That night I had a dream, demigod dreams usually are either prophetic, or show us what was going on elsewhere, mine was neither. I was sitting in a cave, it was a very nice cave, it was plushly decorated, with large padded mahogany and black leather chairs around a large mahogany table, there were black sofas on a black rug with a lacquered black coffee table in the centre, the walls were lined with mahogany bookshelves. Each book was black and of identical size, but that meant nothing for a magical book, for example, Janet's magical book that looked like the Odyssey, I knew it was magical because she'd turn the page but never get closer to the end. Suddenly a figure appeared in the centre of the room, not like apparate or portkey suddenly there, I mean I was looking at the spot he was standing and suddenly he was there. He was tall, broad shouldered and robed in black, which meant I couldn't see any features; he was carrying a massive scythe with a blade so black it seemed to absorb all light that got near it. He must have been the cave's owner, he pushed back the hood to reveal a handsome and regal face that was the colour of mahogany, and he had black hair that tumbled down his head in an unruly style.
"Good," his voice was deep and yet soothing, it was full of power and strength, I realised that despite fact the only Gods I had met was the weakened Mr D and my mother, who never tried to impress her own children, he must be a God. "I finally reached one of you through the wards," I realised he was addressing me; I got down on one knee, so as not to seem rude, "don't do that, my time is limited, I have no time for formalities. Tomorrow you will find a Horcrux, an object that contains a portion of someone's soul, you will know it when you see it, the Horcrux belongs to a person who should have died over twelve years ago. I already have someone else looking for them, but he's too slow, this Horcrux is the source of all your troubles this year. Destroy it so I may have a portion of his soul to torment." I then realised who he was, the scythe, collecting souls, he was Thanatos, the God of death. My vision faded and I woke up, it was morning, light was streaming through the window, I got up and dressed myself before heading off to breakfast, I had to find Janet.
I found Janet in the Common Room, she was waiting for me, she smiled as I approached her, her smile faded when she saw my frown, I tapped the side of my head and she nodded, I felt Janet's mind enter mine, I showed her my memory of Thanatos, "a Horcrux, are you sure that's what he said?" She asked in my mind, she sounded alarmed, angry and scared, the thing with talking between minds is that you can't hide your emotions when talking.
'Yeah, you saw the memory.'
"There's only one person crazy enough to try that, the man who apparently has sacrificed most of his soul to escape death," I thought about it, she was talking about Voldemort, or in English, death's flight, "exactly, he's back, again."
After breakfast Janet and I, now accompanied by John went to the infirmary, at the infirmary we found Ron and Harry trying to get in as well, but they were being blocked by a very stern Madam Pomfrey.
"There's no point in talking to a petrified person, she won't hear a word you're saying," the middle age matron said, Madam Pomfrey was a medium height women with shortish brown hair and piercing green eyes set in a face which made her look like an owl. She was wearing a nurse's uniform typical from world war documentaries and which was now rather outdated and almost humorous.
Ron shifted his weight uncomfortably under her piercing gaze, he looked very tired, "we know that, Madam Pomfrey, it's just, well, you see, we thought, maybe, we could be with her for a bit. She's our friend, you see, and even if she can't hear us I mean, it can't hurt, can it?" He looked so hopelessly lost that even Madam Pomfrey softened, she gave all five of us the once over.
"Very well then, but be quick about it," she ushered all five of us inside before wandering off to deal with her other patients, once inside Ron picked up a get well soon card from Lockhart, he looked ready to say something when Janet glared at him and he put the card back down and picked up the hand mirror.
"Wish you were here, Hermione, we need you. Now more than ever," Harry suddenly stopped his sad little speech as the light reflected in the hand mirror glinted on something in Hermione's closed hand. It looked like paper, Harry gently took the crumpled piece of paper from Hermione's hand, it appeared to have been torn from a book. Harry quickly stuffed the paper in his pocket at the sound of approaching feet, and then Madam Pomfrey entered the room.
"Right, time's up, please leave, I must look after my patients," we all hurriedly said our goodbyes and left, passing Filch and Hagrid who were carrying a stretcher bearing another victim. The victim was under a cloth, but was probably alive if they had been brought here, they appeared to have been holding a glass before they were paralysed, from the size of the person under the sheet, they were in our year, give, or take one year.
We walked away from the infirmary and found one of the numerous empty corridors, it was a mildly sunny Saturday, so people were mostly outside, or holed up in the library studying for tests, I stopped the group and looked around to make sure we hadn't been seen.
"Right then, what do we do now? Because the teachers aren't going to do anything, especially with Dumbledore suspended," we heard at breakfast of Dumbledore's suspension, which was worrying to say the least, I looked meaningfully at Janet who sighed before starting to speak, but she was cut off by Ron.
"So, the heir isn't Hagrid, we went to visit him last night to see if what Harry saw in the memory was right, if Hagrid had opened the chamber, he hadn't and the giant sp-spider wasn't the monster."
"Well, we already knew that," I said, I hadn't believed it for a second, I saw three disbelieving gazes, I shrugged and continued, "you saw Hagrid get arrested, he was not proven, it was just pure-blood prejudice. The spider couldn't have done it for a very simple reason, spiders have to bite to inject their venom, well, no victims have puncture wounds that would suggest a giant spider," I looked at Janet again who picked up where I left off.
"The creature is a giant basilisk," Janet started.
"Die Immortalus," John cursed as slowly massaged the bridge of his nose.
"A very ancient one," Janet continued, "probably about up to ten metres long, one to two metres in diameter, its venom is highly toxic, and its gaze can kill if seen directly or paralysis if seen indirectly. That's why no-one died, Mrs Norris saw a reflection on the floor, Colin through the camera's lens, Justin through Nearly Headless Nick, and Hermione in my mirror. The reason that Hagrid's cockerels have been murdered is that the heir knows as well as I do that the call of a cockerel can kill a Basilisk."
"Well, we need a cockerel then," Harry said, "wait, how is a giant murderous snake getting through the school without being seen?"
"I haven't worked that bit out yet," Janet said quietly, "what did Hermione's note say?" In the excitement of finding the note and everything I forgot about the note, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the bit of paper, "times must be dire if Hermione is tearing up books."
"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 and only the crowing of the rooster can kill it. Oh, and I think Hermione worked out how it gets around the castle, pipes, it's in the plumbing."
"Of course, that's why Harry hears it in the walls, it makes sense now, although I think we'll need a bigger plunger," John laughed, but Ron, Harry and Janet just stared at me like I had an extra head, got to love making Jaws references around those three, at least John got it.
"Now we just need to find the entrance," Harry said, "Aragog said the girl was found in a bathroom."
"It's Myrtle," Janet said, "Babbling mentioned her when she went off into her own little world while we were talking to her."
"Wait, who's Babbling?" Harry asked.
"Professor Babbling is the longest serving teacher who still works at the school, except Binns," Janet said, "we already asked Myrtle, she threatened to call the teachers."
"Well, if we present a convincing argument she might help us," John said hopefully.
Suddenly McGonagall's magically amplified voice echoed through the hallways, "all students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers to the second floor corridor. Immediately." We all looked at each other before heading in the direction of the second floor corridor.
