Sean's transformation into the twin-headed black dragon shocked everyone present.
Even the thousand-year-old monster Herpo the Foul had never seen a dragon like this before.
None of them could possibly imagine that the black dragon was Sean himself.
In fact, the idea never even crossed their minds.
According to conventional magical theory, wizards simply could not transform into magical creatures.
Herpo stared warily at Albus Dumbledore through his cloak, convinced the powerful dragon had been summoned by Dumbledore.
Dumbledore himself was equally stunned and confused.
The black dragon's actions clearly showed it had come to help them.
"Go after the basilisk!" Herpo immediately ceased attacking Dumbledore.
His sole objective was the Golden Staff.
After entering the Chamber of Secrets and discovering the staff could not leave Hogwarts, Gilderoy Lockhart had fed it to the basilisk so Herpo could retrieve it personally later.
The previous night, Sean had learned from Adam that the staff was still moving.
From that clue, he deduced the staff had to be inside the basilisk.
To reverse the situation and prevent Herpo from obtaining the staff, Sean directly abducted the basilisk.
More importantly—
his Animagus form had a time limit.
Unlike Wormtail, Sirius, or Professor McGonagall, who could remain transformed for extended periods, Sean's twin-headed black dragon form could only last one minute.
After mastering Animagus transformation, Sean had researched the issue himself.
He concluded the difference likely came from the nature of the transformed creature.
Wormtail's rat, Sirius's black dog, and McGonagall's tabby cat were all ordinary animals.
They only consumed magic at the instant of transformation.
Once transformed, they no longer drained magical power.
That was why Wormtail could remain disguised as a rat in the Weasley family home for years.
But Sean had transformed into a magical creature—
and not just any magical creature, but a twin-headed dragon unknown to the wizarding world.
Even while transformed, the form constantly consumed massive amounts of magical power.
Sean's dragon claws locked tightly around the basilisk.
No matter how violently it struggled, it could not break free.
Sean carried it high above the castle gate tunnel, where Hagrid's Hut and the Black Lake were already visible.
His original plan was simple:
drag the basilisk to the lakeside, kill it there, revert to human form, then Apparate directly to King's Cross Station.
But the moment he attempted to fly beyond the castle boundary—
the basilisk suddenly became unimaginably heavy.
The abrupt weight nearly threw Sean off balance midair.
"Damn it. Dumbledore's spell on the staff prevents it from leaving Hogwarts. Since the staff is inside the basilisk, the basilisk can't leave either."
Sean instantly understood the problem.
Without hesitation, he dove downward and smashed the basilisk violently into the castle wall.
The thick stone bricks shattered like paper beneath the serpent's body.
Forget everything else.
Kill the basilisk first.
That alone would greatly reduce Dumbledore's burden.
Time was running out.
Fifteen seconds of his sixty-second transformation had already passed.
Both dragon heads lifted skyward, clearly gathering power.
Meanwhile, Herpo rose into the air in pursuit.
The black wizard Roira brought Lockhart up with him.
Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall retrieved flying brooms from their magically expanded bags.
Severus Snape took flight directly.
Though the distance from the courtyard to the gate was not far, Hogwarts itself was enormous.
Running there would still waste thirty seconds.
No one wanted that.
By the time Herpo caught up—
Sean had already completed charging his attack.
One dragon head radiated freezing mist.
The other crackled with fire.
Then both unleashed devastating magical blasts at the basilisk simultaneously.
Throughout the entire battle, Sean never looked directly at the basilisk's head.
Legend claimed that any creature meeting a basilisk's gaze would instantly lose its life.
Even though the dragon form appeared stronger than the basilisk—
Sean still refused to gamble with his own life.
Fire and frost slammed into the serpent's body.
The collision between ice and flame created an entirely new effect.
The two forces exploded violently within the basilisk's flesh.
Its seemingly indestructible body was blown apart into a mangled ruin.
The creature's agonized scream shook the heavens.
There was no doubt—
this was a fatal wound.
"What kind of dragon is that…?"
Even Herpo felt his heart tremble.
Every dragon species recorded by the Ministry of Magic had been classified as XXXXX-level magical creatures.
Though terrifyingly dangerous, powerful wizards could still defeat them one-on-one.
But this twin-headed black dragon had clearly surpassed the Ministry's classification limits entirely.
Seeing Herpo approach, Sean showed no mercy.
His remaining time was limited.
If he could eliminate Herpo here and now, life at Hogwarts afterward would become much more peaceful.
The dragon heads began charging again.
Cold vapor leaked from the left maw.
Sparks erupted from the right.
Herpo instantly recognized the attack.
He raised his wand and fired a streak of green light directly at Sean's dragon body.
The Killing Curse.
Herpo intended to interrupt the attack.
The green light struck above the black dragon's left forelimb.
But the dragon scales possessed terrifying magical resistance.
The Killing Curse merely drew blood.
It failed to interrupt Sean's charge.
Realizing the danger, Herpo quickly cast another spell.
The fire and frost attacks surged toward him—
yet both passed through his body as though he were intangible.
They never truly struck him.
Another explosion thundered through the air.
Everyone clearly saw Herpo engulfed by the blast.
Yet moments later, a figure calmly emerged from the smoke.
Herpo had survived the explosion almost completely unharmed.
Only some sparks and soot dirtied his robes.
Back during the Hidden Valley Forest incident, the centaur Firenze had attacked Herpo with arrows.
Every shot hit perfectly—
yet none actually pierced him.
Herpo possessed some form of advanced spatial magic.
Unfortunately, Sean had not witnessed it at the time.
"It didn't work?"
Sean was genuinely surprised.
Because he had focused entirely on charging the attack, he never activated his Magic Eye to observe how Herpo escaped.
Thirty seconds of transformation time remained.
Sean intended to attack once more before fleeing Hogwarts.
Then suddenly—
a bright phoenix cry echoed across the castle skies.
Sean turned toward the sound.
Fawkes had returned.
That meant the reinforcements Fawkes went to summon would arrive soon.
Sean immediately abandoned the idea of continuing battle against Herpo.
He had already helped Dumbledore neutralize the basilisk.
From this point onward, the situation should gradually shift in Dumbledore's favor.
The black dragon turned and flew toward the Black Lake.
Herpo had never cared about the dragon itself.
He did not pursue.
Instead, he descended beside the dying basilisk.
Dumbledore watched the black dragon disappear briefly—
then fixed his gaze back on Herpo.
Herpo clenched his fist toward the basilisk's mangled abdomen and twisted his wrist.
The dying serpent released one final agonized shriek.
Then suddenly—
the Golden Staff burst violently through the basilisk's shredded flesh and flew out.
Roira and Lockhart stepped behind Herpo.
Holding the bloodstained staff, Herpo gave a cold snort.
"A binding charm."
He had discovered the spell Dumbledore placed on the staff.
But to him, the spell was not difficult to break.
Two minutes would be enough to take it away.
Herpo glanced at the basilisk, then at Lockhart.
"There's something I need your help with."
Lockhart answered nervously, "Please command me, Master."
Herpo let out a hideous laugh.
Then he spoke to the basilisk in Parseltongue:
"Eat him. Restore your strength. Continue fighting for me."
Lockhart could not understand this sentence.
He had only learned a few simple phrases of snake language.
Meanwhile, Sean had already submerged himself in the Black Lake and reverted to human form.
Holding his breath underwater, he used the last of his magical power to Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron.
And the battle at Hogwarts continued.
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