Chapter 163 A Brush with the Basilisk
School Hospital.
Madam Pomfrey rushed to the bedside, lifting Harry's limp right arm, "I can hardly believe it.
You should have come straight to me. I could have mended the bone in a second."
"Aaron could too." Draco, from the next bed, gloatingly raised his left arm, "Potter, I truly admire your courage, daring to let Lockhart treat you.
Perhaps you should feel lucky; you only lost a few bones. At least you kept your arm."
"I didn't let him treat me." Harry was on the verge of tears; Lockhart was simply too self-assured, and Harry couldn't stop him.
"That only goes to show Lockhart likes you too much."
"Enough, Mr. Malfoy, if you have nothing to do, you may leave." Madam Pomfrey said with a stern face, then tossed a set of pajamas to Harry, "You might have to stay here for a night."
"Can his bones still grow back?" Hermione asked, a little worried.
"Yes, but it will be very painful." Madam Pomfrey poured Harry a cup of Skele-Gro, "This night will be difficult; growing bones is a very uncomfortable process."
Harry didn't hesitate, drinking it all in one gulp. He could distinguish between a difficult night and a difficult lifetime.
But the taste of Skele-Gro was truly uncomplimentary; his mouth felt like it was burning with a raging fire, and he sprayed out the Potion before he even swallowed it.
"Do you still think this is pumpkin juice?" Madam Pomfreyrolled her eyes at him, helplessly pouring him another cup... In the evening, the afterglow of the sunset faded the last blush of the twilight.
Aaron placed the old book detailing the Basilisk's habits on Madam Pince's desk, "I'm returning the book. Thank you very much for your help this time, truly."
"You're welcome, Mr. Gaius, it's what I should do." Madam Pince smiled, "You look very happy today. It seems this book was very helpful to you."
"Yes! It helped a lot."
Walking in the corridor, Aaron felt particularly relaxed.
He had the Basilisk's natural enemy in hand. Now, he just needed to find the Chamber of Secrets or the Heir of Slytherin, and everything would be settled.
Just then, a figure appeared at the end of the corridor. Colinwalked out, a camera in one hand and a bunch of grapes in the other.
"Senior, what a coincidence!" Colin said with a grin.
"It is quite a coincidence. What are you planning to do?"
"I'm going to see Harry Potter. There probably aren't many people there right now."
Aaron raised an eyebrow, "If I'm not mistaken, you're also planning to take a picture of him and get an autograph, aren't you?"
Colin nodded sheepishly, saying with an adoring expression, "You saw his performance on the Quidditchpitch today, didn't you!
Although Gryffindor lost, that catch of his was so cool, so spectacular."
Aaron's mouth twitched. This was truly a devoted fan!
With so many people on the Quidditch pitch, he only saw Harry Potter. If Draco hadn't been a little unlucky, the Golden Snitch might not have been caught by him.
"Go on! And please wish him a speedy recovery for me."
"Got it." Colin said, then continued walking towards the School Hospital.
Roar!
Abey suddenly let out a low growl, and his expression became particularly solemn.
"No way! You're saying that monster is around here?"
Aaron couldn't help but swallow, and while being vigilant, he also kept thinking about when he had exposed himself, to be targeted so quickly by the Heir of Slytherin.
Borrowing books from the Library? Impossible.
Although that wall of books was exaggerated, few people noticed it, and no one knew what books he borrowed. Madam Pince would also keep it a secret for him.
Quietly catching two roosters? That's even more impossible.
During the Quidditch match, almost all the teachers and students went to the pitch. He only caught the chickens when he was sure no one was around.
Even when returning to the dormitory, he was very cautious, using Abey's sense of smell to cleverly avoid the very few people in the Castle who hadn't gone to watch the match.
"Which direction is the Basilisk in?" Aaron asked in Dragon Language.
Abey hesitated for a moment, then extended his claw and pointed behind Aaron, "It's just around that corner. It's quietly waiting for its prey to approach."
Aaron was slightly stunned for a moment, as if he had thought of something, and quickly calmed down, continuing to move forward.
It turned out he hadn't exposed himself; he had just coincidentally stood with the Basilisk's target.
But that made sense; he was a Pure-blood Wizard, and the Basilisk had no reason to kill him.
Colin, however, came from a Muggle family and was a definite target for it.
