p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;"Life returned to normal the next morning. Harry stayed mostly with his friends, while everyone else shunned them all. Hermione had abandoned most of Gryffindor house, save the few that didn't believe Weasley's lies. As a result of her not doing his work, Ron's grades suffered. br /br /Harry had taken to ignoring the majority of the others while he was in class, aside from Draco and Ron who insisted on picking a fight during every DADA and dueling classes. The results were consistently humorous for Harry and embarrassing for them. br /br /Just as the year before, Harry was ahead of his year mates. Behind him, his group led the remaining students. Ron Weasley was last, just behind Malfoy. br /br /On the first year side, Tori was easily the top student. Her scores were better than Harry's had been. Their duels at the club had surpassed what was being shown by some of the seventh years who had applied to the auror /br /Throughout the spring, the heir had been strangely silent. Some of the student seemed to have forgotten about it, but the friends and families of the victims still glared at him with hatred. br /br /"Hardly surprising." Harry sighed, "I mean, I can understand why they hate me. It's the rest of the pricks who piss me off."br /br /"Doesn't change the fact that they're barking up the wrong tree." Flint shrugs while they prepare for the final match of the quidditch season. Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. Slytherin was the favorite for no other reason than because Hufflepuff had to win by over four hundred points to win the cup. br /br /"Better get ready." one of the beaters said, picking up his broom. br /br /The curtains towards the pitch opened and the potions master walked in face grim. "Flint, this match is cancelled."br /br /"They can't just cancel the final match!" flint /br /"They have. Something else has taken priority for now." Snape said sharply. br /br /Harry hit his head against the lockers, "Don't tell me it was the heir."br /br /"Strange that you would know that, Potter." a voice said harshly from behind the /br /"Percy, back off, or you'll be sorry." Harry snaps, "The reason I knew is because it the only thing that's actually mattered this year."br /br /"How dare you!" Percy shouts, "I am a prefect!"br /br /"You're a prat. Get over it." Flint smirks. br /br /"Weasley. Leave." Snape sneers, "Inform the headmaster that I will be escorting the Slytherin team back to the common room."br /br /Percy looked murderous, but grit his teeth, "Yes sir." br /br /"Who?" Harry /br /"There were two this time." Snape says calmly, "Penelope Clearwater and your friend, Miss Granger."br /br /Harry's heart skipped a beat. "He really did it this time." Harry /br /"What are you planning?" Snape asks, eyes raised. br /br /"I didn't give a damn when he was attacking the jerks who were accusing me. But when he attacks my friend..." Harry says calmly, "I'm not about to let him get away with his."br /br /"We've got your back." flint adds, putting his hand on Harry's /br /"Slytherins don't abandon our own." one of the chasers smiles. br /br /"Except Malfoy, but why would we want him?" another smirks, to their /br /"You're insisting on go through with this?" Snape sighs, and Harry nods, "Bring yourself, Miss Greengrass, and Miss Bones to my office tonight."br /br /"Yes sir." Harry /br /"All of you, follow me." Snape nods, walking them up to the /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"br /Dumbledore smiles broadly after Minerva informed him that there had been another attack. 'I had been quite worried that she had thrown it away, or heaven forbid, found some way to destroy it.' he thinks as he strokes his Phoenix. br /br /"Albus." Giuseppe says as he walks into the room, "Do you still intend to not act? Children's lives are at stake!"br /br /"I believe you are right." He sighs sadly, though inside he was grinning, "Investigate this matter. And watch Mr. Potter. I still believe that he is the most likely culprit."br /br /"I disagree, but I'm glad you are finally seeing sense." Giuseppe smiles, "I will track this basilisk down before the week is out."br /br /"I do hope that there are no more attacks before then." he says to his old friend, "If you find it, report to me. This creature will be far too much for any one wizard. All of the teachers will combine our efforts to crush this beast."br /br /"I understand. I will keep you informed." Giuseppe bows to the /br /"I thank you." Dumbledore bows back. 