bioinnovel Chapter 120 The Overlooked Details
Chapter 120 The Overlooked Details
Chapter 120 The Overlooked Details
Belvina stood in front of the chicken coop, gripped her wand in the back of her hand, pressed the acacia wood wand to her lips, and took a deep breath in and out!
Footprints are visible!
Just like last school year in the Forbidden Forest, wisps of silver smoke billowed from the tip of the wand. The smoke drifted into the chicken coop, circled around inside, and then gradually gathered together.
Hagrid focused intently, his beetle-like black eyes wide, carefully discerning the silver figure that was about to appear.
The thief who killed the chicken must be made to pay the price.
The drifting silver smoke transformed into two figures, one large and one small. The smaller one was the already cold rooster, while the larger one was tall and strong, and it was obvious at a glance that it was Hagrid himself.
Judging from his actions, Hagrid was feeding the chickens and reinforcing the chicken coop.
The silver smoke dissipated, drifted back to the entrance of the chicken coop, and began to coalesce into another figure.
The drifting silver smoke transformed into a small, thin figure, which, judging from her build and clothing, appeared to be a young girl.
The silver figure of a young girl walked into the chicken coop with her head down, went straight for the silver rooster, and snapped its neck without any hesitation, very decisively.
Then, a heart-stopping scene unfolded: the silver figure of the younger girl raised her head. Her face had no features, only lines of unrecognizable letters moving about!
"What's going on?" Hagrid asked incredulously, pointing his thick finger at the small figure. "Why doesn't that girl have facial features!"
Belvina tilted her head in confusion, countless possibilities flashing through her mind, but she couldn't be sure which one best fit the current situation.
"A runaway Gorgon!" Hagrid exclaimed. "Is this still a Hogwarts student?! What has happened?!"
Belvina crossed her arms and stared intently at the indistinguishable lines of letters. Her first thought was of Quirrell, who was possessed by Voldemort.
Back in the Forbidden Forest, Belvina also used "Footprint Manifestation" to reveal Quirrell's figure. At that time, Quirrell's entire face was hidden under his hood. Could his face have been in a similar situation?
"The only good news is that the person who killed the rooster was a young girl," Belvina said, trying to console herself. "Maybe—she wasn't doing it willingly, or she didn't know what she was doing."
"What do you mean?" Hagrid asked, puzzled. "What do you mean by 'not voluntary,' 'coerced'? Who? Those Slytherins...?"
Realizing he had misspoke, Hagrid quickly covered his mouth, looked up at the sky, and pretended nothing had happened. What Slytherin? Who mentioned Slytherin? Me? How could that be!
Belvina took two steps forward, carefully examining the line of letters, before stomping her heeled boots hard on Hagrid's foot.
However, Hagrid acted as if nothing had happened. He didn't feel any pain at all and even said, quite embarrassed, "Sorry, Belvina, you didn't twist your ankle, did you?"
Belvina waved her wand sullenly, and the silver smoke instantly dissipated. She had only cast "Footprints Revealed" twice at Hogwarts, and both times the results were unsatisfactory.
This kind of magic has too many limitations; it's easily interfered with and has poor recognition capabilities, especially in crowded places. Unless there's a clear target and you know exactly who you're looking for.
Belvina raised her wand again, gliding it repeatedly in front of her as she muttered incantations.
Peace and security!
Malicious expulsion!
Protect them all!
A trap to subdue the enemy!
Hagrid stood there dumbfounded, completely bewildered. Were these protective spells really meant to protect roosters? Even the guardhouse at the hunting grounds didn't offer this kind of treatment!
Rupert Hagrid glanced at his little cabin, behind which sat a pink umbrella, inside which was hidden Hagrid's wand.
"Alright," Belvina said. "I also added a howling spell, so you'll hear it when someone approaches the chicken coop."
"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?" Hagrid said. "It's just a chicken coop."
"Really? It's alright," Belvina said nonchalantly. "Your next task is to put the new rooster in and take good care of it, the stronger the better."
Belvina has started assigning tasks again, but unfortunately there's no question mark above her head, and there are no generous rewards for completing the tasks she assigns.
