"Harry, Mia, I don't like this... Harry, Mia, I don't like this at all!" Ron states as we go deeper into the forest.
"Shush!" Harry quiets him. We follow the thousands of spiders into a large hollow tree. It's almost sort of like a cave.
"Can we go back now?" Ron asks.
"Come on!" I say, grabbing his arm and pulling him along behind me.
"Who is it?" We hear a loud, deep voice.
"Don't panic." Harry tells us. We hear moving behind a large part of the tree.
"Hagrid? Is that you?"
"We're friends of Hagrid's. And you?" Harry asks.
The giant Achromantula makes its presence known. Coming out of the shadows to see who we are.
"Y- y-you're Aragog aren't you?" I ask him.
"Yes. Hagrid has never sent humans into our hollow before."
"He's in trouble. Up at the school, there have been attacks. They think it's Hagrid. They think he opened the Chamber of Secrets, like before."
"That's a lie! Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets."
"Then you're not the monster." Harry states.
"No! The monster was born in the castle. I came to Hagrid from a distant land, in the pocket of a traveler."
"Harry. Mia." Ron tugs at our sleeves, but we push him away.
"Shush. But if you're not the monster, then- then what did kill that girl fifty years ago?" I ask.
"We do not speak of it. It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others."
"But have you seen it?" Harry asks.
"I never saw any part of the castle but the box in which Hagrid kept me. The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused, Hagrid brought me here."
"Harry! Mia!"
"What?" I turn to him annoyed. He points above us.
"Ahh- hhh..." I look up and see Aragogs children coming down from their webs, gathering around us.
"Well, thank you. We'll just...go." I state. Grabbing the boys' sleeves and backing away slowly.
"Go? I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friends of Hagrid."
"Can we panic now?" Ron asks.
"Stay calm, Ron." I tell him as we still back away.
"Know any spells?"
"We know one, but it's not powerful enough for all of them." Harry states.
"Where's Hermione when you need her?"
"Let's go!" I say and we turn around and start to take off. Only to be stopped by a swarm of child Achromantulas. "Arania exumai!" I yell and it knocks one of them back. Then a car drives into the cave. Ron's Dads car! "Go!"
"Arania exumai!" Harry yells and it throws one of the spiders that was about to get me back.
"Whoah!" The boys yell and we jump in. It drives us out of the cave and I turn and see the spiders begun to follow us.
"Glad we're out of there!" Ron states. And then one breaks the window and grabs him from behind. "Ah- Aaaah!"
"Arania exumai!" I point my wand and cast the spell in Ron's direction. It sends the spider flying back. Ron settles back in to his seat.
"Thanks for that."
"Don't mention it." I tell him. But more spiders begin to crawl after us. "Get us out of here. Now!"
Ron puts the car into gear.
"Go on! Go! Get us in the air." Harry instructs him.
"The flying gear's jammed!" Ron tells him.
"Come on! Pull!" I tell them both and the three of us grab the gear and pull as hard as we can. Finally, un-jamming it.
The car takes off in the air, getting us out of the forest.
We land just outside of the forest, by Hagrids Hut. We get out of the car and before it can drive off again, I pay the roof.
"Thanks for saving us." It flashes it's lights at me and drives away. "That better have been a kind gesture."
"Follow the spiders! Follow the spiders! If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him!" Ron exclaims. "I mean, what was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out?"
"We know one thing. Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent." Harry says.
———————————————————————————
"Wish you were here Hermione. We need you... now, more than ever." Harry says, grabbing her hand. The boys and I stand around her, missing her.
"What's that?" Ron asks, seeing a balled up piece of paper in her hand. I move to grab it. Unfolding the paper, I glance at the information.
"Ron, Harry, this is why Hermione was in the Library the day she was attacked. Come on!" I lead the boys out into an abandoned corridor.
"'Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the basilisk. Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it.'" I begin to read. "Guys, this is it. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk. That's why we can hear it speak, Harry. It's a snake!"
"But if it kills by looking people in the eye, why is it no one's dead?" Harry asks.
"Because no one did look it in the eye." I say, realizing it all. "Not directly, at least. Colin saw it through his camera. Justin...Justin must have seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick. Nick got the full blast of it- but he's a ghost- he couldn't die again. And Hermione...had the mirror. I bet you anything she was using it to look around corners, in case it came along."
"And Mrs. Norris? I'm pretty sure she didn't have a camera or a mirror, Mia."
"The water." Harry answers, putting the pieces together. "There was water on the floor that night. She only saw the basilisk's reflection. 'Spiders flee before it.' It all fits!"
"But how's a basilisk been getting around? A dirty great snake- someone would have seen it." Ron asks.
"Hermione's answered that, too." Harry says, pointing to the paper in my hand. She had written the word 'Pipes' in the margins.
"Pipes? It's using the plumbing!" Ron exclaims.
"Remember what Aragog said, about that girl fifty years ago? She died in a bathroom?" I ask the boys. "What if she never left?"
"Moaning Myrtle." They mutter. We all dart off towards the familiar girls bathroom. Before we get there, we here Professor McGonagall's voice throughout the halls.
"All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers to the second floor corridor, immediately."
We all look to each other and decide to go to the second floor corridor, to see what all the fuss is about.
"As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message. Our worst fear has been realized. A student has been taken by the monster into the Chamber itself. The students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall tells the other teachers.
"So sorry- dozed off- what have I missed?" Lockhart asks as he walks over to them.
"A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment has come, at last." Snape states.
"My m-moment?"
"Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"
"Well, that's settled. We'll leave you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. Your skills, after all, are a legend." Professor McGonagall says to him.
"Very well- ah- I'll just be in my office getting, um, getting ready." He says and hurried off.
"Who is it that the monster's taken, Minerva?" Madame Pomfrey asks.
"Ginny Weasley."
"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever." I read the message left in blood on the wall.
"Ginny..." Ron mutters.