Raven POV
Ten minutes into our Transfiguration class Professor McGonagall told us that our exams would start on the first of June, one week from today. I had completely forgot about exams with everything going on. I know my Herbology wasn't getting any better, but my Transfiguration was slowly improving. I wasn't having any trouble in the other classes, though, History of Magic was boring as ever.
Three days before our first exam, McGonagall made another announcement at breakfast. "I have good news." She said and the Great Hall erupted.
"Dumbledore's coming back!" Several people yelled joyfully.
"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" A girl from my house squealed.
"Quidditch matches are back on!" Wood roared.
Man, I wish. I thought.
"Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may very well be able to tell us who, or what attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit." McGonagall announced. There was an explosion of cheering. I joined in. It would be a great site to see all those that were petrified return.
"Raven, have you discovered anything in that book of yours?" Harry asked.
"Not yet, it's a big book, and searching for such small details about spiders is taking forever. I've been doing my best ignoring my school work just to read, but still no luck. I'll keep searching though, and let you know." I explained.
Just then, Ginny Weasley came over and sat down next to us. She looked tense and nervous, and Harry and I noticed her hands were twisting in her lap. Something was wrong. "What's up?" Ron asked. Great start, Ron. I thought. Ginny didn't say anything, but glanced up and down the Gryffindor table with a scared look on her face. She knew something.
"Ginny what's wrong?" I asked concerned. Ginny opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
"Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly? Harry asked whispering so only us four could hear. Ginny drew a deep breath and at that precise moment, Percy appeared.
"If you've finished eating, I'll take the seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty." Percy said. Ginny jumped up, gave Percy a fleeting, frightened look, and scampered away. I cursed a Percy under my breath. Percy sat down and grabbed a mug from the center of the table.
"Percy!" Ron said angrily. "She was just about to tell us something important!"
"What sort of thing?" Percy asked.
"I just asked her if she'd seen anything odd, and she started to say-" Harry began but was cut off.
"Oh-that-that's nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets." Percy said. We all three raised our eyebrows at him.
"How do you know?" Ron asked.
"Well, er, if you must know. Ginny er, walked in on me the other day when I was-well, never mind-the point is, she spotted me doing something that I um, asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing, really." Percy explained. I caught on as to what he was doing.
"What were you doing, Percy?" Ron asked. Percy ignored him.
"Percy here was doing something naughty with his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater." I spoke up smirking at Percy; He went red.
"Ho-how-how did you know we were dating?" Percy asked frantically.
"I've seen you together, and asked her about it." I said bluntly.
"You have a girlfriend?" Ron questioned. "Wait till Mum and Dad hear about this."
"Look what you've done Raven." Percy said displeased.
I just shrugged. Brought it on yourself, man.
Next I wasn't in class with Harry or Ron. I was in a different one. I was reading my book trying to find what creature was in the Chamber. After reading for what felt like forever, I found something.
Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many 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.
This is it! A Basilisk! It makes sense. I thought. Harry can speak to snakes so that explains the voices. If it kills people by looking at them, then how come no one died. I began thinking about the attacks. That's it! They only saw a reflection. Mrs. Norris with the water, Colin with his camera, Justin must've seen it through Nearly Headless Nick, and Nick got the full blast, but he couldn't die again, and Hermione and Penelope saw it through the mirror. It also explains why all of Hagrid's roosters have died. The question was on how it was getting around. Maybe a secret passage in the walls? The bell rang and I marked this spot on my book as I left class.
After class I silently escaped from my group to go to the staffroom to inform Professor McGonagall about what I found. As I was heading there I saw Ginny. She was writing something on the wall where Mrs. Norris was attacked. "Ginny, what are you doing?" I asked. She quickly turned to me and I felt something hit my body as I fell to unconsciousness.
Harry POV
After figuring out that a Basilisk was the monster and having an idea where the entrance to the Chamber was, Ron and I headed to the Staffroom. As we waited, Professor McGonagall's voice echoed through the halls. "All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staffroom. Immediately, please."
"Another attack?" I questioned. Ron and I quickly hid in a wardrobe. After a bit the staffroom door opened. We saw Professor McGonagall arrive with other teachers.
"It has happened." McGonagall told them. "Two students have been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself." Professor Flitwick squealed, Professor Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard.
"How can you be sure?" Snape asked.
"The Heir of Slytherin." McGonagall said with her face very pale. "Left another message. Right underneath the first one. Their skeletons will lie in the Chamber forever." Flitwick burst into tears.
"Which two students were taken." Madam Hooch asked worried.
"Ginny Weasley...and...Raven Mordecur." McGonagall said. Ron and I slid down onto the wardrobe floor. No, not both Ginny and Raven. I thought. I knew that it felt like Ginny knew something so that's probably why she was taken, but what about Raven. Did he figure something out?
"This was found near the message." McGonagall said holding a large book.
"That's Mordecur's book." Sprout said.
"Yes, and it's been marked on this page." McGonagall said opening the book. "It seems Mr. Mordecur found out that a Basilisk is the monster that's been attacking students and the Heir must have known, so it took him. We must inform their parents. But be warned, Wren, Raven's mother, will be both heartbroken and furious when she finds out. She's highly protective of her son, so expect her to yell. And we shall send all the students home tomorrow. This is the end of Hogwarts."
