The New Trio and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter 16: The Chamber of Secrets

"Well?" asked Fred excitedly. "What d'you reckon?"

"How did you get this?" he asked curiously. I mean, it makes sense, mostly."

"Hermione had it scrunched up in one of her hands. I noticed it, and got it out."

"What does it say?" asked Draco a bit impatiently. Harry gathered he didn't like not knowing what someone was talking about.

Harry smiled gently when Draco cringed a bit at the tone he'd spoken in, to let him know he was forgiven. "It says, 'Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or deadly thatn the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live may hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.' Then, under that, Hermione's written the word 'Pipes'."

By this time, everyone in the room was extremely pale. "Basilisks?" asked Blaise, swallowing hard. He seemed the most affected out of them all.

Neville had his eyebrows furrowed. "If she's saying that the Monster is a Basilisk, then how come no one's died?"

"Easy," said George, looking at the page over Harry's shoulder. "It says, 'all who are fixed with the beam of its eye'. What was Hermione looking into when you found her?"

Draco's eyes lit up in understanding. "The mirror! That might also explain Colin; he was looking through his mirror. And remember when we came across Mrs Norris? The ground below her was covered in water, she must have only seen the reflection of its eyes. I don't know about Justin, but Sir Nicholas is a ghost; he can't die again."

Harry tilted his head to the side and nodded. "Maybe Justin saw it through him. Come to think of it, I remember seeing a couple of spiders going out a window when we found Mrs Norris, and some spiders running away from where Hermione was. Hagrid also said Aragog was scared of whatever the monster was, and he complained ages ago that something was killing his roosters."

"It would also explain why Enya told you she'd heard a huge snake a bit ago, and why you're the only one out of us who heard the voice," said Fred. "And 'Pipes' must be how it's getting around so easily; it's using the plumbing!"

"We need to take this to a teacher," Neville said. "This is something they should know about."

"Sev?" Draco suggested. "He'd be the most likely to listen to us. McGonagall would wave it aside, or ask us exactly why we're so sure about it. Dumbledore's gone, but even if he were here, I don't know if I'd want to go to him."

"Why not?" asked Neville. "Sure, he's done horrible stuff to Harry, and he's a manipulative old coot, but he'd still be the Headmaster. He's got to care about the kids here to some extent."

"Think about it, Nev," said George, "Hagrid said that Dumbledore was there the last time the Chamber was opened. He believed Hagrid was innocent. What if he knew somehow who it was, and didn't tell anyone? He'd be just as guilty as whoever's behind this, since he'd have information no one else did, and let someone else figure everything out. Just like with the Stone last year."

"Okay then, all those in favour of going to Snape, stick out your tongues," said Fred.

Everyone rolled their eyes, but complied. That is, everyone but Blaise.

"What?" he said when everyone looked at him. "I'm failing Charms, I need to study more than I need to figure this mystery out. You guys tell me how it went, though."