HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

'Bang~ Bang~ Bang~ Bang~'

The 9mm bullet struck the basilisk's scales with a deafening, metallic clang, and sparks flew as it hit the scales.

Just by looking at the sparks from the collision, Teach Carl could tell that the bullets hadn't caused the basilisk any damage whatsoever.

It's easy to understand why Teach needed a large-caliber sniper rifle to break through the defenses of the two 20-meter-long anacondas in the swamp. In comparison, the defensive capabilities of this thousand-year-old serpent monster are quite formidable.

The basilisk was clever. Instead of attacking Teach who was in the teleportation spell, it coiled its body in the corridor, its golden vertical snake eyes constantly rotating, trying to lock onto Teach as its prey.

Once locked on, it instantly glides close to the ground and bites Teach at the next spot where he is about to appear.

Fortunately, once Teach confirmed that the shadow in the moonlight was the Basilisk, he took out a drop of the Felix Felicis that Snape had sold him. A single drop from a small vial—compared to his life, Teach felt no remorse whatsoever.

With the help of a drop of Felix Felicis, the basilisk judged that the bite was in the right place, but the distance was slightly off, causing it to miss Teach Carl who appeared out of nowhere.

As an assassin, Teach's reaction speed was specially trained in the past. In an instant, Teach seized the opportunity when the basilisk brushed past him, pulled out the grappling hook dagger tucked behind his waist, and slashed at the basilisk's still-open mouth.

If we're talking about a serpent monster covered in scales harder than steel, its softest spot is its gaping maw.

The grappling hook dagger slashed across the snake monster, successfully inflicting substantial damage. However, the wound caused by the dagger's ten-centimeter-long blade was insignificant compared to the snake monster's two-meter-long head.

Moreover, Teach was thrown away by the terrifying force of the basilisk as it slid past.

The basilisk did not rampage; it controlled its strength and did not cause damage to the corridor; it controlled the noise generated by its enormous size to avoid being discovered by outsiders.

It is intelligent; otherwise, it wouldn't have survived in Hogwarts for a thousand years without being discovered.

The basilisk seized the opportunity when Teach was thrown into the air and slid towards him to bite. However, Teach, who had already permanently engraved the Flash Magic Circle on the back of his hand, could activate the magic without chanting incantations or waving a wand like magic. He could activate it instantly as soon as he thought of it.

This instantaneous speed is much faster than the giant jaws of a basilisk.

Teach appeared in a flash, avoiding the basilisk's eyes as he looked at its massive steel body, considering whether to use explosives. However, the loud noise would surely alert Dumbledore, who would definitely not allow Teach to carry such dangerous explosives around Hogwarts.

Meanwhile, the basilisk was also looking at the tiny Teach Carl in front of it, pondering... how to catch this prey that could teleport, whether to give up and stop wasting its energy, or to fight Teach to the death.

But Teach Carl acted faster than the Basilisk, pulling out a high-explosive grenade.

When the basilisk saw the grenade, its sixth sense triggered a momentary sense of danger, and this momentary sense of danger led it to make a decision after much hesitation.

So it lowered its body, stared at Teach's hand movements, and slowly backed away.

Only when the basilisk's shadow had completely disappeared down the corridor did Teach dare to raise his head slightly and look around in search of the basilisk.

After a long while, when he was sure that there was no more crawling sound in his ears, Teach finally breathed a sigh of relief and put the grenade, dual pistols, and dagger back into the pockets on his waist.

The basilisk was clearly very intelligent, its size was enormous, its defenses far surpassed steel, and it possessed terrifying venom capable of destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes...

[Now I'm really wondering, how could Harry Potter, who's only 12 years old in his second year of school, possibly kill such a monster? The movies must be lying!]

Movies are obviously deceiving people; movies are movies, and reality is reality.

The world that Teach is now reincarnated into is reality.

This encounter with the basilisk made Teach realize its terror, which gave him clear preparations for the time to come.

In order to forge the Demon Eye, the Phoenix Fox must first prevent the Basilisk from blinding itself.

Teach needs to think carefully about how to resist the Basilisk's ability to kill instantly by making eye contact.

Because of the basilisk's cautiousness, the battle tonight did not alert the wizards at Hogwarts, saving Teach the time of explaining to them.

The next day, Teach woke up in his office.

Teach had drawn practice circles in every corner of the office, making it feel like his magic workshop.

In the office, Teach is safe and powerful. The array of abilities and uses gives Teach confidence in facing any wizard.

Breakfast was eaten in the hall. As soon as Teach entered the hall, the whispers of the young wizards immediately stopped, and they looked at this unofficial professor with suspicion and vigilance.

Tichy Carr looked at those eyes but paid them no heed; they were just utterly foolish.

[I wonder what the basilisk went to eat to fill its belly after giving up on catching me last night?]

The answer was found with Hermione, who came to ask about magic. After struggling with her thoughts, she whispered to Teach, "Um... Professor Teach, where did you go last night?"

Knowing it was the basilisk, Teach replied while sipping his pumpkin porridge breakfast, "I was discussing knowledge with Professor Snape in his office during the first half of the night."

"Then...what about the second half of the night?"

"I went straight back to my dorm and went to sleep."

After hearing Teach's answer, Hermione said "Oh" without suspecting anything, and then explained, "Professor, in the middle of last night, Fulch's cat was attacked and petrified, and the killer even wrote something in blood on the wall about the return of Slytherin's heir."

"The matter was discovered early this morning. Headmaster Dumbledore and the professors rushed to the scene and, after dispersing the panicked students, began a search of people, mainly those who had been wandering around Hogwarts last night. As for you, Professor... although you were ruled out by Dumbledore, everyone now knows that you didn't return to your office until three or four in the morning."

“So, I have a clear time to commit the crime,” Teach answered Hermione.

"Yes, Professor, aren't you going to clarify this?"

"Since Dumbledore has already cleared me of suspicion, why should I waste my energy and expression clarifying things?"

"But... the way those students look at you..."

"What kind of perspective is that? Just a foolish perspective, Hermione. I've discovered that apart from you and Luna, all the young wizards are incredibly foolish. They believe any hearsay they hear without question. They don't think about the truth, they don't investigate the truth, they just follow the crowd and believe what others believe... what they think is the truth."

At this point, Teach earnestly warned Hermione, "So, Hermione, you must never become an ordinary and foolish person like them. Magic is a technique to pursue the truth of the world and explore the truth of all things. I don't want you to be blinded and lose your reason by the so-called truth on the surface."

Teach's words instantly benefited Hermione greatly, as if her entire state of mind had been transcended and elevated. She then nodded heavily to Teach and said, "Don't worry, Professor, I will not become a stupid person."

After saying that, Hermione took out her notebook, opened the transmutation circle, and asked, "Professor, with the transmutation circle you taught me, I can now turn stones into ore."

"But I have absolutely no idea how to transform the stone into a higher-grade mineral."

"I can't find the structural patterns in iron, steel, or even gold."

“I wanted to use magic to analyze it, but I searched through all the spellbooks in the library and even consulted Professor Flitwick. To my disappointment, I didn’t get any magic that I could use to analyze it.”