Basilisk
"Lumos," commanded Harper. The light from her wand lit the rough-hewn cavern where she'd just slid out of the pipe like some great water (or more accurately slime) slide.
The cobra which she'd cradled in her arms for the descent suddenly started slithering away. "Flee, flee, the Great One, the King of All Snakes, flee speaker, flee."
Harper looked at the cobra as it slithered out of sight into some tiny crawlspace under the pipe. "I know the basilisk is here. Why do you fear it?"
"It will EAT me! Like I eat lesser snakes. Stay away from it speaker."
Harper could no longer see the cobra, but it sounded like it was just under the pipe. "Stay here. You'll be safe here. It is too large to get at you. I'll be back soon." She'd worry about it later after the basilisk was dead.
"As you wish, speaker."
Myrtle floated out of the pipe and looked around. "This is the Chamber of Secrets? I'd expected something more… intimidating. This looks like Og's den."
Harper used a dry spot on her robes to wipe away some of the slime covering her hands. "This is just the entrance. The chamber itself is more impressive." She headed toward the doors.
Myrtle trailed along behind her. "I suppose, you do have a plan for killing a basilisk, don't you? I'm just here to watch and cheer. I might be able to manage some maniacal laughter."
"Of course, I have a plan. I brought a rooster with me."
"A rooster?!"
"The crow of a rooster is fatal to a basilisk. I have one right here in my bag."
"I want the snake dead. I want it very, very, dead, but this is sounding like a cock-up." She laughed and flew around a bit. "Cock-up! Get it?"
Harper rolled her eyes. "Oh, very funny." They'd reached the locked door carved with serpents.
Myrtle giggled. "I haven't had this much fun since I crashed Castor Hornby's wedding, but it's your life. I'm just along for the fun. Say, if you die, I'll let you haunt my toilet with me! Even better we can track down my murderer and both haunt him."
"Thank you, Myrtle. I'll try not to die." She was oddly touched by Myrtle's offer, even though it sounded familiar. "Speaking of just along for the fun. I need your help. The gaze of a basilisk can hurt even a ghost and I need you to watch my back. If anyone else comes down here, fly in to warn me. Just be sure you have your eyes closed."
"I won't." Myrtle stomped her phantom feet ineffectually. It lost something when her feet sunk through the floor. "I want to see you kill it! I want to see it die!"
Harper turned to the petulant ghost. "Myrtle, do you want the snake or the boy who gave the order? That is who I want you to watch out for — Tom Riddle, the boy who killed you. If he catches me here, I'm dead. He doesn't look like he did. Tom died once, but he cheated. He's a spirit now, and possessing the body of an older man who always wears a turban.
"Skin riding? Oh, naughty, naughty Tommy. That's not allowed, but you're a sneaky snake bastard Tom Riddle. Murderer. Murderer. Very well, I'll keep a watch for him." She floated away backwards, still facing Harper. "But I get to see the snake after it is dead. I need to see it, Harry. I need it almost as much as I need to taste Riddle's life force ebb away as he dies. If the basilisk kills you, I won't let you forget it for the rest of your afterlife!" Myrtle floated back down the tunnel toward the entrance chamber.
Harper swallowed. Myrtle wasn't at all like the books. "Be careful, Myrtle. If he does show up, come warn me," she called to Myrtle's retreating form.
She wasn't at all sure that Myrtle had heard her, but the ghost was keeping watch. That was the important thing. She needed to focus on killing the basilisk. She turned to face the locked door with its carvings of serpents. Myrtle had a point. She was going to face a sixty foot snake with poisonous fangs and a lethal gaze armed with… a chicken. Still, that was better than Harry Potter had. He'd went into the Chamber of Secrets armed with nothing more than grit and determination. Much more was at stake than merely the life of Ginny Weasley. If Voldemort learned that she was destroying his horcruxes, he'd move them and she would never find them.
"Open." She whispered in Parseltongue. As the doors ground slowly open she closed her eyes and stepped through them.
"Yesss, you return. Isss it time? Time to hunt? Time to kill?" She could hear the slithering of its massive coils as it approached.
The basilisk was too close for her comfort. All she had to do was take out the chicken and cast Reenervate to make it crow, but would the snake just sit there? "Not yet. Close your eyes, please."
"They are closssed, Harper Pottssss." It sounded so close.