'Now, if Snape will just keep his hooked nose out of this, my plan will be foolproof!' He thinks as he stares out over the grounds. br /br /He sees a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly, elder wand in hand, he gasps at the sight. Beside Fawkes, a silver and green phoenix sat perched on the top of his chair. br /br /The phoenix stares at him for a full moment before letting out a single shrill note. Dumbledore stares at the unknown phoenix, and it bursts into flames, leaving only a scorch mark on his /br /-br /br /"Anything?" Eren asks as her husband walks back into their /br /"I caught a glimpse of cal. She was climbing out of a tunnel under the Whomping Willow." Reiji sighs, handing her the cloak, "Don't do anything stupid. Both of us are out of practice. We can't afford to have them realize that we're still alive."br /br /"I know." She smiles, putting the cloak on, "Are you still working on that little project?"br /br /"If it works, we might be able to end it without putting anyone in danger." Reiji says, pulling out his combat /br /"I hope so. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can go back." Eren says, walking through the woods, "Wish me luck. I'm going to catch what news I can around the grounds."br /br /"At the first sign that it goes bad, get out of there." Reiji warns, opening his /br /"Be back by dark." she smiles before stepping out of the wards he'd erected and disappearing from /br /"If not, I'll be in there looking for you." Reiji smiles as he starts work on his /br /-br /br /Harry and the girls begged off of the dueling club and quickly made their way to Snape's office. Harry isn't even able up knock before the door is opened and they're waved in by a nervous looking Professor /br /"What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room." he says sharply after he'd applied his usual charms, "I know a bit more about the chamber of secrets than the other teachers. I had intended to settle this myself, but perhaps you can sort out the final piece."br /br /They nods and he continues, "Fifty years ago, a girl was killed when the chamber of secrets was opened. The person responsible was arrested and convicted. His name was Rubens Hagrid."br /br /"Hagrid?" Harry gasps, "I know that he has a tendency to keep dangerous animals, but I can't believe that he would actually keep something that has killed someone!"br /br /"Dumbledore felt the same way. He convinced headmaster Dippet to give Hagrid the job as games keeper. That much is known to all of the teachers. What I know is that Hagrid was framed. The real culprit took advantage of the fact that Hagrid had been raising a monster in the castle. Arresting him, and attempting to kill the monster left little doubt that Hagrid was responsible." Snape says /br /"So who was responsible?" Daphne /br /"Someone that all of us are well aware of." Snape says, reflexively rubbing his upper arm, "Who do you think would want to kill all the muggleborns? I don't know of anyone but the dark lord who would go that far." br /br /"Voldemort?" Harry asks eyes wide as Snape nods, "He can't be here now, can he?"br /br /"He did just that last year." Snape points out, "If it were anyone else, I would say that it was impossible, but with him, nothing is impossible. Additionally, I know the location of the chamber, and the nature of the beast inside."br /br /"Then why haven't you stopped it?" Susan asks, staring at the /br /"I can't find the entrance." Snape sighs, "I know that the entrance is inside the girl's bathroom on the second floor, but I can't find out where. Every time I try a sensor charm, the heir breaks it and is gone before I get there."br /br /"How can you be so sure?" Daphne /br /"The girl that died last time was Allison Myrtle." Snape said, handing her an old copy of the prophet, "She was found in that bathroom in the middle of the day. Previously, just like this time, the attacks had all been at night or during an event where the vast majority of the students were occupied. Meaning that there were no witnesses. There isn't any conceivable way that the monster good have stalked through the halls without any witness immediately after the first class of the day."br /br /Harry nods. He had to agree that there was no way to escape the notice of several hundred students. Apparently, the girls agreed since neither of them raised any objections to his reasoning. br /br /"What about the basilisk?" Harry asked, before McGonagall's voice rang through the /br /"All students, return to the common room at once! All teachers, to the fourth floor corridor immediately!" br /br /Snape jumped to his feet, and turned to the three students who seemed insistent on following him. Quickly, he reached into his desk, and tossed Harry a silvery cloak. "Put it on and keep quiet!" he says sharply. br /br /Harry doesn't argue and throws the cloak around them. The three of them follow after the potions master as they rushed through the crowded halls of terrified students. br /br /Snape was among the last teachers to arrive at the corridor. "What happened?" he asks, making madam Pompfrey /br /"Severus, it's a tragedy! A student was taken into the chamber!" Professor sprout exclaims. Behind her, harry could just make out the words written in what appeared to be /br /Her Skeleton Will Lie In The Chamber Foreverbr /br /"I believe that we can't wait any longer." Dumbledore sighs, "Severus, please detain