great-warnovel Chapter 171 The Courage of the Coward
Chapter 171 The Courage of the Coward
Chapter 171 The Courage of the Coward
"Professor! Smash that ugly snake!" Harry shouted, waving his chain as he looked down at the man and snake who had paused their fight.
But McGonagall quickly pressed the children's heads down: "Don't stare at the basilisk."
Lockhart looked up at everyone in surprise. Although he couldn't hear what Harry was saying because he had his ears plugged, he could guess the gist of it from the shape of his lips.
Suddenly, he sensed that the restriction on Apparition had been silently lifted. If he wanted, he could escape immediately or urge his Hippogriff to fly directly out of the canyon, as the smoke screen had already been dispelled by Dumbledore.
But with the children watching him, for some inexplicable reason, he didn't immediately decide to run away.
He was captivated by Dumbledore, Hermione who held high expectations for him, McGonagall and Flitwick who cast concerned glances at him, and those excited faces that seemed to have just emerged from a great battle, their rosy cheeks still flushed.
"My students—did they really defeat the Death Eaters?" He possessed all the memories of the perfect personality and naturally knew that Hermione had left Alecto with Harry and his two companions.
A mix of emotions welled up inside me, ultimately culminating in a soft sigh: "They've grown up so fast!"
Something seemed to be stirring in his heart. For some reason, a warm force flowed through his limbs and bones, warming his cold body. He seemed less timid than before.
But what exactly gave him that power?
Are they professors? Or students?
He couldn't explain it, but it seemed that their presence made him less pessimistic.
Looking back at the basilisk, the giant beast was quite wary of Dumbledore's reappearance and roared at the cliff.
But this time Dumbledore didn't put any pressure on it; he seemed to just watch.
There was complete silence around me, and everything before my eyes seemed like a wonderful silent play.
"Phew~"
Lockhart let out a deep breath.
He patted the harpy under his arm: "Good partner, you'll always help me, right?"
The winged eagle snorted loudly, followed by a long, clear, and melodious eagle cry.
"Let me try—let me try—"
He kept encouraging himself, and when he saw the basilisk turn its gaze to him again, he quickly looked away.
"I'm still terrified!" he screamed inwardly.
The harpy stomped against the rock wall, dodging the basilisk's charging attack. Lockhart gritted his teeth, tapped his longsword, and infused it with his familiar Sharpness spell before cleaving through the falling rocks.
Looking back, the basilisk's large head peered out again.
Lockhart's heart pounded uncontrollably, like an actor making his stage debut. He instinctively cast two Eye Strike spells, but the effect seemed to be nothing more than making the basilisk shake its head.
A thin layer of gray mist lingered over its snake eyes, but it dissipated not long afterward.
"Its resistance to ordinary spells is too strong," Lockhart thought in frustration, looking at the short stick in his hand.
Because he was afraid of touching his mother's hand bones, and also to prevent others from seeing the wand with its distinctive aristocratic features,
As a student, he wrapped his wand in a layer of wood, which meant he never actually handled the wand.
While it's not quite the same as casting spells without a staff, there's still a certain barrier between them.
"Perhaps it's time—"
"Face yourself, face your fear, face your mother!" Lockhart gritted his teeth and tightened his grip.
The next moment, magic surged, and he personally crushed the wooden outer shell of the short staff, revealing a white bone staff with bloody tear stains inside!
A sudden pang of fear struck him as his mother, covered in blood, tackled him to the ground, and a flood of painful memories overwhelmed him.
"I can do it!" He gasped for breath, the hawk carrying him at high speed as they weaved through the narrow valley walls.
Behind them, the basilisk became increasingly enraged, spewing out massive amounts of venom and corpse fluid, like a torrential rain covering the entire passage ahead.
In the flashback, he stood once again in front of that dark and terrifying mansion. His sisters stared silently from the window, and the sound of chewing bones drifted over, as if a voice was urgently telling him, "Run!"
