Chapter 1006 The Hunting Is About to Begin
Gilderoy Lockhart's early leave undoubtedly accelerated the disunity in Hogwarts.
Not surprisingly, as rumors spread that the grammar professor had taken time off for Christmas, the spirits of the little wizards seemed to have flown away. If teachers all start planning and arranging their own holidays, then how can the students have the intention to continue to concentrate on studying at the castle?
As for the announcement that Hogwarts Castle was being repaired and the entire school was being emptied, there was nothing unexpected or strange about it.
Especially when the news came out that Mr. Filch planned to search for stranded students in the school and go to clean up the cobwebs and clear the toilet pipes together, the little wizards began to pack their luggage in unison, for fear of being caught too late to leave school - in With the cooperation of the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, even those children whose original families were not harmonious and who were orphans received invitations from other magical families on Christmas Eve.
For example, Harry was allowed to go back to his godfather's house for the holidays this Christmas instead of going back to Privet Drive.
And Irina Ivanovich was invited to the Greengrass house. As the elder of the school board, Old Greengrass naturally knew about the hunt that was about to happen this Christmas, and he took this opportunity to meet a man with multiple buffs. It is in line with their position to be friends with the shadow prefects.
As for Danilova, she is treated like the darling of the academy. Most of the girls in Ravenclaw have extended invitations to this "Miss Key".
"Anyway, after tonight, we will be the only ones left in the school."
At the end of dinner that day, Elena said to Hermione, Luna, and Hannah, "The four of us, some professors, officials from the Ministry of Magic, and a man who has lived for more than a thousand years. Big snake. It’s going to be a fun Christmas, isn’t it?”
Not all the professors at Hogwarts remain.
You know, this is different from the previous political deductions targeting the non-magical world.
No one can know in advance how many dangers are hidden in the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets. Even the "cheating" Elena couldn't 100% believe Rowling's description in the original work. The price to pay for such negligence would be too heavy.
When a lion fights a rabbit, he also uses all his strength.
Moreover, what is locked inside is a thousand-year-old snake monster.
Today's Elena is no longer the child who naively believed in shooting the world line.
With the flapping of her wings, the paths of the magical and non-magical worlds have long been unable to return to their former directions.
Therefore, Dumbledore rarely took a tough stance and promoted the clearing of the castle in an extremely serious manner.
For safety reasons, most of the staff, including the four deans, have been given leave. After the dinner, they will join Argus Filch, Rubeus Hagrid and others with the students. They packed their bags and left the castle on the Hogwarts Express.
However, to Elena's surprise, the mobilization of the professors went particularly smoothly this time.
The luxury global travel service sponsored by Gringotts and the global travel visa signed by the Ministry of Magic are on the one hand the reason; on the other hand, many professors also claim to be tired of spending Christmas time in school, and finally have There is no reason to refuse the opportunity to take a vacation at public expense.
Of course, a small number of professors are still a little emotional.
For example, after the dinner, Professor McGonagall and Professor Sybil blocked Professor Dumbledore in the corridor.
When the students "accidentally" passed by the corridor, they happened to hear Professor McGonagall protesting in a scary and serious voice, "I am the vice-principal of this school! Professor of Transfiguration and Head of Gryffindor House. , I have the right to help in school——"
It is a pity that the students did not hear the following content.
"It's not the right thing to eavesdrop on professors," Snape said coldly.
I don't know if it was the students' misunderstanding, but Professor Snape's expression was obviously much more scary tonight.
At Professor Snape's almost freezing voice, the students fled in fear and did not continue to wander around the corridor.
As for Elena and others, they didn't show anything out of the ordinary.
"Well, let's go to Elena's house for Christmas—"
When Ginny asked Hermione about her plans for the holiday, Hermione replied calmly without changing her face.
Like her, Luna, Hannah, and even Elena answered this question in the same way.
Most little wizards don't care where their classmates spend Christmas, but Elena doesn't intend to leave loopholes in such a place. At least for now, she doesn't intend to let the Major Arcana appear in the public eye, but this This latent action made several little wings very excited.
