"...Despicable Helbo, the Black Wizard of Ancient Greece—one of the earliest Black Wizards recorded in the history of magic, basilisk—he was the first to cultivate one."
Seeing the bewilderment on Harry's face that didn't seem fake, Cedric began to recite the definition from the textbook in a low voice.
"Oh, I thought Hermione was standing right behind me."
Harry coughed, lowering his voice, "I'm just teasing you, Cedric. Based on experience, if you act like you've heard about it before or show fear at this moment, it'll make these guys happy—and then we won't be happy." The boy blinked, trying to indicate that his words were highly credible...
However, Cedric still squinted suspiciously—
He knew very well that with someone like Hermione, who seemed to have half of the Hogwarts Library stuffed into her brain, this group would definitely not bother to read those so-called "definitions" seriously.
"...So, how did he come up with the idea of putting eggs under a toad's butt? Not unlike those crazy old farmers William talks about, who put rabbits and chickens in the same cage."
Harry was silent for a moment, finally unable to resist the strong desire to ridicule.
"I can hear you, no matter how softly you speak—"
The black-robed witch pulled at the corner of her mouth, her voice returning to its original clarity, "She" shook her arm, a crisp sound of bone collisions rang out, but at this point, everyone was keeping their distance from her, including Daniel, who had just been standing behind her, now shrinking behind Krum with a face full of terror, still not having figured out what change had occurred with the witch—
"Well, actually, I was saying it deliberately for you to hear—"
Harry paused, raising his tone, "So, you're Voldemort's helper?"
"Helper? Sort of, although I don't like that madman."
"Despicable Helbo"—or just Helbo, since during his time, most ancient Greeks still used place names as surnames—Helbo shrugged, seeming very eager to talk, not at all like some Dark Wizard, who would hate to reveal all his plans every time he met Harry—
"So, are you following his orders to capture me?"
Harry nodded, also seeming very eager to talk, his never-ending flow state preventing him from feeling any fear thus far, as though standing before the crowd was not a two-thousand-year-old monster, but simply the cat-loving uncle from next door.
"Ah, that was the original plan, but... I'm now more interested in you."
Helbo wrinkled his nose, a cute gesture on a seventeen-year-old young witch, but then he turned and headed towards a passage entrance, "Come with me, the other little ones can follow if they're interested—or wait here for a while."
"..."
"Who the hell are you? If you're coming, then come on—"
Daniel instinctively wanted to curse, recalling that "charm" in the opponent's voice—he still remembered how he had just felt willing to go through hell for that person, and now just thinking about it, the man felt a shiver—
"Shh, speak politely, and don't expect Professor Richard to save you, those goblins can keep him busy studying for quite a while—"
Helbo placed his forefinger to his lips, and in the next moment, Daniel found himself voiceless. He instinctively tried to open his mouth, but quickly realized something was wrong. The man touched where his mouth was only to find it had become a smooth expanse of skin.
Of course, the latter part of Helbo's sentence was directed at Harry, who was still lost in thought. After speaking, Helbo hopped toward a passageway.
Watching the witch's cheerful retreat, everyone except for the terrified Daniel instinctively exchanged glances.
'Is that really Despicable Helbo? Doesn't really seem like it—'
Fleur's eyelids were twitching intensely.
'Indeed, it doesn't seem like it. What kind of two-thousand-year-old man bounces when he walks?'
Cedric also pursed his lips but then instinctively glanced at Daniel, who was still scared stiff and unable to speak, feeling a bit worried—he hadn't seen "Helbo" make any movement to cast a spell, but...
'What if we go for it?'
Harry decided to make the most of Gryffindor's fine tradition of courage, regardless of the circumstances, take a bold action first, worry about losing later—he had already grabbed his magic wand, but the next moment, a call rang in his ears, "Hey?"
The boy instinctively turned his head, and then he saw, in the darkness behind them, countless shadows slowly approaching, the foremost among them already raising its upper body—an enormous dark green snake with a vibrant red feather atop its head, its eyes shielded by a pair of steel goggles.
Clearly, it was a basilisk—and following it was a group of basilisks.
"Hello."
Harry instinctively responded.
"...Parseltongue? Are you a Parselmouth?"
Noticing what Harry was doing, Fleur instinctively gasped, quickly stepping sideways, then realizing she shouldn't show any fear and tried hard to stand calmly, though she still seemed very nervous, especially as her gaze swept over the serpentine shadows swaying in the dark.
