Chapter 41

Tuesday, November 10, 1992-The Headmaster's office, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Somewhere in Scotland

Albus Dumbledore would not admit that he was very close to being scared out of his very stylish periwinkle and plum striped robes. Not out of his mind, but the step before. Even Fawkes made a sound of distress as Harry finished speaking.

The Headmaster took a few moments to collect his thoughts. He didn't very much like what he was thinking. He stood. "If you would excuse me for a moment, Harry. Please help yourself to some sweets."

Harry eyed the bowl of sherbet lemons while Dumbledore stood and went searching for his Floo powder. The box was exactly where Dumbledore had left it next to the fireplace, as it should be. His office only looked like it had been disorganized by a swarm of pixies.

"Thunderbird House, Dorset," Dumbledore said as he threw a pinch of Floo powder into the fire. He knelt to stick his head into the green flames and was greeted on the other side by a grey Kneazle. "Hello, Milly. Would you be a dear and fetch Newt for me?"

Milly meowed and trotted out of sight. Dumbledore admired the sitting room while he waited. Artio Scamander seemed to have added to the magical menagerie mural on the wall last time she'd visited her parents. Two snake-headed leopards that hadn't been there when Dumbledore had last seen the room were peering at him in apparent confusion.

Milly trotted back into the room with Newt at her heels. "Professor Dumbledore," Newt said. "Whatever it was, Rolf didn't do it." He raked his fingers through his grey hair and a grin flashed across his face. "Who am I kidding? It was probably Rolf, if it wasn't those Weasley twins."

"Newt." Dumbledore nodded, which was quite difficult to do by Floo unless one had a great deal of practice. "Alas, this visit is for less jovial reasons. I believe there is a basilisk in Hogwarts."

Newt's face fell. "A basilisk, you say? Oh dear." He sat down in an armchair facing the fire. "Is...Are the students alright?"

"No students have been harmed, but Mister Filch's cat has suffered Petrification. I believe she may have seen the basilisk reflected in the flooding that occurred that night," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, yes, that would prevent that basilisk's gaze from being deadly." Newt frowned contemplatively. "But how has it...Inside the walls, of course! Unless someone has seen it in the hallways?"

Dumbledore quickly laid out what he could deduce about the basilisk. It hadn't been roaming the halls but a student had heard it in the walls. It wasn't attacking students, yet. He needed to know how to get the students out of the castle safely so they could search for the creature.

"You'll need to evacuate in large, loud groups," Newt said. "The louder the better. They hunt by sensing vibrations in the ground, basilisks. If the kids are loud and stomping around it'll be too much, they'll confuse it. Do you want me to come through and help out?"

"I would appreciate your expertise," Dumbledore said. "Only wait a few minutes for me to open the Floo for you."

Newt nodded. Dumbledore stepped back into his office and began searching for the Hogwarts visitors log among the books on one of his bookshelves. Harry, who had caved and taken a sherbet lemon when he realized that he was probably going to miss lunch, watched his progress with a quizzical look on his face. Once he'd found the logbook next to a copy of The Tales of Beetle the Bard, Dumbledore added Newt's name to the list under "Headmaster's Floo" with entry time a minute hence. He then sat down to pen a short note, which he duplicated for each of his colleagues and sent Fawkes to deliver. Newt came through the Floo just as he finished, carrying a suitcase and wearing a pair of dark spectacles that wrapped around the sides of his head to completely shield his eyes.

"Excellent timing, Newt," Dumbledore said. "Harry, allow me to introduce Newton Scamander, magizoologist. Newt, this is Harry Potter."

Newt smiled as he and Harry shook hands. "Mister Potter, lovely to meet you. I suppose you're the student who heard the basilisk?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir." He didn't say a word about being a Parselmouth, and neither did Dumbledore. "Er, Mister Scamander? Did you write Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?"

"I did indeed. My magnum opus, as it were." Newt set his suitcase on Dumbledore's desk and popped it open. He took out two pairs of spectacles just like his own and handed them to Harry and Dumbledore. "These will filter out the basilisk's gaze. You'll end up Petrified, but that's better than being dead."

Dumbledore put the dark glasses on over his half-moon spectacles. Harry tried to do the same with his glasses but had no success until Newt resized the wrap-around glasses. The dark glasses blocked out almost all light, but objects and people showed up outlined in bright white.

"There we go," Newt said. "Now to start our basilisk search."

Tuesday, November 10, 1992-The Arithmancy classroom, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Somewhere in Scotland

The entire class jumped when a phoenix appeared next to Professor Vector. The bird chirped once before handing Vector a slip of parchment and disappearing in a torrent of flame.

"Whoa," Adrian breathed.

"Understatement," Patricia murmured. Neither of them had seen a phoenix in real life before. Sharing a room with one for even a second was amazing.

Vector frowned as she read what was written on the parchment. She clapped her hands to get their attention, unnecessarily as all of them were still staring at where the phoenix had disappeared. "Pack up your things, class. The Headmaster has asked us to prepare to evacuate the castle."

The seventeen fourth-years responded to that announcement with varying expressions of puzzlement and concern, but they quickly packed away their textbooks and parchment. No one argued with Professor Vector, she could be really scary when she wanted to be.

"What do you think's going on?" Grace whispered from the desk behind Patricia and Adrian.

"Dunno," Patricia said. "Must be big." There wasn't a single whole-school evacuation mentioned in Hogwarts: A History.

They didn't have to wait long before Professor Dumbledore's voice rang throughout the school. "Attention students and staff. At this time we will begin evacuating the castle. All students who are currently in class, please follow your professor's instructions. Students currently in Defence Against the Dark Arts should wait for Professor Sinistra to arrive and follow her instructions. Students not in class should stay where they are and not look anything in the eye until a house-elf comes to collect them. We will be meeting at the Quidditch pitch. Prefects, a reminder to keep an eye on the younger students. Everyone, please make as much noise as possible as you leave the castle. Quietus."

There was a beat of silence after the announcement ended. Then the Arithmancy class exploded into more than enough noise to make the basilisk so confused it ran headfirst into a wall before retreating back into the Chamber of Secrets (and let's not pretend you don't know that there is a basilisk and there is a Chamber of Secrets), especially with multiple other classes doing the same thing.