Hunting, one of humanity's earliest mastered skills.

From 250,000 BC to the present day, humans have spent over 95% of their time on Earth in the hunting era.

Perhaps many Muggles have long forgotten how to hunt, but wizards have not.

For most wizards, one of the hypothetical enemies in school is various magical creatures, or rather... dangerous Dark Arts creatures—this is the main teaching content of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

However, no professor has ever told everyone how to hunt a Basilisk that is twenty or thirty feet long.

Fortunately, the "graduates" present still have the opportunity to cram some relevant knowledge on the spot.

"The Basilisk's most dangerous weapons are two: instant death upon eye contact and its deadly venom—"

While Dumbledore checked the magical traps around him, lighting up the dark gaps between the stone pillars one by one, Newt seized the opportunity to start his remedial lesson.

"Of course, if direct eye contact doesn't occur, the Basilisk isn't as dangerous as you might think."

"As a serpentine magical creature, it still has inherent weaknesses in many aspects of its physiological habits, which is very important."

"Firstly, the Basilisk has no ears, or more precisely, like most snakes, it has no external or middle ear—"

Newt flicked his wand, drawing a lifelike serpentine light and shadow in mid-air.

Under the influence of a certain juvenile Veela hybrid, the nearly centenarian Newt Scamander has recently crammed a lot of Muggle knowledge.

The most important part of this is the anatomical feedback results for snakes, and correlating these theories with his previous dissections.

Few people know that before Newt even went to school, he had dissected magical creatures more than once with his mother's help.

"This means..."

Newt cleared his throat, looked at the bewildered Ministry of Magic wizards, and said unhurriedly.

"The Basilisk is likely weak in hearing. It relies more on the sense of smell from its tongue and sensing ground vibrations to locate prey. These are the two aspects we will focus on targeting later: vibrations and smell."

"Um, I understand... so we should stay as still as possible and eliminate our own scent?"

Rufus Scrimgeour nodded in sudden realization, thoughtfully saying in a deep voice.

Just like hunting in the mountains or tracking down dangerous dark wizards, concealing one's tracks is a necessary skill for every Auror.

"No, quite the opposite—"

Newt shook his head, a strange expression appearing on his old face.

"In the world of magical creatures, the more acute an animal's hearing is in silence, the more it cannot tolerate the stimulation of high-pitched sounds; the more acute an animal's vision is in the dark, the more it cannot resist the intense heat of bright light..."

"Perhaps the Basilisk can easily capture footsteps or even heartbeat tremors, but when the entire arena begins to tremble intermittently, like an earthquake, its survival-dependent perception will instead become an obstacle."

Newt tapped his wand, and the originally smooth marble floor suddenly twisted and vibrated as if some monster was sealed underneath.

Perhaps advanced Transfiguration and spell disguises are troublesome, but disorderly, simple destruction is clearly much easier.

"Snakes' mode of movement is very suitable for high-speed travel on smooth paths, but they have much more difficulty in sharp turns and rugged roads. Making this arena uneven and maintaining high-frequency vibrations at all times can greatly restrict the Basilisk's movements."

As a former temporary headmaster of Hogwarts and professor of Magizoology, Newt introduced it in a soft voice as if he knew his subject like the back of his hand.

Snakes have no feet; they mainly rely on the alternating contraction and expansion of a series of muscles attached to the spine to crawl forward.

Since there is a set of muscles on each side of the spine, one side contracts while the other expands, causing the snake's body to bend.

This wave-like movement, one contraction and one expansion, can transmit force from head to tail in opposite positions on both sides of the body.

If this wave movement does not encounter obstacles during transmission, the curvature formed by these muscle activities will spread unhindered throughout the body.

However, if the ground is uneven or rugged and narrow, the wave movement will be disturbed.

At each point of contact, the ground will generate corresponding pressure. This pressure can only cause the snake to move forward smoothly if it is greater than the snake's sliding friction. On the other hand, because snakes generally have less lung capacity than other mammals, when they frequently engage in such high-energy activities, their physical energy consumption will increase linearly.

In nature, badgers prey on venomous snakes, sometimes literally tiring their prey to death.

Most importantly, the snake's spinal activity is limited to a certain angle and cannot make sharp-angled turns.

