Chapter 664: Fudge: Something is Wrong! (Edited)

I will now provide the translation of the text into English:

There was only one type of snake that Kingsley knew of that could be that size, and it was a basilisk.

"What kind of joke is Dumbledore playing? Does he really want to kill us and then go to war with the Ministry?"

Kingsley grumbled in his mind but didn't dare to move a muscle. He even relaxed his breathing significantly.

The other four Aurors did the same, and even the younger ones, Savage and Prout, trembled slightly. But no one laughed at them because while there were many magical creatures in the XXXXX class, there was a difference among them, and the basilisk was definitely among the top three in terms of danger.

Only Umbridge, who knew nothing about basilisks, wasn't too frightened, although she was also surprised by the enormous size of the basilisk. However, her thirst for power led her to push the Aurors, who were in the middle, and stand next to Kingsley.

"Quick! Capture the creature! This will make Dumbledore guilty," she urged enthusiastically.

To her, it was just a larger snake, and they had five good Aurors on their side!

But she wasn't foolish enough not to be cautious. At least she knew to lower her voice so as not to disturb the giant snake that seemed to be asleep.

But even so, Kingsley and the other four Aurors looked at Umbridge with wide eyes, incredulous, as if they were seeing a mad person.

"What's wrong?" Umbridge, still unaware of the ridiculousness of what she had just said, returned their gaze with her toad-like eyes.

But it was thanks to her antics that Kingsley and the others snapped out of their astonishment.

Williamson whispered to her with a start, "That's one of the most dangerous magical creatures, the basilisk... The fire-breathing dragon is as harmless as a puppy compared to it, and it's said that... any creature that meets its gaze directly will die instantly."

Umbridge was so frightened that her face paled, and she shuddered, "Then, then let's get out of here... ahh!"

She barely said this when she felt something hit her from behind, and her fat, squat body stumbled a few steps forward and fell to the ground.

And with Umbridge's fall and scream, the basilisk in the room seemed to awaken, and its enormous body began to move. A huge head emerged from its coiled body and turned toward Kingsley.

"Lower your head! Don't look!" Kingsley roared and quickly ran down the stairs.

As for that idiot Umbridge, he couldn't care less.

The other four Aurors also made the same decision, leaving Umbridge, who fell to the ground, without hesitation, and retreated down the stairs, quickly but orderly.

None of them chose to cast spells at the basilisk, knowing that it was as resistant to spells as a fire-breathing dragon and fearing to enrage the basilisk.

When facing such a dangerous creature, the Aurors' first option was not to enter and subdue it but to try not to confront it unless they had to and then avoid it.

"Help! Help!"

Umbridge, in a panic, remembered what Williamson had just said and fixed her eyes on the ground, screaming for help as she stood up and tried to run toward the stairs.

However, a thick snake tail burst through the wall and struck Umbridge with such force that she fell sideways, screaming and hitting another wall before landing face-first on the ground again.

Out of the corner of her eye, Umbridge could see the enormous figure of the basilisk moving towards her, and she struggled to get up, but after only moving a little, she was sweating from pain, and then her strength wavered and she fell back to the ground.

In that moment, Umbridge's mind filled with remorse and desperation.

When she had received the prophecy from Professor Trelawney, she had thought that the supposed danger was similar to being turned into a toad... because neither Dumbledore nor the man who had turned her into a toad had the ability to kill her, and that's why Umbridge had dared to take the risk.

If she had known that the supposed danger would put her own life at risk, Umbridge would never have come... Power was not as important as her own life!

Unfortunately, it was already too late for regrets.

Umbridge closed her eyes in despair...

"Hiss"

With the sound of a snake hissing above her head, Umbridge trembled in fear and whispered to herself, "Don't eat me, don't eat me, don't eat me..."

After a few moments of waiting with her eyes closed, the attack Umbridge had expected did not come, and even the hissing disappeared, leaving everything as calm as if nothing had happened.

Had she been saved?

Surprised, Umbridge cautiously opened one eye and looked to the side.

Then she saw a large snake's eye with a hint of blue.

The next moment, Umbridge knew nothing more.

"Hmph! If it weren't for Albus not allowing Fish to be exposed, it wouldn't be so easy to let you go, nya!"

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

The cat wearing the invisibility cloak leapt down from the basilisk's head and kicked the petrified Umbridge with a disgusted expression, regretting not being able to give her a beating himself.

If it weren't for the fear that Uroboros would strike Umbridge with too much force, Fish wouldn't have petrified her so easily. After all, cats are accustomed to playing with their prey when they catch it and aren't very hungry.

After angrily kicking Umbridge a few more times, Fish returned to his cat form and jumped onto Uroboros' head.

"Nya~"

?(=ΦωΦ=)?

Fish patted the basilisk's head with his little paws and released him as planned, crashing into the wall of the shrieking shack and rushing outside, before diving headfirst into the nearby bushes and swimming towards the Forbidden Forest.

...

Inside the headmaster's office, Fudge was a bit distracted.

Even now, they were discussing how many flavors of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans there were, but Dumbledore remained undisturbed, showing no curiosity about his actions or where Kingsley and the others were going.

Fudge didn't believe Dumbledore was so naive as to think he was really here to talk to him, and even if that were true, he should be able to realize what he really intended now that they were talking.

And yet, Dumbledore decided not to say anything, instead being very cooperative with their small talk...

This wasn't right.

The more Fudge thought about it, the more he realized something was off—Dumbledore was too calm! In this case, either Umbridge was lying or had been deceived by Dumbledore, or someone else had used Dumbledore to lure Umbridge.

But either way, it didn't bode well for Umbridge.

"It's getting late, the Ministry has other matters to attend to..." Fudge said as he stood up to leave, keeping an eye on Dumbledore.

"Ah, yes? That's a pity," Dumbledore responded without wasting a second. "Although we had a significant disagreement at the beginning of our conversation, the rest was pleasant... but since you have matters to attend to, I won't detain you." He also stood up, inclining to shake Fudge's hand. "We will talk again then, Cornelius."

Dumbledore's demeanor left Fudge unsure whether it was a conspiracy or if Dumbledore was trying to trap him, but in truth, he wanted Fudge to leave.

While Fudge hesitated, Williamson burst through the door.

"Minister! It's bad! There's a basilisk in Hogsmeade," he exclaimed. "Kingsley and the others are evacuating the village, but if the basilisk attacks, they won't be able to stop it!"

"A basilisk?!" Before Fudge could say anything, Dumbledore transformed into a Hollywood star and rushed towards Williamson, his face filled with horror. "Where is it? Take me there right away!"

"Yes! Yes! Take Albus there!" Fudge, who had also regained his senses by then, nodded.

Then he looked at Dumbledore. "Do you have Floo Powder? I'm going to the Ministry of Magic to seek help."

It wasn't a time for secrets and conspiracies. If the basilisk caused many casualties in Hogsmeade, Fudge would be finished as the Minister of Magic.