58 Harvested

Brilliant radiance bathed the ancient stones of the Chamber of Secrets, the countless orbs of light casting long, dramatic shadows that danced across the cavernous space. Draped over the floor like a serpentine sculpture, the fallen Basilisk's massive coils lay at the centre of this illuminated stage.

Harvesting this specimen posed an immense challenge, for the Basilisk's scales, imbued with a powerful resistance to magic, remained an impenetrable defence - unyielding even in death's grip. Brute force? Destructive spells? Such tactics were out of the question. No, what was required here was cleverness, resourcefulness; he had to find a way to bypass the serpent's formidable defences without compromising the integrity of its invaluable components.

Lucas's piercing green eyes settled upon the creature's gaping maw - that cavernous opening still impaled by the sharp spikes of earth from the killing blow he had delivered. Within, the soft tissues lay vulnerable, unprotected by the magic-resistant properties of the scales. Here was a weakness, a chink in the Basilisk's formidable armour, and Lucas intended to exploit it.

A wave of his hand summoned a large, flat stone slab from the Chamber floor. It levitated until it was hovering parallel to the Basilisk's body. Another flick of fingers, and from the Elemental Sphere poured a thin, serpentine stream of water winding across the slab's surface.

Lucas watched the water's flow intently, calculating the principles of capillary action and surface tension that governed its movement. With slow, careful movements, he began manipulating the liquid's path - coaxing it into branching channels across the slab's surface.

The water moved, leaving behind a thin, glistening film, clinging to the stone in a branching network. Lucas continued to guide its path with minute gestures with his will growing more and more precise until the entire slab was covered in a complex, crystalline tracery.

Satisfied, he turned attention back to the Basilisk. A subtle twist of his fingers made the ground carry forward the massive serpent, carefully positioning its open maw to hover just above the patterned slab.

Sweat appeared on Lucas's brow as he commanded the air currents around the Basilisk's head. With deliberate slowness, he began to increase the pressure, compressing the air until it formed a tight, invisible seal around the creature's gaping jaws.

The effect was immediate and dramatic. As the pressure built, the Basilisk's mouth was forced open even wider, its jaws stretched to their limits. And then, with a sudden, sharp crack that echoed through the Chamber, the delicate tissues inside ruptured and teared.

Lucas's face was a mask of intense focus as he watched the Basilisk's inner flesh begin to separate from the bones of its skull. Thin, crimson rivulets of blood trickled forth, flowing down the serpent's fangs and dripping onto the patterned slab below.

But the blood did not pool or spread haphazardly. Instead, it followed the pathways that Lucas had laid out, the capillary action drawing it along in a thousand tiny streams. Like the veins of a circulatory system, the channels carried the Basilisk's lifeblood across the slab's surface, guiding it into a series of shallow depressions that Lucas had carved into the stone.

The blood filled the depressions, and he exerted his will over the air around the slab, creating a gentle, circulating current that flowed over the collected fluid.

The air grew warmer, the heat gradually increasing until the blood began to steam and thicken. Lucas carefully controlled the temperature, reducing the liquid to a thick, viscous sludge.

Only then did he allow the air to cool, the sludge hardening and solidifying into many deep crimson discs. With a casual flick of his fingers, the discs rose from the slab, and drifted into a waiting jar.

He had harvested the Basilisk's blood, the first step in a long process. But he was far from done.

With the blood safely stored, his focus shifted to harvesting the rest of the creature's valuable components. He knew that each part would require a unique approach, a different strategy to extract them intact and undamaged.

First, the fangs. Those deadly ivory daggers, each one longer than Lucas's forearm and dripping with potent venom. He couldn't risk handling them directly, not until the venom had been properly contained.

Summoning some small glass vials, Lucas levitated them one by one into the Basilisk's mouth. With delicate precision, he used a thin blade of compressed air to sever the muscle and tissue connecting each fang to the jawbone. As they came free, he guided them into the waiting vials, the glass containers sealing themselves around the deadly cargo.

