Disclaimer: I do not own the anything at all related to the Harry Potter universe.

Author's Note: This is an idea that I came up with a while ago, and I have been writing it since. I tried to make it all upsetting, and tragic, but I failed miserably, though I still think that it is all right. This is my first oneshot, and is also technically my first completed story, so I hope that you enjoy it. If not, at least I tried.

Basilisk

Written By YT12J

Salazar Slytherin looked at his newly hatched basilisk in extreme fondness and admiration. He had been waiting for this moment for many months, and now finally, his new pet basilisk was born. He was already an amazingly powerful wizard, but now he had an easily controllable animal that could kill with just one stare, which was more than he could say for his ex-friend Godric Gryffindor, local defender of muggles and mudbloods. The man was not intimidating in the slightest and in fact made him chuckle when he attempted to scare people, and failed drastically.

He pondered over a name for his new familiar, one that people would remember and fear, one that would send filth running, one that was more intimidating than the snakes stare itself, if even possible. "It is a shame that newly born snakes are not able to speak, even the basilisk" he muttered. "It would be useful to have its opinion on this matter."

After thinking for a few more minutes, he managed to come up with a name that would suit it well, and have the desired effect. "Lacerandam." He hissed softly in parseltongue. "Laceran for short. It means torture, my pet. Quite a fitting name I should think." The basilisk merely stared up at him, its yellow eyes almost trying to burn a hole in him. Being newly born, she could not kill anybody yet, but that would soon change as it started to mature.

Salazar lifted his pet up lovingly, and carrying it in his arms, he walked towards the nearest exit from his chamber. "I think I'll give you a little tour around the school, Laceran. Get you acquainted with some of the filth that you shall soon look directly in the eyes, reasonably soon. And your eyes shall be the last thing that they shall ever see." He laughed softly, already planning out the order of the mudbloods that would be killed as soon as Laceran was able to understand him, and more importantly, to kill.

After this, every day he would take her down to his secret chamber that only he knew about, and teach her to speak. It would get extremely boring most of the time, as she only ever seemed to stare at him with curiosity. However, sometimes Laceran was able to hiss some of the things that he would say to her. This made him extremely happy when it did actually happen because he needed to train her as quickly as he possibly could. If he didn't manage to teach her who her master was, and how to recognize him soon enough, then the basilisk might just look at him one day and he might just drop dead. He constantly reassured himself however, that he would train her soon enough, and that soon after all of the filth that the other founders somehow managed to stand, would be removed from Hogwarts – permanently. He couldn't wait for this; he would constantly argue with the others that mudbloods did not deserve a place in a school of magic, and that only the purest of magical people belonged there, but they paid no heed to his complaints. 'Perhaps when the mudbloods start dying' he thought 'then they might listen to me.'

After several long weeks of training Laceran, she was finally able to speak with him fluently. Unfortunately, she seemed to be unable to pronounce his name. Every time she tried, it would end quite badly. He did not mind too much though. As long she could kill for him, he was satisfied, however it was a little disappointing that his own familiar could not say his name. He hoped that it would be corrected in time, as he did not like her to refer to him as 'Speaker'.

At the same time, she developed her killer stare, which meant that it was time. Time for Salazar to clean Hogwarts of the people who did not deserve a place there, the people who should not be allowed to learn magic in the first place, and that should be separated from pure-blood wizards, who are superior to the muggle filth.

Salazar had already picked out his first victim. A girl, thirteen years old, and constantly a pain in the backside. He had had enough of her. She was constantly showing off her 'intelligence' and boasting, saying that she knew more about magic than even the pure-bloods. Her name was Emily Grant, a mudblood, born to a couple of filthy muggles who were peasants, people who did not deserve to live. To think that she attempted to look superior to all others, when in reality, she was an inferior being, one that did not deserve the wonderful gift of magic.

However, before he could put his plan into action, there was a horrible incident in the castle. This incident cost him his life.

Salazar ran down the corridor, out of breath. He would apparate to his destination, but he was too tired to do it. Usually he wouldn't be so stressed out about being late for something, but this meeting was extremely important. It involved getting his hands on an extremely valuable dark artefact that he wished to possess. However, if he messed up in this meeting, then the people who were selling it to him might murder him. He could not take that risk. He may be one of the most powerful wizards currently, but these were unknown dark wizards whom he did not wish to mess with. They could succeed in killing him if they really wanted to do it.

When he finally got to the edge of the forest, the only place on the grounds that he would allow Dark Wizards to enter, he was met by a horrible sight.

One of the Dark Wizards had his wand out, and was casually torturing a First year Slytherin student, one of Salazar's favourites in fact. Before the man could even laugh again, Salazar had leapt through the air, and started to fire curses like he had gone mad. This was supposed to be a peaceful negotiation, not the torture of an innocent student. He felt the rage grow within him as the student fell to the ground, moaning in pain the whole time. Immediately, he shot a cutting curse at one of the men, and then sent the Killing Curse to the other man. Not expecting it, the man took it full blast, and fell to the floor, dead.

The other man roared with anger, and immediately sent the Killing Curse to Salazar, at the same time that he sent his own. There was a terrific explosion, and both men and the child were killed.

Later on, hours before anybody would even notice the disappearance of one of the most skilled wizards in history, a Basilisk found her way to the bodies. If a snake can be upset, then this one certainly was. The only man she had ever known properly, the same wont who had raised her from when she was just an egg, was dead. 'Speaker! Please, wake up! I cannot go on without you! You raised me, taught me everything I know. I'm just a snake, one that cannot even pronounce her master's name. Please, do not leave me!'

But unfortunately for Laceran, Salazar never did wake up. She wrapped herself around his neck for a while, but eventually realised the obvious. Salazar would never wake up. She was on her own.

Later on, when she finally found the courage to unwrap herself and return to her chamber, she made a promise to herself. She would watch out, and if ever anybody who was even distantly related to Salazar showed up, she would find him. And then with his help, she would destroy all of those filthy mudbloods that Salazar had told her about. And in the meanwhile, she would work on trying to say his name...

Many Centuries Later

Tom Riddle looked around the seemingly abandoned, old aged chamber. It smelt disgusting down there, and if there was nothing interesting that he could find, then he wasn't going to stay for any longer. He didn't care too much about Slytherin and his chamber, he only cared about any dark artifacts or books that he may have left behind, things that would be extremely useful, and that Tom greatly wished to possess, especially if they belonged to his ancestor, the most powerful Dark Wizard in history.

After searching the rotting chamber for a while, he came to the grudging conclusion that there was nothing in it that he would actually be interested in. 'What a waste of time.' He sighed, and started to walk back towards the entrance, intending to leave it, and probably never return, unless he decided to use it as some sort of secret chamber of his own.

However, as he was walking towards the exit, he heard something move behind him. Whipping his wand out, he had turned immediately, only to gasp in surprise as he laid his eyes upon the largest, and most ferocious serpent that he had ever seen. Lowering his wand, he realized that the legends about there being some sort of monster in the chamber were true. And luckily for him, he had the easiest method of controlling the beast right at his fingertips.

"You belonged to Salazar Slytherin, great serpent, didn't you?"

The Basilisk (as he had figured out) seemed to stare at him in shock, before softly hissing "Indeed, speaker, I did belong to him. I was raised to do nothing other than kill the Mudbloods that roam this castle, but I can only do that when there is a speaker, like my late master, to guide me."

Tom smirked, a plan already worked out in his head, how he was going to use this Basilisk to his advantage. Soon, all of the mudbloods would be dead, and he would have a killer snake. This would work out brilliantly for him!

And during the next month, students were petrified, until at last, a student was killed. When this happened, the threat of Hogwarts closing down for good was enough to convince Tom to stop the Basilisk, and to find someone to frame. A student was expelled because of him, and the murdered muggle-born haunted the very bathroom that she was killed in, a lonely ghost. Laceran went dormant again, and did not expect for anybody to wake her up. Tom eventually left, having completed all seven years. He never even asked the snake what her name was, or anything personal at all. To him, Lacerandam was just a weapon, he never considered the fact that she was almost a person. But she knew that no descendant of Salazar could be as caring as him. She just hoped that maybe one day, there would be somebody like him.

50 Years Later

Laceran had been doing a lot of attacking lately. There was a girl, she sensed Dark Magic in her. She ordered her, spoke her language, and yet, she could sense that she was not the descendant of her master. It was as if she was posessed.

"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four."

That command was what opened the door to where she was. And yet, she did not recognize the voice of the girl. In fact, this voice was slightly different. There was something... Familiar, about it.

When she slowly moved through the hole, she saw three figures. One was the same girl, lying on the floor, looking almost dead, and yet, not quite. And there was a young boy, she did not recognize him. And then finally, somehow, there was the same speaker from many years ago, the one who was descended from her master, the one that she thought that she would never see again.

He ordered her to kill the boy, and not one to turn away the orders of a speaker, she obliged. But the fight did not go as expected. She was attacked and blinded by a magnificent bird, and could no longer see at all. Using her other senses, she felt the boy holding something, something familiar. It was a sword, the same sword that belonged to Godric Gryffindor, her master's enemy. And before she knew it, she was dying.

The sword had stabbed upwards through the roof of her mouth, and had pierced her brain. Her wounds were fatal, and there was no way, with wizard or muggle means, that she could possibly survive.

She thought of everything that meant something to her in life, and came up with nothing. Then she thought of her master. She remembered his kindness, and the smile that he would wear whenever he saw her. And then she spoke.

"Farewell, Salazar."

With all of the will that she still had, she spoke his name, the same name that she was always unable to say, the same name that meant more to her than everything else in her life. She forced it out of her, finally saying it, and then felt her life slipping away. She was moments away from death, and then finally, slipped away, somehow sensing that Tom Riddle was doing the same.

Author's Note: I really hope that you enjoyed this story, and I hope that you found it interesting. Also, I know that Salazar Slytherin supposedly left Hogwarts, but to make the story work, I had to change that. Other than that, it is canon, as far as I can tell, at least. Please review if you get the chance to, and tell me what you thought of it. So anyway, bye! Also, please check out my other stories if you can.