Harry Potter."br /br /"What?!" Snape shouts, "The boy has nothing to do with this!"br /br /"You must see reason!" McGonagall snaps, "You can't base this solely on your own personal feelings! Potter was not at the dueling club tonight and this just happened to be the night of another attack! That is too much of a coincidence!"br /br /"Potter wasn't at the club because he was talking with me!" Snape roared, "Miss Granger's attack hit him hard, and he has been concerned since he heard about it. I was doing my duty as his head of house by reassuring him."br /br /"Convenient that you alibi him again." Dumbledore glares, but quickly turns his attention to the defense teacher, "Giuseppe, any news?"br /br /"I have determined the identity of the beast." he announces, causing the blood to drain from the headmaster's /br /"What are we dealing with?" Flitwick asks quickly, looking around as if expecting to see it rampaging through the /br /"A basilisk." he replies, staring directly at Harry. All the teachers except Snape and Dumbledore gasped. Harry couldn't help but seethe that he hadn't told them /br /"It's so obvious!" McGonagall sighs, "We must evacuate the school! Call in the ministry! We cannot afford to leave that beast alive in this school!"br /br /"Giuseppe, will you be able to save her?" Dumbledore says calmly, though furious /br /"Perhaps in a few days. Dealing with a basilisk is too much even for me, but if I only need to save her, I should be able to escape." he answers, drawing his wand, "You never did say who was taken."br /br /"Ginny Weasley." Dumbledore sighs. br /br /Harry stands in shock for a moment, but moves when Daphne tugs him out of the way to the mob of teachers. As they pass, Harry could swear that Giuseppe winked at him. Once the sounds of footsteps had disappeared, Harry took off the cloak and looked at his friends. Both of them were unbelievably pale. He couldn't blame them. After all, the monster loose in the school was true monster, and the likely knew what he was going to ask them. br /br /"What do we do?" Susan asks /br /"We have to save her." Harry /br /"We could go to Giuseppe, tell him what we know." Daphne /br /"I'm not positive that he can be trusted. If Snape doesn't tell him, then I don't think we should." Harry shakes his head, "I know that we can't kill that thing, but the least we can do is save her."br /br /"Are you sure?" Susan asks timidly. Harry nods, looking at his two friends. Both of them stare at each other, and /br /"Then let's go before we change our minds." Daphne smiles, "To the second floor!br /br /Harry smiles and follows her quietly down the /br /-br /br /"Professor! What happened?" Flint asks as soon as Snape walked into the common /br /"There was another attack. Is everyone here?" Snape says, quickly looking over the /br /"Sir, Harry, Daphne, and Susan aren't here." Tori cries. br /br /"I know. They're going into the chamber to kill that monster." Snape says calmly, "Don't be afraid. I'm going after them now. Flint, no one leaves the room until I get back."br /br /"Yes sir!" flint says, standing between the door and the common room. Behind him, the door closes, and the room becomes loud. No one seemed to notice that someone else was missing. br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"_br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"br /"Drei, follow the potter boy." Giuseppe says as soon as he walks into his office. br /br /"Is he my next target?" she /br /"No, protect him. He's dealing with a creature far beyond his ability to handle." He /br /"I thought that you didn't think that you'd be able to make use of him." she grins, "Change of heart?"br /br /"Perhaps, but for now, get to work." he snaps. br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;" /p
p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;"Susan and Daphne walk into the bathroom ahead of him. As soon as he steps in, a voice yells, "What are YOU doing in here?!"br /br /Harry turns just in time to see a ghostly hand fly through his face. A chill runs through his body as his eyes focus on the ghost of a girl that didn't appear much older than /br /"This is the girl's bathroom!" she /br /"Myrtle, please calm down." Daphne says, standing between them, "We're here looking for something."br /br /Myrtle stares at Harry with malice, but eventually, she flies backwards, crashing into one of the toilets. Surprisingly, she causes water to explode out of the /br /"What was that all about?" Harry asks /br /"Myrtle isn't exactly social." she shrugs, "Come on. We'd better hurry. It won't be long until someone notices that we're missing, and they search the castle."br /br /Daphne had gone back to examining the sinks, and started shouted, "Here!" both of them run over and Harry runs his finger along the faucet. Embossed onto the side, there was a small snake wearing a /br /"The basilisk is the king of snakes." Harry nods, "This is it."br /br /They stand there for a moment but none of them knew what to do next. 