She opened her eyes. The Chamber of Secrets wasn't dark. It must have been enchanted with everlasting lights when it was built, but the lighting wasn't that good. Still it was good enough to make out the massive snake that was right in front of her. The basilisk was a bright poisonous green and thick as the trunk of a tree. It was so close that it's flickering tongue was almost licking her. If it opened its eyes or bit her, she was dead. She needed to distract it somehow. "The last time you were free to hunt. You killed a girl. Why?"
The basilisk slithered about in a circle, staying close and focused on her. "The lassst ssspeaker, Voldemort, gave me leave to hunt and kill, but he didn't let me feed. He usssed the girl."
Used her? Oh, to make a horcrux. What exactly did he do to her body? Harper felt instinctively that she didn't really want to know. Something dark. She lowered her wand, holstered it, and reached into her bag and found the rooster. It pecked at her. So it was obviously awake. She left it in the bag for the moment. The basilisk was still so close. "How did you choose the girl?"
"The boy, Voldemort, sssaid ssshe mussst die. Ssshe was an enemy of the ssschool." The basilisk was still circling.
Harper noticed uncomfortably that she was now trapped in a ring made by the snake as it slithered around her. It hadn't acted this way before. Did it somehow know she was planning to kill it? Could it smell the rooster inside the bag? This talk wasn't distracting it. She needed something to get it to move away from her. "Did Salazar Slytherin leave anything in the Chamber of Secrets besides you?"
The basilisk stopped circling, it's triangular head bobbed. "Yesss, hisss legacy."
"There is? What is his legacy?" Curiosity warred with relief inside her. This could be the distraction she needed.
"The other ssspeaker, Voldemort, took the booksss, but not the resssst."
The books were probably on dark magic, but what else might have been there. She couldn't recall anything about Slytherin's legacy in the books or the movies, just the creature. "Show me."
"Thisss way." The basilisk slithered away toward the other side of the chamber.
This was her chance, her distraction. She slid her hand into the bag and felt the chicken. Now was the time. Now or never. Walking slowly, letting herself fall behind she slipped her hand into the bag and got a good grip on the rooster.
"Murder! Murderer!" came the distant cry of Moaning Myrtle. "You killed me! You killed me! Perfect Tom the Prefect! Now I'm going to kill you!"
Myrtle was supposed to warn her, not attack Quirrellmort! The basilisk spun around and Harper closed her eyes. She focused on the sound of the basilisk hissing and tried to speak parseltongue. "Ignore the ghost! Kill the intruder!"
"Hunt! Kill!" The basilisk whipped past her.
Harper felt it pass, was almost knocked down as it slithered by her. Hurriedly she opened her eyes. She took one deep breath to calm herself and center her power. This had to work. She pointed the wand at the basilisk. "Tittandium!" — the Deafening Jinx caused a loud ringing in the victim's ears making it impossible to hear. Theo had taught it to her for dueling. It was harder for an opponent to counter spells when they couldn't hear what you'd cast. Now she just prayed that it would keep Voldemort from being able to command the basilisk.
She sprinted after the snake which was moving faster than a thing of its size should. She caught up with its tail, but the tunnel that connected the Chamber of Secrets was narrow and she couldn't pass the snake. The basilisk wasn't quiet. "Hunt! Kill!"
"Stop! I am the Heir of Slytherin!" The voice from ahead hissed loudly and with authority. "I am Lord Voldemort! You will obey me!"
"Murder the murderer!" taunted Myrtle as she darted around the room. She was looked almost completely solid.
"Myrtle! Don't look!" Harper cried out. The basilisk was almost at the entrance chamber.
"Exorcizo Spiritus!" commanded Quirrell.
Suddenly everything happened at all once. Harper caught sight of a glowing Myrtle flying backwards through the air like she'd been hit by a train. She vanished into the ceiling. The basilisk lunged forward and Quirrellmort screamed, but the scream was suddenly cut-off. Harper saw the basilisk lift its head and saw to her horror that it had half-swallowed Quirrell head first. The lower half of Quirrel's body hung from its mouth, his legs still twitching. Harper turned from the sight as her stomach flipped, and she threw up everything she'd eaten. After several heaves she remembered to close her eyes.
As she lay there heaving, suddenly something vile struck her like a wave of pure evil. It washed over her and dug inside her, sliding under her skin, concentrated darkness invading her body and soul. She felt herself sinking into unconsciousness, no being pushed into unconsciousness. She tried to fight back, but suddenly the pressure was gone. Whatever the thing was it screamed, not with a voice, but she heard it anyway. The presence withdrew as fast as it had attacked her.
