A diary can't grow legs and run away by itself, not even one containing a fragment of Voldemort's soul. If Tom wants to escape from here, to leave and stay away from these two, he can only rely on the Basilisk, which still has the ability to move under the fierce attacks of Glenn and Hermione.
"Stop attacking and get over here to take me away!" Hissing sounds continuously emerged from the mouth of Tom's soul projection, as he anxiously called out to his only hope of leaving this place.
The Basilisk, with its body battered and torn, barely mustered its strength. Without a moment's hesitation, it turned and slithered towards Tom's diary.
Under Tom's command, the Basilisk opened its bloody maw, pushing aside large chunks of rubble. Although the black block containing the diary was hard to hold in its mouth, it obediently grabbed it with a gulp.
Seeing his diary encased in the Basilisk's flesh, Tom felt temporarily safe and sighed in relief. He then turned and cast a hateful glance at the two short figures cloaked in black robes.
"I'll remember you," he said, no longer bothering to hide his form as he stepped out of the shadows. At the same time, the Basilisk, guided by Tom, strained to use its heat-sensing vision to find an escape route, then charged towards the bathroom exit. Even though it was severely wounded, its speed was still beyond what ordinary people could match.
"You can wash your necks and wait; I will return, and when that time comes, you will be the first sacrifices to announce my return to the world."
Having left his parting words to save face, Tom's form gradually faded, returning to the diary.
"Hermione, let's go too," Glenn said, slightly bending her knees as she spoke to Hermione, "Get on."
The young girl let out a small grunt as she jumped onto Glenn's back, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck. Although Glenn was still the same little girl a head shorter than her, which felt a bit odd to Hermione, she had to rely on Glenn to keep up with the Basilisk's crawling speed.
Feeling the softness on her back, Glenn hoisted Hermione up, securing her with both hands to ensure she wouldn't slip off.
"Light as a feather, swift as the wind, ground shifts and moves."
With the triple incantation effortlessly cast, Glenn's figure began to move rapidly.
Since most of the upcoming route was a straight corridor, running on the shifting ground caused by the Ground Shifting Spell, alongside the external effects of the spell, became a simple task.
To give a detailed example, it's like when you're at the airport using those moving walkways set on flat ground, and you continue walking without stopping. The speed in that scenario is already quite fast, let alone now with Glenn.
Even with a small Hermione on her back, Glenn's speed was still enough to steadily keep up with the fleeing Basilisk.
In short, it was incredibly fast.
An exhilarating chase began to unfold in the corridors of Hogwarts Castle on the second floor at night.
At this moment, Tom had already connected his consciousness to that of the Basilisk, directing it to smash walls with its tail as it moved, leaving obstacles to slow down the pursuers behind them.
Tom's mind was racing, thinking of the best escape route.
"This can't go on; the Basilisk's stamina can't withstand much more. I need a way to hinder those two damned individuals..."
"Half of Hogwarts borders the Black Lake, which is definitely a no-go. The Basilisk's movement speed in the lake would be greatly reduced, and given its current state, it would likely drown. I wouldn't be able to escape then."
"The other direction leads to open ground, which is immediately ruled out. Without any obstacles to shake off those two, it would just be a slow death."
"…Is this really the only choice?"
"The Forbidden Forest is the only option with a chance of survival now."
As a young wizard who had lived in Hogwarts for many years and learned a lot from Ginny's memories, Tom could naturally discern the direction of the Forbidden Forest from where they had just exited the second-floor bathroom.
Right now, the corridor leading towards the Forbidden Forest was lit with flickering dim candlelight.
Candles.
Providence is on my side!
Tom's eyes lit up, and given the urgency of the situation, he immediately issued a command:
"Basilisk, follow the direction of the candles!"
With the command given, the Basilisk, which was primarily relying on heat sensing to navigate, suddenly picked up speed. The factor of having to choose a direction to flee had vanished without a trace, and the rows of candlelights hanging on the wall appeared in its heat-sensitive vision like guiding stars, leading the way to hope and light.
As the Basilisk accelerated, Tom noticed that the distance between them and the two pursuers behind them began to widen. Though they were still close on their tail, this was one of the signs that he was about to escape!
Sensing his intentions, and with their position now gradually nearing the outer wall of Hogwarts Castle, close to the Forbidden Forest, the pursuers behind the Basilisk began to panic. They started casting spells or using Transfiguration to create obstacles on the path ahead to slow down the Basilisk.
Perhaps due to the previous spellcasting and attacks, resulting in the dual depletion of stamina and magic, the obstacles appearing before the Basilisk were far less formidable than the pillars and stone walls that had arisen in the bathroom earlier.
But mere obstacles couldn't withstand the Basilisk's fierce charge once it picked up speed.
The rapidly crawling Basilisk recklessly swung its massive head, shattering and sweeping aside all obstacles in its path. Despite its head being battered and bleeding, and nerves throughout its body sending waves of pain to its brain, the Basilisk did not stop its actions.
Even as dull as it was, it could clearly understand the current situation.
If it slowed down even a little, and those two monsters caught up, it would be plunged into an abyss of eternal damnation.
Blood flowed...
Muscles twitched...
Life ebbed...
The brain trembled...
So...
Don't stop!
Just, just reach that place!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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