'What do we do?' Harry thinks furiously, 'The chamber was created by Slytherin, who had an affinity with snakes...' br /br /Harry face palmed and concentrated on an image of a snake. $Open!$br /br /The ground started rumbling as the sinks start lowering. Behind them, they found a massive tunnel. Wafting from the tunnel was the unmistakable stench of decay. br /br /"This is it." Daphne whimpered, "Last chance to back out..."br /br /"I'll be right back." Harry said, running out of the bathroom. He runs across the hall to the boy's room and points his wand at one of the mirrors. br /br /"Diffindo!" he yelled, cutting the mirror off the stone sinks. He repeated the process with the others and levitated all the mirrors back to the girl's /br /"Just in case. To help us see around corners. Besides, maybe we can kill it with its reflection." Harry laughed. br /br /"How are we going to get them down? We can't just drop them." Susan asks. br /br /Harry put the mirrors on the ground, "I'll go first. Then you levitate then down. I'll grab them after I can see them and you can join me."br /br /"Alright." Daphne sighs, "Let's go."br /br /Without further ado, Harry lowered himself into the filthy tunnel and he dropped quickly along the twisting path. At the end, he crashes into something rotting and slimy. br /br /"Are you alright?" Daphne called from the /br /"Fine!" he calls back, "Be carefully with the mirrors! The tunnel twists!"br /br /For five minutes, Harry waits for some sound from above. Finally, the mirrors appeared just at the end of the tunnel. He quickly cast a levitation charm and called, "I've got them! Last chance to turn back!"br /br /A second later, Daphne comes screaming put of the end of the tunnel and crashing into him. Luckily, he had put the mirrors down and they didn't /br /"That was for thinking that I'd abandon you at this point." she huffed, helping Harry back to his feet just in time for him to be knock down again by /br /"Me too!" she pouted. Harry grumbled as they help him up and levitated one of the /br /"Alright, now, keep it down. I doubt that it doesn't know we're here, but that's no reason to tell it where we are." he says quietly, "I'll go ahead. If anything happens to me, get out of here and tell Snape."br /br /"We're not leaving you!" Susan whispers /br /"This isn't a debate!" he whispers back, "Neither of you have the training that I do. Of all of us, I'm the only one with any chance against that thing. If I die, the best thing we can do is tell Snape do he can blast this stupid chamber into dust."br /br /Both of them look like they're about to say something, but they're interrupted by the sound of something moving. br /br /"Back!" he whispers, sending one of the mirrors around the corner. He can just make out something green slithering out of the room ahead. "Eyes closed. Wands forward!" he whispers, inching around the corner. br /br /The next room stank worse than the last one. It was filled with dozens of massive snake skins, each in various stages of decay. Further down the corridor the basilisk had gone, Harry heard a loud clanging. He sent another mirror so he could peer down the hall. br /br /"Harry, look out!" Daphne shouted, pushing him down the corridor. Behind him, Harry heard a scream followed by the sound of the corridor collapsing. br /br /"Daphne!" Harry shouted, trying to dig his way through the /br /"Don't!" she gasps, "Go!"br /br /"I'll help her, Harry. You go!" Susan cries, followed by a sound of slow moving rubble, "If you move it, it'll collapses towards you and we'll all be screwed. I'll get Daphne out and go for help. You have to help Ginny."br /br /"But... Daph..." he /br /"I'll be fine." she wheezes, "Go get Ginny so we can get out of here. Be careful, Harry."br /br /"I love you, Daphne." Harry mutters, running down the hall, "Don't you dare die!"br /br /He runs without looking back until he comes to a large round door. Etched into the metal is the Slytherin crest. $Let me pass$ Harry hisses, and the door slowly creeks open. br /br /"Here goes nothing." he sighs, stepping into the massive chamber./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"br /Dumbledore smiles broadly after Minerva informed him that there had been another attack. 'I had been quite worried that she had thrown it away, or heaven forbid, found some way to destroy it.' he thinks as he strokes his Phoenix. br /br /"Albus." Giuseppe says as he walks into the room, "Do you still intend to not act? Children's lives are at stake!"br /br /"I believe you are right." He sighs sadly, though inside he was grinning, "Investigate this matter. And watch Mr. Potter. I still believe that he is the most likely culprit."br /br /"I disagree, but I'm glad you are finally seeing sense." Giuseppe smiles, "I will track this basilisk down before the week is out."br /br /"I do hope that there are no more attacks before then." he says to his old friend, "If you find it, report to me. This creature will be far too much for any one wizard. All of the teachers will combine our efforts to crush this beast."br /br /"I understand. I will keep you informed." Giuseppe bows to the /br /"I thank you." Dumbledore bows back. 