The Admiral of Hogwarts

"The problem now is that no one wants to believe what you're saying, Harry." After listening to Harry's explanation of what he had just done and his analysis of his inner thoughts, Ron said helplessly.

"After all, you were the only one who understood Parseltongue among the many people present at the time, so the others don't know what you were saying."

"So, your days will be a bit difficult for the next period of time," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"The language of snakes inherently sounds evil and gloomy, so even if you were stopping the snake's attack, to those who didn't know, it sounded like you were encouraging the snake. That's terrifying, you know?"

"I—" Harry opened his mouth, but didn't say anything, just sighed deeply.

With his intelligence, he fully understood how others would view this matter, given that they couldn't understand what he was saying. However, what made him feel relieved was that at least a few people were willing to believe him in this matter.

After finishing the conversation with Harry and returning to the common room, Hugo noticed through the windows of Ravenclaw Tower that it was snowing outside.

"If it snows heavily enough tomorrow, I can go out and play with Veneto and the others," Hugo thought, looking at the snowflakes gradually accumulating on the window panes before going to bed. "At least it doesn't snow this heavily in London."

After 12 o'clock that night, Hugo once again received three Fate Points. These Fate Points were obtained because Hugo and Enterprise's intrusion changed the Duelling Club plot.

"Actually, if Harry hadn't revealed his Parseltongue, you could have at least gained two or three more Fate Points," Enterprise said from the side. "But sometimes, it's indeed difficult for us to specifically control some situations."

"Yes, that's fate," Hugo said approvingly.

At the time, Enterprise, standing on the stage, could have transfigured the snake away in advance, but that would have easily aroused Dumbledore's suspicion. In a situation where the lesser of two evils had to be chosen, sacrificing two or three Fate Points was an acceptable price to pay.

The next morning, when Hugo got out of bed, he found that the outside of the tower was a silvery white. Obviously, it had snowed heavily during the night, even turning into a blizzard.

And even more fortunate for Hugo, the Herbology class that was originally scheduled for the morning was cancelled because Professor Sprout needed to do some insulation work for many plants in the greenhouse.

Usually, the insulation work for most magical plants in the greenhouse is done by the school's house-elves. However, some special magical plants are exceptions.

For example, this year's Mandrakes are like that, because it concerns the matter of saving Mrs. Norris and Colin Creevey's lives. Therefore, the insulation work is being done by the professor personally.

"We can go visit Hagrid," Hermione suggested after playing in the courtyard in front of the castle for about half an hour and feeling a little cold. "I think Hagrid should have some hot drinks to drink."

After knocking on the door of Hagrid's hut, Hugo and the others found that there was no one inside.

However, after circling the hut for the better part of a circle, they unexpectedly saw a huge figure standing beside a wooden shed a dozen meters away from the hut.

Obviously, the only being with such a size in Hogwarts could only be Hagrid, the half-giant. So, Hugo and the other two walked through the snow to the wooden shed, and then greeted him.

"Hagrid, what are you doing here?" Hugo asked after waving his hand. "Ah, it's you guys," Hagrid said, turning his head to greet them. "I remember you should be in Herbology class right now."

Hagrid's face was tightly covered by a wool helmet-like hat covered in snowflakes, and he was wearing a moleskin jacket on his upper body, seemingly completely blocking the entrance to the wooden shed.

And after he turned his body, Hugo and the others found that he was holding a dead rooster in one of his large, gloved hands.

"Professor Sprout had to do insulation work for his babies this morning, so he temporarily cancelled the class," Veneto explained, then pointed to the limp dead rooster in Hagrid's hand and asked.

"What are you doing? Are you planning to stew chicken for lunch?"

"No, I'm here checking my chicken coop," Hagrid said, waving the dead rooster in his hand. "This is already the second one that's been killed this semester. After the previous chicken died, I reinforced the chicken coop, but now it looks like it's useless."

"I think whoever is doing this is either a fox or a blood-sucking monster, so I might need to go find the headmaster later and ask him to allow me to cast a spell around the chicken coop to see if I can catch the person who's killing my chickens."

"It seems Voldemort's control over his victims has taken another step forward," Hugo thought in his mind, hearing Veneto's voice. At the same time, the two exchanged a glance and saw some kind of worry in each other's eyes.

After all, the act of killing chickens can now be seen as clearing obstacles for the Basilisk to come out. Once these chickens are killed off, then the frequency of the Basilisk's attacks will naturally have a significant increase.

"Could it be the monsters in the Forbidden Forest doing it?" Hermione asked at this time. "I've heard people say that there are many dangerous magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest, and even werewolves come and go. Maybe they did it."

"That's unlikely, Hermione," Hagrid said, shaking his head. "There are some defensive spells around Hogwarts Castle that can prevent those dangerous creatures from getting close."

After hearing Hagrid's words, Hugo nodded, revealing a thoughtful expression.

Because before, he had always been curious as to why so many dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest wouldn't attack those weak little wizards who were active outside the Forbidden Forest. Now it seems that it should be because some defensive magic was set up around the castle.

This also proves that Hugo's previous cautious attitude was correct. For example, the last time they handed over the dragon, they chose to do it by the Black Lake on the edge of the grounds, thereby avoiding the possibility of being discovered by the castle.

Come to think of it, there are just too many various dangerous magical creatures living in the Black Lake. If they really had to pull the alert net over there, it's estimated that the alarm would be triggered every moment. In that case, the meaning of the alarm would probably be no different from not having an alarm.

After accompanying Hagrid back to his room, everyone first had a cup of tea, and then walked together towards the location of the school castle. However, just as they walked into the castle gate, Veneto's face suddenly turned ugly.

"What happened?" Feeling the sudden change in Veneto's emotions, Hugo immediately inquired through the Admiral Network.

"Something happened at the school," Veneto replied. "Just now, Hood told us that Ginger was attacked by the Basilisk. What's worse is that at the last moment, Ginger only saw the snake and didn't see anyone."

"How is Ginger now?" After hearing what Veneto said, Hugo inquired Hood through the Admiral Network.

"It's my ship equipment, and it's not alive in the first place, so naturally it won't die," Hood replied. "So, it should be petrified by the Basilisk now, but if I'm willing, I can use my power to counteract the Basilisk's power—"