Chapter 57: Ch 22 The King of Snakes Part 2
In the magical forest, bathed in the soft glow of filtered sunlight, Celine perched herself on a weathered rock nestled beside a crystal-clear river, its melodious flow merging with the distant symphony of a nearby waterfall. She had discarded her shirt and was sitting only in her ebony bra, her bare back was exposed to the gentle caress of the forest breeze.
Sirius knelt beside her, his wand held delicately between his fingers, tracing intricate patterns in the air. His focused gaze shifted from Celine's wounded back to the wand, performing a complex piece of healing magic.
"Shh...Ahh," Celine hissed as the wound was being disinfected before being slowly closed without leaving any scar.
"I told you... that Griffin did not look friendly at all," he muttered, his lips curling with restrained mirth, "Had you listened to me... it wouldn't have happened,"
"Hey," Celine exclaimed indignantly, "I thought that it would let me pet him... after all I bowed and all that shit,"
"A Gryffin is not a Hippogriff, Celine. That's just basic knowledge," Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Yeah! Yeah! I know that now and it wasn't like I took Care of Magical creatures as my electives—hey," Celine stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Sirius's lingering gaze, his eyes wandering where they shouldn't. Heat rose to her cheeks, a blush creeping across her face, "Watch where you're looking at Black, Keep your eyes up here," her voice a mixture of annoyance and bashfulness
A mischievous smirk graced Sirius's lips as he offered a feeble justification. "I need to look... to heal you properly," he retorted, his eyes betraying his shameless ogling. Sometimes it paid to be a good Occlumens that lets you focus on two things at once.
"Ugh! You're infuriating, Black," Celine said with an exasperated sigh.
"Thanks... And we're done here," Sirius declared, rising gracefully from his crouched position. He took a few purposeful strides, stretching his legs to get back his blood pumping and asked Celine, "Do you need some time to rest or do we continue?"
"No, let's keep going,"
After neatly packing up their tent, Sirius nodded in agreement, and they resumed their journey through the forest. As they walked, Sirius, seeking to break the silence, posed a question in a playful tone. "So, how do you intend to compensate me for my services?" he asked, his voice laden with a suggestive undertone.
Confusion etched across Celine's face, causing her to pause mid-step and turn to him. "Compensate? How?" she inquired, tilting her head slightly in bewilderment.
"Well, I've heard that in Muggle culture, if a young maiden is unable to pay for something like pizza or cab, she offers... alternative forms of payment," Sirius replied, his innocent smile contradicted by the mischief dancing in his raised eyebrows.
"Humph! As if you stand a chance," Celine scoffed, reaching into her pocket and flinging a sickle toward him. With an air of haughtiness, she turned and began walking away. "Keep the change," she declared, her voice tinged with a touch of smugness.
Sirius deftly caught the sickle, following closely behind her as he spoke. "Ah! To think that I, Sirius Black, a member of the esteemed House Black, would ever endure the indignity of being paid with a sickle," he proclaimed dramatically, waving his hands theatrically. "I shall have you dragged before the entire Wizengamot and sentenced straight to Azkaban for this indigestion,"
"Pfft... You mean 'indiscretion,' right?" Celine interjected, unable to stifle her laughter.
"Yeah, that's what I said," Sirius dismissed his slip of the tongue with a wave of his hand, though his lips twitched with a hint of a smile. "Do you find this amusing, little lass?" he queried in a mock-menacing tone. "Well, if you must know, I happen to have an ancestral mansion, inherited from my rather dark ancestors. It comes complete with a crazy house elf who would be delighted to give you a tour of our dungeon."
Celine's smile grew wider as she continued navigating through the dense foliage. "Sure, I'll be sure to check that out when we return," she replied, her voice laced with amusement.
"Ah, how scandalous!" Sirius exclaimed, feigning shock as he placed a hand dramatically over his heart. "A young lady eager to engage in illicit activities at my residence before marriage. Oh my! What would my dear mum say? Dear Merlin! My ancestors must be rolling in their graves,"
Crimson coloured Celine's cheeks as she blushed, flustered by his innuendo. "I didn't mean..." she stammered, her words trailing off. "You're disgusting, Black," she finally managed to say, her tone a blend of embarrassment and amusement.
Sirius's snickers abruptly ceased, replaced by a sudden seriousness that etched his features. He swiftly raised his hand in the universal signal to halt, his eyes conveying a sense of urgency.
Caught off guard, Celine halted in her tracks, her breath caught in her chest as a harrowing memory from a few days ago flooded her mind.
