The water curtain shattered, and the golden pupils vanished like phantoms. Yet that fleeting glimpse was enough to etch a deep impression into everyone's minds.
"Ah—!" A piercing scream shattered the dead silence.
As if a switch had been flipped, screams and sobs erupted everywhere!
The wave of crumbling emotions crashed over all the students like a bursting dam!
Like a veil torn away, that terrifying radiance pierced their thoughts, branding an indelible mark into their memories and retinas!
Seeing that a stampede was about to break out, Dumbledore raised his wand, pointed it at his throat, and his voice boomed like a thunderclap: "Quiet!"
In the midst of that deep, commanding tone, the students gradually fell silent, sniffling as they turned to their only source of reassurance.
Headmaster Dumbledore spoke sternly, "Prefects, calm the students from your respective houses. There's no need to fear; with me and the professors here, no harm will come to you."
Upon hearing the order, Ravenclaw Prefect Penelope steadied herself a bit.
She drew a sobbing girl into her arms, gently patting her back, and with the poise of a prefect, she soothed the unrest in Ravenclaw.
But in that moment, she herself felt deeply unsettled.
Penelope turned her head, gazing toward the majestic castle standing under the moonlight.
Right now, no one knew what was unfolding inside.
Ethan—Ethan was still in the castle!
He couldn't be in trouble, could he? No matter how exceptional Ethan usually seemed, he was still just a second-year student!
Tonight was meant to be nothing more than a competition between Slytherin and the Enlightenment Society. Who had seized this chance to unleash such a horrifying attack?
Penelope glanced aside unintentionally and happened to lock eyes with Slytherin's prefect, Gemma Farley.
Gemma Farley's face was ashen pale.
But Penelope wondered if she was seeing things.
She seemed to catch a glint of composure in Miss Gemma's eyes, much like during last year's challenge.
Once the commotion had mostly died down, Dumbledore turned to Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape:
"We must head to the castle at once! Those Slytherin children—"
Dumbledore left the words hanging, but the professors present clearly grasped his implication.
Even a mere glimpse through the water curtain had caused such devastating effects—what about those Slytherin students who had faced the terror head-on?
Now, no one dared to picture the answer to that question.
The group rushed toward the castle.
Along the way, a thought crossed Snape's mind: Could this incident be connected to Ethan Vincent?
—No, how could it? Even if Ethan was as devious as he appeared, he lacked the means or capability to conjure something so horrifying.
What they should be worrying about now was whether Ethan, who had joined the dare and stayed in the castle, had gotten caught up in it too.
At that moment, on the third floor of Hogwarts Castle, Zabini stared blankly upward at the golden pupils opening one by one from the dark scales.
The radiance was watching him.
Rustle, rustle...
The enormous, ink-black serpentine body, like a coiling mountain range, undulated and stretched endlessly.
And so, the golden pupils on its form glided by continuously, appearing and reappearing without end, watching him without cease.
The walls and ceiling shifted—the world spun. Unbeknownst to him, tears streamed down Zabini's face.
He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even think.
Only the most primal human fear clutched at his body.
Yet, under the gaze of those golden pupils, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Ah—! Ah—!"
Zabini dropped to his knees with a thud.
Even without seeing, he knew everyone else must be the same.
Flint, Nott, Millicent, Crabbe.
All of them had fallen to their knees uncontrollably.
Victory had been so close—they'd cleared so many checkpoints before, endured so much suffering. How could it end like this? What was this thing—the glory of Slytherin...
All those thoughts rushed to his lips, twisting into a single cry: "Praise the radiance!"
The golden pupils quivered slightly, as if pleased by the sight before them.
Meanwhile, in the empty classroom on the third floor, Ethan, perched on a desk, shivered subtly, as if sensing something.
A spark of light flickered deep in his cobalt-blue eyes.
"It seems the net has been cast," Ethan said.
Ethan's eyes curved in amusement as he watched a pale figure drift in from the shadows of the doorway.
It was Luna, who had pretended to faint to draw the Slytherin students to the canvas's location.
The Great Serpent painting was a secret known only to Luna and himself.
The other society members had simply been told to "give them a little scare and let all the Slytherins pass."
As for any suspicions later—please.
Ethan was the upstanding president of the Enlightenment Society, a pure-hearted young artist who only wanted to share great art with the world.
How could he possibly do something so terrifying?
Impossible. Utterly impossible. "They're bathing in the radiance right now."
Luna said in her dreamy, ethereal voice.