The venom sacs were next, those pulsating reservoirs that held the Basilisk's lethal toxin. Lucas could sense their heat, the faint thermal signature that betrayed their location deep within the serpent's skull.

Once more, he controlled the air surrounding the Basilisk's head. But this time, instead of heating the air, he cooled it rapidly, dropping the temperature until it hovered just above freezing.

Natural frost began to form on the Basilisk's scales, creeping inward like a slowly advancing glacier. Lucas guided the cold front, directing it deeper and deeper until it enveloped the venom sacs themselves.

As the sacs froze solid, locking their toxic contents in an icy stasis, Lucas carefully removed them from the Basilisk's body and stored them in one of the floating containers.

Then Lucas summoned a large, shallow basin from the items surrounding him in the air, and filled it with conjured water. The air around the basin slowly spun, creating a gentle, swirling vortex that caused the water to spin in a lazy spiral.

As the water moved, Lucas gradually increased the speed of the vortex, the liquid picking up momentum until it formed a concave depression in the centre. He maintained the precise shape and speed with deft control, the water behaving like a miniature cyclone, its surface perfectly level despite the rapid rotation.

With the vortex stabilized, he turned his attention back to the Basilisk. This time, the air around the creature's chest started to heat up, focusing the warmth on the area surrounding the heart.

Maintaining rigid control, he increased the temperature, the Basilisk's scales taking on a dull, reddish glow as the heat penetrated their magic-resistant surface. Softening tissues signalled the heart's growing pliability and Lucas's moment to strike. Major blood vessels tethering the vital organ were severed by razor-thin blades of compressed air, slicing effortlessly through the yielding flesh.

The heart, now free, began to drift upwards, buoyed by the heated air around it. Lucas guided its ascent, levitating it over the vortex of water.

With a final burst of magic, he released the heart, allowing it to plunge into the centre of the vortex. The water closed around it like a liquid fist, the rapid rotation creating a perfect vacuum seal that enveloped the organ in a protective bubble.

He then levitated the basin containing the still-spinning vortex of water, guiding it into one of the containers. The heart came to rest at the bottom as the vortex dissipated with its rhythmic contractions slowing to a halt.

Creating a large, flat stone slab that rose up from the ground, Lucas controlled it until it hovered parallel to the Basilisk's body. He then channelled his magic through the Elemental Sphere, focusing on the element of earth.

The stone slab started to vibrate with its surface beginning to resemble water as Lucas adjusted its structure. Slowly, these movements became more and more obvious, until the slab appeared to be a liquid-like surface.

A mere flick of his wrist, and the slab flowed upwards, the malleable stone rising in a bizarre tidal wave. Under his guidance, it shifted and moulded until a perfect, seamless dome encapsulated the Basilisk's midsection.

Once the dome was in place, Lucas turned his attention to the air within its confines. Using a combination of heating and compression, he increased the air pressure inside the dome, creating a tightly contained environment.

Pressure mounted, and the Basilisk's scales flexed and deformed under immense force. Their durability yielded with a series of sharp, metallic cracks reverberating throughout the Chamber. Lucas could sense the organs within shifting, the liver slowly moving through the gaps between the widened scales like a viscous, fleshy paste.

He kept up the precise pressure, guiding the liver's extrusion with subtle adjustments of the air currents inside the dome, the rush of compressed air hissing faintly with each change. Inch by inch, the massive organ emerged with its shape distorted but its integrity preserved.

Once the last of the liver oozed out of the Basilisk's body, Lucas equalized the air pressure within the dome. The stone structure collapsed in on itself, flowing back into its original slab form and leaving the liver exposed on its surface.

Lucas directed his will, levitating the liver into one of the many boxes surrounding him, and moved onto the Basilisk's stomach and intestines. He could sense their heat signatures, a tangled web of warmth that snaked through the serpent's body like a living maze.