With meticulous slowness, Sirius began to back away, gesturing for Celine to follow suit, their movements deliberate and devoid of sound, avoiding the use of magic. They retraced their steps, retreating about 200 meters before Sirius's instincts stopped screaming at him and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"I believe we're safe now," he whispered, his voice carrying a mix of caution and relief.
"What was it this time? Another dragon?" Celine whispered anxiously, her voice still tinged with fear, hesitating to speak at a normal volume.
"I don't know if it is a Dragon or not," Sirius replied, his tone laden with certainty. "But I can assure you that whatever resides there is an immensely powerful magical creature, undoubtedly on par with the last dragon we encountered."
"Again? Bloody hell!" Celine exclaimed, her frustration evident. "What in the name of Merlin is wrong with this forest?"
"You wait here," Sirius declared, retracing his steps toward the source of their retreat after taking a deep breath, "I am going to go and take a look,"
"But... it's too dangerous," Celine protested, her voice laced with concern.
"Aww... I knew you cared," Sirius teased, his voice adopting a playful tone before he thumped his chest with confidence. "But don't worry! I've got it."
Immediately, Sirius began casting a series of spells upon himself that he knew and learned recently, from the Stealth spell that the previous Sirius had practised extensively in his teen years for undisclosed reasons, to Scent cancelling, Magic Suppressing, Heat Shielding and finally Sound cancelling to hide his heartbeat and breathing with a dash of a perfect Disillusionment charm.
"How is it?" Sirius's voice called out from ahead, but Celine couldn't discern even the faintest hint that anyone other than herself stood in the vicinity.
"Perfect!" Celine said sarcastically to empty ait, "Exactly what a pervert like you would be good at,"
"Hehe... You shouldn't have said that," Sirius responded with a mischievous tone.
"What do— Ow!" Celine yelped as a loud smack landed on her rear, causing her to jump in surprise. "I'll bloody well kill you, Black!" she cursed while looking around wildly but she wasn't able to find him at all to her frustration so she finally gave up after a few minutes and concluded that he probably already left.
...
Sirius gingerly approached the place from where the alarms inside his head had started ringing. The grim inside him stirred with an ominous warning, the grim that used a Werewolf as a slapping puppy would only be scared of the top predators of the magical world so Sirius was taking this very seriously.
As he walked through the dense forest, Sirius began to discern massive, greyish structures resembling fallen tree bark. A sense of unease coiled in his chest, and upon drawing nearer, he realized that these were not tree barks at all, but rather decayed animal skin.
An abrupt clearing materialized before him, revealing a rock formation that appeared eerily familiar. It bore a resemblance to the one he had encountered days earlier, just before his encounter with the dragon. However, there was one distinct difference: the previous formation had been jagged, whereas this one was smoother, resembling... a snake.
Swallowing hard and suppressing the urge to flee immediately, Sirius tremulously brought his wand up to his eyes and silently cast a temporary X-ray charm. Almost instantly, his heart began pounding louder than a stampede of hippogriffs as a colossal, dark as-an-abyss, Basilisk came in front of his eyes. It easily surpassed the Black Dread in length, measuring approximately 20 to 25 meters, with a staggering width of 3 meters.
Not wanting to test his luck Sirius immediately started backing away while keeping the king of Snakes in front of his eyes, hoping and praying with all his might that it wouldn't wake up.
Not daring to test his luck, Sirius immediately started retreating, keeping the King of Serpents in his line of sight, desperately hoping and praying it would remain dormant.
Only upon reaching the spot where he had left Celine did Sirius dare to take a loud breath, even though he knew he had employed the sound-cancellation charm. He dispelled the Disillusionment charm, causing Celine to round up on him but she halted abruptly upon seeing his deathly pale face. "What happened? What did you see?" she urgently inquired.
"A Basilisk," Sirius said grimly.
"A w-what?" Celine's voice trembled as she stared at him in disbelief. "B-but they are extinct, aren't they? How could you have seen one? Maybe you made a mistake."
"Believe me, that creature was too massive for me to make a mistake," Sirius said, shaking his head bitterly. "Besides, I had a hunch, given the historical association between the Basilisk and Herpo."
"B-but..." Celine attempted to deny his words, but seeing the gravity in his expression, she sank down to the ground, defeated. "This place is hell."
"Hell is the right word for it," Sirius nodded in agreement. "It's as if someone compiled a list of the most dangerous magical creatures in the world and decided to gather them all here, creating their own personal hell."
"A personal hell, huh?" Celine echoed, her face blank with contemplation before suddenly her eyes gleamed brightly as she sprang to her feet, "I think I know what is happening in this forest!" She exclaimed.
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