A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

"Headmaster, we..." Felix drew his wand.

Dumbledore did not answer, but instead fell into deep thought, as if he had fallen asleep.

"Headmaster Dumbledore!" Hermione exclaimed anxiously, stamping her feet.

Dumbledore pondered for a few seconds, then waved his wand, casting several Disillusionment Charms over their heads.

Felix overheard his conversation with Snape.

"I don't understand, Dumbledore..."

"What, Severus?"

"That child... Harry Potter, he's going to die!"

"I am here," Dumbledore said briefly.

The conversation ended there, but Felix couldn't help but fall into thought—

Did Dumbledore want to groom Potter? Life and death are the best opportunities to inspire courage and potential, especially with this old man standing right there, in control of the whole situation.

or……

He suddenly recalled his conversation with Dumbledore when Potter's Parsleyan accent was revealed. The headmaster said he needed to confirm something—what could it be?

The group approached the battlefield silently. As they drew nearer, Felix noticed large patches of broken ice crystals on the open ground, and a dozen palm-sized, blood-stained black scales stuck to half of a collapsed ice wall.

The four arrived near a serpent-shaped stone pillar in front of the open space and dispelled part of the illusion spell's effect—which allowed them to see each other's positions.

"Professor!" Hermione tugged at his sleeve. Behind the stone pillar, a little wizard was lying on the ground, next to him a tiny bird no bigger than a palm.

It's Ron and Fox.

"Headmaster, Weasley has been found."

Dumbledore glanced at the field, "Severus..."

"I'm watching," Snape said without turning his head, his gaze fixed on Harry, his expression quite intriguing.

Dumbledore and Felix knelt in front of Ron, whose clothes were covered in dust and scratches, but whose body was unharmed.

The little phoenix beside it let out a soft cry, as if it were asking for credit.

It was obvious that it was this that cured Ron.

"Thank you, Fox," Dumbledore said to it with satisfaction.

"Professor, Ron...?" Hermione looked at Ron with concern.

"He's fine," Felix said, tapping the ring on his left hand with his wand. A vial of potion flew out, which he forced down Ron's throat.

Ron's eyebrows furrowed.

In the open space, Harry's battle continued—

He hid behind a boulder, waving his wand. The palm-sized magical puppet unleashed blasts of icy energy mixed with ice crystals. The blind basilisk couldn't detect "her" at all, and could only launch repeated attacks across the entire area. Tiny specks of white frost remained on its tail.

Harry nimbly dodged a boulder the size of a human head, shattering the boulder barrier in front of him. He quickly jogged away, but the sound of his footsteps attracted the basilisk's attention, and the next second, its thick tail lashed out.

Harry immediately commanded the magical golems to stand in front of him, and "whoosh whoosh whoosh!" a column of ice pillars appeared out of thin air.

The enormous black serpent tail crashed down, and after a grating, teeth-grinding sound, the ice pillar and the magical puppet shattered into pieces.

Harry took the opportunity to tiptoe away.

The three professors hiding in the shadows simultaneously put down their wands. Felix couldn't help but glance at the pile of puppet fragments on the ground with a pang of heartache. Was it just ruined like that?

"Professor, I want to help Harry!" Hermione said to him.

Felix paused for a moment, then asked, "Have you thought it through?"

"Yes."

Felix dispelled Hermione's illusion spell and took a beaded pouch from his ring, handing it to her. "I was planning to give it to you as a Christmas present, but I'll give it to you early—I don't need to explain how to use it, right?"

"No need, thank you, Professor!" Hermione said cheerfully.

She wasn't worried about Harry's safety; with two professors and the headmaster around, he wouldn't die. But she didn't want to see Harry face the Basilisk alone.

They are best friends!

Hermione carefully hid in the shadows, moving as quietly as possible.

On the field, Harry struggled to dodge the basilisk's tail and the flying pebbles. Without the help of the magical puppet, he was immediately at a complete disadvantage.

Harry hissed, "Quiet down!"

But the basilisk had gone mad; it had gone blind, which almost certainly meant its death—either by being killed or starving to death. What's more, they had broken into the secret chamber.

"Kill...kill..." the basilisk hissed, and following the sound Harry made, it lashed out with its tail.

"Whoosh!"

A sharp whistling sound tore through the air as a lush green vine, as thick as a wrist, climbed up the basilisk's tail, abruptly halting its attack.

Harry looked incredulous.

"Hermione!?"

The little witch wrapped the other end of the devil's vine around a stone pillar to fight off the basilisk's terrifying power. "Harry, run!"

Harry didn't have time to think about why Hermione was there. He ran away quickly, but tripped halfway. It was the Sorting Hat, the silver bird that had brought him there!

Not long ago, the Basilisk discovered him, the intruder, and decided to kill him and Ron. At this point, no amount of Parseltongue would matter; its "master's command" was everything.

At the critical moment, a large silver bird suddenly appeared, not only pecking out the basilisk's eyes, but also briefly disappearing to bring him the Sorting Hat.

He didn't know why, but he believed the Sorting Hat would be useful in the current situation.

He picked up the tattered hat, put it on his head, and muttered to himself, "Please help me no matter what."

There was no answer, but the hat was pressed down tighter and tighter, as if an invisible hand was desperately gripping the Sorting Hat on his head.

啷！

Something heavy and hard landed on Harry's head, nearly knocking him unconscious. Harry realized it was a gleaming silver sword with a dazzling, egg-sized ruby ​​set in its hilt.

Not far away, Felix's gaze froze. That was... the Gryffindor sword?

The four great masters of Hogwarts, Gryffindor, are a symbol of courage and faith.

He turned his head and stared intently at Dumbledore. Is this what you want to confirm?

Dumbledore didn't notice his gaze; his eyes, through his half-moon spectacles, fell on the basilisk, and his lips moved silently.

This gave Felix a vague sense of unease, a very eerie feeling. In his vision, the magic of the Basilisk, Harry, and Hermione was very conspicuous, but there seemed to be something else on the scene.

Under the illusion spell, he bent his finger and gently touched his brow. In an instant, the colors of everything before him melted and faded away.

Only black, white, and gray remain.

Felix gazed at the battlefield ahead, his calm face masking a turbulent undercurrent.

In his field of vision, three steps to his left, a massive source of magic burned as intensely as the sun—that was Dumbledore. From beneath his feet, a line of magic stretched out, the other end of which connected to the ground beneath the basilisk.

There lurked a tremendous magical fluctuation there, and from his unique perspective, the ground undulated and surged like waves.

What is this?

Has Dumbledore already made his move in secret?

It looked like some kind of transformation magic, but he had never seen such an outrageous transformation magic before...

Felix's feelings were very complicated at this moment.

Unbeknownst to him, Dumbledore had already caged the basilisk.

At this moment, Felix was completely unconcerned about the battle on the field; there was no need. The Basilisk was merely a larger tool. Perhaps its only value was to cooperate with Harry in staging a play, allowing Dumbledore to see some things clearly.