Chapter Thirty-Five: The Basilisk at Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

It was around mid-March when anything happened. Harry hadn't been there but from what he understood, Fred and George Weasley had been found in some girl's bathroom that nobody used because Moaning Myrtle was always somehow flooding it (despite not being able to really interact with the world at large) and whining. They had been found with a frozen Moaning Myrtle who, being a ghost, everyone was quite unsurprised to learn wasn't actually dead.

McGonagall had given them a detention for being in the girl's bathroom and another one for possibly writing 'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE' on the walls with chicken blood.

"Even if you didn't do it," McGonagall had reasoned when the twins had protested, "God only knows what you deserve a detention for that you haven't been caught doing."

Fred and George had admitted that she might have had a point and just accepted the extra detention. Notably, they wouldn't actually say what they had been doing there in the first place.

Harry hadn't been there but he had heard all about it from the Weasleys afterwards.

"There was this thing," Fred (Harry thought it was Fred, at least) had said. "We had hidden when we heard someone else coming in. We hadn't expected to see anyone in the bathroom because no one used that bathroom but we didn't want to get caught so we stood locked the door to one of the stalls and stood on the toilet."

"Myrtle said it was a boy so we almost came out since he wasn't supposed to be there either but then there'd be a witness-I mean, but then we'd have to admit we were hiding in a stall so we didn't. Myrtle went out to go yell at him for coming into her bathroom like she did with us and we heard this weird hissing," George continued.

"Then there was this…I don't know, we saw it under the stall. A giant snake, I think. I guess it must have attacked her somehow but I really don't know how. She's a ghost, after all," Fred concluded.

As it turned out, Theodore was the only student in school who knew more about the Chamber of Secrets than it was before their father's time, likely owing to the fact that his father was in his sixties and so was at Hogwarts at the time. Some of the other students (especially the older ones) had similarly old parents but they had evidently either not heard the story or didn't want to make themselves look suspicious by revealing that they had heard the story.

Theodore obligingly told everyone who asked him about it (which was practically everyone because even if they could have heard about it from one of their friends who had already asked, they apparently preferred to get it from the most direct source). He seemed a little disappointed that everyone was so ready to believe him, however, which Harry didn't understand him at all.

"It's like this," Theodore had explained when Harry had asked. "Fifty years ago, the Chamber of Secrets was open for the first time since Slytherin sealed his monster inside of it and this was the first indication that anyone had that it wasn't just a legend used to scare Muggleborns. Muggleborns were the target but they were only petrified and not killed. Eventually, a half-blood girl named Myrtle – yes, that Myrtle – was killed in the bathroom she still haunts and the governors threatened to close down the school. All those attacks were certainly inconvenient, yes, but once someone died it started getting serious. So that's when a prefect, Tom Riddle, accused Hagrid of having the monster that attacked those people although Hagrid claims he just had an Acromantula and that that Acromantula is still living in the forest and has had lots of baby Acromantula and so we really should be careful. The creature fled and the Ministry was trying to minimize the scandal so they promptly expelled Hagrid because as a half-giant with no family he was an easy target. Fortunately for them, the attacks stopped after the death. Fortunately for Hagrid, too, since he stayed on as a gamekeeper and so probably would have been carted off to Azkaban or something if the attacks had continued. Riddle went on to get a trophy for blaming Hagrid for the attack and then became Head Boy and vanished off the face of the Earth a few years later."

Rita Skeeter wrote an article about the attack entitled "Hogwarts: How Safe Your Children Aren't" which started a bit of a panic, especially since she had managed to get a pretty descriptive interview with the Weasley twins. What's more, she proved that while she often went in for the sensational she was perfectly capable of doing her research (or at least having someone do it for her) when it counted and she published her follow-up: "The Basilisk at Hogwarts."

Since everyone knew that Hagrid didn't like snakes, it would seem that he wasn't going to be blamed for the renewed attacks. He had taken to clipping out Rita Skeeter's articles and calling her a great woman for ensuring that this time he couldn't be made a scapegoat. Harry marveled at how just happening to be on the right side could change people's perceptions because he knew that Hagrid hadn't thought much of Rita before any of this had started.

He was sure that Dumbledore had to deal with a lot of concerned parents and an upset board of governors, especially because he knew that Lucius Malfoy was on the board of governors and he was quite vocal in the press.

"I don't care who that thing might target," he had been quoted, "it's a basilisk in the same school as my son. Why aren't precautionary measures being taken?"

So far no one had withdrawn from the school but people were starting to threaten to.

Then when little Sally-Anne Perks was petrified and Rita Skeeter reported "Hogwarts Student To Be Left Petrified Until June" she terrified everyone at the thought that their own children might be left petrified for two or three months. Dumbledore tried to explain that they couldn't force the Mandrakes they were growing to be ready any faster but that did not appease anyone. The parents of the upperclassmen were especially upset given what missing a few months of school could do to their exam scores.

That was when Gilderoy had gallantly – and very popularly – swooped in and personally bought and donated two dozen doses of Mandrake Potion Hogwarts. It was too expensive for Hogwarts to justify buying it when they could just make it but it also saw a surge in book sales and so that was actually a net gain for Gilderoy. And the best part was that it allowed him to legitimately play the hero with very little work and no danger whatsoever.

The only precaution that could really be taken when they had no idea how to find the basilisk was to insist that students use mirrors to check behind every corner and teachers had to accompany students between classes. It was extremely annoying but then Harry supposed it might save him in the future. He hadn't been petrified yet and he wasn't a Muggleborn so his chances of having been killed without these new safety precautions seemed rather low.

To date, seven students had still managed to get petrified but they were all up and about again. Myrtle, by silent agreement, had been left petrified until the Mandrake Potions would be ready. The official reasoning was that it was because they did not want to use up one of the precious Mandrake Potion doses that Gilderoy had provided but it was likely just that they were all enjoying a break from her.

And Harry had never seen McGonagall so happy as the day that Peeves had gotten petrified although the Weasley twins had been near tears.

Hermione was mostly impressed at Rita's investigative journalism and how she had managed to figure out that there was a basilisk in the school. It was a good thing, too, because focusing on that was all that would get her to stop railing against what kind of a school would let an actual bloodthirsty monster inhabit it. His friends from the other houses, especially the Muggleborns, were all various degrees of freaked out and everyone tried to guess who the heir of Slytherin was.

What was probably the most surprising was how his Slytherin friends were taking the news.

"This is awful," Blaise complained.

"It's not really affecting us all that much," Harry pointed out.

"For now, yes," Blaise agreed. "For now. Although given that it's a basilisk, who's to say that it will continue to not attack us?"

"I agree," Draco said. "I don't like having to worry about getting petrified every time I go anywhere. And with basilisks, just looking directly at their eyes will automatically kill you!"

Pansy sighed and shook her head. "If only we could be sure that it would just go after who it's supposed to and leave all of us alone."

Harry was stunned. "What do you mean? I mean, I get that since none of us are Muggleborns it would mean that we'd be safe but that sounds almost like…"

"Almost like they don't care that Muggleborns are getting attacked?" Daphne supplied. "Well, that might be – just maybe – because they don't actually care that they're being attacked."

"Your muggle-loving ways are giving me a headache," Draco complained, shooing her away. "Go over to Gryffindor or something."

"Muggleborns are not the same as muggles," Daphne told him.

"Sure they are," Blaise said. "They're just muggles with magic."

"Hence making them not muggles," Daphne said dryly. "Since muggles are just people without magic. And I hardly think I'm being an extremist by preferring that people not get attacked by a basilisk, whether it does any lasting damage or not."

"It's not like we literally want anyone we know to die," Theodore protested. "It's just, well…"

"Seriously?" Harry demanded, finally finding his voice. "Seriously? You think it's just fine for people to be attacked because of who their parents are?"

"That sounds like a loaded question," Draco said suspiciously.

"I cannot believe you!" Harry shouted.

"I don't understand what the problem is," Pansy said, confused. "So we don't like Muggleborns. We've never really liked them."

"They're being attacked," Harry stressed. "They could die."

"I find the fact that you're explaining that to us again a little insulting," Blaise told him.

"What is wrong with you people?" Harry demanded.

Draco shrugged. "I don't really think anything is."

"You're not going to get through to them," Daphne told him. "They're not going to understand your argument any more than you understand theirs. It's just too fundamental of a difference."

"But I'm right," Harry protested.

Pansy snorted. "Right, because that's not arrogant at all."

"Look, Harry, we're not trying to say that we would attack any of these people," Theodore assured him, trying to make peace. "We just don't really mind that they are being attacked. But it's still causing problems for us."

"Do tell me how other people getting attacked – which apparently does not bother you in the slightest – is causing problems for you," Harry said sarcastically.

"We don't want anyone thinking that we're doing it," Blaise explained.

"Why not?" Harry challenged. "If it's really not a problem."

"Well, this is the kind of thing that people get sent to Azkaban for," Blaise pointed out. "And we really don't want people to think that we've evil."

"Then maybe you should stop thinking that it's perfectly fine for people to be attacked because of their parents!" Harry suggested loudly.

"Well we're certainly not going to tell the world," Draco said, like Harry was the one being difficult. "That would just be incredibly short-sighted."

Daphne shot him a sympathetic smile as he stormed off.

"I just don't understand how I could miss the fact that several of my friends were extremely racist for more than half a year!" Harry exploded.

"Well, they are in Slytherin," Gilderoy pointed out, smiling as he read Rita's latest glowing piece on him.

Harry glared at him. "So what? I'm in Slytherin. Daphne is in Slytherin. Anyone else in my house who doesn't happen to be racist is in Slytherin. Assuming that just because they're in Slytherin means they're racist is just as prejudiced as they are."

"But less likely to lead to an attack," Gilderoy couldn't help but reply.

"You're not helping," Harry sulked.

Gilderoy sighed and looked up. "I'm sorry, Harry. Of course I'm not saying that all Slytherins are racists. It's just that you're far more likely to find the more racist types in Slytherin although casually racist people who might mean well but treat muggles like they're some exotic species of animals while refusing to learn anything about them can be found wherever you go. You know I'm Muggleborn."

"Nobody else does," Harry replied.

Gilderoy nodded. "And I would like to keep it that way, especially while we have a basilisk on the loose who is attacking Muggleborns."

"Are you ashamed of being a Muggleborn or something?" Harry asked curiously.

Gilderoy shook his head. "Honestly, Harry, blood status doesn't mean a thing to me. My life would just be more difficult if people knew."

"It shouldn't be," Harry said stubbornly.

"I'll agree with you there but it would be. And I have no intention of further complicating my life by becoming an activist as I know that I would be forced to be as an extremely successful Muggleborn wizard," Gilderoy explained.

Harry said nothing but looked disappointed.

Gilderoy sighed again. "You're judging me."

Harry looked startled. "N-no, I-"

"Everything you know about me and this is what you're choosing to judge me about," Gilderoy marveled. "I never thought I'd see the day…"

"It's just…I…" Harry trailed off, looking miserable.

"You think I'm being selfish," Gilderoy supplied. "And you're probably right. The selfless thing to do would be to let myself be turned into a poster boy for Muggleborns and champion their rights. But then, the selfless thing to do would also be to stop taking credit for things I have not done and so I wouldn't be much help on that front. And at any rate, who ever said that I had a problem with being selfish? Selfishness is so unfairly maligned sometimes.

It was like Daphne said. Sometimes when the difference was so fundamental, you never could understand the other person's point or expect for them to understand yours.

"What am I supposed to do about my friends?" Harry asked instead.

Gilderoy shrugged. "I don't see that there's anything you can do. You have three choices, I suppose. You can stop being friends with them over this, you can spend the rest of your association futilely trying to convince them that they're wrong, or you can accept that at least they're not acting on what they believe and try to move past this."

Harry bit his lip and looked down. He didn't know if he had the energy to argue against people who simply could not hear him forever and he couldn't very well just stop being friends with his friends. That only left one option and that made him feel like a coward.

"How could I have missed this for so long?" Harry wondered aloud.

Gilderoy shrugged. "I'm sure I don't know but they probably made an effort not to say things like that in front of you since you don't share their opinions. It's very thoughtful and quite smart because of how useful you're going to be in the future to not upset you unnecessarily."

Harry sighed. "I guess so. I just hope they go back to not talking about it so I can ignore the situation."

"I think that you should offer your services to the Ministry," Gilderoy said abruptly.

Harry blinked. "What?"

"They've managed to pinpoint the location of the Chamber as being in Myrtle's bathroom and they even think that the opening is under the sink that never works but that has the snake images," Gilderoy elaborated. "They just can't get in because they can't speak Pareseltongue. If you get them in so that they can kill the basilisk then you'll be a hero. And you wouldn't even have to go down there seeing as how I can't imagine you would have to prove yourself a proper heir of Slytherin more than once. That would just be inefficient and inconveniencing."

"But I thought you said that I shouldn't tell people about being a Parselmouth because they'd probably think I was evil or something," Harry said, confused.

Gilderoy nodded. "I did say that. But this wouldn't be randomly announcing it or having people discover it when you freak them out by communicating with a snake right in front of them. This would be doing your duty and being a hero, saving everyone who is at Hogwarts now or might ever go to Hogwarts from a basilisk when no one else could. Just let the Prophet break the story the way you want it to. Rita's good at that."

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