Hearing the commotion from within the walls, Ciel's expression instantly tensed. In Hogwarts with such movement patterns, besides the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets in the original story, what else could it be?
But second year hadn't even started yet. Why had the basilisk awakened now? Though the original story did mention the basilisk occasionally woke and hunted, its food was generally just rats in the sewers. Never was it mentioned hunting young wizards.
But this time, the basilisk was clearly coming for him. What was going on?
No time to think further—he first closed his eyes. After all, with his current mental strength, even with closed eyes, he could still determine his surroundings from countless details. As long as he didn't meet the basilisk's gaze, its other attacks posed limited threat to him.
But the next moment, just as he tensed in anticipation of the basilisk emerging from the pipes to attack him, low hissing sounds came from within the walls.
He'd previously learned Parseltongue from Harry. Though he couldn't compare to Harry's instinctive mastery—more like learning a foreign language with reaction speeds several beats slower than a native speaker—under the super information processing abilities brought by his mental strength, he still reacted extremely quickly to this hissing's meaning:
"Want... want to smoke Alihotsy? Let me have one?"
He felt somewhat dazed. In the original story, every time Harry heard the basilisk speak through Parseltongue, it was either "kill" or "blood." This time coming for him was actually for Alihotsy?
Then he pondered briefly before using Parseltongue to emit hissing sounds, "I have Alihotsy. Do you need fire?"
From within the walls, hissing sounded again, "Yes. How can I smoke without fire? Put the Alihotsy at the pipe opening, help me light it, thanks."
His expression became increasingly strange—he truly hadn't expected such a development. But this was actually good. If the basilisk wasn't full of murderous thoughts but could communicate, second year's troubles would be much fewer.
Then he carefully withdrew a purified Alihotsy cigarette from his chest, placing it at a nearby pipe opening. His wand gently waved—a laser spell emitted, immediately igniting the extremely high temperature of the Alihotsy cigarette. Wisps of smoke immediately surged into the pipe opening.
He keenly heard something enormous within the walls taking deep breaths. A wind also surged in the pipes, drawing all that entering smoke into the basilisk's body. The next moment, suddenly from within the walls came hissing sounds much more excited than before:
"This Alihotsy—hiss, hisssssss! Can't take it, such pure Alihotsy, haven't smelled this scent in a thousand years! Last time smoking, Salazar Slytherin used his pipe to blow some smoke out for me. Now I can enjoy it exclusively?!"
Then commotion from inside the walls kept coming—the basilisk seemed extremely excited, constantly rubbing scales against water pipes. Just as he suspected the basilisk might get completely high and drill straight out from the walls, this Alihotsy cigarette burned out. The basilisk finally settled down.
"Little wizard, though you did speak Parseltongue, your Parseltongue is soulless—a clumsy imitation. In the past, just your imitating Parseltongue would be blasphemy against Salazar Slytherin. I should have killed you, but this time, considering you brought me such pure Alihotsy, I'll let you go. Remember—there won't be a second time!"
Finishing, the sound of scraping scales gradually retreated. After confirming the basilisk had truly completely left, he finally opened his eyes. His eyes flashed with unusual intensity, a bold idea forming in his mind.
The basilisk was truly a treasure trove. In the original story, basilisk fangs and venom played irreplaceable roles in destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes. Basilisk blood, as XXXXX-level magical creature blood, would greatly help him cultivate Blood Jade. Basilisk scales and shed skin were equally invaluable. Even Salazar Slytherin's wand was rumored to be made from basilisk horn, its power incredibly strong, particularly exceptional at amplifying Dark Magic effects.
But for him, the most valuable part of the basilisk might not be these, but rather—basilisk feces. This material was perfect for increasing soil fertility, making almost all magical plants grow faster and better. When Helga Hufflepuff established the small greenhouse, she mixed some basilisk feces into the soil. At the time, the small greenhouse's cultivation results were at their peak.
But so many years later, the small greenhouse had not only lost the cup's magic, but the effects from the basilisk feces had long since faded entirely—nothing like its former glory. But if he could obtain enough basilisk feces, he could make the small greenhouse's soil fertility reach higher levels, possibly matching the peak performance back then. Moreover, this was a thousand-year-old basilisk—back then Helga Hufflepuff probably didn't have such an ancient specimen. The potency might exceed his expectations.
He had an even wilder ambition—if he could keep this thousand-year basilisk, continuously producing feces, perhaps even all crops on his Sprout Island could benefit!
At the thought, he felt a surge of excitement. A plan began to form in his mind.
The next day, he came to Hogwarts again. He randomly found a spacious washroom at the pipe opening again, lighting a purified Alihotsy cigarette. When smoke began spreading through pipes, just moments later, the sound of scraping scales grew loud. Hissing sounded again:
"Amazing! This is incredible! Hiss, such pure Alihotsy again. What's happening? Is this going to be my new normal? Little wizard, what exactly are you plotting? You don't think you can tame me with this Alihotsy, do you? I tell you, dream on—I'm Slytherin's basilisk; I only serve Slytherin's heir. Since you brought me Alihotsy again, I won't kill you, but there truly won't be a next time."
