"It looks like Voldemort has already made his move," Hermione said nonchalantly. "Someone was petrified last night. Ron's sister… honestly, I don't even know what to say."
"Well, considering Voldemort hypnotized her, controlling her would've been effortless," Rimuru explained. "Should we just go take care of this whole mess now?" he asked the others.
"Hmm?" Hermione hesitated for a moment. She'd watched the entire Harry Potter series, so she knew exactly how this incident unfolded.
"I think it's totally fine!" Milim lit up with excitement. "Besides, don't you guys want to taste that snake? I've been looking forward to it!"
"No, we absolutely do not," Hermione and Rimuru both grumbled internally. That snake was way too hideous to even think about eating.
"You three—do you think you can just chat during my class?" Snape's voice was like a gust of winter air. Someone actually dared talk in his class? Did they think his temper had mellowed?
"Professor Snape, I am talking, but look—my potion is almost done!" Milim replied proudly.
"Oh? Then if it's wrong, Gryffindor loses twenty points." Snape's icy glare grew sharper. It was time to show them who was boss. But suddenly, his eyes widened in horror. "What… what did you just put in there?"
"Oh, just some… um, Rimuru, did you see what I added?" Milim tilted her head with innocent confusion.
Snape: "…"
Rimuru: "…"
While the rest of the class looked on, dumbfounded, it was Hermione who broke the silence. "You just added Resurrection Herb."
"Resurrection Herb?" Snape repeated flatly. "And what happens when you boil that with Polyserpent Skin?"
"An extremely violent explosion! And it reacts very fast—probably within a minute," Hermione answered calmly, the perfect little know-it-all.
In that instant, the busy classroom went completely silent.
"Run!" Snape bellowed, grabbing the nearest students and sprinting for the door. Rimuru, acting quickly, hoisted Hermione and Milim onto his shoulders and bolted.
BOOM!
Just as they made it out, a deafening explosion rocked the entire building. The shockwave shook the stone walls of the dungeon classroom.
Covered in dust and smoke, Snape stormed back to the wreckage. With the glare of a man who'd aged ten years in ten seconds, he growled at Milim, "Miss Milim, I sincerely ask you to never, ever, ever set foot in my class again. This isn't just for your safety, but for the wellbeing of everyone at this school. I honestly can't understand why on earth you added Resurrection Herb to that potion. Gryffindor loses twenty points—no, forty."
And with that, he stormed away like a thundercloud.
"Uh… where were we again, bestie?" Milim said with a sheepish grin, trying to change the subject.
"I work an entire month just to earn forty points," Hermione muttered, glaring daggers at Milim.
"Come on, I didn't mean to!" Milim pouted, clinging to Hermione's arm like a spoiled child.
"Forget it, forget it. We should have seen this coming," Rimuru sighed. "Let's just go take care of that snake already."
"Fine," Hermione grumbled. "Maybe it'll help me blow off some steam before I murder Milim myself." She jabbed Milim in the forehead with her finger for emphasis.
"Let's move out!" Milim stuck out her tongue playfully and dashed toward the girls' bathroom.
And thus, the basilisk was about to suffer its first—and last—lesson in pain.
Without any hiccups, they made it to the bathroom, opened the secret entrance, and slipped into the Chamber of Secrets.
Inside, the chamber was damp and dark, lined with dozens of stone serpents on either side of the passage.
They reached the end of the tunnel, facing the massive stone face embedded in the wall.
"So the basilisk is in there? Alright, I'll just bust this wall down," Milim cracked her knuckles, ready to punch it into rubble.
"Who are you?! How did you find this place?" A voice echoed from the other side of the tunnel—it was none other than Tom Riddle, Voldemort at sixteen, just as in the original story.
But even he looked confused. This wasn't in his script.
"Let's just smash him first," Milim said gleefully, pulling a giant hammer from out of nowhere. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she locked onto Tom.
"Let me try first!" Hermione stepped forward. "I want to see how much I've improved."
"Alright, he's all yours. Good luck!" Rimuru smiled supportively, holding back Milim who was itching to charge.
"Three kids? What are you doing here?" Voldemort sneered, watching Hermione approach. "Even a filthy little Mudblood like you thinks she can challenge me, the Dark Lord?"
"You'll pay dearly for what you just said." Hermione's tone was deadly. A brilliant magic circle glowed beneath her feet.
"Ice Lance."
A massive spear of ice materialized instantly and launched toward Voldemort at breakneck speed.
"What the—?!" Voldemort panicked, diving to the side just in time. The ice spear shattered several stone statues and froze the water all along the floor.
"What kind of spell is that? I've never heard of such magic!" he shouted, picking himself up, stunned.
"Oh, just a petty, useless little spell," Hermione mocked. "Barely good enough to deal with a pompous failure like you."
A chain of glowing magic circles appeared in midair, and countless icy spears erupted from them like a barrage of arrows, aiming straight at Voldemort.
"Then let's see what you've got!" Voldemort roared, his eyes flaring with rage. He summoned all his remaining soul energy and conjured a roaring wall of fire to counter the storm of ice.
The battle had officially begun.
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