Chapter 11: Snarky Slimpingpoofs and Superfluous Surprises.

A/N: okay, wow. I woke up to 34 emails. That is fairly inspirational so here is your chaptery reward!

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It was a headmaster with a distinctly brighter sparkle to his eyes that sat in his large office at the top of a tower, smiling serenely into space.

His plan was coming together very nicely, admittedly Harry was yet to turn to the esteemed headmaster for help, 'But really' he thought, 'It was only a short matter of time before his master move occurred - a move that would shatter Potter if executed correctly.

It was with this happy thought that Albus started to draft the letter that he would have to send to the ministry detailing the horrific attack that had occurred to one unfortunate student, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or as he reflected with a sinister chuckle, at the right place at the right time.

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It was back to the library for more research as the Basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets was seen to not be the cause of the petrifaction of the students. It was an off hand comment from Luna that alerted them to what was so obvious that they had missed it. "Those Boemen are surrounded by Hypnotic Pixeliters."

Hermione dropped the book she was holding in shock muttering "of course. ...How could we have missed it?" She then dashed off to the other shelves leaving Harry and Neville exchanging confused looks.

When she returned, only a few minutes later, she was carrying a large stack of books that made a loud 'thwack' as she threw them down onto the table.

"This should do." She proclaimed and then answered Harry's silent question. "The Boemen. ...If such a thing exists. We're being fooled by the old man again, Harry." She whispered to him.

The five then spent the rest of their Sunday afternoon looking through the large stack of books that Hermione brought for them, with little success. Eventually the library closed for the night and they were ushered out by an irate Madame Pince.

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The next month was filled with research as the five desperately tried to find a way to prove that the Boemen were behind the attacks with little success. However the five were not desperate yet. They had made some progress with the Basilisk - who they had come to discover was called Brises, who was then promptly nicknamed 'Bri' by Draco.

They had followed Luna's advice from one of her more odd moments in which she informed the group that the acromantula in the forbidden forest were killing too many creatures, due to their large numbers and hunting habits. ...Or at least, that's what the Snarky Slimpingpoof whispered to Luna. But she seemed to know exactly what should be done when it concerned magical creatures, so they followed her advise and consulted Bri.

She just happened to be down in the chamber when saying this, which caused Brises-the-Basilsik to comment "I enjoy the odd acromantula here and there."

Luna thought the obvious answer was to set Brises on the giant spiders so Bri was allowed to go hunting in the forest; as long as nothing else was harmed. After hissing her thanks to Luna she left the five students in the Chamber.

It had become their official hideout, especially as Harry and Hermione had taught the others how to imitate the sharp hissing sounds that would translate to Parseltounge so the chamber would allow them all access.

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The school year groaned on with little success for Harry and his friends. They had yet to find how to defeat a Boeman, but on the other hand there had been no more attacks. Harry had resorted to asking Salazar if he would mind following one around to see where they went, what they did, if they ever spoke, if so what did they say. He needed to gather information on them before he could act, as Slytherin sneakery required information before any action.

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Albus Dumbledore was traversing the castle with an extra spring in his step and a larger twinkle in his eye. Today...ah... Today was THE day. The day where was his plans would start to fall into place and his schemes would begin to flower and bear fruit. He started to whistle a happy little tune as he strolled through the main corridor to the Great Hall for breakfast. 'Oh yes' he thought to himself, 'Today really was a wondrous occasion.'

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Neville was waiting with Luna and Harry in the Slytherin common room for Draco and Hermione to return to them. They had gone to the library to try and retrieve any new books about magical creatures for their search. They had been gone longer that usual and the trio were starting to become nervous.

Another hour passed with no sign of them and Harry stood up to go and look for them. This was made redundant when Draco walked into the common room laden with a huge stack of books. "Hermione." was all he offered as an explanation, which was enough as all of her friends were used to Hermione's extensive reading habits.

They were perusing the books that Draco had brought, whilst they awaited Hermione's return - having been told by Draco that she was just behind him.

Thirty minutes passed with still no sign of her. It was nearing curfew so Harry was going to walk Neville, Draco and Luna back to their dormitories stopping at the library to see if Hermione had just gotten absorbed into her books.

They started to pack away their things and prepare to leave. They were once again stopped, this time by Professor Snape wearing a ...compassionate glare, if such a thing existed, which was different from his usual haughty sneer that was ever present when his snakes were surrounded by company.

"Draco, Harry, Longbottom, Lovegood. Sit." he demanded. "I am sorry to inform you that Miss Granger has been attacked by the monster. She has been petrified."

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A/N: ah! so we had more evil Dumbles, a bit of Bri the Basilisk (just in case anyone cares Brises means mythical queen...I thought it was fitting. ) and most importantly Hermione was petrified! Dun dun duuuuh! I hope you enjoyed it, please review if you did...if you didn't, I'd really like to hear your thoughts!

Kate