But this time, he did not choose to run away.
"If I could go back to that time again, what would I do?" It seems like he's asking himself, but time can't be turned back.
"Sister! I'm here to save you!" A tear suddenly welled up in Lockhart's eye. He wiped it away hastily with his sleeve and roared as he unleashed a series of explosive spells, blasting away the oncoming poisonous rain.
The Hippogriff performed a difficult loop maneuver, suddenly climbing and spiraling backward to avoid the basilisk's massive jaws. Lockhart kept his eyes tightly shut, making sure he wouldn't see the basilisk's eyes while hanging upside down.
The transformation spell was activated, and sharp stone pillars suddenly shot out from the cliff walls on both sides. The wolf slammed into the basilisk's head, making it dizzy and disoriented.
It wasn't over yet. Lockhart frantically unleashed blast spells, blasting large chunks of the cliff face apart, sending massive boulders slid down towards the basilisk like landslides.
Hidden caves within the mountain were exposed, and still-burning flames erupted from the blasted-open cavity.
The eagle-horse narrowly avoided the fiery serpents and horses that had transformed into fire, carrying Lohart away.
His lips and hands were trembling, and a tingling sensation came from his extremities. This was a symptom caused by hyperventilation due to tension. He knew he had to stop and regain his rhythm, otherwise it would continue to worsen and he would lose control of his cane swings and his chanting would also tremble.
He shook his head vigorously, took out a bottle of soothing potion and drank it. This potion wasn't meant for this purpose, but he couldn't worry about that now.
"Well done, Professor!" Harry shouted from above, wishing he could come down and help.
The basilisk was buried in a pile of boulders, but it didn't seem to be hurt. It shook its head and pushed the boulders open to emerge again.
The black, keratinous snakeskin was too difficult to deal with; neither magic nor physical attacks could cause any damage.
Lockhart looked at the fierce flames spewing from both sides. These remnants of the Malay Party were uncontrolled and were sustained solely by burning the materials inside the cave.
"All spells are finished!" He cast a spell at the side of the hole that spewed out fierce fire.
It wasn't to extinguish the Fiery Flame, but rather to use this method to drive it in the direction he needed.
The basilisk had just straightened up when it was sprayed in the face with black flames.
But it seemed that the terrible flames, apart from causing him pain, still could not truly harm it. Heaven knows how much Voldemort modified the snakeskin and how much dark magic he cast. The basilisk closed its eyes and hissed and rolled in the Fiery Blaze, but the snakeskin only became darker and shinier.
"Its defenses seem stronger than they were during the summer holidays." Hermione frowned as she observed, suspecting that Loretta's great bow could only blast open wounds now, not nearly sever the snake's body like it had before.
"Voldemort has one of the best Potions Masters," Dumbledore said softly.
"He must have poured a lot of resources into this basilisk. Every time it gets injured and heals, it probably grows stronger accordingly."
"Even Fiery Blaze can't hurt it?" the fairy Gonuk murmured, watching from the side, as if he had thought of something.
Below the cliff, the basilisk surged forth from the flames, its massive jaws snapping at Lockhart. However, Lockhart, seemingly gaining more experience, dealt with the situation with greater ease. In coordination with the evasive hippo, two giant rocks on either side deformed into a metal ring, which was then placed over the basilisk's eyes and merged back into one.
"Phew~ That's it! First, block his vision!" Lockhart exhaled slowly, encouraging himself.
Although he was somewhat frustrated that Fiendfire had failed to harm the basilisk, perhaps it was the effect of the Tears of Galatea that gave him more resilience, or perhaps it was the soothing agent that forced him to maintain the most peaceful breathing possible, or even more likely it was the vanity caused by being watched by the children that made him unable to allow himself to continue being a wolf-fox, to continue being weak.
"Then! We need to find a way to break through his defenses! Find an opportunity to use Loretta's Great Bow! There aren't many margins for error; the basilisk also has temperature perception!"