Perhaps this is not so obvious in some smaller snakes, but if it is a behemoth like the Basilisk, which is tens of meters long, its ability to make sharp-angled turns may not even be as good as some aerial maneuvers performed by Muggle pilots.

"Destroy the arena and turn this into the wizards' home field... truly worthy of Mr. Scamander."

With Newt's simple explanation, Scrimgeour and others quickly understood and drew their wands to cast environmental magic.

The originally smooth and clean marble floor became hideous, with countless bizarre protrusions and folds turning up.

Irregular bumps and dents also appeared on the surrounding stone pillars, and the ground was covered with simply Transfigured rubble and crude drum surfaces, ready to vibrate at any time.

It must be said that as the most prominent magizoologist in the magical world today, Newt has once again given young people a practical lesson.

And with Kingsley's supplementary suggestion, they went even further based on Newt Scamander's foundation.

They constructed some hidden shelters in those rolling rock folds and carefully disguised huge stone spikes, like layers of thorny traps surrounding the hall.

If the Basilisk dared to rashly swim and charge in the hall, it would definitely experience what human's despicable hunting wisdom is.

At the same time, while waiting for the Ministry of Magic wizards to perfect the "thorny traps," Newt also took out some water jars that looked a bit battered.

Those jars contained ominous red liquid, and even from a distance, one could smell a spicy and pungent odor.

As Newt directed his wand to smear them in every corner of the hall little by little.

The red liquid gradually adhered to the broken marble surface like dried blood, exuding a scorching aura that made people feel hot all over and couldn't help but want to escape.

"Don't worry, these are all specially treated snake repellent and cold dispelling potions that are harmless to the human body—"

Newt Scamander said calmly, and without waiting for Scrimgeour to ask, he proactively handed over one of the jars.

"Didn't I just say that the Basilisk's perception also relies heavily on its sense of smell? Usually when you see them sticking out their tongues, they are capturing the various odors permeating the air—this is also the most difficult aspect to restrict. Therefore, at Professor Dumbledore's request, the Hogwarts potion professors have concocted a batch of extremely stimulating potions. It's lucky for it to only smell it; if it accidentally licks it..."

"...what will happen?"

Scrimgeour looked at the red potion exuding a deathly aura in his arms and swallowed subconsciously.

After this hunt, he roughly understood the difference between himself and those top wizards.

Environment, potions, information... even without magic power and magic skills, just by relying on wisdom and understanding of various knowledge, Newt Scamander and Albus Dumbledore could easily manipulate that extremely dangerous beast in the palm of their hands.

"I'm not sure, but—it might burn? Of course, it's just a metaphor."

Newt Scamander recalled what a certain little devil said when describing it, shrugged, and added.

"Of course, these are mainly restriction methods, not the main means of attack—how to deal with the Basilisk specifically still depends on Professor Dumbledore's ideas. I have never been a particularly outstanding student in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

A very peculiar point is that although Dumbledore spent most of his time teaching Transfiguration before becoming headmaster.

However, during the time Newt was in school, Dumbledore happened to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for a while.

Although Dumbledore was transferred away from this course when Grindelwald later launched a wizarding war in Europe and even worldwide, in Newt Scamander's mind, Dumbledore has always been a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, not a Transfiguration professor.

"Um, Professor Dumbledore, what are we going to..."

Scrimgeour and others stood in place, subconsciously looking at Dumbledore, who was previously checking the magical traps not far away.

However, Dumbledore did not answer them immediately but took out a roll of parchment from his pocket.

The old man tapped the parchment with his wand, carefully looking at it through his half-moon glasses for ten seconds before putting the parchment away again and turning to look at the dropouts and graduates behind him who had almost finished setting up the "hunting ground."

"It's very simple. I will summon the Basilisk later, and then everyone will cast spells at different positions in turn."

Dumbledore said gently, his voice seemed to contain magic that made people feel at ease.

"However, there is a slight extra point to explain: except for me, you all have to close your eyes to cast the first round of spells. As for the signal to release the spells, it will be the ending sound of my incantation—after I give the command, you will all chant forward together."

"But Professor Dumbledore, if we close our eyes, how will we..."

Scrimgeour glanced around the spacious and vast Chamber of Secrets hall, seemingly finding it a bit inconceivable.

"Calibrate the shot and fix the attack angle—"

Dumbledore said softly, as if he had foreseen Scrimgeour's question, smiling unhurriedly.

