A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

On the first day of the new semester, Felix sensed the restlessness in the young wizards' hearts; they were all waiting for get out of class to end so they could go to the courtyard to see the basilisk.

He cleared his throat, and after attracting the attention of the young wizards, he gently waved his wand, "Dragon Emerges from Cave." Accompanied by a cloud of black mist, a small snake with black spots landed on the lectern.

It hissed and its slender body twisted and turned.

The young wizards all looked up, craning their necks to see clearly.

As Felix's wand traced its scales, the little black-spotted snake underwent a dramatic transformation—its smooth scales became thick and solid, giving it a metallic sheen; its color also turned a vibrant green, gleaming with the brilliance characteristic of venomous snakes.

Even its body had swelled considerably, and it raised its flat snake head, its pair of yellow eyes appearing cold and ferocious.

"Professor, is this... a basilisk?" a student asked.

"That's right."

"So, Potter and his friends defeated this little guy?"

The young wizards in the audience said with some disappointment, "This is too small, only about three or four feet."

The little snake monster, especially, looked even more inconspicuous as it huddled on the podium.

Many young wizards suddenly had the illusion that they could do it too.

However, the basilisk's appearance was quite frightening, especially its pair of yellow eyes, which looked really creepy.

Felix remained noncommittal about their attitude, and continued to explain, "The greatest threat from the basilisk lies in its eyes; they are extremely lethal. In other words, by the time you see it, you may already be permanently defenseless."

The murmurs from the audience subsided considerably.

"and--"

He waved his wand, and the tiny basilisk that had been huddled on the podium suddenly sprang up from the table, startling the young wizards in the front row who all leaned back.

As it traced an arc in mid-air and landed precisely in the center of the classroom, the small basilisk's body suddenly and rapidly expanded.

It magnified more than ten times in an instant, filling most of the classroom space before they could react.

"Aaaaah!" Many young wizards screamed, frantically trying to avoid the giant basilisk that was pressing down on them, but they soon discovered that the basilisk's body had changed from a solid form into a black mist.

A young wizard sitting on the ground mustered his courage and reached out to touch it; his hand went straight through the black mist. He looked up and saw that many people had half their bodies inside the mist, and they were now shuffling out in terror.

Felix said with a wicked grin, "Well, that's the true size of the basilisk."

After a while, the young wizards calmed down after realizing that the thing did not harm them at all.

Several students got up from the ground embarrassed. One of them, a little witch named Campbell King, used her wand to stir the black mist-like basilisk's body, turning the scales around her back into a cloud of black mist.

Many young wizards curiously imitated him, and in the process, the black, misty basilisk kept slithering and twisting its body in the small classroom, its huge serpentine body passing through desks, chairs, books, men and women.

But most of the young wizards were no longer afraid. They excitedly poked at it with their wands, and sparks of various colors flashed from time to time in the shadowy black mist.

A few minutes later, the basilisk shrank back to about three or four feet in size, and its body changed from a black mist back to a green solid.

"Professor, is this what the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets really looks like?" a young wizard asked in awe.

"You can understand it this way." Felix conjured a chair and sat down. "Since you're curious about the basilisk, let it give you a lesson today."

The young wizards looked at each other with puzzled expressions, but just then, a voice that sounded very similar to Professor Hyp came from the basilisk's mouth.

"Now open your books to page 79. We will study an excerpt from a manuscript translated in 1842 by Carlyle Matthew, an expert in ancient runes. This manuscript is from about seven hundred years ago."

Many of the young wizards were startled, but having learned from their previous experience, they were not so embarrassed as to fall off their seats again. Instead, they stared intently at the small basilisk in front of the podium, its upper body raised high.

They blinked in confusion, then looked at Professor Hyp, who sat calmly in the corner of the podium, their minds filled with a multitude of complex thoughts.

The little basilisk opened its mouth, revealing thin, dagger-like teeth. "Yes, it is I, your ancient runes professor. So, what are you waiting for?" The basilisk suddenly approached the young wizard in the front row, startling her so much that she dropped her quill.

"Campbell, tell me, what did I just say?"

"Professor, you just spoke of the spell Eoh, which means yew tree, symbolizing death and rebirth, and can also mean continuity and maintenance," the little witch named Campbell King stammered as she stood up.

"Well said, Ravenclaw gets ten points," the basilisk said, flicking its tongue.

Campbell let out a long sigh of relief, sat down, and patted his chest.

"So why didn't you write it down?"

The other young wizards began to write furiously.

In the remainder of the lessons, the young wizards gradually accepted this somewhat eerie "snake professor," who slithered along the aisles on both sides, occasionally approaching a careless wizard, glaring at them with his yellow eyes and shouting, "Don't look at me, read your book!"

Professor Hyp, sitting in the corner, had a smiling expression on his face the whole time, and he seemed to be in a very good mood.

As get out of class was about to end, Felix stood up, waved his wand, and amidst the young wizards' reluctant expressions, transformed their snake professor back into black mist.

"Today's homework is to retell the contents of this manuscript. The requirement is a piece of parchment, and you must use the knowledge you learned in third and fourth grade."

As soon as the bell rang, the corridor echoed with the sounds of footsteps and chatter—the young wizards had already rushed out, heading straight for the courtyard. Meanwhile, in the fifth-grade ancient runes classroom, the young wizards somewhat dazedly packed their things and slowly strolled out of the classroom.

"Hey! Campbell, come on, let's go see the Basilisk!" her friend called out excitedly. "I've been looking forward to this since last Transfiguration class."

Campbell said calmly, "You go first."

"And what about you?"

"I suddenly lost interest in basilisks," Campbell said.

The young wizard who walked out of the ancient runes classroom with her nodded in agreement. They had not only spent a class with the basilisk, but had also been taught ancient runes by it.

……

In the courtyard, a number of young wizards had already gathered, huddled together, their figures indistinct.

In the middle of the young wizards was a huge basilisk that was forty feet long. Its body was as thick as an oak tree trunk, and its scales were as big as a palm. They looked very rough and gleamed with a cold green light.