A/N: So, so, close to the end. Only one more chapter after this. Sigh, I hope you like it.
Why's It Gotta Be A Snake
Ch 11
For a moment there is silence as me, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart all stand in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Harry and I's case) blood. Then there is a scream.
"Ginny!"
A slightly pudgy ginger-haired woman, who it looks like had been crying in front of the fire, leaps to her feet, closely followed by a tall ginger-haired man.
They must be the Weasleys' parents, I realize and try to flatten my shirt to look more presentable.
Of course it's a lost battle at the very first though of it because of all the grime sticking to my face.
It wouldn't matter anyway as they take no notice of me and fling themselves at their daughter.
Fawkes swoops past my head and my eyes follow him as he settles on Dumbledore's shoulder.
He stands there, beaming next to the mantelpiece and beside him, Professor McGonagall is taking big steadying gasps and clutching her chest.
Mrs. Weasley then lunges at Harry and Ron, sweeping them up in a tight embrace.
I suddenly feel as though I am intruding in on a family moment.
"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"
"I think we'd all like to know that," Professor McGonagall says rather weakly.
"Well, actually," Harry says as Mrs. Weasley lets go of him. He hesitates a moment before walking over to the desk and placing the Sorting Hat, the shining ruby incrusted sword, and what remained of Riddle's diary, down.
"Actually, Alex was the one to save her- and me too. We would have died if she hadn't been there."
And he began to tell them everything and I got to hear the full story of their investigation that they kept from Ginny and I.
He told us about the disembodied voice that he heard, and I felt relief swarm my body- I wasn't going crazy after all- and how Hermione had realized that he was hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how he and Ron had followed spiders into the forest, that Aragog, the father of the spiders, had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how he guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom...
I was surprised at hearing Myrtle was killed by it; I never gave much thought to how she'd died. Maybe she had killed herself or something.
"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompts as he pauses in his tail, "so you found out where the entrance was- breaking a hundred school rules along the way, I might add- but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter? And, Alex, you are mentioned nowhere in this so how did you end up down there?"
I bite my lip, not wanting to rat out Ginny, because really, who would believe a bunch of kids saying an old diary made them do it? What if Ginny does get expelled?
Harry's voice, I notice, is growing horse from talking as he tells them about Fawkes's timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. About how he had seen me, hiding in the shadows and going unnoticed by anyone else.
The way he tells it makes me seem like a hero, sneaking around and biding my time.
But he falters before mentioning the diary, no doubt having the same dilemma as me, not wanting to get Ginny in trouble.
Harry glances at Dumbledore who smiles faintly.
"What interests me the most," the Headmaster says gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."
Relief sweeps over my entire being.
"W-what's that?" Mr. Weasley stutters in a stunned voice. "You-Know-Who? En-enchan Ginny? But Ginny's not... Ginny hasn't been...has she?"
"It was his diary," I say drawing everyone's eyes to me and deciding to give Harry a break from speaking. Up until now, I have gone unnoticed really, and quickly pick up the destroyed book to show it to Dumbledore.
"Riddle wrote in it when he was sixteen. He stored his memory in its pages..."
Dumbledore takes the diary from me and peers keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.
"Brilliant." He says softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turns to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.
"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school...traveled far and wide...sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."
"But, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley says. "What's our Ginny got to do with- with-him?"
"His diary." I say softly, looking down at the ground.
"I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year-" she sobs.
"Ginny!" Mr. Weasley says shocked. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic-"
"She didn't know!" I say, stepping in front of her to defend her with a wavering glare on my face. This isn't just another student I'm talking to, but a full fledged wizard that can do real damage. "It's not her fault; she found it in one of the books you got her. It's an honest mistake anyone in her situation could make; when she showed it to me, I didn't think anything could come of it either."
Mr. Weasley stares at me with an unreadable expression.
"Miss Weasley should go to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupts in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strides over to the door and holds it open. "Bed rest and perhaps a large steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he adds, eyes twinkling down at her. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still away. She's just giving out Mandrake juice- I dare say the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."
"So Hermione's okay!" Ron says brightly.
"There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny." Dumbledore says.
Mrs. Weasley leads Ginny out of the room, casting a floating glance back at me, and Mr. Weasley follows, looking deeply shaken.
"You know, Minerva," Dumbledore says thoughtfully to Professor McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you go and alert the kitchens?"
"Right," Professor McGonagal say crisply, also moving towards the door. "I'll leave you to deal with these four, shall I?"
"Certainly," he says.
She leaves and I gaze uncertainly up at Dumbledore. What had she meant exactly by deal with us? Surly we aren't about to get punished?
He ignores me though, and stares directly at the second year boys.
"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," Dumbledore says, and my eyes widen.
"Which just goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," he goes on smiling. "You will both receive Special Awards for Service to the School and- let me see- yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."
My mouth opens wide in shock. They're being awarded for breaking the rules? This really is a strange school.
"And Miss Taylor," I snap to attention, eyes wide and I look at him wearily. "How exactly did you get down there? What part did you play in all this?"
Heat floods my cheeks. "I saw Ginny walking past the room I was in so I followed her. She was writing on the walls but she didn't look like herself. I snuck behind her into the Chamber. And the diary thing really wasn't her fault, I swear." I say clasping my hands in front of me. "I told her not to tell anyone, that there was no way that it was her. I didn't want her getting in trouble-"
Dumbledore raises his hand to stop me.
"I already pardoned Ginny from any punishment. Neither of you are in trouble, though I suggest, in the future, that you might tell someone. If not a teacher, then perhaps your other friends."
"Yes sir, thank you." I dip my head slightly.
"It really was incredible though," Harry says speaking up with shining eyes. "Alex is a Parselmouth, too."
Ron wheels on me with wide eyes and even Dumbledore shows immense surprise.
"The basilisk was going for Ginny, to kill her, and I wasn't going to get there in time. But then she just shouted 'stop' in Parseltongue and it did. That's when I was able to stab it."
Dumbledore regards me with a new curiosity in his eyes.
"Hmm." He strokes his beard. "Perhaps this information is best kept secret, yes?"
We all nod. "Then a reward should take place for you as well, Alex."
"How about we pretend I was never part of the Chamber fiasco?" I suggest hopefully.
"That would mean no points awarded to your House."
"Right," I say smiling and he returns it warmly.
"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore says, eyes moving over past my head. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"
Harry jumps from his spot beside me and even I give a little startle.
I had completely forgotten about Lockhart. The Professor looks over his shoulder to see who was addressing him.
"Professor Dumbledore," Ron says quickly, "there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart-"
"Am I a professor?" Lockhart says in mild surprise. "Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?"
"He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired," Ron explains quietly to the headmaster.
"Dear me," Dumbledore says, shaking his head and his long silvery mustache quivers. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"
"Sword?" Lockhart says dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though." He points at Harry. "He'll lend you one."
"Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore asks Ron. "I'd like a few more words with Harry and Alex..."
Lockhart ambles out as Ron casts a curious look back at us before closing the door.
We stand in silence until Ron's footsteps fade completely.
"Alex." His soft voice startles me. "Would you mind waiting outside while I talk to Harry? I will speak to you after."
"Of course, Dumbledore." I say, quickly taking my leave and shutting the door behind me.
All through the year, Harry had spoken very kindly of Dumbledore, and I knew that he was a great headmaster... But I wanted to see for myself.
I always saw him from afar, sitting at the teachers' table and when he gives speeches, but I never met him, talked to him, so I couldn't form my own opinion on him.
Now I have and I know that Harry was right in his admiration. There is something about him, a kindness, that I don't see often I adults.