"Them?" Hagrid was confused again. "Why 'them' when one is enough?"
"Listen, Hagrid," Belvina said sternly, her face tense. "You don't want the Slytherin heir to continue committing evil, do you?"
Hagrid nodded his large, furry head, though his balaclava hat seemed out of place. The way the two were discussing things made them look like Gringotts bank employees.
"Then take good care of the roosters, make sure they're all strong and healthy with vibrant feathers," Belvina said. "You might not believe it, but roosters have a magical effect on the monsters in the secret room, which is why your roosters always get their necks snapped."
"My rooster was killed by the monster in the secret room?" Hagrid said. "Am I misunderstanding?"
With that, Hagrid ripped off his balaclava, crumpled the wool hat into a ball with his rough hands, and said solemnly, "I understand, I'll take good care of it. I can't guarantee anything else, but this will be fine."
Belvina didn't want to conjure up a live chicken, mainly because she didn't know how effective a rooster created through transfiguration would be. So the roosters at the school had to be alive, really alive.
"Then I'll be going now." Belvina waved goodbye, "Take good care of the rooster."
"Don't worry, there won't be any problems." Hagrid swung his thick arm, which would definitely hurt a lot if he accidentally hit someone.
With one worry resolved, Belvina's steps became lighter. She felt her chaotic thoughts clear up, confirming that the monster in the secret room was a basilisk. After making sure the rooster wouldn't have its neck broken again, it was time to find the secret room.
Harry is undoubtedly the biggest help in finding the secret room; his Parseltongue can help define the area and even pinpoint the entrance directly.
The only downside is that Harry's effectiveness depends on the Basilisk speaking, so we should go back to the crime scene first; being there in person would help with our thinking.
The quick-thinking Belvina returned to the castle and went straight upstairs to the scene of the first attack.
The red lettering on the wall remained conspicuous. An armchair leaned against the wall, marking the location of the caretaker, Filch. Filch never gave up his plan to wait for the danger, and so the armchair remained.
Belvina paced back and forth along the wall, past the line of red text, her hands behind her back, one hand holding her acacia wood wand.
One hand holds a face and a makeup mirror.
According to Harry, he found the place after hearing the basilisk's voice and discovered Mrs. Lorris hanging on a torch. The skinny, scaly cat had encountered the basilisk but hadn't died; it had only been petrified.
Belvina continued to recall more details of that evening, details that had been overlooked.
After the banquet ended, the students were drawn to the unexpected situation that had occurred there. Most of them gathered around, and Draco Malfoy, in a moment of utter folly, shouted "Mudblood!"—and then—
Belvina remembered that there was water on the ground that night, and Lady Lorice was petrified because of the water on the ground. She did not look directly into the basilisk's eyes!
Colin Crevet, who secretly visited Harry at the school hospital, was also petrified. He saw the Basilisk through a camera, and the camera was damaged beyond repair.
Belvina stopped in her tracks. On the day of the incident, she hadn't noticed the water on the ground at all, or rather, she thought it was normal for there to be water on the ground because it was very close to the girls' restroom.
It was a semi-abandoned girls' restroom. The girls preferred to go to the restrooms upstairs or downstairs rather than use that semi-abandoned one.
That was the territory of the weeping ghost of the Myrtle. Nobody wanted to be walked through by a ghost while taking care of their bodily needs.
I don't want to be startled by a ghost that suddenly appears, or get splashed with dirty water.
The weeping Myrtle was a constant presence in the girls' restroom, throwing tantrums almost every day, leaving the restroom filled with sewage, which sometimes even spilled into the corridor.
Therefore, Belvina subconsciously thought that the puddles on the ground were normal. Who would care why the ghost who was always throwing a tantrum was throwing a tantrum, and who would care about the crying Myrtle?
Belvina raised her wand above her head, and the acacia wand drew a circle above her head, before the silver-white cat-shaped guardian spirit landed lightly.
The guardian spirit first let out a silent "meow," then climbed up the wall to the ceiling and disappeared.