Maka held "Li Huo Bottle No. 2" in her hand and carefully avoided the attack of the basilisk.
There's nothing you can do about it, not even if you're not careful.
The shortcomings of this thing are still not solved. If the vibration is too big, it will explode in Maka's hand...
"… It's now."
When the strong wind hit her face again, Maka threw away the potion bottle in her hand and ran back.
"Maka!"
"Um?"
Maka's heart was shocked, and when she suddenly opened her eyes, she saw Hermione standing at the door of the library with a Ravenclaw girl, looking towards him.
That's too late!
He hurriedly smashed a bottle on the ground, and an icy white mist suddenly rose up, shrouding the entire corridor in haze.
If you look carefully, you can see that there is still a little sparkle in it.
Maka was in a hurry and used this thing as a smoke bomb.
But even if Maka moves quickly, it still takes time for the white mist to change from light to thick.
Hermione stood there with the other girl, her body gradually became stiff, and after a while she fell hard to the ground.
In the end, the basilisk roared and escaped with injuries.
More than half of the flames erupted by "Li Huo Ping No. 2" fell on the ground and walls, and extinguished soon after. But the remaining flames were all attached to the basilisk's head and body. Even though it rolled and fled quickly, it had no great effect.
The flame seemed to be stuck to its body, burning continuously without any sign of getting smaller.
And Maka was squatting next to Hermione, looking at her silently.
"What's wrong, Miss Granger?" Lockhart suddenly came over, "Oh - God!"
Maka and Willie ignored him, but Lockhart wasn't the kind of person who would shut up if no one talked to him.
"It's too bad - I originally wanted to ask Miss Granger to help me answer the enthusiastic letters from fans! You know, she is also one of my loyal readers."
Lockhart kept chattering and seemed to have no intention of stopping.
"Maka." Willy stepped forward and looked at Hermione and said softly.
"It's okay, they were just petrified..." He shook his head and whispered to himself again, "Is this the force of fate?"
Suddenly, Maka's eyes were fixed on Hermione's hand, her eyes full of solemnity.
"... It seems that the so-called 'coercive power' is not as strong as imagined."
He squatted next to Hermione, raised his head and looked at the library, frowning in thought. He is connecting all the possibilities that can be connected one by one, trying to trace back to the source corresponding to the result in front of him.
After a while, he raised his head slightly and glanced at Lockhart.
"You just said that you wanted to ask Hermione to help you reply to letters from readers?"
"Oh! Yes! Yes... You know, teaching at Hogwarts means you have less free time." Lockhart said with regret.
"You didn't ask Harry to reply to your letter?" Maka narrowed her eyes.
"I'd really like to, but Mr. Potter seems to have been busy with Quidditch training or something."
"No wonder I never heard about Ron spitting out slugs—"
He immediately organized his thoughts and already had some answers in his mind.
"Since the past is in the past, let's try to make amends and see what effect it will have..."
Maka muttered as she walked towards the library, but her hand was already on the wand in her sleeve.
"Forget everything!" "Armor protection."
Behind Maka, Lockhart's chanting sound came clearly.
As if he had expected it, he took a step back without hesitation. A transparent shield appeared in the magic beam of the Forgetting Curse, bursting out with a dazzling light.
Maka's angle was particularly precise, and the shield was like a mirror, reflecting the Forgetting Curse onto the wall.
"Professor Gilderoy Lockhart," Maka looked at Lockhart calmly and said without changing her expression, "Your Forgetting Curse is indeed very good. If it were a direct attack, my Iron Armor Curse at the moment might not be able to do it." Block this blow completely."
"But please remember that now, you owe me a memory." Maka pointed to her head and said calmly.
"you-"
"Or do you want me to expose the 'creative process' of the novels you wrote?"
Maka emphasized the word "creative process" and looked at the bewildered Lockhart meaningfully, waiting for his final reaction.
"Uh... Haha, hahaha... Look what you said," Lockhart smiled awkwardly, "Actually, actually you misunderstood -"
"Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, do you need me to explain the specific content to you?" Maka stared into Lockhart's eyes, holding up the wand in one hand, and took out a small Potion bottle.
"This is called Veritaserum. It's very difficult to make. To be honest, I don't want to use it. But I think the reporter from the Daily Prophet might be very interested in your little stories."
Lockhart stared at the small bottle in Maka's hand, the smile on his face completely frozen.
