"Silvanus, are you sure you are not kidding?!" Professor McGonagall pursed her lips tightly and looked at Professor Kettleburn who was stepping on the basilisk with an angry expression.
"If you put such a dangerous thing in the forbidden forest next to Hogwarts Castle, and it escapes and causes harm to the students, will you be responsible? Or do you think that sixty-two detentions are not enough and want to break the record you set again?"
Professor Kettleburn smiled awkwardly, pretending not to hear, and lowered his head to study the basilisk's body again.
"This is an absolutely rare species. I never thought I would see a basilisk in my lifetime." He looked at the position of the basilisk's eyes in amazement and said to himself, "In my impression, reptiles like snakes and geckos don't have eyelids, but basilisks can close their eyes. Is it because of their innate ability?"
Professor McGonagall saw that Professor Kettleburn had returned to his work on magical creatures. She glared at this old troublemaker among the professors, then turned around and prepared to join the topic of Dumbledore and Dracula again.
However, the moment she turned her head, Professor Kettleburn slid off the basilisk with an agility that was very inconsistent with his physical condition.
"What a mistake. I forgot Minerva was still here," he muttered under his breath, then leaned on his crutches and limped towards the door.
When he reached the door, he seemed to remember something and looked back at Dumbledore's position.
"Albus, next time when Minerva is not around we can discuss where to place the basilisk in the Forbidden Forest!" he shouted.
Professor McGonagall was furious and chased after him, ready to discuss an explanation with Professor Kettleburn.
Professor Kettleburn saw her catch up, tapping the ground with his cane and walking faster.
The two elderly men left the room at an extremely vigorous pace, as if they were racing...
In a blink of an eye, Dracula and Dumbledore were the only ones left in the room where the Mirror of Erised was, standing there looking at each other.
Knowing the personalities of the two old men, Dumbledore came to his senses first. He walked to the green basilisk and gently stroked its cool scales.
Although Quirrell used some tricks to get the Ministry of Magic to send an urgent letter to Dumbledore and successfully lured him away from Hogwarts, he didn't know that even in the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore was always paying attention to the scenes in the castle, especially in the restricted area.
After Dracula left in pursuit of Voldemort, Dumbledore asked the phoenix Fawkes to take him back to Hogwarts Castle to prevent the basilisk from causing trouble. Then he knocked the basilisk unconscious, temporarily turning it into its current harmless and quiet state.
This is also the reason why the basilisk did not react even when Professor Kettleburn climbed onto its body.
"So... this basilisk is the monster that Slytherin left behind to guard Hogwarts Castle?" Dumbledore looked at Dracula and asked curiously.
"That should be right." Dracula nodded slightly. "I should have thought of it earlier. The only magical animal that can survive for nearly a thousand years and has powerful abilities is probably the basilisk."
He snapped his fingers in front of the basilisk's face, waking it up.
The basilisk opened its eyes in confusion, and as soon as it opened its eyes, it saw the silver-haired demon standing in front of it. It was so scared that it subconsciously closed its eyes again, shrank timidly into the corner, and coiled itself into a huge, indescribable mass...
"Professor Dracula seems to be very familiar with this basilisk." Dumbledore looked at the basilisk's performance and laughed happily, "Oh, I almost forgot, you and Slytherin are old acquaintances, so it's not strange to know his pet."
Dracula smiled and nodded. Then, his expression suddenly became unnatural.
Dumbledore just mentioned that the basilisk was a pet of Slytherin. This made Dracula suddenly think that for fun, he forced the pet to use his innate magic continuously and exhausted its magic power many times... Was it considered abusing Slytherin's pet
Thinking of this, he gently patted the basilisk's big head and subconsciously made his movements gentler.
The basilisk felt that Dracula's pat on the head was different from usual, and couldn't help but feel flattered. It closed its eyes and obediently rubbed Dracula's hand with its head.
Except for being a little bigger in size, the basilisk now seems to have really become a domestic pet.
"Dumbledore, do you have any idea about where to put this basilisk?" Dracula stroked the basilisk's cool and smooth head, looked at Dumbledore, and asked, "It's not really like Professor Kettleburn said, put it in the Forbidden Forest, right?"
"Forget about the Forbidden Forest." Dumbledore waved his hand decisively. "Even if you don't care about the impact and conflict of the basilisk on the native species of the Forbidden Forest, you should at least care about another thing—"
"I have always been aware that there are many brave students in Hogwarts who would sneak into the Forbidden Forest to take risks. If we really put an animal like the basilisk, which can kill people with its eyes if you are not careful, into the Forbidden Forest, it would indeed be too dangerous."
"So you knew that students would sneak into the Forbidden Forest?" Dracula raised his eyebrows and looked at him with a strange look. "I thought the notice you made at the opening banquet about not entering the Forbidden Forest was just a joke. I've never seen you take care of this matter."
"Ahem, occasional adventures are helpful in developing the courage, creativity, and adaptability of young wizards." Dumbledore coughed dryly and explained, "So I usually won't stop you from exploring the Forbidden Forest as long as it's safe."
"But how can you be sure that those naughty kids won't go deep into the forbidden forest?" asked Dracula.
"Don't worry. There are protective magics in the most dangerous forbidden forest areas. The young wizards can't get in." Dumbledore smiled and blinked. "If they really enter the dangerous area, I must have let them go personally."
After hearing the second half of his words, Dracula couldn't help but curl his lips and stuffed a bloody lollipop into his mouth in boredom.
He had almost guessed that Harry Potter and his companions were probably going to suffer again -
When the time is right, the old headmaster will secretly open the protective magic of the Forbidden Forest for the destined savior and tacitly allow him to venture into the more dangerous depths of the Forbidden Forest, thereby cultivating his so-called courage, creativity and adaptability and testing his character.
Dracula found this kind of long-term planning and cultivation the most boring.
He silently patted the basilisk's head and changed the subject.
"Since we don't want to place it in the Forbidden Forest, do you have any other ideas?"
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