Cedric swore.

Internally. Physically barely stopped himself from letting out a curse that would alert anything in these deep, dark tunnels of their collective presence. The shed skin of the basilisk was enormous. Over a hundred feet long at least. Faintly, somewhere in his mind, he remembered that basilisk never stopped growing, and the creature of Slytherin had been left inside the castle centuries ago. The average adult was fifty feet long. But this wasn't average. Nearly a millennium had passed since the founding of the school, and while the snake was probably not as old as the school itself, it was only a few decades or so younger.

"Shit," muttered Steve, hand reaching out to steady Percy as he had stumbled on seeing the snake.

All of them froze, their collective breaths holding as they waited for anything to alert the monster that had left this skin behind. When nothing happened, their shoulders dropped, their breath returned. Cedric wondered what the hell they were doing, five underaged boys running around after this monster-

It was Harry, the youngest of them there, that spoke next, "We need to keep going," his voice wasn't shaking. His clenched hands were.

His eyes, emerald green and bright, were narrowed in focus and determination. Facing forward. He was scared. Cedric could see that. But it was almost as if it didn't matter for Harry. Because there was someone who needed them at the end of all this.

"Let's go get Ginny," said Harry, firmly.