The words hung without context, but both of them understood perfectly.
Ethan hopped down from the desk, his polished black boots clicking sharply against the floor.
He strode over to Luna, bowed slightly, placed his left hand behind his back, and extended his right hand naturally, palm up.
It was a classic invitation to dance.
Ethan looked up at Luna with a tilt of his head and smiled. "Let's celebrate our victory."
Luna smiled faintly, lifting her slender, pale hand and placing it in Ethan's palm.
Ethan's grin broadened.
He gently closed his fingers around hers, straightened up, and was about to gallantly place his other hand at Luna's waist when a thought struck him: "We should have some background music."
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
—Magic: Soul Scream.
In an instant, "Ahhhhhh—!!!"
Like countless sharp nails screeching across glass, the agony laced within sent shivers down the spine.
Countless screams layered over one another, instantly filling the entire room!
No, nearly all of Hogwarts!
The echoes even spilled outside, causing the young wizards—who had just barely regained their composure—to tremble once more.
What on earth had happened?! Ethan—he couldn't be in trouble, could he?!
Prefect Penelope thought anxiously, her eyes welling up.
At the same time, this shrill, mournful wail caused Dumbledore and the others, who were racing to the third floor, to pale dramatically!
They exchanged solemn looks and hastened their steps.
Ethan and the others—they had to be safe!
Amid the wailing, Ethan and Luna swayed gently in the empty classroom.
Outside the window, a bright moon hung high, spilling its silvery light over them like a delicate white veil.
Indeed, the Great Serpent's body on its own only evoked pure terror; it couldn't even petrify like a Basilisk.
But that didn't mean it couldn't be fused with other paintings.
"Fusion Painting: Pupil of Radiance (Pupil of the Door + Breaking Out of the Shell)"
"Effect: Induces intense hallucinations, forcibly implanting the radiance into the viewer's mind. Those with weak willpower will fall into a coma for several months."
Hmm—a coma was better than petrification, wasn't it?
A sound sleep to breeze through the semester.
Ethan felt he was truly merciful.
As for whether they'd dream and what those dreams might hold—heh.
With the Pupil of Radiance sprouting on the serpent's body, everyone would assume it was an innate effect of the monster.
Thus, they'd fear the creature even more.
In truth, it was a composite chimera!
"Your society members have demonstrated great strength! They have spread the name of the Enlightenment Society!"
"Breaking Out of the Shell progress increased by 5%"
Cobalt-blue subtitles flashed before Ethan's eyes.
"Your painting has brought a strong shock to everyone!"
"Soul fusion increased by 3%"
"You have greatly spread the mystery of the lamp."
"Let the world realize the beauty of the radiance!"
"Breaking Out of the Shell progress increased by 10%!"
"Breaking Out of the Shell progress: 41% → 56%"
"Eggshell breaking progress exceeds 50%"
"You have obtained extraordinary material: Radiance Element"
In that instant, Ethan felt a brilliant light ignite in his skull, golden flames transmuting into power that surged into his eyes!
Ethan couldn't help but blink.
Then, he felt a drop of cool liquid trickle from his eye.
"The liquid flowing from the crack is highly spiritual. If used for the painting of eyes, it will yield twice the result with half the effort."
The painting of eyes!
Ethan's spirit soared, a rush of ecstasy bursting from within!
He gazed at this drop of pure white liquid hovering in mid-air.
Even in the dim classroom, it shone incomparably bright; nothing could dim its luster.
This extraordinary pigment, "Radiance Element," wasn't it perfect for painting the Basilisk's eyes?!
This system was truly brilliant!
It delivered exactly what he needed!
Everything was in place.
Only one final condition remained: a way to resist the Basilisk's eye curse.
"I must be able to stare directly into the Basilisk's eyes, see their true form, and then I can paint them perfectly."
"Having the pigment alone still isn't enough," Ethan thought to himself.
Just then, the subtitles reappeared:
"Light the lamp, and you will be able to pass through the dense and primitive forest, entering deeper places."
"Tonight, filled with passion, you will enter this hidden place in your dreams."
Forest?
Ethan recalled the deep, secluded forest he had stumbled into last year when he accidentally entered the Mirror of Erised.
It was there that he had learned of Herpo the Foul's residence, and from there, he had sought out the secret treasure and lit the lamp in his skull.
And now, this lamp would guide him into the forest's depths, to uncover even greater mysteries.
Ethan thought: Perhaps there, he could find a method to withstand the Basilisk's gaze.
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze