Hermione only knew she had to run faster, even faster; she was racing against death itself, and if she were even a moment late, someone might lose their life to the Basilisk.
She searched her memory as she stumbled toward the Headmaster's Office, knowing that only the tears shed by Dumbledore's Fawkes could neutralize the Basilisk's venom.
Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick might be able to defeat the Basilisk, but they would likely be helpless against the venom, and even Snape's potion would take time to brew; only the tears of a phoenix were the fastest solution.
She thought again of the scene where Draco, to save her, had his arm almost completely pierced by the Basilisk's fangs.
The bright red, still-warm blood had even splashed onto her face; feeling the lingering warmth on her skin, she felt another wave of dizziness.
"I'm the one who made a mess of everything," she thought.
She wasn't foolish enough to think that Draco had been moved by her tears and had defected to betray Lord Voldemort; he was clearly prepared.
Whether it was the dragon's blood or the unicorn blood, he had planned it all along—the former to gain trust, and the latter to deal with sudden emergencies like today's.
If anything, if not for her, Dumbledore might have already easily finished off the Basilisk.
"I only make things worse," Hermione thought painfully, recalling Draco's previous actions.
She felt ashamed for doubting him and blamed herself for disrupting everything.
Almost everyone in the corridors stared at Hermione in surprise, not just because she was wearing Slytherin robes, but also because of the streaks of blood on her face.
"What happened? Why are you wearing Slytherin robes?"
A pair of hands reached out to stop Hermione; it was the Gryffindor Prefect responsible for patrolling the corridors during Christmas—Percy.
He looked at Hermione in surprise, his eyes flashing with suspicion beneath his glasses as he asked.
As a Prefect, he had to ensure the safety of the students and report any emergencies to the Professors immediately.
Hermione had originally been a rule-abiding student, but after spending so much time with Harry and his younger brother, she was no longer willing to follow school rules.
Unexpectedly, Hermione simply pushed him aside after being stopped for a moment.
Percy stumbled back a few steps, nearly falling over.
It was hard to accept that an upper-year male student had been pushed aside by a lower-year female student.
"Sorry."
Hermione continued running forward without looking back.
Even though she apologized, Percy didn't sense much sincerity in it.
She continued climbing the stairs floor by floor.
For the first time, she hated the school's placement of the Headmaster's Office—on the eighth floor.
How much time would be wasted?
Large drops of sweat rolled down from her thick, messy brown hair, and sweat stains congealed, but she didn't notice.
When she reached the third floor, she saw the gargoyle guarding the entrance, which symbolized the dawn of victory, and only then did she snap out of it and remember one thing—she didn't know the password.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Licorice Wands, Butterbeer..."
Without much hesitation, she started rattling off every treat she knew.
She knew that Headmaster Dumbledore usually set passwords based on sweets.
It wasn't until Hermione said "Lemon Sherbet" that the stone gargoyle finally jumped aside.
The wall behind it split in two, revealing a moving spiral staircase.
She immediately ran onto it, feeling anxious as she stood on the stairs; she felt the automatic staircase was moving too slowly, not as fast as her own legs.
She tried her best not to think of the most terrifying scenario: Dumbledore and her returning to the Chamber of Secrets, and inside, there was only the Basilisk—oh, perhaps the forgotten Professor Lockhart, or maybe the Basilisk had hidden away, leaving behind a corpse.
She shook her head, trying to calm herself down.
She thought of the confident look Draco had left her with, and she chose to trust him.
The staircase slowly spiralled upward, and finally, she saw the door with the brass knocker.
The griffin-shaped brass knocker didn't catch her attention; she just wanted to knock as quickly as possible and find the Headmaster.
She found the door was ajar, and she heard a gloomy, repulsive voice coming from inside.
"Look, Headmaster Dumbledore, I believe you are not fulfilling your duties right now. How many students have already been attacked?"
The voice paused, then continued: "I originally thought that monster only attacked Muggle students, but now that the child from the Weasley family has also been attacked, this proves that all students are in danger."
"That was such a polite child, but because of your incompetence, he is now lying in the school infirmary, unable to move."
"Disgusting!"
Hermione could no longer tolerate the man's words.
He had pretended to praise Ron just to achieve his goal, which made Hermione feel nauseous.
She pushed open the ajar door.
She saw a round table with a classic design in the Headmaster's Office, surrounded by people.
Most of them were dressed elegantly, and she guessed they were the school governors.
Directly opposite her was Dumbledore, looking calm, with his hands on the table and his fingertips pressed together.
Facing the accusations, his wrinkled old face remained calm and composed.
"Look, just look. This is the student Dumbledore has taught while sitting in the Headmaster's chair—no manners, no upbringing."
Lucius's voice rose, and the other school governors nodded repeatedly, pointing at Hermione, seemingly dissatisfied with this young girl who had suddenly interrupted their meeting.
"My students are not for you to judge."
Dumbledore had been silent, but when he spoke, it was like a thunderclap.
He changed from his previous amiable image and became imposing.
Beneath his half-moon spectacles, his blue eyes flashed with a sharpness that didn't seem to belong to an old man.
The office instantly fell silent.
Lucius wanted to speak, but for some reason, he couldn't.
"Child, is something wrong?"
Dumbledore looked at Hermione kindly, as if he were no longer the old man who had stunned everyone into silence just a moment ago.
"Another student has been attacked."
Hermione looked at Lucius and then threw out a sentence that made Lucius lose his composure: "Your son might be dying, yet you still have the mind to fight for power here."
Lucius immediately lost his cool.
He slammed his hands onto the table and roared at Dumbledore: "If anything happens to my son, I will make you pay."
He couldn't even maintain his usual refined demeanour.
Then he turned to Hermione and asked anxiously: "Little girl, what exactly happened?"
Dumbledore ignored him, and Hermione didn't acknowledge him either.
Dumbledore and Hermione stared deeply into each other's eyes.
If anyone were standing in front of Hermione, they would notice that her eyes were a bit dazed.
"Let's go."
Dumbledore rose abruptly and walked toward Hermione, grabbing her sleeve.
Then the two of them gradually became transparent and finally vanished in front of the school governors.
Apparition.
If it were any other time, Lucius might have used this to criticize Dumbledore for abusing his power, as Apparition is not allowed at Hogwarts, but today, he chose to remain silent because he knew Dumbledore was going to save his son.
"Damn it."
He slammed his fist heavily on the wooden table in front of him.
The surrounding governors felt his anger, as well as his fear.
He could only sit there helplessly because that Muggle-born girl hadn't told him where Draco had been attacked.
Lucius's other hand gripped his snake-headed cane tightly, also exposing the panic and unease in his heart.
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