Lia's eyes were cold, her disdain for Gilderoy Lockhart evident as if she were looking at a clown.
Lockhart's smile froze. The flashbulbs brought him back to his senses, and he immediately squeezed out a compassionate expression, reaching out to touch Lia's head: "Oh, you poor child..."
"Get lost."
Lia's voice was soft, but Lockhart's hand seemed frozen in mid-air.
She held Hermione's cold body, one hand baring her claws at Lockhart.
"Professor Lockhart," Dumbledore's voice rang out, "I believe the children need some peace." He turned to the reporter, "If you don't want tomorrow's headline to be about trespassing in the Hospital Wing, leave now."
The two of them slunk away.
"Hermione!" Harry and Ron rushed in. Seeing the two people side-by-side on the hospital bed, Ron's face turned pale.
"She's fine," Madam Pomfrey said after checking Lia, her tone filled with shock. "Miss Granger is also just... asleep."
"Because Lia saved her." Professor McGonagall looked at the Cat-girl, who was like a beast protecting its young, with a complex expression.
Just as the two were about to leave after their visit, Ron's foot kicked a piece of parchment under the bed. He picked it up: "Hermione's handwriting!"
Harry leaned in. A giant snake was drawn on the paper, with one word heavily circled next to it—"Pipes"!
"Pipes..." Harry murmured to himself. "The voice was coming from inside the walls..."
"It's it." Lia suddenly spoke, her voice sounding like sandpaper. "I'saw' it. That magic... it crawled out of the walls and finally disappeared into Moaning Myrtles Lavatory."
Everything became clear!
"Let's go!" Harry grabbed Ron and rushed out; they had to tell Dumbledore immediately.
Silence returned to the Hospital Wing.
The smell of disinfectant was nauseating. Lia curled up by Hermione's pillow. Although she had consumed the magic that petrified Hermione, the brief contact still required time for Hermione to repair the damaged parts.
The [Eye of Truth] allowed Lia to see something different.
Hermione's life force hadn't dissipated; it was just that a corner of it had been damaged by the petrification magic. She needed to slowly complete it herself before she could wake up.
She was still alive.
This realization was the last straw maintaining her sanity.
Just then, her cat ears twitched violently.
The [Eye of Truth] penetrated the floor and rocks, sensing a familiar life aura rapidly fading deep beneath Hogwarts—Ginny Weasley.
And next to Ginny, a dark magic that made her soul scream was coiled.
Massive, cold, and evil.
The Basilisk!
No, there was also something else that felt somewhat familiar.
That's it! It was this magic that turned Hermione into this!
*Buzz—*
Escape! Every cell in her body was convulsing, screaming orders for her to run away.
But as soon as she turned her head, she saw Hermione's pale and stiff sleeping face.
If... Hermione never woke up again... This possibility was like a red-hot iron, searing her most fragile nerves.
A scalding, unfamiliar emotion surged from her heart, burning her internal organs. It was the hatred unique to a beast whose only treasure had been stolen.
It was the one that hurt Hermione.
Then... kill it.
The coldness of fear was forcibly melted by this magma, a process so painful it made her whole body tremble.
In Lia's azure eyes, cowardice was burned away, leaving only boiling killing intent.
She silently jumped off the bed, transforming in mid-air to land on all fours, her body low as she slipped out of the Hospital Wing like a white shadow.
Leaving only the tinkling sound from her neck fading into the distance.
The [Eye of Truth] locked onto the source of the evil magic, mapping out the shortest route to avoid everyone.
Moaning Myrtles Lavatory.
Lia walked straight to the brass tap engraved with a small snake and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, the world was completely decomposed in her eyes.
The tap was no longer metal, but a complex rune "lock cylinder" composed of magic. It was waiting for a magic "key" of a specific frequency.
I see. Parseltongue isn't a language; it's... authorization.
Lia concentrated, mobilizing the magic within her body. Following the structure of the "lock cylinder," she emitted a dry magic vibration from her throat.
"§Open§!"
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