Last Time:
Brian nodded, "We should hear something soon." He said and after a couple moments his cellphone rang. When he looked at the message he received his eyes widened in shock ...
XXXXXXXXXX
"Very good." Kathy said as Tom carefully used a small bubble to collect some sap from a trimming of a thorny plant. "Pay attention to and finish marking each plant." She instructed as Tom placed the bubble of sap on it and put it on the homework sheet.
Tom sighed and stretched his joints after writing down the answers to the rest of the homework, "Should I put the trimmings away?"
"That'd be great. I'll take a minute to grade your work. Help him out, my Peachy." Kathy said to a bowtruckle and it happily grabbed a trimming before hopping onto Tom's shoulder. As the trimmings were being put away the professor began checking each question. By the end of her grading she looked up and saw Grizzlegore entering the room. "Excellent timing! We just finished and he was putting away some things. Tom! Grizzlegore is here!" She called into the greenery.
"I'm coming! Opal! We're leaving!" Tom was heard calling out from the depths of the greenhouse. "Opal? Do you see Opal?" Tom asked just before he came out of the dense greenery with the bowtruckle.
Kathy frowned, "She's not in her sunny spot?" She asked and without any command the dozens of bowtruckles spread out to search the entire classroom. "She isn't here, but the doors are closed.
"She's ... not answering me." Tom muttered in confusion. He definitely felt the link so the baby basilisk was alive, but for whatever reason she was ignoring him. A worried Tom frowned as he tried to get a response through the mental link he shared, "She's ignoring me."
Grizzlegore tapped his long sharp flaw against his chin in thought, "When did you last see her?"
"Umm ... she was on me and nuzzling my neck before Julian left for the tournament." Tom pondered while wondering what his stubborn familiar was doing. "I was in that chair." Tom said as he pointed to his seat. "She got off me when Kathy began the lesson."
The goblin nodded, "Then let's see what happened at that moment. Perhaps it will give us an answer." He said and with a flick of a claw at that general area images of the past appeared.
There was the see through images of Julian, Tom and Opal, who was draped across Tom. Her head was tucked in his neck as the words from the recent past were replayed. They watched Julian try to reassure Tom, heard Brian's voice and heard Kathy. At that moment they all saw the basilisk slither off of Tom and supposedly to the floor.
However, Kathy, Tom and Grizzlegore changed their position so they could quite literally see the situation from a different angle. More specifically, everyone wanted to see what Opal really did. At first Opal did slither to the floor, but then she took an interest in something. To everyone's surprise she skillfully and silently opened up Julian's book bag and got in. She was completely hidden in the bag, which was carried out by an unsuspecting Julian right after.
"Oh no ... I was so focused I didn't even know she was gone the entire time!" Tom exclaimed, now even more concerned than before.
Kathy frowned, "but why would she leave? Did she have an interest in seeing the tournament? I offered to play it on the classroom TV before, but she definitely didn't care." She said as she mused over the serpent's motive.
"She wasn't interested. I think she knew it didn't keep my mind off things." Tom said with an amused chuckle as he remembered how his familiar hissed at the TV once before. "The last thing we were talking about was ..." Tom thought back and his eyes widened when he recalled the last thing he heard Opal say. "We were talking about Dumbledore and she said 'he will be ended' so ... is it possible she's trying to get to Dumbledore?" A very worried young wizard asked.
Grizzlegore tapped his claw in thought, "Possibly, but we definitely can't bring it up now. The tournament is nearly over so if we startle Dumbledore now the trap might fail." The goblin said pointedly and sighed. "She may not have deadly eyesight, but she's a smart basilisk so hopefully she won't get in the way. This doesn't change our plans for you, Tom. I'll get you to Gringotts and discuss what happened with those connected with the ministry." He said and gestured for Tom to follow him.
"Yeah." Tom murmured as grabbed his own things. "Bye, Kathy."
Kathy handed the teen the homework he just completed, "I made some notes that you can look at. Now don't worry about Opal, ok? I'm sure she'll be fine."
"I hope so." Tom said while trying to hide his worry. With everything, except his dear familiar, being carried with him, Tom and Grizzlegore were consumed by the floo' s green flames ...
XXXXXXXXXX
Opal felt the book bag she stowed away in finally being set down on the floor. She heard some announcements start and took the chance to nudge the zipper open just enough to poke her head out. After getting a good look around the area under the table she froze. The Malfoy's fluffy familiar nearly spotted her and the baby basilisk refused to get caught without finishing her mission.
It wasn't until she heard the students enjoying breakfast that she risked moving. After all, Sasha jumped gracefully onto Draco's shoulders to watch someone so Draco could eat in peace. Considering the conversations she overheard when at Brian's home she figured both Sasha and Tanzanite would have their eyes locked on the hidden Dumbledore. With that in mind she slithered out of the book bag and twisted her body through the thick wooden brackets on the underside of the table.
For a split second she thought she was in trouble when the book bag flopped over. Thankfully, she was completely tucked out of sight and Julian never suspected a basilisk tipped the book bag over as she escaped. The young wizard's arm came down for a moment to put the book bag back up and then Julian simply went back to eating.
'Now where is this minister human?' Opal hissed to herself knowing very well that no one could hear her with all the noise of munching and chattering students. 'When this tournament starts I'll find the human in charge.'
'What are you planning?' Opal stiffened as she realized that Tanzanite heard her and was flying down to her. 'Explain, hatchling.'