"So, let's carry our suitcases and board the train as if nothing happened——"
Hannah looked at Elena with excitement, looked around at the classmates mysteriously, and lowered her voice.
"Then sneak off the train and return to the castle quietly before the Hogwarts Express starts? What should we do if we are discovered? After all, most of the professors are also on the train. If they find that we are not there, …”
"We won't get on the train." Elena directly exposed Hannah's little excitement, "Illusion will just get on the train and show off. For the professors, I asked the Hogwarts kitchen to prepare a batch of red wine. And we have Bill Weasley covering for us."
"Oh." Hannah said angrily, curling her lips.
…………
Finally, the semester is over.
Silence as thick as snow on the ground enveloped the entire Hogwarts Castle.
However, Luna did not feel dull, but felt very peaceful. She felt very happy when she thought that she, Hannah, Hermione and Elena could wander around and play freely in Hogwarts. Not to mention, Xenophilius will also be coming to Hogwarts this Christmas.
This meant that her father wouldn't be spending Christmas alone, and she had so many friends with her.
Employees of the Ministry of Magic arrived at the school one after another, but Cornelius Fudge only left Hogwarts after lunch.
As the extremely noble Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge will naturally not stay in the castle to participate in the basilisk hunt - of course the reason is that there is too much work in the Ministry of Magic, and he trusts the strength of Dumbledore and others. He will try his best to Arrive when the hunt begins.
Most of the senior officials of the Ministry of Magic and members of the school board said the same thing.
All in all, except for the Aurors and the field employees of the Department of Magical Hazards, the big shots obviously did not intend to face the basilisk directly.
Elena and others disapprove of the behavior of these bureaucrats. If they insist on staying in the school, it will make people a little helpless.
After all, if some accident occurs, adding a group of senior officials of the Ministry of Magic to the list of memory rollbacks may awaken the devil in some Major Arcana hearts. This kind of good thing is very likely to happen smoothly. It will lead to the early outbreak of civil war in the magic world.
However, based on certain established rules, everyone did not choose to open the secret room on Christmas Eve.
With the assistance and guidance of Dumbledore, wizards from the Ministry of Magic re-examined the drainage outlets around Hogwarts Castle and once again reinforced the magic barrier originally set up near the pipe in Myrtle's bathroom. By the way, let’s talk about the battle plan for the next day.
Moreover, the school also needs to conduct a final round of inspections to ensure that no students or professors are stranded in the castle.
Meanwhile, above the clouds at Hogwarts, out of sight of the wizards at the Ministry of Magic.
The Hyperion's pre-war mobilization meeting was almost over.
"The time is tentatively scheduled for two o'clock tomorrow afternoon."
"At that time, officials from the Ministry of Magic will arrive in the secret room one after another and advance into the secret room using batches of suppressed magic bombings."
"Albus Dumbledore and Newt Scamander will also be among the first-round offensive personnel, forming a siege."
Elena tapped the wand in her hand lightly on the bridge display panel, and a translucent simulation of the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets appeared in mid-air.
Due to the fear of the basilisk, the ghosts did not dare to go too deep when exploring the structure of the secret room.
Therefore, the three-dimensional terrain structure map of Hogwarts and the Hyperion only has the middle and outer areas. The environment of the lair where the basilisk sleeps and hides is still an unsettling black fog. This is what makes Elena the most. Where others are worried.
"Based on the current derivation, the basilisk should have a certain level of intelligence and is tentatively estimated to be a normal child of around school age."
Elena said, her eyes sweeping over the bridge of the Hyperion, her voice steady, clear and full of majesty.
The bridge of the Hyperion, which used to be spacious, now looks a little crowded.
In addition to the three "Reserve Major Arcana" sitting in the corner and listening quietly, the leaders of the "Black Robe Wizards" of the Destiny Group, the captains of the Gringotts Goblin Action Team, and the elderly peacekeepers from Salzburg The regiment... almost all the elite forces are gathered here.
After all, judging from the worst-case scenario, the result of the failure of this operation is to directly "rise up" and start the mode of armed revolution.