Now, if he pretended not to know anything and left directly, there should be no danger, but Colin was another matter.
Aaron had no ill will towards this first-year Gryffindor and didn't want to watch him die, but he also didn't dare to gamble with the Basilisk's patience.
What if it couldn't hold back and also took him, a Pure-blood Wizard, after all, the book said it was a cruel creature.
At that moment, two little figures appeared in Aaron's mind.
One was named Morality, with a white halo above its head and a book in its hand.
The other was named Selfishness, with black wings on its back and a dark red trident in its hand.
"Stop him, quickly stop him.
This is a living life; he's only one Class younger than you."
"Hurry and leave, no, hurry and run. Don't look back.
You're not related to him by blood, there's no need to take such a big risk."
"Shut up!" Morality shouted loudly, "It's one thing not to know, but since you know, you can't ignore it. If you can't even uphold your bottom line, you'll lose yourself sooner or later."
"If a man doesn't look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him.
There's nothing more precious than one's own life in this world."
"Do you want him to have a troubled conscience forever?"
"I don't, but I know that if a person dies, everything is gone.
Choosing life between life and conscience is human nature. It can only be said that this child is unlucky.
Besides, he doesn't owe Colin anything, and he'll avenge him soon."
"Ah... I'll fight you!"
The Morality figure picked up the book and charged over. On the book cover were two golden, raised characters: Kindness.
"You think I'm scared?"
The Selfishness figure let out a cackling laugh, raised its trident, and went to meet it.
The two figures' duel methods were particularly crude, with punches to the flesh, showing no martial ethics at all.
Golden and dark red flickered from time to time, and finally, the Selfishness figure stabbed through the Morality figure with its trident, winning.
However, the Selfishness figure also suffered serious injuries, lying on the ground barely alive, its wings tattered, and especially on its face, two large golden characters were branded by the Book of Kindness.
"I won. Listen to me, saving your life is paramount."
Aaron:...If you didn't have those two words on your face, I might have actually listened to you.
Coming back to his senses, Aaron couldn't help but shake his head, shattering those miscellaneous thoughts.
Ancestor Flo said to solve indecisive matters this way, but it felt even worse than flipping a coin!
"Colin, wait a moment." Aaron said, his back to him. He dared not turn around now; if he met those two big yellow eyes, it would be tragic.
"Senior, is something wrong?"
"Hmm... I think you could take a few more photos to give to Harry. As far as I know, he doesn't seem to have any pictures of Hogwarts yet. Maybe if he's happy, he'll give you a few more autographs!"
"Really?" Colin asked, a little excited.
"Absolutely. If you take pictures all the way there, it will show your sincerity even more."
"Thank you, Senior."
Colin immediately picked up his camera, closing one eye in a picture-taking pose, but his speed didn't change.
As he turned the corner, a bright light flashed, followed by a sharp scream.
Soon after, Aaron heard a sound like flowing water, growing fainter and fainter.
"Is it gone?"
Abey nodded, "It's gone."
Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned to stand beside Colin.
His face was pale, his body stiff, standing motionless.
But fortunately, his left eye was tightly closed, and although his right eye was squinted, it was behind a camera.
He didn't directly meet the Basilisk's gaze. Although he was petrified, he at least saved his life. He could be saved once the Mandrake matured.
"Alas! So easily fooled, no, too innocent to a fault.
I'm sorry, I have no preparations right now, so I can only use this method to save your life.
Bear with it for now; I will definitely save you, I can guarantee that."
"Oh my!" Professor McGonagall quickly walked over, looking at the petrified Colin. Her face became incredibly grim, "How could this happen?
Mr. Gaius, this has nothing to do with you, does it?"
"Of course not. Colin and I parted ways in the corridor ahead.
But soon after, I heard his scream, and that's when I ran over." Aaron said with a wry smile. He vaguely felt that a burden had been placed on his back.
"Minerva." Dumbledore's voice came from the stairs. He walked up to Colin, examined him carefully, "It's petrification. There's no immediate danger to his life!"
"Mr. Gaius, you..."
"Headmaster Dumbledore, are you suspecting me?"
"No, Mr. Gaius, I said that without evidence, one is innocent." Dumbledore said faintly, "I just wanted to ask you to do us a favor: take Colin to the School Hospital?"