While speaking, the old man raised his wand and gently tapped the tall Salazar Slytherin statue not far away.

The next moment, a golden-red light appeared on the face of the Slytherin stone statue.

"Before summoning the Basilisk, we can first use the Line of Light Charm to mark the direction of our spells—and then temporarily fix the angle of our arms with the Petrification Charm. After the spell is activated, everyone's magic should automatically release those superficial spells on their arms."

Dumbledore explained casually, moving his wand back and forth in the Chamber of Secrets, leaving behind afterimages of light spots in various places.

"Here is the first group, and the casting time should coincide with the ending sound of my incantation."

"Here is the second group; release when you hear a heavy object fall."

"Here is the third group..."

Before arriving at Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, Eliana and Grindelwald had deduced a very detailed battle plan for him.

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Perhaps Dumbledore doesn't quite trust these two Dark Lords on other matters, but in this kind of multi-person hunting magic operation, the Fairy Queen and the first generation Dark Lord's alliance is indeed the most trustworthy option—Dumbledore won't misjudge this kind of thing.

And the degree of importance shown by the "Seer" Eliana in this made Dumbledore silently add a lot of weight in his heart.

Magic traps, potion weakening, segmented shooting, magic firepower network...

With so many combinations, he, as the last main attacker to cast the attack, naturally wouldn't have any intention of holding back.

Not to mention...

After Dumbledore roughly arranged the personnel for each group, he groped out a small package from his pocket and threw it high into the air in the distance.

Grayish-white, viscous, dense, like a thick white fungal blanket, a giant spider web opened on Salazar Slytherin's stone statue's face.

From a distance, it looked like it was wearing an airtight spider web mask. Perhaps the Basilisk could break through the "spider web helmet" falling on its head with its bite force and brute force after breaking free, but it would definitely not be able to open its eyes and emit a deadly gaze immediately.

Even in the worst case, it would take at least 2-3 seconds for the Basilisk to knock open the spider web around it.

And according to Eliana and Grindelwald's estimates.

Three seconds.

The wizards present could probably release at least two rounds of volley fire.

Not to mention, this also included the full spellcasting of Dumbledore and Newt.

If this still couldn't cause the snake to lose most of its combat power, directly fall into serious injury, or even be killed directly, then they could start considering the matter of running for their lives.

Of course, if it still had the strength to escape back.

Or run away from other places, that would be another derivative operational plan.

After confirming one last time, Dumbledore used the "real-time communication" ability of the house system to transmit a signal to enter the battle to the people above.

"Now everyone, close your eyes and only turn around and open your eyes after casting two spells—"

Immediately afterward, Dumbledore took a deep breath and raised his feet to shuttle forward between the distorted and strange stone pillars.

He stopped in front of the towering stone statue, looked up at the face of the Slytherin stone statue hidden high behind the spider web mask, opened his mouth, and made hissing sounds—although no one understood what he was saying, everyone knew the "human language" meaning of that passage.

[Speak to me, Slytherin—the greatest of the four founders of Hogwarts]

Behind the spider web that people couldn't see, Slytherin's huge stone face moved.

Its mouth opened, and it opened wider and wider, eventually forming a huge black hole.

Something was moving in the mouth of the statue.

Something was creeping up from the depths of the statue.

Finally, just when everyone's nerves were stretched to the point of breaking, people heard a strange muffled sound of a heavy object hitting the spider web and Dumbledore's somewhat unexpected, full-bodied, and powerful voice.

"Stupefy!! First group!"

Along with Dumbledore's incantation, more than a dozen beams of scarlet light lit up in the dim Chamber of Secrets.

A behemoth slammed onto the stone ground, and people felt the Chamber of Secrets even tremble violently.

Like droplets of water dripping into boiling oil.

The next moment, the entire Chamber of Secrets trembled even more violently. Almost all the gravel was colliding and shaking, and the marble floor twisted and swayed crazily, like mad rock tentacles, twitching and hitting frantically in the narrow space.

In the noisy and chaotic trembling vibrations, people could vaguely hear the painful, terrifying hissing sounds of the giant snake.

And.

Professor Dumbledore's calm and steady voice that sounded like it was ringing in their ears.

"Second group! Continue!"

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Hooray! Big chapter!