previous sympathetic image and became strong. His eyes gleamed with a light that was not as sharp as the elderly.
The office immediately fell silent, and Lucius tried to speak, but he didn't know why he couldn't.
"Child, is there something wrong?" Dumbledore looked at Hermione kindly, as if he suspected that another student had been attacked.
"Your son may be dying, but you still have the intention to fight for power here," Hermione said to Lucius, causing him to lose his composure. His hands clenched fiercely at the table, and then he roared at Dumbledore, "If something goes wrong with my son, I will make you pay." His usual elegance was gone.
He then turned to look at Hermione and asked anxiously, "Little girl, what happened?"
Dumbledore ignored him, and Hermione didn't support him. Dumbledore and Hermione looked at each other deeply. If someone were standing in front of Hermione, they would see that her eyes were in a little trance.
"Go," Dumbledore suddenly stood up and walked towards Hermione, grabbing her sleeve.
Then they gradually became transparent and finally disappeared in front of the school directors.
They had used the Apparate spell.
If it were any other day, Lucius would probably use this to attack Dumbledore's privileges, because Hogwarts does not allow the use of Phantom Shift. But today he chose to remain silent because he knew Dumbledore had gone to save his son.
"Damn," he thumped on the wooden table in front of him. The directors around him felt his anger and fear. He could only sit here because the Muggle-born girl didn't tell him where Draco was.
Lucius's other hand held his serpentine cane tightly, revealing his inner panic.
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