The Admiral of Hogwarts

"Not yet." Upon learning that Hood could undo the petrification magic on Ginger, Hugo and Veneto stopped her almost simultaneously.

The reason for this was simple: with a basilisk roaming the castle, a petrified cat wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as it would keep everyone on alert.

More importantly, the basilisk's controller likely saw Ginger being petrified. Restoring her now could easily alert them, making it harder to catch them.

"By the way, did Ginger see the controller's face?" After concerning himself with Ginger's safety, Hugo immediately asked Hood.

After all, Ginger wasn't an ordinary cat; everything she saw could be transmitted to her owner, Hood.

"No, she only saw the snake." Hood said with some helplessness.

The reason for this was simple: the basilisk was so large that it conveniently obscured the controller's figure.

More importantly, the controller didn't hang Ginger on the wall as they did with Mrs. Norris last time. Instead, they petrified her and quickly left the scene with the basilisk.

"What's wrong?" Hermione suddenly stopped and said to Hugo while he was pondering. It was then that Hugo realized he had fallen behind Hagrid and the others because he had been busy gathering information from the ship girls.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about Hagrid's—" Hugo quickly took two steps up the stairs, but before he could finish, Peeves' loud and somewhat shrill voice suddenly echoed throughout the castle.

"Attack! Attack! Another attack! Neither cat nor ghost is spared! Run for your lives! At—tac—ck!"

Clang—Clang—Clang—: Doors along the corridor were flung open one after another, and people poured out. A chaotic sound of footsteps and voices came from above the staircase.

Hugo and the others followed the sound upstairs and found the corner of the fifth-floor corridor crowded with people, the scene extremely chaotic.

In the very center of the crowd, Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, was lying motionless, suspended six inches above the ground.

He was no longer pearly white and transparent but had turned completely black, wreathed in smoke. Half of his head was hanging off, and his face was frozen in a terrified expression. At his feet, a somewhat plump, ginger cat stood motionless, like a statue.

"No, Ginger—" With Hagrid clearing the way, Hugo and the others managed to squeeze to the front of the crowd. Hermione was the first to see Ginger standing there quietly, looking like a statue.

For Hermione, this very understanding pet cat had brought a lot of joy to her school life. Therefore, upon seeing her cat petrified, she immediately stepped forward and hugged her.

"Make way, make way—" Professor McGonagall came running, followed by her students, one of whom had streaks of black and white in their hair.

Arriving there, she tapped her wand, creating a loud bang, and everyone immediately quieted down. Then, she ordered everyone to return to their classrooms.

Soon, everyone left the scene, leaving only Hugo and the others, along with Harry, who was involved in the incident.

However, just as people were dispersing, Ernie of Hufflepuff rushed to the scene, panting. His face was pale as he dramatically pointed at Harry and shouted, "Caught in the act!"

"Enough, Ernie!" Professor McGonagall said sternly. Peeves floated overhead, looking down on the scene, grinning and baring his teeth in a mischievous smile.

As the teachers bent down to examine Ginger and Nearly Headless Nick, Peeves suddenly began to sing: Oh, Potter, you nasty little faker, What a thing you have done, You've killed the ghosts, Isn't it fun—

"Peeves, be quiet!" Professor McGonagall roared. Peeves stuck his tongue out at the people below and retreated rapidly.

Soon, under Professor McGonagall's arrangement, Hermione, carrying her cat, and Hugo, fanning Nearly Headless Nick with a large fan conjured by Professor McGonagall, headed towards the hospital wing under the protection of Veneto and Hagrid. Harry went with Professor McGonagall towards the headmaster's office.

"I think I know why the attacker fled in such a hurry after attacking Ginger," Veneto said to Hugo through the admiral's network on the way to the hospital.

"Because the ghost was also attacked at that time, and some classrooms nearby were in session. The attacker fled the scene as quickly as possible for fear of being discovered."

"You make a lot of sense." Hugo replied through the same channel. "The only pity is that Ginger didn't see the attacker this time; otherwise, it would be much easier for us to deal with some things next."

The reason Hugo said this was simple: the most significant threat to him now was the missing notebook, not the basilisk.

At least, knowing the location of the basilisk's lair, Veneto assured Hugo that she and Firefly could easily kill the giant snake together.

But killing the basilisk without figuring out the unknown situation of Voldemort's Horcrux notebook would only make that piece of Voldemort hide even deeper, and there might even be the terrible possibility of two Voldemorts.

"Who do you think the attacker is this time?" Hermione asked Hugo and the others, holding her cat as they went upstairs. "I've never heard of any magic that can harm ghosts."

"It shouldn't be Harry," Hugo said. "This level of petrification magic is definitely not something a second-year student can cast. He's more like a scapegoat, or—"

"Or he's the target of the attack." Hermione pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "That would explain why he's always the first to appear at the scene of the accident."

"Obviously, the attacker probably just wanted to kill Harry, but each time, I ran into other people before launching the attack and failed."

"Surely—surely it's not that bad." After listening to Hugo and Hermione's conversation, Hagrid's face showed a look of panic. "Why would anyone attack Harry?"

"I think there might be quite a few people who want to attack Harry." After turning his thoughts in this direction, Hermione quickly came to a reasonable explanation.

"For us, and even for most of the British wizarding world, Harry ended a dark era that year. But for some, the opposite is true."

After nudging the cat that was about to slip from her arms upwards and holding it tighter, Hermione stated her judgment.

"Think about it, those dark wizards or the children of dark wizards must harbor hatred for Harry. Because it was his existence that ended the era in which dark wizards could do whatever they wanted."

"This—" Hagrid's face turned pale all of a sudden, and after they handed over all the petrified people to Madam Pomfrey to take care of, Hagrid immediately said goodbye to Hugo and the others and left the hospital wing in a hurry.