The staffroom door banged open. For a moment I thought it might be Dumbledore or Mrs. Mordecur but it was Lockhart. "So sorry-dozed off-what have I missed?" He said.
"Just the man." Snape said. "The very man, a girl and a boy have been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."
"That's right, Gilderoy." Sprout chipped. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance was?"
"I-well, I-" Lockhart sputtered.
"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" Flitwick piped up.
"D-did I? I don't recall-" Lockhart stuttered.
"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested." Snape said. "Didn't you say the the whole affair had been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?"
"I-I really never-you may have misunderstood." Lockhart stammered.
"We'll leave it to you then, Gilderoy." McGonagall said. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last. Surely if a second year can figure this out, so could you." She handed him Raven's book. He went paler at the site of what he read, and dropped the book.
"V-very well," Lockhart said. "I'll-I'll be in my office, getting-getting ready." He bolted out of the room.
"Right." McGonagall said. "That's got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories." The teachers rose up and left.
Ron and I had worried looks on our faces. "You don't think they're-you know-" Ron sobbed.
"No, they couldn't be." I said confidently. "Let's go to Lockhart, tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber, and he knows a basilisk is in there." Ron and I dashed towards Lockhart's office.
"Professor, we've got some information for you." I said as we entered his office. He turned around surprised. I noticed that he had most of his things packed. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Er, well yes." Lockhart said packing some more. "Urgent call-unavoidable-got to go."
"What about my sister and Raven!?" Ron said jerkily.
"Well, as to that-most unfortunate." Lockhart said. "No one regrets more that I."
"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" I yelled. "You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!"
"Well-I must say-when I took the job-" Lockhart muttered. "Nothing in the job description-didn't expect-"
"You mean you're running away?" I questioned disbelievingly. "After all that stuff you did in your books!"
"Books can be misleading." Lockhart said delicately.
"But you wrote them!" I shouted.
"My dear boy." Lockhart said straightening up. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things."
"So Raven was right, you're a fraud, and you've been taking credit for what a load of other people have done!" I continued shouting. "Is their anything you can do?"
"Well yes in fact." Lockhart said walking over to a shelf. "I quite pride myself on Memory Charms." He turned towards us with his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" I cast, his wand flying into the air with Ron catching it. "You're coming with us. We thing we know where the entrance is." I said and we motioned with our wands for Lockhart to start walking.
We reached Myrtles bathroom and she noticed us. "Oh, it's you." She said when she saw me. "What do you want this time?"
"To ask how you died?" I asked. She looked like she was contemplating on answering or not.
"Ooooh, it was dreadful." She said. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something fun. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go away and then....I died."
"How?" I asked.
"No idea." Myrtle said in a hushed tone. "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away....and then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby you see. Oh she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."
"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" I asked.
"Somewhere there." Myrtle said pointing vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet. I walked over to the sink and examined it. I noticed the copper taps were tiny snakes. I instinctively said something in Parseltongue. The next second, the sink began to move. The sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed.
"This is it, we need to go down there." I said.
"Well you hardly seem to need me. I'll just-" Lockhart said trying to escape past us but we held him back.
"You can go first." Ron snarled. We pushed Lockhart toward the edge of the hole. Lockhart turned around looking down into the hole. "Hurry up." Ron said giving him another push and Lockhart fell into the hole screaming. Ron and I jumped soon after. We slid down a large pipe and landed in a dark tunnel filled with bones.
"Lumos!" I cast to get some light. "C'mon." I said leading in a direction. "Remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes right away." I froze as I saw an outline of something huge and curved. Was it the basilisk. I inched forward using my wand to see and noticed that it was just snake skin, though it was huge.
"Blimey." Ron said noticing it too. Lockhart then fainted. "Heart of a lion this one" Lockhart then jumped up and snatched Ron's wand.
"The adventure ends here boys!" Lockhart said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the boy and girl, and that you tragically lost your minds at the sight of their mangled bodies-say good-bye to your memories! Obliviate!" Ron's wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. I flung my arms over my head and ran as the tunnel began to cave in.
"Ron!" I shouted. "Are you okay, Ron?"
"I'm here!" I heard Ron's muffled voice from behind the rocks. I gave a relieved sigh. "I'm okay, this git's not though. He got blasted by my wand.
"Wait here." I called to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on and find Ginny and Raven."
"I'll try and shift some of this rock." Ron said. "So you can back through."
"See you in a bit." I said shakily. I then continued my way through the tunnel. I approached a door with serpents on it. I knew what I had to do. I spoke in Parseltongue for it to open and it did. I was still shaky but I continued anyway. "Raven...Ginny, please don't be dead."
Wren POV
It was late when I received a letter from an owl. It was a Hogwarts letter. "Little Bird, you better have not punched someone in the nose again." I mumbled opening the letter. My heart sunk as soon as I read it.
Your son has been taken into the Chamber of Secrets by the monster. He doesn't have much time. Get here quickly.
I quickly summoned my usual clothing with my wand and changed on the spot. I ran to the fireplace with tears dropping from my eyes. "Raven...no, I can't lose you too." I said entering the fireplace and engulfing myself in green flames to Hogwarts.