From his pouch, thin, flexible rods materialized at Lucas's beckoning. With uncanny accuracy, he assembled them into a lattice - a mirrored replica of the Basilisk's digestive tract. A self-inflicted cut across his palm provided the blood, which he dripped onto each rod before infusing them, one by one, with potent cooling spells. Intense, localized chills radiated outward from the rods, a biting chill permeating the air around them.

Once he completed the lattice, Lucas levitated it into alignment with the Basilisk's internal organs. With a concentrated burst of magic, he willed the lattice to contract, the rods drawing inward like tightening puppet strings.

As the lattice tightened, the rods' cooling charms took effect, flash-freezing the organs they surrounded. Lucas could sense the warmth draining away, the Basilisk's stomach and intestines rapidly solidifying into frozen, crystalline shapes.

With a focused gesture, he caused the lattice to fall to the ground, and the frozen organs tumbled free from their icy prison. Lucas levitated them into another receptacle, and as with the other containers, the interior was lined with a food preservation charm cast through a wand to maintain their state.

Extending his will over the very earth beneath the Basilisk's coils, Lucas commanded the stone floor to rise up in waves that surrounded the creature's body, rolling like a frozen sea. As the waves crested, he solidified and hardened the stone into an unyielding shell. Within moments, the Basilisk found itself encased in a seamless cocoon of solid rock - a tomb as unbroken as it was inescapable, suspending the serpent's body in stony stasis.

He then turned his focus inward, visualizing the precise location of the Basilisk's kidneys with crystal clarity. With a sharp, decisive gesture, he caused hairline cracks to appear in the stone cocoon, radiating outward from the organs' position like the delicate fractures in a spider's web.

Another burst of magic, and the cracks widened, the stone fracturing and peeling away in precisely calculated chunks. The debris fell away and the Basilisk's kidneys were exposed, still nestled within the protective cradle of the serpent's body.

Carefully, with the utmost delicacy, Lucas tore the organs free, guiding them into a waiting receptacle.

While he worked, Lucas could feel the strain of maintaining so many visualizations in quick succession. His shoulders were strained, and his breath came in short, sharp gasps. But he didn't want to waste too much time here today, and wanted to be done with it.

The lungs presented a unique challenge, because their delicate, spongy structures were at risk of collapsing under their own weight if mishandled. He would have to be very gentle, and Lucas already had an idea in mind.

He began by conjuring many thin earth rods, each one hollow and open at both ends. The young wizard levitated and arranged them in a branching pattern that mirrored the pathways of the Basilisk's respiratory system.

Once the framework was in place, Lucas turned his attention to the air surrounding the Basilisk's ribcage. Using multiple localized compression spells, he increased the air pressure within the confines of the earth rods, while simultaneously lowering the pressure in the spaces between them.

The effect was striking. The pressure differential built instantly, air beginning to rush through the hollow rods, creating miniature cyclones that spun and whirled within their earthy confines while their high-pitched whine filled the chamber. The cyclones acted like a thousand tiny vacuum cleaners as their suction drew the Basilisk's lungs away from the surrounding flesh and into the network of rods.

Lucas maintained the balance of pressure, guiding the vulnerable organs as they were gently pulled from the serpent's body. He could sense the lungs being drawn into the framework, their faint warmth tracing a path as they were gently extracted.

When the last of the lung tissue had been drawn into the rods, Lucas allowed the air pressure to equalize. The cyclones dissipated, leaving the lungs suspended within the earth framework with their structures perfectly preserved.

Finally, he turned his attention to the Basilisk's scales, those magic-resistant plates that had proven so impervious to his earlier efforts. He knew that he couldn't risk damaging them, not if he wanted to preserve their potent properties intact.

Reaching out with his magic once more, Lucas started increasing the air pressure around the Basilisk's body. Slowly, precisely, until it formed a tight, invisible sheath that clung to the serpent's scales like a second skin.

