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Classes began again the next day, the Brigade was nervous, it was the first week in January, the teachers had decided it was time for their students to really focus on their tests and were handed out twice the usual amount of homework. For January the Brigade was busy being as an actual study group, everyone focused on helping each other, even the twins.
They managed to get a break for the match of Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff, while everyone was excited about the prospect of watching the match the Brigade stayed behind. It was time for their plan: Emptying the Chamber Pot, named by Fred and George.
Harry and Hermione lead everyone to the second floor bathroom, they looked at the watches they had, the match was about to start, they had to act quickly, who knew how long the match would last or if someone would come looking for them. Once inside they locked the door and were greeted by an angry hissing sound.
"You don't belong in here!"
The group turned to find the ghost of a girl, the girls stood in front of the boys, "We wanted them to know how special your bathroom is." Daphne said.
The ghost looked surprised and her cheeks started to glow silver, "Oh, well, welcome to my bathroom!" She said her attitude completely changed, "I'm Myrtle." Everyone introduced themselves, and then things became a bit awkward, Myrtle looked back at Daphne, "Why is my bathroom special?" She was about to get upset, believing they were making fun of her.
Harry quickly stepped forward to the sinks and said, "Because of this." He looked under the tap and focused on the pipes, after a soft hissing sound the sink started to drop and it revealed a large hole. Myrtle was quite shocked, "I never seen that before!"
Everyone gathered around, Fred asked; "As brilliant as this is, how do we expect to get out?"
Hermione stepped forward and waved her wand in an "H" shape, "Et posuit!" a large rope ladder appeared before them, she did the spell three more times and tied the ends together, she then conjured two pieces of single rope and wrapped those around the pipes of the other sinks making sure they were secure, she then stepped back. "That's our way out."
There were two rapid taps on the door followed by three slow ones, and two quick ones, it was the signal from Kingsley. Tracey opened the door and had Kingsley come in, followed by Charlie and Aurora, Harry was surprised to see her, but made no comment, only a mental note to ask Hermione later.
Kingsley carried a crate that everyone eyed suspiciously, he replied to their looks, "If what you say is true, I am prepared to get rid of it."
Harry illuminated his wand "Wait until I send you a signal then I'll let you know it's safe." He told the group and then he held the wand between his teeth and started to climb down. Blaise and Neville left the room, they were tasked with keeping an eye out, Hermione had created the coins that were mentioned in her notebook, it took her all Christmas break to do it, but it was worth it.
Harry was thankful Hermione made the extra rope, without it he would have had to jump about five feet before getting to the ground, he was still off by two feet, but it wasn't as bad, Aurora, Charlie, and Kingsley soon followed. Together Harry lead them down the town, no one talked, everyone was tensed ready for any attack, their feet crunched on old bones and human waste. They came to a large door engraved with snakes two of them had eyes with large gemstones, Harry walked up to the door and whispered very softly, Aurora, Charlie, and Kingsley heard only a hissing noise, which they believed it to be the door, they walked further into a hallway which opened to a large chamber.
Kingsley's mouth was open, as was Aurora's, they stood in awe staring around the Chamber, there were many pipes up high leading from there, they quickly grasped the danger, the basilisk could move through the castle with ease.
But what made the hairs on the back of their neck rise was the large stone face that stood in the middle; Kingsley quickly set the crate down and gently started to take out the weapon. He took out about twenty roosters and placed them in a semicircle around the face.
"Remember a single look can kill you." Kingsley said as he got his wand ready, Aurora and Charlie took positions as Harry got to the head and stood to the side. "It won't, I'll make sure."
Kingsley scoffed, "Oh? This monster doesn't understand reason."
Harry sighed, "It understands Parselmouth."
All three adults stared dumbly at Harry who simply replied, "When this is over you can ask Professor McGonagall."
They nodded and conjured large mirrors that surrounded the face and roosters, this was Hermione's idea. Harry double checked with them and they were ready, Harry hissed at the face. "Open and wake!" The mouth started to slowly open, after many years of unused it groaned.
Charlie quickly casted an orb of light to float above the mirrors, now Harry could see the roosters, they had head covers on, Harry heard the snake slither and slide, he heard a loud thud and believed it was coming out, Aurora and Kingsley quickly summoned the head covers exposing the roosters to the light and thus started to crow.
The basilisk hissed in agony after one rooster and after another crowed, it thrashed it's tail, trying to get the roosters away, but it slammed against a mirror instead. It tried to return back into the mouth, but found it closed, Harry managed to close it as it thrashed about, with nowhere to go the basilisk coiled on itself. Harry felt something warm in his pocket, it was the signal from Hermione the match must be over.
"We have to hurry!" Harry yelled.
Kingsley cursed under his breath, "It's not dead yet!"
Aurora panicked, "And there's nothing we can kill it with!"
Harry ran over to Charlie's side who was waving him over, Charlie held out a small knife. "Harry this is goblin made, I bought when I was still in Romania, dragons are tough you know." Harry nodded not sure what he meant by that.
Charlie pointed his wand at the knife and enlarged it.
"It's sharp, the inside of the mouth is a weak point, we need to get it in.."
Aurora squealed, "Have you lost it!? We cannot go near it!?"
Harry immediately thought of an idea, "We don't have to! Remove the middle mirrors when I say so!"
He grabbed the knife, and clutched it tightly as he ran over to Kingsley, his strength had improved so he was able to carry the heavy weighted item. He prayed the plan would work, he pointed his wand at the knife and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
He felt the coin get warm again in his cloak, he became really worried, something else might have happened. Kingsley quickly caught on and removed the top part of the mirrors so that the basilisk would make it's way over them, Harry hissed, "Jump!"
The basilisk was weak, the crows were still crowing, it barely managed to get it's head over the edge, it's eyes were closed from near death, and it opened it's mouth to hiss when Harry sent the knife straight in, and then the basilisk dropped dead.
They removed the mirrors and Kingsley picked up the roosters, Aurora stared in shock as the basilisk fell to the ground, Charlie was placing the covers back on the roosters head and Harry took off running to the entrance.
"What's wrong?" Charlie yelled at him. Harry yelled back, "It's Hermione she sent me the signal twice, something is wrong."
Aurora looked at Harry and ran after him, "I'm coming!"
They ran down the passage, leaving Charlie and Kingsley to clean up the Chamber, they got to the entrance, but the rope ladder was no longer as it was, they looked up, the entryway was closed.
Harry's heart slammed in his chest, he wasn't sure how the Chamber closed, this is what probably Hermione signaled for, he was the only one who could speak Parseltongue; unless…
"We have to get out of here fast!" Harry panicked, Aurora pointed her wand at Harry and said, "Lele rocaid!" Harry felt the wind get pushed out of him as he was thrown upwards.
He held out his hands and clutched at the wall, afraid of falling back down, when he reached out he grabbed ahold of a small ledge. He tried to hear anything on the other side, but it was quiet. He closed his eyes and imagined a snake slithering across the wall, when he opened them, his thought he saw one in the darkness and quickly whispered "Open!"
It worked, a simple trick he taught himself as a kid to keep himself occupied on lonely nights, the bathroom started opening and it was empty, except for the water that was ankle deep and falling into the opening of the Chamber, "Myrtle?" Harry whispered.
Myrtle came out from one of the bathrooms looking quite paler than earlier, "Oh you're alright! The others, they had to go, there was a bad man here earlier."
Harry sighed, they escaped, "Myrtle, can you tell me anything?"
Myrtle shrugged her shoulders, "It happened too fast, they started to panic and asked me for help, so I did the only thing I could do."
Harry looked at the water, "Myrtle you're a genius! I have to go, but I'll be back later." Aurora climbed out right then, she conjured ropes for Charlie and Kingsley to get out. "Professor, please help them get out unseen, I have to go find the others."
Aurora dumbly nodded and waited for the others, she went to a stall and sat down, staring at the opening, trying to process what happened now that the adrenaline ran its course.
Harry meanwhile, went up to the seventh floor, but found the Den empty, he heard everyone coming back into the castle, so it meant it wasn't the match he was called for. Harry took the coin and pointed his wand to it, hopefully Hermione could get the signal.
He left the seventh floor and instead went to the owlery, owls and their droppings were the only ones there, Hedwig flew down to him, he caressed her for a bit and said, "Help me find Hermione, please."
Hedwig spread her wings and took off, he prayed she understood him, Harry made his way back to the lower levels, he was about to go find Minerva when he felt his coin get warm, he breathed a sigh of relief, they were ok. He made it to the third level when he heard, "Harry!" He looked behind himself, and running down the hallway was Daphne, her hair was a mess and her cheeks were bright red, she took his arm and pulled him back in her direction, "Hurry, you have to hurry!"
They arrived to a door and Daphne quickly unlocked it, Harry understood, it's the third floor corridor, he wanted to protest, but was shoved inside. There was the members of the Brigade looking disheveled and a sleeping Fluffy. Hermione had a music box playing, Harry gave her a quizzical look.
"My parents, I brought it when we came back from vacation and I've just been carrying it with me." Hermione answered the unasked question.
"What happened?" Harry asked her. Everyone looked frightened and Neville was the one who spoke up.
"Ron followed us, we don't know how long he was watching us, or if he saw Professor Sinistra or Kingsley, but he followed us, after you went down we heard the door open and we saw his face." He started shaking.
Fred and George went to his side and offered support, "We're sorry Harry, we should've kept a closer eye on him."
Daphne was visibly upset, "You should have! What he did could have made it worse for any of us!"
Fluffy stirred a bit and they hushed for a minute waiting for anything, Tracey walked over to Daphne and wrapped her arms around her, once they confirmed Fluffy was still asleep.
Blaise shook his head, "They couldn't have known Daphne, none of us could have."
Harry felt a prickly feeling on the back of his neck, "What happened?"
Millicent stood up, she straightened her cloak and said, "It happened like this.."
Previously….
The Brigade member stood watching as Harry and the Circle members went down the large pipe, Blaise and Neville went to keep an eye out at opposite end of the corridors. Hermione fidgeted with her feet, the silence was too much to handle. Myrtle floated above the opening peering as far as she could.
"Could you follow Myrtle?" Tracey asked her.
Myrtle shrugged, "I don't know, it looks too dark really, I don't feel comfortable going."
Tracey nodded, Myrtle was scared, she stepped closer to the opening, she heard a slight creak, but ignored it, until she felt hands on her back and her balance was thrown off.
She only gasped, but she felt two arms grab and pull on her cloak, and another arm grab her arm and pull her back. Fred saw the red haired person dash out, if he wouldn't have seen it, he would never have believed it.
He and George pulled Tracey from falling and flung her back, she crashed into Hermione and Susan, her head hit into one of their knees, and when she opened her eyes, she saw darkness.
"GUYS!" She whispered frantically. And then she heard, they all heard, a faint whispering and scratches, the tunnel was closing!
"It's closing!" Fred said, "Lumos!" Said George; they could only see a few feet in front of them, but it was enough to get to the sink and try to hold it open with no success.
Hermione was quickly tapping her coin, hoping Harry could get the message, and then they heard a soft croning voice.
"Now children, that place is not safe, now which one of you opened it?"
Hermione tapped the coin again, with Blaise and Neville being outside, and Fred and George on one side, Tracey, Susan, and her on another, Daphne and Millicent somewhere.
"No one wants to answer? " Asked the voice, with malicious sweetness.
George quickly extinguished his wand and Fred stood protectively in front of him, all girls hugged each other, fear gripping their insides.
"Oh, well, this shall be fun." The voice said, with such sinful glee.
Everyone closed their eyes against the darkness, and then they felt a sudden pressure as they were sloshed around the bathroom, hitting walls and floors until they were thrown against the door.
The bathroom door was then opened and the water gushed out, taking with it the students and the assailant, Blaise and Neville helped the girls, up while Fred and George stood between them and the assailant, they brought up shields and once everyone had solid footing, they fired stunning spells and ran; they could hear the cheers from the Quidditch match, but paid no mind, they ran as fast as they could.
Hermione was the one who came up with the third floor option, knowing they would not be followed in there. Her music box was wet, but the few seconds Fluffy was caught off guard, allowed her to repair it and have it playing.
They held their breath as they heard someone run past, Hermione pulled everyone around the music box, to muffle the sound, even if slightly, and they waited for what seemed like hours.
Daphne offered to go in search of Harry or one of the Circle members, Hermione sent a signal through the coin again, and then what seemed a longer wait than before, Daphne arrived with Harry.
Currently…
After Harry heard the tale, he sat down on the floor in disbelief, "How do you know it was Ron?"
Fred and George had their shoulders slumped, "We saw him, unless Percy shrank, or someone has the same color hair we do, that's Ron." Fred said. "We're sorry Harry, we didn't know he would do something like this."