The sassy baby basilisk flicked her forked tongue at the occamy, 'I can make sure the fool is really ended. My master is safe. Let me use my gaze. It's not deadly, but it will stop the fool.'
Tanzanite stared at the baby basilisk as he pondered what to do, 'Don't miss.' He hissed before flying up to perch on Julian.
Opal nodded ever so slightly, 'I won't.'
After a few minutes the students started filing out of the Great Hall, but Opal stayed still until she was sure she wouldn't be seen. Once the chance presented itself the basilisk unraveled her coils from the underside of the table. Using her silence and speed Opal hugged the walls and snuck through the halls.
In order to find the tournament arena she just hid along the castle wall in the courtyard where a few students lingered. After all, there was no reason to hunt for the area. All she had to do was follow the eager students. Of course, that meant she had to wait, but the plan worked. The clueless students went straight to some bleachers along the shoreline without ever realizing they were guiding a basilisk.
'This is a good spot ... now minister human ... where is the minister human?" The young basilisk hissed quietly as she slithered behind the bleachers and up to the shore to get a good view of the bleachers. The basilisk's eyes scanned the people in the bleachers and narrowed on the first person to make an announcement. 'That one has a bag ... and he's giving a noisy thing to someone!"
Opal immediately knew that the person in charge of the bell was the minister because she heard Julian talking about it. That also meant the woman Cornelius was giving the bell to was the hidden Dumbledore! The target was in sight and Opal raced under the bleachers. Of course, she was tempted to just kill the wizard who has hurt her dear human, but for some reason her human was concerned about taking down Dumbledore around other people so she'd just tag along for now.
It didn't take long to pop out through the space between the steps. At this point she was right behind the minister's legs and had his bag in sight, but she needed to wait for the perfect opportunity to get inside. Opal got her wish in the form of a massive crocodile springing out of the water.
'Now!' Opal sprang from her hiding spot and zipped into the minister's bag 'What luck.' She hissed quietly. She rolled her eyes when she saw Rita drop the device that was originally in the very bag she was in. 'I hope they don't waste time getting it.' She hissed as she flipped the bag's flap shut.
In the darkness of the bag the serpent waited quietly. At first she only heard the various sounds of the tournament, which she ignored, but then she heard the minister shift. Since the tournament wasn't done there shouldn't be a reason to move so much. When the basilisk peeked out of the bag she saw the man opening his badge. Once she saw the concerned look on Cornelius' face Opal hid as deep in the bag as she could go. If the minister was concerned about something then she was even more determined to be there when Dumbledore is confronted. Even when she felt Tom trying to contact her she refused to let herself get distracted.
Just after she heard the minister put his badge away everyone cheered. Apparently, someone grabbed a squid right before the timer rang out. The curious basilisk peeked out from the bag again wondering why the minister was walking away. Thankfully, the minister was only going up to the competitors, who were climbing back onto the dock. She would've been furious if Cornelius left her behind and she missed everything!
One by one the bags each competitor was carrying were opened. Under the watchful eyes of the crystal butterflies each bag was tipped over. As the squids poured out they grouped obediently together next to the competitor that caught them. The annoyed basilisk was forced to listen as the points were tallied.
'Finally!' Opal hissed as the one called Sally was given another squid, but in a fancy glass jar this time. The basilisk didn't get why it was important, but she did realize the wait was over as the people around her started leaving the bleachers. 'Hurry up, human!' She hissed quietly.
When the basilisk heard Rita bid farewell to the minister Opal started to get worried. Relief flooded her when she felt the bag she was in suddenly get picked up. Of course, she wasn't pleased to feel the pinch of a portkey soon after. It wasn't anywhere near as comfortable as a floo. However, she understood why it had to be that way. Portkeys would get the minister out of there long before Dumbledore could get to the floo and since Julian was there Hogwarts would probably allow that kind of transport.
"He'll be here soon." Cornelius was heard saying as the bag was put down.
Opal took a peek as she heard the rustling of feet followed by silence. it was clear that she was still at the minister's feet, but they were in a run down place. Oddly enough she didn't see anyone else besides the minister and the decomposed body off to the side, but she did see wrinkles of a cloak that was too easy to see through. For some reason the minister was standing under this cloak as if it hid him and his bag.
It didn't make sense, but Opal waited anyway. Much to her glee the Rita fake suddenly appeared carrying her drink and purse. The disguised wizard's eyes actually looked right past the minister and the lack of reaction made Opal realize that the cloak might actually be useful.
In an instant the purse and drink flew out of Dumbledore's hands and disappeared, "What- ... you." The fake Rita scowled when the minister let his cloak fall to the floor and unknowingly covered the little basilisk who was slithering out of the bag.
Cornelius sighed, "You're surrounded, Dumbledore, and don't bother trying to apparate out. Once you came in, the runes locked you in. We also know about the explosive potion. Just give up." He said and the sound of dozens of advancing Aurors were heard closing in on Rita.
The fake Rita smirked and pulled a potion filled vial out of his Poly-Juice formed cleavage, "I only need one to remove those pesky runes." He said and raised the vial ready to smash the last vial of the explosive potion on the ground.
"Stop-" Cornelius suddenly doubled over when he felt a weight on his shoulders. He heard the sound of steam followed by crackling and finally straightened himself to look at Dumbledore too. "Dear Merlin..." he murmured breathlessly.
However, once his shock subsided he used his cellphone to take a picture of the scene in front of him and sent it to Brian ...