Gilderoy Lockhart's early leave undoubtedly accelerated the disunity in Hogwarts.
This is not surprising. As rumors spread that the grammar professor took time off for Christmas, the souls of the little wizards seemed to fly away. If the teachers all started planning and arranging their own holidays, then how could the students have the intention to continue?
How about focusing on studying at the castle?
As for the announcement of the renovation of Hogwarts Castle and the emptying of the entire school, there is nothing unexpected or strange about it.
Especially when the news came out that Mr. Filch planned to search for stranded students in the school, clean up cobwebs, and clear the toilet pipes together, the little wizards began to pack their luggage in unison, for fear of being caught in the Ministry of Magic if they left school late.
, with the cooperation of both sides of 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.
The shadow prefects are good friends, which is in line with their stance.
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 bound to be a very interesting 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 cannot 100% believe Rowling's description in the original work. There will be huge consequences for such negligence in this place.
The price 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 path of the magical world and the non-magical world has long been unable to return to its former direction.
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 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
If you have the opportunity to take a vacation at public expense, there is no reason to refuse it.
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's the students' misunderstanding, but Professor Snape's expression is obviously much more scary tonight.
In the voice of Professor Snape who was almost freezing to death, 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 expression.
Like her, Luna, Hannah, and even Elena also 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 actually made a few 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 mysteriously at the students around her, and lowered her voice.
"Then before the Hogwarts Express starts, sneak off the train quietly and return to the castle? 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, Xeno
Philius will also come to Hogwarts this Christmas.
This means that her father will not spend Christmas alone because of this, and she will have so many friends to accompany her.
Employees of the Ministry of Magic arrived at the school one after another, but Cornelius Fudge only had lunch and left Hogwarts.
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 he has too much work in the Ministry of Magic, and he trusts the strength of Dumbledore and others. He will try his best to hunt the basilisk.
Arrive at the beginning.
Most of the senior officials and school board members who cannot do magic say 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 and a group of senior officials from the Ministry of Magic are added to the list of memory rollbacks, the devil in the hearts of some Major Arcana may be awakened. This kind of good thing is very likely to happen smoothly.
It will lead to the early outbreak of civil war in the magical 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 pipes in Myrtle's bathroom.
By the way, here’s 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.
At the same time, above the clouds of Hogwarts, out of sight of the wizards at the Ministry of Magic.
The Hyperion's pre-war mobilization meeting is almost over.
"The time is tentatively scheduled at 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 form a team in the first round of offensive personnel."
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 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. Regarding the basilisk's dormant and hiding lair environment, it is still an uneasy 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 in the past, 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 an armed revolution.
Of course, the probability of this kind of thing 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 big waves, otherwise the descendants of Slytherin would have unified the magical world with the help of the basilisk, and they would not have briefly opened the Chamber of Secrets from generation to generation and then let it fall silent 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 Chamber of Secrets 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 in the first time, and let
It is aware of the fatal danger and the gap in strength. If there is a secret exit, it is likely to choose to escape, such as the black lake, the pipeline of the castle, the forbidden forest area... An unknown exit may appear in 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 foolish casualties."
"but……"
Elena moved her fingers gently on the wand and said solemnly.
"The premise is that it must not be allowed 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, the Hyperion will
Directly launch a saturation strike."
"As for the secret room?"
Elena tapped the podium lightly, and a time prompt panel appeared.
"Without the help of Apparition 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, without any 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 Loch Lomond.
Waiting for nearly a hundred lakes and rivers..."
"It's very simple, just temporarily block the exit of the Black Lake."
Elena shrugged and said calmly, looked 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 a rooster in the surrounding waters through ship-borne sonar.
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 crush 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"