Harry patted their backs, "Everyone is capable of doing bad things, it is up to each of us to decide if it is worth the bad things." Everyone was somber from his words.
Harry looked at them and dreaded to ask, "Did you see the speaker?"
Everyone said no, "He did something, it was so dark." Said Susan.
Harry nodded, "I am guessing, that was Voldemort."
The girls gasped and huddled close together, Susan was softly crying, the boys went pale and held themselves together, Blaise tentatively asked, "How are we sure? It could've been someone else…"
Harry just gave him a look, and Blaise balled his hands, "He was going to hurt us, wasn't he?" He asked.
Harry nodded, and turned to everyone, "You just got your first challenge, it is up to you if you want to continue with us. This is what Hermione and I've been trying to tell you from the beginning. We won't hold it against you, we won't tell anyone, but you also have to know. Either now or years later, you're going to have to decide."
Blaise was the first one to react and stepped forward, placing his hand out in the middle of the group, "I owe him, and I always make sure to pay any debts."
The twins were next, their youthful glow gone and in place aged wisdom. Daphne and Tracey stepped in as well, Millicent took Susan and helped her over. "We're just getting started."
Hermione and Neville both placed their hands on top of the rest, "We're worth ten times more than him."
Harry smiled proudly and put his hand on top of theirs, there was a sudden glow of light that started from the center and went up each of their arms. It burned low, as if standing close to the fireplace, when they were able to move away each one had a questioning look on their faces.
"What the hell?" Blaise began.
Millicent rubbed her arm, "It was Promise Pact." Everyone looked at her and then Harry looked at Hermione, "I've heard of wizards and witches making pacts, similar to the Secret Keeper spell. But this, I'm not sure." She said as she looked at Millicent, "What is it?" Hermione asked her.
Millicent explained, "When you grow up with the Dark Arts, you learn a lot more about defense against them. A Promise Pact is made whenever two people or more have the same agenda, there's no ill side effects, like an Unbreakable Vow, dying if you break it, you can talk about it with others, unlike the Secret Keeper, but that's all I know. They're rare." She finished.
Hermione quickly realized, "Because no one has the same agenda, an Unbreakable Vow is by force, a Promise Pact is willingly, and we all have the same agenda, to stop Voldemort.." She said softly.
Harry stood as tall as he could, "We'll make good on this Promise, we'll defeat him. Let's head back to our dorms before someone starts looking for us, and about Ron, let's keep this between us, try to act normal, Hermione and I will make some changes to the Stone plan."
Hermione took Harry's hand and led them out, she needed reassurance at the moment, what they went through was traumatic, Harry understood and took her to a nearby passage that he remembered from the map. Once out of sight Hermione leaned on Harry, Harry held her and he could hear her crying softly.
"Hermione?" He asked her gently.
"I'm ok Harry, it was just terrifying, we got lucky." She whispered as she dried her tears.
"It'll be ok Hermione, we'll train better, work harder. We got something he doesn't." Harry said with a smile.
Hermione gave him a questioning look.
"We have Muggle knowledge, we have the notebooks, we have more than he does. I promise we'll be better prepared." He promised her.
Hermione sniffed softly, "What about the basilisk?"
Harry grinned, "It's gone Hermione, everyone is safe from that."
Hermione smiled at this, "He doesn't know what happened to it, he knows that someone opened the Chamber."
Harry nodded, "We have to believe Ron told him who we are, and he'll try to go down there soon, maybe once the year is over."
Hermione nodded, "Then we make our move on the Stone now. Did Kingsley and Charlie leave ok?"
Harry jumped back, "I forgot about them, lets change and then we can ask Professor Sinistra."
Hermione nodded and followed him to their dorm, where they got looks from other students, some curious and the older ones with raised eyebrows. They showered and changed into clean robes and made their way out, everyone was at the dining hall, and once there they caught the eye of Aurora and waved her over to their table, Hermione was using her homework as the excuse to talk to her.
Harry leaned over pretending to be interested, "Did everyone get out ok?" He asked.
Aurora nodded, she whispered to him, "The tunnel is open, but we closed the bathroom, Severus has Filch guarding it, when you're ready we'll get him out of the way for you to close it."
She patted Hermione on the shoulder and made her way back to the table, Aurora gave a wide grin to Dumbledore, and to Minerva, a slight nod of the head. She was on their side, what she saw was enough.