Hogwarts a History – Mazes and Monsters year 2 remix
Chapter 03 – You killed THAT!
…
"Wow! That 'is' ugly."
"Yugh!"
"He's very well chiseled at least."
Leave it to Luna to find the bright side. "It get's worse," said Harry, hissing it into action, sending the serpents slithering through his mouth.
"Ewwwwww!" was the collective response.
The chamber opened, vast and echoing silence. The second years of Gryffindor plus nonaffiliated extras, huddled together as they shuffled in.
Torches sprang to life of their own accord, filling the darkness with startled illumination.
"Are they supposed to do that?" quivered Lavender.
"They did last time," said Harry, non-plussed.
He'd already done this dance, the chamber, the lights, the statue…
"Whoa! Would ya look at that," said Dean.
"Must have liked to look at his own face," quipped Seamus weakly.
…and then of course, the basilisk.
No one said much when they first saw the monster. Ron tried, so did Lavender, but they never got past the first syllable which repeated at varying speed and pitch.
Unsurprisingly, it was Luna who found her voice first. "It's certainly a very impressive specimen."
Then Su Li, though it came out riding a hoarse, "You killed that?"
"Yeah."
"Hu—huhuhu-huhuhu, how?" Neville wheezed, standing at the edge of consciousness, ready to fall off the edge depending on the answer.
"I suspect there was a sword involved," said Luna.
"What makes you say that?" Harry wondered.
"I just like the image," she replied. "Very gallant."
"I see. Next question. Is it really necessary for you to cling to my arm like that?"
"I'm scared," she said, directing him a big doe eyed look, which was only a slight alteration on her usual look.
"You don't sound scared."
"I'm very good at hiding it."
"Well I'm not!" squeaked Lavender, latching onto his other arm with unnecessary grip.
"It's already dead, Lavender."
"It's still scary, Harry."
There was a certain menace to the beast, even in death. Something that pinged all those ancestral instincts which had well served his forebearers in more savage times.
"What else is in here?" asked Dean, looking anywhere but 'there'.
"Beats me," said Harry. "I didn't have much time to look around." He'd been a bit preoccupied, what with trying to not die and all.
"Should we, I dunno, split up and look around?"
The response was unanimous, if not also a bit shrill, "NO!"
"Okay, okay," Dean flinched, "didn't need to scream right in my ear Ron."
"I WASN'T SCREAMING!" the seven-year-old girl currently speaking for Ron Weasley shrieked.
"Why don't we just wander as a group?" Harry offered, like he really had a choice with a blonde attached to either arm.
As a unit, the Gryffindor second years and company made a wide berth around the basilisk, scanning the room with cautious, yet undeniable curiosity. Scary monster besides, they were seeing a place thought by most to be only a myth.
"How do you think he built all this without anyone finding out," Seamus wondered aloud.
"Beats me," said Harry.
It's not like it was some small nook you could stealthily squirrel away behind a fake wall. The chamber was massive, buried beneath yet still connected to the massive castle above.
Just saying 'magic' didn't quite cover it. Though there had doubtless been magic involved. The enchantments still active gave testament to that.
"He really was an ugly bastard," said Ron, when they stopped at the foot of Slytherin's statue.
"Not too ugly," said Padma, "since we know he had at least one heir."
One heir who had eventually heired heirs till arriving at Tom Marvolo Riddle. Harry couldn't help but wonder how many of those between had been just as bad. How many had been even worse?
"Does that mouth open?" asked Lavender. "Only, it looks like it should. I can see the seams on either side of the jaw."
"It does," said Harry, remembering too well when it had. "The basilisk came out of there."
"For serious!" said Dean.
"Ew!" said Lavender.
"Makes ya wonder though," said Seamus, "maybe he liked having stuff like that in his mouth, ya know what I mean."
"Yeah," said Ron.
"No," said Luna.
"Trying very hard not to," said Harry.
"Can you open it up?"
"Huh?"
"Can you open it up?" Lavender repeated.
"Uh, probably. Why?"
"I wanna see it."
"Why?"
"Cuz."
He opened his mouth to protest, then stopped. He felt he knew Lavender well enough to know how such an argument would inevitably end.
"Fine."
It was harder calling on the serpent speak this time. Without a snake or something snake looking to focus on, because he was not looking at the basilisk, it took a concerted effort to get it out. He only knew he'd done it when he heard stone sliding against stone.
'Success' he thought.
"Did anyone else just feel the floor move?" said Su Li.
Tilt, to be more specific. The floor tilted, down. Unable to find purchase on the smooth, polished surface, the whole gang slid helplessly into the waiting darkness.
Well, poo.