Chapter 29
So let's get back to our snakes. The basilisk is certainly strong in terms of combat, but it is quite realistic to deal with. Which, in fact, Harry proved in the canon. Many believe that the most terrible weapon of the king of snakes — a look.
Nonsense! Anyone familiar with Muggle mythology will easily name at least one other creature capable of turning to stone. The famous Gorgon Medusa. Also a chimera, by the way. As you know, she was defeated by cutting off her head and watching the reflection in the copper shield.
Doesn't that remind you of something? The children become numb, but not turned to stone. Just in case, I created an artifact from the side, similar to a night vision device, which gave five times the refraction of the reflection, a kind of crooked periscope. I agree, I was over insured, since the snake did not manage to kill a cat, albeit an unusual one, with its reflected gaze, three times would be enough, but not too much. Let it be.
The second weapon of the basilisk is poison. Undoubtedly one of the most powerful in the world. But it's also very reactive. The strongest acid with a magic component. Speaking of which, it was this very property that killed Horcruxes. There was also a proven remedy for it — dragon skin. It's not for nothing that potions masters prefer to work with it.
Clever wizards. If it is enchanted, even on the runes of strength to fix charms, then far from armor-piercing snake teeth will be useless. As a result, an equipped enemy basilisk can only counter its own physical data, aided by resistance to magic.
You can't take it out directly with spells, but indirectly — easily. If you want, you can collapse the ceiling; if you want, you can transfigure your spear and pierce it; there are many options available to a skilled wizard with a well-developed imagination. In fact, humans have become the dominant species because of their brains. It is necessary to use their main weapon, not forgetting to clean it, sharpen it, and take care of it in every possible way.
Mages should also remember to train. A Muggle, no matter how strong he is, will not knock down an elephant with his fist. But a wizard can burn a dragon with a regular Insendio, a young one, in a hundred or two hundred years of persistent training. In the extreme case — in three hundred. No one has tested it, and I'm too lazy to count.
To be honest, my plan was to try to communicate with the basilisk. I really wanted to turn it into a permanent and fabulous source of income. There aren't many of them in the world, and the ones that do exist are young.
Hundred-year-old the size of a common python. No venom to draw, no crawlers to get. That's why the prices are so high. A thousand-year-old beast makes me greedy. It's not hard to kill, if I had such a thought, I would make golems and send them to hack the snake.
Hard-to-kill magical constructs, free of fear and doubt, capable of physical strength to compete with a giant snake, would be no worse than a twelve-year-old boy. Enchanted titanium, I think, would be an excellent substitute for a goblin sword. Though ordinary alloy steel would do just as well. However, this is one case where you can't tell without natural samples. From what I've read, battles with such ancient specimens have not been described.
At most, there were fifteen-meter specimens, and those were first immobilized with a straitjacket, transfigured from stone, and then deprived of air, from which the poor creatures died. The hunters didn't want to spoil their furs. It's a shame about the snake, though.
Quidditch was a bit of a nuisance. Even in my previous life, I wasn't a sports fan, and even in my current life... .... When I was a student at Hogwarts, I ignored such a phenomenon as inter-faculty competition.
I mean, this is bullshit. The efforts of the entire team are almost completely negated by the catcher who caught the golden ball. But Lockhart was a fan, if not a fan, he was certainly a fan. That's why I had to be at the stadium for every game.
When the Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match was disrupted by a mad house-elf who enchanted the Bludger, I didn't get involved. I didn't fiddle with it at all, which made relations with my colleagues quite businesslike and even. Snape spat venom, but that was his normal state.
Knowing the School Witch's hypervigilance towards the students in her possession, it was certain that the boy would spend the next night in the infirmary. So when Potter break his arm, he went to Madam Pomfrey. Colin Creevey, who wanted to visit his idol after bedtime, was turned away. It would be too much to expose a child to a basilisk.
I hope Harry had a canon conversation with Dobby that night. I didn't feel like catching him, and I wanted the boy to be able to use him in the future. So I didn't interfere. I don't know how things will turn out. I'm no prophet, and glory be to Magic for that.
In connection with the strange and frightening events in the castle, I was canonically baffled by the opening of Duel Club. The thing is, fate had paid off by sending Philch, the head shopkeeper, to a hospital bed. I had to force an intervention.
The Horcrux had cleansed Ginny, not completely, but solidly, of course it would have been worth letting Voldik work a little more, but he was not only useful, but also a little harmful. It wasn't difficult to catch the girl.
Because of the ghost of Weeping Myrtle, the toilet where the entrance to the secret room was located was already unpopular, and now it was avoided altogether. Using the magical marker and a schematic map of the floor, as well as the conveniently located chambers, I was able to beat Ginny to it, shoo the ghost away, and sit in the stall, activating the sound-recording artifact just in case.
Waiting for the girl to hiss the keyword, I paralyzed her with a spell. Using special tongs, I removed the cross-dressing diary and hid it in a bag made of dragon skin. Obliviate with orders to go to bed and forget about the diary, plus a setting to study. I couldn't help it, i am professor, that's all.
The girl fell asleep like a somnambulist. For at least a few months, she would be busy chewing on the granite of wizarding science, and Harry would get a break from the fan girl at the same time.