Pop!
A soft sound echoed in the dim corridor as two shadows landed on the ground. The moment her feet touched down, Penelope's head exploded with intense pain, as if being stabbed by needles—pain so severe she couldn't stand, only managing to half-kneel on the ground, raising one hand to press against her temple, trying to ease the excruciating suffering.
The feeling of mental exhaustion after her Shield Charm shattered really wasn't pleasant.
Smiling bitterly and shaking her head, she tried to gather her wits and looked at the short, frightened-looking shadow beside her.
"Thank you, 'Dobby'— I heard Harry call you that?"
"Yes, Miss." Dobby bowed according to house-elf etiquette toward wizards, then extended his hand, planning to continue with another Apparition to do what Harry had asked.
"Wait!" Seeing the house-elf's movement, Penelope hastily reached out to stop him, but just extending her hand caused another intense pain in her head, making her press against it again. She could only force herself to ask, "Where are you going?"
"Harry Potter asked Dobby to find other professors for help—preferably Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Do you know where Harry is?" Penelope asked urgently.
Before Dobby brought her along in Apparition, she'd personally watched that giant snake seemingly catch a scent and chase something out of the room. That boy might now be in danger.
But this time, Dobby hesitated and shook his head.
"Harry Potter only said to have Dobby find other professors, can't let those two people escape."
"He didn't say where he was going."
Hearing this, Penelope felt anxious, but the house-elf's eyes held only determination. After answering the question, he snapped his fingers and vanished.
"Sorry, Miss. Dobby must complete Harry Potter's task."
Looking at the now-empty corridor, Penelope's heart raced with anxiety. If that boy truly became a corpse turned to stone by the basilisk, she would never forgive herself.
After all, those people's initial target was her.
Just as Penelope's anxiety peaked, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind.
Turning around in shock, she saw Hermione and Ron running toward her. Upon seeing her on the ground, surprise flashed across their faces.
"Senior Penelope?"
But this surprise quickly turned to urgency. Ron stepped forward and asked anxiously, "Senior, have you seen Harry?"
Not long after Professor Kahn stopped them, the professor suddenly told them to wait there and disappeared in a silver-white arc.
But whether intentionally or not, the professor left that crystal ball behind. After they picked it up, they just happened to see Harry in the invisibility cloak reveal both arms and take those two strange objects from the table.
After that, they saw that incredibly terrifying giant snake chase out through the door.
Although they didn't know what happened before, one thing was crystal clear to them both.
That giant snake must be chasing Harry!
They didn't know what Headmaster Dumbledore wanted Harry to do, according to Professor Kahn, but that giant snake was definitely not something Harry could handle alone.
They had to help him!
"I'm not entirely sure." Penelope showed a bitter smile but, after pondering, said somewhat hesitantly, "However, I think he might have gone to that abandoned bathroom on the second floor?"
Before the battle started, Harry and Sir Podmore had explained the situation to her, including intelligence that Sir Podmore had determined the Chamber should be in that bathroom.
But if Harry wanted to lock that giant snake back in—he wouldn't be that reckless, would he?
That was a basilisk.
But recalling some things that boy had done, Penelope felt it wasn't impossible.
The two young wizards before her, upon hearing the specific location, showed delight and rushed toward the second-floor stairs without even helping their senior up.
Watching the two young wizards' departing backs, Penelope bit her lip, struggled to half-rise, remained silent for a moment, then reached into her robes and pulled out a semi-transparent small box.
In the box, a fairy no larger than a rice grain was fearfully examining her surroundings. From its appearance, it seemed to have been awakened earlier and didn't know what was happening.
"Sorry, Nono, I scared you." Gently comforting the fairy in the box, Penelope reached inside, felt around briefly, and pulled out a conch shell covered in countless patterns.
While in the box, the conch was only finger-sized, but after being removed, its volume instantly expanded, becoming considerably larger than her palm.
This was a gift Percy had given her after receiving his reward from that poacher raid.
This conch was a magical artifact made during the First War. Each set had two—after activation, they could provide two minutes of stable communication for transmitting important information.
But this thing's biggest flaw was that once opened, it would be damaged and could only be used once. This meant they would only open this conch when the other was in danger.
Looking at that giant conch, hesitation flashed in Penelope's eyes. She had countless excuses to convince herself—for example, Percy was Ron's brother, prefects should serve the school, and so on. But facing her own heart honestly, she... didn't want to open this conch.
Perhaps because she was inherently a selfish person. She didn't want Percy in danger, even though she originally only planned to have him help notify other professors to search for Harry, who might be heading to the second-floor bathroom.
But what if Percy encountered the basilisk wandering the castle on the way? Or what if he heard his brother went to help Harry and wanted to rescue Ron?
Torn by internal struggle, Penelope hesitated for a long time, then shook her head, planning to put the conch back in the box.
Perhaps after Dobby found Professor Dumbledore, the professor would have a solution? Even if they didn't find Dumbledore, finding other professors would be far more useful than Percy, a prefect.
But just as she was about to put the conch back, she stopped again, bit her lip, and pressed a pattern at the conch's bottom.
The patterns on the conch slowly lit up—they would burn themselves to provide two minutes of brief communication.
This connection that could be established even across countries was now being used in such a castle to connect two people—quite wasteful indeed.
But the effect was truly excellent.
After just a few seconds, the patterns on the conch fully lit up. A voice came from the conch, carrying some drowsiness from being awakened and obvious anxiety.
"What's wrong? Penelope? Are you in danger?"
Hearing that boy, who should be very steady and unconcerned with anything outside studying, produce such an anxious voice, Penelope could no longer hold back. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice involuntarily carried a trace of emotion.
"Percy—"
After speaking this name, Penelope paused for a long time before speaking softly:
"I need you."