"Uh, okay..." He sighed and spread his hands feebly, "What do you want?"
"Nothing will happen to embarrass you, Professor." Maka said, "Just remember that you owe me a favor. When I need it, just do a small favor that you can."
"...when?" Lockhart thought for a while.
"Just in case," Maka shook her head, "I just hope that I won't need you in this life."
"That's it! I'm leaving. I won't tell anyone what happened today—" Lockhart turned around in frustration, but before he could take a few steps, he was stopped by Maka.
"Professor Lockhart."
"Is there anything else?" Lockhart asked helplessly.
For him, being caught out was really a headache. Now he wants to leave this place as soon as possible, immediately! immediately!
"If I really need your help, I will give you corresponding reward." Maka looked at him and said, "How about a fresh and exciting adventure story?"
"Really?" Lockhart's eyes suddenly lit up.
"I just feel that I may not be able to get your full help just by relying on a handle."
"You are welcome to come to me at any time!" Lockhart beamed.
But after a pause, he immediately added: "But it must be within your ability."
Maka nodded and immediately walked to the library with Willy.
"Why?"
Next to her, Willie raised her head and looked at Maka and asked.
"what why?"
"remuneration."
Maka looked at Willy and shook her head slightly.
"Didn't I just say that in order for people to do things sincerely, there must be equivalent benefits, otherwise the other party will not go all out."
Willy nodded as if she understood, but she didn't know how much she understood.
While the two were talking, they quickly came to a certain bookshelf. Maka glanced at the bookshelf, pulled out a book from it, tore out some of the content on a certain page, and wrote a few words on it.
Then, he walked back to Hermione and thrust the fragment of page into her stiff hands.
"Although many sheep have escaped, the sheepfold still needs to be repaired after all." He squatted there and muttered to himself.
Even though Maka didn't know what happened, it was certain that "Ron and Malfoy did not conflict".
Perhaps for this reason, neither Harry nor Ron were punished.
Harry didn't go to answer Lockhart's letter, and Ron didn't go to the souvenir showroom to clean the trophy.
It is precisely because of this that Lockhart came to the library today to ask Hermione for help, but he encountered Hermione being attacked; and Ron did not see Tom Riddle's Special Contribution Award trophy in the display room. Hermione didn't have any hints about the Chamber of Secrets, so she could only look for it blindly, but she still hasn't found anything yet.
But Maka did not expect that it was precisely because he taught Malfoy a lesson last semester that Malfoy did not dare to use the word "Mudblood" to insult Hermione again.
This is the real beginning of that series of changes!
"Even... it's very possible that Harry didn't pick up Voldemort's diary at all..."
This was Maka's wrong guess, but it was obvious that he had deduced the general changes in the entire incident.
"…Yes, yes, right over here."
Maka raised her head suddenly, only to find Professor McGonagall and Lockhart approaching in a hurry.
"Uh, Maka..." Lockhart looked at him, showing a hint of embarrassment.
But then, Lockhart suddenly said to Professor McGonagall: "I asked Mr. Maclean to guard here."
Maka shook her head helplessly.
Although this is obviously the result of Lockhart's eagerness to take credit, the liar's ability to adapt quickly is still pretty good.
"Professor McGonagall, this is a double attack."
"Oh - yes, please trouble you." Professor McGonagall sighed, "I know you have a very good relationship with Miss Granger, but now, she must be sent to the campus hospital first..."
"Yes, I understand." Maka said, "Do you need my help?"
"No, but you can come along."
After Professor McGonagall sent Hermione to the school hospital, she hurried to the Quidditch pitch - for the safety of the students, today's game had to be cancelled.
Maka sat beside Hermione's hospital bed, looking at her calmly, but she didn't know what she was thinking. Willy stood quietly behind him, looking at his back without saying a word, and her thoughts were also unknown.
On the other side of the hospital bed, Madam Pomfrey was carefully observing Hermione's condition.
About ten minutes later, Professor McGonagall brought Harry and Ron to the ward.
"Maka!" Ron said with wide eyes.
"...You are here." Maka raised her head and looked at him and Harry expressionlessly.
"Don't you have anything to say?"
Ron glanced at Hermione who was stiff on the hospital bed, then rushed over, grabbed Maka's front with both hands, and pushed him from the chair to the ground.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Ron's ferocious face faced Maka and asked loudly again.