Hermione felt the soft touch on her cheek, as if from one of her own kind, and heard the soothing purr in her ear. Her tearful despair was diluted by a wave of absurd warmth.
She hugged Lia, burying her face in the Cat-girl's warm neck, and let out a muffled sigh: "Oh, Merlin... how did I end up with a cat hair!"
This ridiculous accident eventually ended with Hermione spending a whole day in the Hospital Wing.
Madam Pomfrey had to use every trick in the book to make the cat fur and cat ears on her face and head completely disappear.
This failed adventure made Hermione completely sober up.
The threat of the Chamber of Secrets was far more lethal than she had imagined, and Lia's thrilling stealth mission in Snape's office made her even more fearful in hindsight.
After leaving the Hospital Wing, Hermione seemed like a different person.
She no longer participated in Harry and Ron's far-fetched guesses, but instead devoted all her time to the library.
She wanted to find the answer, using knowledge and logic to replace reckless action.
Lia became her little tail and exclusive book carrier.
The little Cat-girl walked with light steps, holding several large volumes in her hands, while her tail curled around a copy of "Hogwarts: A History" that was bigger than her head, following closely behind Hermione.
She would place the books on the table and then lie obediently by Hermione's side, her deep blue eyes scanning the surroundings alertly; not even the slightest rustle could escape her ears.
Hermione's fingers flew across the ancient pages, as lines of text were swallowed into her mind.
"The victims were only petrified... Colin, Justin, and Nick... they all saw the attacker through something... Colin's camera, Justin saw the ghost Nick, Nick is a ghost..."
She murmured to herself, her brain working at high speed.
"What kind of thing has a gaze that can kill, but when seen through a reflection, the effect is weakened?"
Lia tilted her head; she couldn't understand those complex words, but she could feel the aura of extreme focus radiating from Hermione.
Finally, on a certain page of a book from the Restricted Section titled "Most Dangerous Magical Creatures," Hermione's finger stopped.
It was a medieval-style engraving depicting a giant serpent with a feathered crest on its head.
"A Basilisk... the King of Serpents..." Hermione's voice trembled slightly, "Born from a toad's egg hatched by a rooster... its gaze can take a life instantly, but... but seeing it through a mirror or other reflection only results in deep petrification!"
Found it!
All the clues connected into a single line at this moment!
Harry can hear the voice because he is a Parselmouth! The monster is moving through the pipes! That's why only he can hear it!
Hermione excitedly tore off a piece of parchment and quickly wrote "Pipes" with her quill, then drew a heavy snake—a Basilisk—beside it.
She had to tell Harry and Ron about this discovery immediately. No, she needed more direct evidence.
Evidence that could prove it to Dumbledore, otherwise Dumbledore might not necessarily believe the word of a young Wizard.
She had to "see" it for herself.
That afternoon, Hermione left the common room alone. She told Harry and Ron she was going to the library to look something up, but she quietly brought along a small makeup mirror she had found in the girls' dormitory.
Lia sensed something was wrong.
Since morning, every nerve under her skin had been sounding an alarm. That familiar, hair-raising 'Danger Intuition' was stronger than ever before.
That aura, a mixture of death and an ancient giant serpent, seemed to be seeping in from all directions of the Castle, making her restless, a worried low growl escaping her throat.
She followed Hermione step by step like a most loyal knight, the fur all over her body slightly bristling.
"Don't worry, Lia, I'm just going to verify a theory," Hermione sensed Lia's tension and soothed her in a low voice, but her pace did not stop.
They walked along the second-floor corridor where Madam Norris had been found.
It was deserted. The last rays of the setting sun cast long, eerie shadows from the high windows. The air was thick with a lingering chill.
Lia's unease reached its peak. She pressed tightly against Hermione's calf, the low growl in her throat almost uncontrollable.
Her "Soul Protection" talent allowed her to clearly perceive that a malice purely directed at life was nearby!
"Hiss..."
A faint sound came from inside the wall.
Hermione stopped immediately, her heart pounding. She raised the small mirror in her hand, nervously aiming it at the corner ahead.
Almost at the same instant, Lia felt it!
A deathly aura capable of freezing the soul, like a literal tsunami, rushed toward them from around the corner!
A massive head covered in dark green scales slid silently out from behind the corner.
It was thicker than a grown man, with a blood-red feathered crest fluttering atop its head.
The most terrifying part was those eyes.
A pair of huge, yellow, serpent-like eyes!
In the mirror in Hermione's hand, those eyes were clearly reflected.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Her body suddenly stiffened, the expression on her face still frozen in tension and focus.
Her pupils dilated the moment she saw the image in the mirror, and the luster of life quickly faded from her eyes.
Hermione was petrified.
Her whole body remained in the posture of holding up the mirror, turning into a lifelike statue.
And Lia had been staring straight ahead from the beginning.
Her task was to protect Hermione, and all her attention was focused on the direction of the source of danger.
She had no mirror.
She did not look through any reflection.
Lia used her own eyes to directly, completely, and clearly see those giant yellow eyes containing ancient death magic.
Boom—!
An experience more terrifying than being hit by the Avada Kedavra Curse.
Her soul felt as if it were instantly ripped out and stuffed into a block of eternal ice.
No struggle, no suspense.
Lia's petite body stiffened instantly, the light in her deep blue eyes extinguished at a visible speed, turning completely into a deathly grayish-white.
The life aura within her drained away faster and more thoroughly than when she was hit by the Killing Curse.
In less than a second, her warm body became like Hermione's—cold and hard.
A perfect, pure white Cat-girl sculpture.
"Thud."
The petrified Hermione lost her balance and fell straight backward.
"Thud."
The dead Lia fell as well, landing beside her.
The piece of parchment with the truth written on it, which Hermione had been clutching, slipped from her stiff fingers and drifted lightly onto the cold stone floor.
The giant Basilisk's cold gaze swept over the human and the cat.
No signs of life.
It flicked its tongue, and its massive body silently slid back into the shadows of the wall, disappearing from sight.
In the empty corridor, only two "statues" remained lying on the ground, with a slip of paper recording the fatal truth lying quietly to the side.
---------------------------------
I hope you enjoy this fanfiction! If you're having fun and want to read 30 chapters in advance, feel free to check out my Patreon: patreon.com/TLScarlet
Your support means a lot so if you like the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone.