There are many types of Magical Creatures in the Wizarding World.
Counting both discovered and undiscovered species, there are thousands in total.
The famous Magical Creatures researcher Newt Scamander's book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them records about eighty percent of the existing Magical Creatures in the Wizarding World.
This book is not only a required textbook for first-year students but also an almost essential reference book for every Wizarding family.
However, even such a professional reference book does not cover every Magical Creature.
Hermione desperately wanted to catch the person who had opened the Chamber of Secrets, but she also understood clearly that to uncover the truth, she first needed a direction for her investigation.
She truly was an exceptionally clever girl.
The condition of the attacked students became the clue she focused on.
It was absolutely certain that the attacks had not been carried out by the Heir of Slytherin personally, but by the monster hidden within the Chamber of Secrets.
And there were definitely fewer than five Magical Creatures in the entire Wizarding World capable of leaving people in such a state.
With such a distinctive trait, she was certain she could identify the corresponding creature through recorded texts.
Thus, over the past few days, she had been researching all kinds of material related to Magical Creatures.
Especially those obscure creatures that had rarely appeared throughout history; they became the main focus of her research.
But after spending nearly two months on the task, she had almost gone through every book in the library related to Magical Creatures, yet she still had not found any creature capable of permanently petrifying people and rendering them immobile.
Hermione returned the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them she had previously borrowed to the library, then flipped through a few books in front of the shelves before preparing to leave in disappointment.
Her hand slipped into the pocket of her robe, and she suddenly touched a small piece of paper. She pulled it out and unfolded it, only to realise what it was.
It was a note she had made a few months earlier when Sherlock had assigned them to look up information on snake-type Magical Creatures.
On it were the characteristics of the xxxxx-danger-level Dark creature—the Basilisk—that Hermione had written down earlier.
"Basilisk, man-made Dark creature. Eyes possess an instant-death effect. Extremely lethal, extremely dangerous, but simple incubation method."
Hermione stared at the notes on the paper, her eyes gradually glazing over as though she had suddenly realised something.
"Parselmouth... Basilisk... that strange voice..."
She stood before the library doors, looked up at the ceiling, and her pupils suddenly constricted.
"It's the pipes!"
Her tone became increasingly excited.
"It's the pipes! It's been moving through the pipes this whole time!"
Having realised the answer, Hermione jumped excitedly on the spot, spun around, and hurried off to find Harry and Ron so she could tell them about her discovery.
However, just as she ran into a secluded corridor, she suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
She halted immediately and listened carefully to the sound she had just noticed. A faint rustling noise came from above, as though some slimy creature was slithering across the ceiling.
Hermione's breathing began to quicken, and her hands trembled uncontrollably from nervousness.
Without acting rashly, she carefully pulled a small round mirror from her pocket and aimed it towards the ceiling.
It was a thick emerald-green body slowly sliding across the ceiling, and its appearance matched exactly the creature Hermione had guessed it to be.
Just as Hermione's breathing grew heavier and she could no longer suppress the terror in her heart, on the verge of screaming—
A pair of enormous glowing yellow eyes suddenly appeared in the mirror and locked onto Hermione's gaze!
The next moment—
Hermione froze completely on the spot.
The small mirror slipped from her hand and shattered against the floor with a crisp sound.
At the same time, Hermione's rigid body toppled to the ground with a heavy thud, like a stone statue collapsing.
Above her, the rustling sound gradually faded before disappearing completely from the corridor.
But immediately afterwards, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed faintly from the distance before stopping beside the petrified Hermione.
The figure bent down, and the hand he extended trembled even more violently than Hermione's had earlier.
But in the end, he still retrieved what he wanted.
It was the crumpled note containing the Basilisk's characteristics.
He tucked the wrinkled paper into his pocket, then took out another note and carefully forced it into Hermione's clenched hand.
After finishing everything, he slowly straightened up and staggered away from the corridor.
More than ten minutes later, several girls who had just left the library and were heading back to the Ravenclaw Common Room finally arrived there while chatting and laughing.
The moment they saw Hermione lying motionless on the floor, they froze in shock.
The next second, terrified screams spread throughout the entire Hogwarts castle.
...
The news of another attack spread rapidly.
The Quidditch match that had originally been scheduled for today was cancelled, and Professor McGonagall called Harry away with a grave expression.
All the other students were ordered back to their Common Rooms and forbidden from wandering around the castle.
Ron squeezed through the crowd and walked alongside Harry towards Professor McGonagall.
Rarely, the Professor did not object this time.
She led them through groups of students, some muttering complaints about the cancelled match while others looked deeply uneasy, and guided them up the marble staircase. But this time, they were not taken to anyone's office.
Professor McGonagall finally brought them to the Hospital Wing.
Harry and Ron saw the petrified Hermione lying on a hospital bed.
The two stood there blankly, never imagining that the person attacked this time would actually be their best friend.
Seeing the expressions on their faces, Professor McGonagall spoke in an unusually gentle voice.
"You must be shocked, but I still need to ask: this was found beside Miss Granger. Do either of you know how to explain it?"
She held up a small round mirror in her hand. Harry and Ron both shook their heads, their eyes fixed on Hermione as they remained unable to say a word.
Professor McGonagall finally sighed and brought the two boys back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
Meanwhile, in the Headmaster's Office, Sherlock stood opposite Dumbledore with an equally grave expression.
"He has attacked again! This cannot continue; we have to find a solution!"
Dumbledore stared quietly at a letter lying on the desk, deep in thought. After a long moment, he finally spoke.
"The news can no longer be concealed. If the outside world learns everything that has happened at Hogwarts this semester, the school will most likely be forced to close. At that point, all of his plans will fail. So now, he is waiting for an opportunity—an opportunity suitable for carrying out his final goal."
The Headmaster's Office fell completely silent. Even the soft snoring that usually echoed from the portraits on the walls had disappeared.
Then Dumbledore's calm voice sounded softly through the room.
"And we can try to create that opportunity for him."