A/N: Hermione finding the information on the basilisk in the library.
If You Dare Challenge - #475 (snakes)
Are You Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge - #379 (no dialogue but has to be at least 150 words)
Character Diversity Boot Camp - #9 (juggle), Hermione Granger
Your Favorite House Boot Camp - #27 (useless), Gryffindor
The Golden Snitch - Through the Universe - #43 (Hogwarts Library)
The Golden Snitch - Ollivander's Wand Shop - Bellatrix Lestrange - Walnut (Write about Hermione Granger.)
Fanfiction Writing Month: October [771]
Disclaimer: You know this belongs to JK Rowling.
Hermione didn't know how long she'd been in the library. The area between the seventh and eighth rows of bookshelves had been her spot for the entire evening. She had stacks upon stacks of books on the tiny desk at the end of the row, some of them only standing due to charms she'd put on them. She was flipping through a book about magical creatures at the moment, trying to locate such a creature that would be in the Chamber of Secrets. If she didn't get this right... She turned another page. If she didn't get this right (if her brilliant mind failed her mind for once in her life) then kids were going to die. And as she was a Muggle-born student and the Slytherins hated her, she thought it would be no surprise if she was the first to go. And she did not plan on dying anytime soon.
She nearly growled as the book revealed nothing to her. It was useless. She did not usually take her anger out on books (she treasured them), but this time she threw it down with a thump that caused Madame Pince to look over at her with a strange expression. Hermione put her head in her hands. For once, her brain was useless. How stupid was she at this moment... How stupid was she that she could not figure this out... She slammed her hand into her forehead over and over until there was a red mark in the center. Stupid, stupid, stupid—
And then it came to her, like a light switch had been turned on in her head. She juggled each bit of information in her brain, circling them carefully as a lioness circled her prey. A creature from which spiders fled, one that Petrified people... How could they be Petrified and not dead? An monster that Petrified people and left water all over the floor... A creature that Harry could hear...—it was...
She knew the book that her answer was lying inside. Like some sort of wild animal, she climbed the shelves (forgetting momentarily that she was a witch and had a wand) and reached the book at the very top: a thick, antique, dark orange volume with ragged edges. She flipped back and forth and back and forth until she found it. There it was: the basilisk. A giant snake. This was the creature inside of the Chamber of Secrets. The basilisk Petrified people by meeting their eyes through a reflection or another membrane. Meeting its eyes directly would kill anyone. Colin had seen it through his camera, Justin Finch-Fletchley had seen it through Sir Nicholas... It all made sense now. Mrs. Norris... She'd seen it off of the reflection of the water, and Nick was already dead, so he couldn't possibly die again.
Hermione had the answer now. She couldn't believe it had taken her this long to find. The answer had been from all those weeks ago when Harry had proven to be a Parselmouth. All she had to do was get it to Harry and Ron, or even one of the teachers. Then, it would all be over.
She swept away the stacks of books to their original places with a wave of wand and nodded to Madame Pince. She nearly left the library, but when she had one foot outside of the door, her stomach sunk. What if the basilisk was out there just now, sliding around corners and dripping water everywhere...waiting for her? She was a Muggle-born, after all, and that was what the monster was meant to do: kill Muggle-borns.
Thinking quickly, she ducked back into the library. Mirrors. Mirrors were definitely safe; only a reflection. She transfigured her hairpin into a small handheld mirror and grasped it hard. She didn't want to die, she didn't want to die, she didn't want to— She stepped into the hallway, her eyes completely focused on the reflective surface. She didn't want to die, she didn't want to die... This hallway was safe, so far. She was nearly walking backwards because she didn't want to look straight down the corridor. Her heart was pounding, wet and loud inside of her chest. She didn't think she'd been this scared since last year's face off with You-Know-Who. She didn't want to die, she didn't want to die— When she turned the corridor, however, her eyes were so trained on the mirror that when she heard the scraping of scales against the floor, she did not have enough time to look away from the vicious, ugly head of the creature and its poisonous yellow eyes—
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