"What the hell was that?" She felt very weak but she rolled up a bit and risked staring at the ground to locate the basilisk. It had been beside her. It was almost pitch dark so brought out her wand "Lumos!" She could make out the form of the basilisk now. The basilisk started going through a set of convulsions for some reason. Harper watched cautiously. Had Quirrellmort done something to it? Where was Myrtle? If Quirrellmort was dead did she need to kill the basilisk? Yes, it was still too dangerous to leave alive. Feeling shakey she moved her wand to her left hand and felt for the rooster in the bag.
The basilisk suddenly stopped convulsing. Then it spoke. "Harry Potter," hissed the basilisk. "The Deafening Curse, almost clever, but not clever enough. You cost me a host, but this is a better one. You will tell me all that filthy mudblood ghost told you now."
Harper froze where she was, the rooster in her right hand still in the bag, her wand in her left hand. "You're in the basilisk."
"Yesss, I should have done this before. I feel so strong. It is a much better host than Quirrell ever was. Although I do miss my wand. You're going to die, Harry Potter. Do you want a slow painful death from my bite, or a fast one from gaze? Just tell me what I want. What all did that ghost tell you about me?" Voldemort slithered forward.
Harper's mind raced. Where was Myrtle? Quirrell had hit her with a spell. Harper hadn't even known that there were spells that could affect ghosts. She had the bird in hand. Worth two in the bush said a part of her brain that was too close to the brink of insanity. However, it didn't matter. She couldn't get the rooster out, get her wand and get off a Reenervate before Voldemort could bite her. She had to stall for time. She looked down, forced herself to speak English and speak it loudly. Myrtle seemed to draw power from the anger over her death. "Myrtle, told me how you killed her. In the girl's toilet."
"Yes, I did. Foolish muggle-born girl. She was worth more dead and alive. She was a nothing. She became my first step to immortality. Shedding her blood to give me life was the greatest thing she could have done with her life. What else did she tell you?"
Harper raised her voice. Louder. If Myrtle would just fly around and distract Voldelisk, then she'd have a small chance. "Myrtle told me you murdered her with the basilisk! You killed her in the toilet. You're a murderer! She told me her name, Myrtle Ophelia Klugg!"
Then like a guardian angle Moaning Myrtle swept back into the room from the ceiling. "I heard you! Is he dead? Did the snake get him?"
"He IS the snake!" Harper screamed.
"Naughty Tom!" and Myrtle dove into the snake's head.
The snake started thrashing. Harper pulled out the rooster, dropped it on the ground. It squawked. She quickly transferred her wand to her right hand and hit it with the spell that should make it crow if she'd done her research right. "Reenervate!"
The rooster opened its mouth and crowed.
The basilisk was already thrashing about, but suddenly it went into massive convulsions. It rolled into Harper smashing her against the wall. Several stones shook loose from the ceiling and the tunnel started rumbling. Desperately Harper crawled away as more and more stones fell. She didn't dare look back to see what was happening. She might meet its gaze. Smaller stones and dirt pelted her body as she crawled free.
"Now you're dead again, Tom!" shrieked Myrtle with glee.
Myrtle's glowing body lit the room and Harper glanced back to see the ghost struggling with something dark. The head of the basilisk stuck out of a pile of rubble. So it was dead. Her gaze went back to Myrtle.
Myrtle seemed to be trying to grab the dark thing in her hands and strangle it. "Oh no you don't. Where are you going? Come back you bastard!"
Harper watched in disbelief as the spirit of Voldemort fled from Moaning Myrtle, the girl who haunted the toilet. "Myrtle is he gone?"
"Yes, he fled. He's different. Can't really fight him. Like trying to grab water."
Harper was still trying to wrap her head around what happened. "Myrtle, thanks for coming back. You saved my life." She wondered if she owed Myrtle a life debt. Wouldn't that be interesting? Could a living person even owe a life debt to a ghost?
"Help me kill the bastard permanently and we'll call it even."
Harper laughed, but it came out more like an insane cackle. She was just a little on edge. "That's something I'll be glad to help you do!" She supposed that everything considered she hadn't done that badly. Quirrell was dead and it wasn't even Christmas. The basilisk was dead a year early. She was running well ahead of Harry Potter.