He replied, "Of course I don't presume to tame you. Just want to make a trade. Truth is, I'm from Hufflepuff—I heard basilisk feces are very good for farming. So can I trade some purified Alihotsy for some of your feces?"
Hearing his words, the basilisk was somewhat surprised. 'So this little wizard was a Badger? No wonder he had such Alihotsy—Lady Hufflepuff was indeed an expert in this. As for using its feces for farming, it seemed to recall something about that.'
Would a Badger lie to him? Through the pleasant haze, the basilisk convinced itself—this is a Badger! How could Badgers lie? Trading feces for Alihotsy—what a steal!
Soon, several black stone-like objects were thrown from the pipe opening. His eyes lit up—indeed, just like basilisk feces recorded in books. Moreover, this was thousand-year-old basilisk feces—effects should be even better.
Then he didn't hesitate, throwing an entire Alihotsy cigarette into the pipes. For a time, only excited hissing came from the pipes, "So this is what smoking an Alihotsy cigarette feels like? Slytherin, you only knew to enjoy yourself, never let me have a puff. I inhale, I inhale, I draw deep, hisssssss!"
Hearing the basilisk's ecstatic reaction, he smiled.
Then on the third, fourth, and fifth days, he arrived punctually, unfailingly giving the basilisk one purified Alihotsy cigarette, exchanging some feces from it. The basilisk gradually adapted to this rhythm. Though each departure included customary threats, "Next time I'll definitely kill you. Next time for sure! The time after next for sure!"
But each time, it came earlier and earlier. Even the last time, before he even arrived, it was already waiting at the pipe opening for his feeding.
On the sixth day, the basilisk came early to the pipe opening as usual, waiting to enjoy that euphoric rush of Alihotsy flowing through its lungs. But this day, it waited until dark—he never appeared again. The basilisk grew anxious.
"That wretched Badger, why didn't he come? What about today's Alihotsy? Damn it, I really need a hit—cursed Badger, when you come tomorrow, after I get my last puff, I'll kill you!"
While muttering various threats, the basilisk disappointedly returned to the Chamber of Secrets, curled up in its usual sleeping spot, tossing and turning all night, waiting for dawn to bring another chance.
But the next day, he still didn't come. The third day, the same. In the Chamber of Secrets, the basilisk paced restlessly. 'Why won't he come? How can he not come?! Badger with no honor!'
But thinking it might never smoke Alihotsy again, the basilisk even lacked energy to be angry, and began to ponder a question. 'Why did he suddenly stop coming? It can't be—Hufflepuff is the most honest, trustworthy house. Could it actually not be his problem but mine? Was the feces I gave before not good enough, or was the quantity too little, making him feel cheated? Perhaps I should hunt more rats and produce more feces?'
Meanwhile, in the small greenhouse, he carefully buried black powder uniformly into soil—precisely basilisk feces. Though seeming disgusting to others, for someone who studied agriculture in his previous life, farm manure and such were normal. Basilisk feces were already quite refined.
Rather than disgust, he focused more on effects. Basilisk feces' soil fertilization effect will begin showing in about a week. But I can already see some clues.
His gaze swept over plants growing in the small greenhouse—he could see their reward orb growth speeds compared to before were slowly increasing. Moreover, this increase in amplitude was accelerating. Simultaneously, those variant Devil's Snare roots not far from maturity had reward orbs flickering unstably again—seemingly trending toward another mutation.
His eyes showed anticipation. Basilisk feces actually have such effects on Devil's Snare. This was unexpected. Double mutation—such plants in the wizarding world should be extremely rare even over centuries, right? Wonder what rewards they'll bring after transformation completes—
Then he exhaled softly, lips curving into a knowing smile. Calculating the time, the basilisk should also be hooked enough.
Moments later, after several days' absence, he finally walked again toward the previous basilisk "feeding" location.
Coincidentally, in an underground cave far from Hogwarts Castle, a figure arrived there—precisely Ron Weasley. Currently, he was conversing with Nagini in his mind.
"This underground cave connects to Hogwarts' sewer pipes?"
"Nagini" confirmed, "Correct. This plan was long abandoned; pipes are almost sealed—no way to enter Hogwarts from here. But smoke can still pass through. Ron, we spent so much effort these days getting some Alihotsy. Burn this Alihotsy together with your clothes—the smoke will carry your scent. This way, when the basilisk sleeps while inhaling Alihotsy smoke, it'll first become familiar with your smell. Progressing this way, by the time school starts—"
Ron's eyes brightened, "The basilisk will obey only me!"
Then he grew impatient, "Then what are we waiting for? Let the basilisk smell the Alihotsy I'm burning for it. It'll definitely be grateful beyond measure!"