Then, with a sharp, decisive gesture, he caused the air pressure to spike, the sheath contracting with incredible force. The Basilisk's scales flexed and deformed as their durability was once more overwhelmed by the immense pressure.

One by one, the scales began to pop free, dislodged from the underlying flesh by the force of the contracting air sheath. Lucas manually picked up each scale as it came loose and stored it in a separate vessel.

By the time the last scale had been harvested, Lucas was drenched in sweat as his enchanted clothes clung to his lean frame like a second skin from the immense focus and will expended.

Without pause, Lucas transitioned to the next gruelling task. The soft hiss of compressed air filled the cavernous chamber as he manipulated invisible blades to hover around the Basilisk's exposed flesh. With a slight movement of his head and a subtle flick of his fingers, the razor-sharp constructs sliced through muscle and sinew. Wet, meaty sounds accompanied each cut as the blades methodically carved the serpent's body into uniform chunks.

Even the Basilisk's massive skeleton did not escape dismantlement. With the same air blades, Lucas separated the bones at their joints, and both the flesh chunks and the ivory-white fragments floated obediently into their designated containers at his wordless command.

Finally, the last remnant of the ancient serpent was stored away, and Lucas allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. He patted the magically expanded pouch at his hip, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

His gaze shifted then to the gaping maw of Salazar Slytherin's statue, that looming stone visage that had once disgorged the Basilisk itself.

With a slight narrowing of his eyes, Lucas concentrated, and the very earth beneath his feet started to shift. A solid pillar rose smoothly, lifting him until he was level with the statue's open mouth. Taking a step forward, a bridge of compacted earth flowed outward, forming a path that connected the pillar to the statue's threshold.

Lucas strode forward without hesitation, and as he passed through the statue's maw, several of the glowing orbs that illuminated the Chamber broke away to follow. Their soft radiance lit up the tunnel beyond in a bright glow.

The passage opened into a spacious antechamber, and Lucas's sharp eyes immediately took in the details. One corner was dominated by a grisly pile of both animal and human skulls with their empty sockets seeming to stare back at him. Coiled among the bones were several shed Basilisk skins as their venomous green scales shimmered like gemstones in the magical light.

With a wave of his hand, the skins and skulls floated into his pouch, joining the other components he had collected.

The rest of the chamber showed signs of past habitation - a bare bedframe stripped of any mattress or coverings, bookshelves gaping with emptiness, tables and chairs left in haphazard disarray. Several workstations lined the far wall with their surfaces blank and devoid of any tools or materials.

A wry chuckle slipped past his lips as he approached, and he shook his head slowly. Of course, this place would have been picked clean long ago. Slytherin's more unhinged and impoverished descendants would have surely taken anything of value, and whatever they had missed, Tom Riddle would have claimed for his own.

The empty bedframe was a perfect example of their thoroughness. They hadn't left so much as a tattered sheet behind, stripping the furniture down to its barest bones.

Turning his attention to the workstations, Lucas ran an appraising eye over their simple wooden construction. Just mundane tables, really - the sort any half-decent adult wizard could transfigure with ease. Hardly worth a second glance.

Still, he felt pretty satisfied as he took one last look around the barren chamber. He had come for the Basilisk, and the ancient serpent's remains were now secured in his expanded pouch.

Though he didn't intend to sell the remains, because what use did he have for money, after all? His vault held more than enough to get by, and he could always exchange Muggle funds if needed, even if he had to abide by the exchange limits. If it truly came down to it...well, he had ways of acquiring what he desired, legal or not.

No, the Basilisk's bounty would be for his use alone - a private treasure trove of some of the most potent magical materials in existence.

With a final nod of satisfaction, Lucas turned and retraced his steps back down the tunnel, the glowing orbs bobbing along in his wake. There was nothing more for him here tonight.