"Squeak squeak—"
"...Yes, I saw it, but that's not a reason, and it's not safe either."
"Squeak squeak squeak!"
"They don't know any better, and you don't know any better?"
"Whimper..."
"This time there's no room for negotiation. I've let you off before thinking you were pitiful, but this time you won't escape—when you go back, I'll have Cedric tutor you, and you must memorize the entire 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' within a week... Write it all out word-for-word, then review your list of friends carefully."
"Squeak..."
"Also, a self-reflection. I'll give you half a day to verbally compose a reflection of no less than 1500 words, then hand-write fifty copies once you learn to read..."
"Squeak squeak..."
The dejected Niffler reluctantly squeaked, then retreated into the pocket under William's deathly gaze. Only after dealing with Kabuda did William finally breathe a sigh of relief. He lifted his head and looked at the colossal creature that had just crawled out from the pipes—
Based on a rough eye measurement, the Basilisk's size was already close to forty feet, and that was with a significant part of its body still inside the pipes. Otherwise, the measurement would be even more astonishing.
At this moment, the Basilisk had already passed out, its dark green scales standing straight up all over its body. Near the link with its head was a section of scales still smoking and charred—left over from the wound William blasted open using The Blasting Curse. The Basilisk's scales had a high resistance to Dark Arts, but the walls of the Hogwarts Great Hall had no such buffs; the dull gray bricks had been blasted out into a large pit, and sewage flowed from the hole near the Basilisk's tail, the stench starting to fill the whole hall.
Kabuda's preparations seemed "thorough" enough, as the Basilisk's eye position was wrapped with a leather blindfold, tightly fastened under its jaw—frankly speaking, he had thought Kabuda was just a social butterfly, able to quickly get along with Mrs. Loris, Norbert, and even the new Thunderbird...
Who would have thought it could actually find this Basilisk before all the school's professors, and even planned to bring two first-year little wizards to see it.
That's simply...
No, fifty copies of the reflection are evidently too few, let's make it five hundred.
"It—it's the monster in the Secret Chamber?"
Harry, who had been thrown aside during the commotion, finally gathered his courage, staring at the giant serpent with a bright red feather on its head, his expression somewhat grim—honestly, for a little wizard who had just turned twelve, Harry not turning and running was already "incredibly bold."
"Yes, I thought it was dead, considering the roosters in the castle could supply a KFC for two and a half years of crazy Thursdays—"
William nodded, his hands not idle, waving his magic wand lightly, feeling a sluggish sensation—
Looking at the Basilisk that shrank only slightly, William frowned, deep blue light shining from his pupils. In the next moment, the Basilisk lying on the ground slowly floated to mid-air, starting to shrink again, but this time only reached the size of a rooster, then stopped.
"...No wonder it was raised by Slytherin."
William didn't force it further, stuffing the shrunken Basilisk into the Wizard Robe's pocket, which had been enchanted with Capacious Extremis.
"What are you going to..."
Harry was a bit shocked watching this unfold, staring at William's robe without any visible change, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"Don't worry, first cover yourself with the Invisibility Cloak," William casually covered the boy's head with the cloak, waved the magic wand again—the spilled sewage returned, and the cracked stones reassembled, making the hall appear as if returned to its original state, "follow me when the time comes."
"But—"
The boy's words hadn't been spoken when the sound of the hall's door opening interrupted him.
"...Good evening, Mr. Richard."
Dumbledore, dressed in a light purple nightgown, walked in holding a magic wand, giving a slightly helpless smile to the boy standing by the wall, "I received a report, Mr. Filch said he heard a loud explosion near the hall..."
Several people accompanied the old man—Filch, Filch's cat, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Ginny, and Luna—
"Aha, I said someone must be vandalizing the hall, let us catch—"
Filch's voice stopped as he realized who was in the hall, thinking of Mrs. Loris at his feet, his bravado suddenly weakened. He paused for a moment before retreating quietly.
"...Things seem fine here."
Professor McGonagall scanned every corner of the hall sternly from behind her glasses.
"But there really was an explosion sound..."
Professor Sprout, clearly awakened by the blast, still seemed puzzled, given her office wasn't far from the hall.
"Oh, that was Peeves messing around, but I've already dealt with it—"
William spoke at the right time, but hadn't finished speaking when a scream burst from behind the crowd, and Peeves, dressed in a bright red outfit, dashed in from the door, "Hey, who's talking bad about me? I was clearly preparing the beloved Dungbombs for Mr. Filch—"
In the next moment, seeing William's gaze, Peeves' voice inadvertently softened, "Uh, okay, it was me, though I don't know what I did, but it was all my doing, Headmaster, if there's punishment, penalize me, this young... gentleman is definitely innocent!"
Peeves' sincerity was evident, even going so far as to kneel, and a piece of deep blue rope suddenly appeared, binding it directly.
"..."
Everyone was shocked looking at Peeves' drastic change in attitude towards William—
"Scram."
William kicked it expressionlessly.
"I'm willing to give up all my Dungbombs..."
"..."
"Alright, I'll be on my way."
Under William's gaze, Peeves wisely rolled away, disappearing into the air.
"So, it was all Peeves' doing."
Seeing Peeves vanish, William turned and smiled, displaying a perfect set of eight teeth.
"..."
We believe you.
Considering the unscathed hall, the unharmed William, and even a self-admitting Peeves, even those wishing to find fault with William would struggle to pinpoint a reason, not to mention nobody present seemed inclined to bother him—
But it didn't mean that William wasn't planning to bother certain others.
"Well then, since everyone agrees on the first matter, let's discuss the second—two first-year little wizards out past curfew, provoking Peeves..."
"We didn't—"
Having actively tried to minimize their presence but still being "called out," the two girls jerked, Ginny instinctively wanting to refute. But noticing William's gaze, her previously gathered courage suddenly collapsed, her tone weakening like Filch and Peeves had earlier. "…Yes, we did."
The girl lowered her head, decisively admitting fault.