Of course, the probability of this happening is almost zero. Elena just wants to add a few more layers of insurance measures. By the way, she can see if she can use this hunting operation to do some acting and try to see her own multiple armed forces. The effect of collaborative operations.
"It would be best if we successfully sealed off the basilisk's range of activities and limited the battle to the secret room below the castle."
"No matter how dangerous and powerful the basilisk is, it is still just a magical creature left behind by Salazar Slytherin more than a thousand years ago. When faced with a magic extermination team led by two of the top wizards in the wizarding world today, It’s hard to make too big a wave—otherwise, the descendants of Slytherin would have unified the magical world with the help of the basilisk, and they wouldn’t have briefly opened the Chamber of Secrets from generation to generation and then silenced it again.”
Elena held her chin and rotated the wand in her hand in a half arc.
Immediately afterwards, the original three-dimensional image of the secret room quickly shrank and was replaced by a topographic map of Hogwarts.
"But if this probability is in the calculation, it is at least about 20%-30%. The 'snake catching team' led by Dumbledore and Scamander failed to knock down the basilisk at the first time, and let It is aware of the fatal danger and power gap. If there is a secret exit, it is likely to choose to escape. An unknown exit may appear in the black lake, the pipeline of the castle, the forbidden forest area... these places."
"The advantages and disadvantages of fighting in open areas are obvious. The wolf pack encroachment tactics are the main ones, and there should be no stupid casualties in the attack."
"but……"
Elena moved her fingers gently on the wand and said solemnly.
"The premise is that it must not be given the opportunity to leave Hogwarts - if the Basilisk has the possibility of completely escaping, then the action team closest to it can freely take action according to the original plan. If necessary, Hyperion The number will directly launch a saturation strike."
"As for the secret room—"
Elena tapped the command podium lightly, and a time prompt panel appeared.
"Without the assistance of phantom migration and Phoenix, it will take at least an hour to return to the surface from the secret room at the bottom of the lake a few miles below."
"If there is a situation where the basilisk escapes, the 'Black-robed Wizard' please assist Mr. 'Tower' to clear the area as soon as possible, so that the Ministry of Magic officials stranded on the castle can have a good sleep, and at the same time start pressing A second round of basilisk encirclement and suppression operations is planned.”
"In principle, I don't want to see a scene covered by the Hyperion's saturation attack——"
"Magic matters should be left to magic."
At this moment, Elena suddenly stopped talking and looked towards the corner with interest.
"Hmm? Miss Granger, do you have anything to add to this battle plan?"
Since there are many other members on the bridge, Hermione, Luna, Hannah and others are now "Captain's Secretary" and "Valkyria" operator. In terms of rank, they are temporarily classified as A-level. However, It's just a status level, with no real power.
"I have a question, what if the basilisk escapes into the Black Lake?"
Hermione put down her raised right hand, frowned, tapped the shorthand pad in her hand, and said softly.
"This should be the most likely scenario, right? If the basilisk escapes directly from the secret room into the Black Lake of Hogwarts, it can even swim out directly along the current - you know, the outside of the Black Lake is connected to Lomon There are nearly a hundred lakes and rivers including Dehu Lake..."
"It's very simple, just temporarily block the exit of the Black Lake."
Elena shrugged and said calmly, glanced at the data on the virtual panel, and continued to answer.
"There is only one exit to the Hogwarts Black Lake, which is about 290 meters wide."
"The hull length of the Hyperion is 321 meters. After three o'clock today at midnight, the Hyperion will directly enter the deep-sea submersible mode from the suspension mode. At the same time, after the hunting begins, it will play the sound of the rooster through the ship-borne sonar into the surrounding waters. Chirping sound - if the sonar expulsion fails and the basilisk attempts to pass through the gap under the hull, we can also choose to dive at high speed to block the road, or even directly smash it to death."
"The floating spell... doesn't just have one direction."
"Do you have any other questions?"
Elena looked around the bridge and nodded with satisfaction.
"Well, happy Christmas Eve, I hope we can have fresh snake soup tomorrow night... the party is over -"
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Great!