"Hiss—I mean, yes."
Harry turned his head. With William's guidance, Harry no longer considered Parseltongue as a symbol of the Dark Wizard, even if Voldemort was a Parseltongue, Salazar Slytherin was a Parseltongue, and even the Black Wizard who had just left hopping was a Parseltongue. But Harry still agreed with what William said—
Innate talents and abilities themselves are neither good nor bad; it depends on how you use them.
However, looking at the group of Basilisks behind him, even if Harry was in Flow Mode, he felt a little unnerved because if even one of these creatures' blindfolds fell off, they would be instantly killed—this time wouldn't be as lucky as at Hogwarts Castle, where an entire school year of Basilisk attacks didn't kill anyone...
It was simply the disgrace of the Basilisks.
So, everyone exchanged glances again. This time, communication wasn't needed, and they immediately followed the direction Helbo left, except Harry had a brief conversation with the Basilisk that greeted them first, until Cedric called out to him at the entrance of the passageway.
"...What did you talk about?"
Looking at Harry's somewhat strange expression, Cedric asked curiously.
"I asked it why there are so many Basilisks here... You know, like Muggles breeding mules from horses and donkeys, Basilisks can't reproduce."
Harry blinked, as if undergoing some mental shock.
"What did it say?"
"These creatures were hatched one by one by that Helbo..."
"What about it?"
Cedric thought for a moment and couldn't figure out the reason for Harry's expression.
"Damn, how many toads did he persecute? Poor Trevor...and his siblings."
"...Hurry up, they've already gone in."
Looking at Harry's emerald eyes flickering with blue light, Cedric had to start considering whether this so-called "Flow Mode" sustained by Ancient Magic somehow made people's attentions abstract, after all, he felt that if it were William here, he would probably come to similar bizarre conclusions—
...No, it should have only been William who could become so abstract.
The two of them eased their nerves and anxiety through bantering while walking into the passage. Then they saw a group of people gathered in a circle, touching a stone cup with their hands, with Helbo still yawning. Seeing Harry walk in, "she" hurriedly said, "Hurry, we're just waiting for you all—"
"Portkey?"
Looking at the stone cup in everyone's hands, Harry muttered subconsciously.
"That's probably right. What do you say, should we touch this thing? If we get transported, there probably won't be any support—"
Cedric's expression began to turn serious. If just a moment ago they could still hope for William's sudden divine intervention, striking the despicable Helbo to his knees in surrender—but if they were now Portkeyed away, the chance of William offering timely support would sharply decrease—
"Even if you don't leave, there won't be any situations of William Richard beating up Helbo, do you really think we're still underground in the Forbidden Forest?"
"Legilimency, Ced, remember the Occlumency."
Harry squinted his eyes, defiantly meeting Helbo's gaze, and suddenly shouted, "You say we're not? Why should I believe you? You're not Dumbledore!" Clearly, everyone believed that Dumbledore's words weren't said lightly.
"I don't have time for you all..."
"So you're still afraid, afraid of William showing up to ruin your plans? So, where are you planning to take me?"
Helbo fell silent, but the smile hanging on their face didn't disappear—honestly, this person always gave Harry a sense of incongruity. Logically speaking, an ancient old monster obsessed with Dark Arts, who lived for over two thousand years, shouldn't have the mindset not typical for a Black Wizard—
Shouldn't these people usually be those hysterical, crazy, red-eyed creatures without noses?
"Accio."
But evidently, this perverse old wizard who enjoyed shoving eggs under toads' butts wasn't planning on giving Harry more time to think. Instead, with a gentle flick of a finger, Harry and Cedric, who were still on the fringe, were pulled over, and as soon as their hands touched the stone cup, the group, like being sucked into a whirlpool, spun and vanished from the spot.
...An unknown amount of time passed before another shadow appeared in the silent passage again.
"Alright, stop the flattery."
The "Basilisk" that had just talked to Harry crawled back in from outside the doorway—as it slithered, its scales began to lose color, with light blue replacing dark green as the main hue on the giant serpent's body, and the bright red feather on its head morphed into a pair of semi-transparent long horns—William (Horned Serpent version) made a grand entrance!
Shrugging off the Basilisks determined to revere him as the Basilisk King, William sniffed the air.
Then he raised his tail, seemingly catching something in the air, and in the next moment, the serpent horns glowed, and the giant snake disappeared in a whirlpool.