'Now, if Snape will just keep his hooked nose out of this, my plan will be foolproof!' He thinks as he stares out over the grounds. br /br /He sees a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly, elder wand in hand, he gasps at the sight. Beside Fawkes, a silver and green phoenix sat perched on the top of his chair. br /br /The phoenix stares at him for a full moment before letting out a single shrill note. Dumbledore stares at the unknown phoenix, and it bursts into flames, leaving only a scorch mark on his /br /-br /br /"Anything?" Eren asks as her husband walks back into their /br /"I caught a glimpse of cal. She was climbing out of a tunnel under the Whomping Willow." Reiji sighs, handing her the cloak, "Don't do anything stupid. Both of us are out of practice. We can't afford to have them realize that we're still alive."br /br /"I know." She smiles, putting the cloak on, "Are you still working on that little project?"br /br /"If it works, we might be able to end it without putting anyone in danger." Reiji says, pulling out his combat /br /"I hope so. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can go back." Eren says, walking through the woods, "Wish me luck. I'm going to catch what news I can around the grounds."br /br /"At the first sign that it goes bad, get out of there." Reiji warns, opening his /br /"Be back by dark." she smiles before stepping out of the wards he'd erected and disappearing from /br /"If not, I'll be in there looking for you." Reiji smiles as he starts work on his /br /-br /br /Harry and the girls begged off of the dueling club and quickly made their way to Snape's office. Harry isn't even able up knock before the door is opened and they're waved in by a nervous looking Professor /br /"What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room." he says sharply after he'd applied his usual charms, "I know a bit more about the chamber of secrets than the other teachers. I had intended to settle this myself, but perhaps you can sort out the final piece."br /br /They nods and he continues, "Fifty years ago, a girl was killed when the chamber of secrets was opened. The person responsible was arrested and convicted. His name was Rubens Hagrid."br /br /"Hagrid?" Harry gasps, "I know that he has a tendency to keep dangerous animals, but I can't believe that he would actually keep something that has killed someone!"br /br /"Dumbledore felt the same way. He convinced headmaster Dippet to give Hagrid the job as games keeper. That much is known to all of the teachers. What I know is that Hagrid was framed. The real culprit took advantage of the fact that Hagrid had been raising a monster in the castle. Arresting him, and attempting to kill the monster left little doubt that Hagrid was responsible." Snape says /br /"So who was responsible?" Daphne /br /"Someone that all of us are well aware of." Snape says, reflexively rubbing his upper arm, "Who do you think would want to kill all the muggleborns? I don't know of anyone but the dark lord who would go that far." br /br /"Voldemort?" Harry asks eyes wide as Snape nods, "He can't be here now, can he?"br /br /"He did just that last year." Snape points out, "If it were anyone else, I would say that it was impossible, but with him, nothing is impossible. Additionally, I know the location of the chamber, and the nature of the beast inside."br /br /"Then why haven't you stopped it?" Susan asks, staring at the /br /"I can't find the entrance." Snape sighs, "I know that the entrance is inside the girl's bathroom on the second floor, but I can't find out where. Every time I try a sensor charm, the heir breaks it and is gone before I get there."br /br /"How can you be so sure?" Daphne /br /"The girl that died last time was Allison Myrtle." Snape said, handing her an old copy of the prophet, "She was found in that bathroom in the middle of the day. Previously, just like this time, the attacks had all been at night or during an event where the vast majority of the students were occupied. Meaning that there were no witnesses. There isn't any conceivable way that the monster good have stalked through the halls without any witness immediately after the first class of the day."br /br /Harry nods. He had to agree that there was no way to escape the notice of several hundred students. Apparently, the girls agreed since neither of them raised any objections to his reasoning. br /br /"What about the basilisk?" Harry asked, before McGonagall's voice rang through the /br /"All students, return to the common room at once! All teachers, to the fourth floor corridor immediately!" br /br /Snape jumped to his feet, and turned to the three students who seemed insistent on following him. Quickly, he reached into his desk, and tossed Harry a silvery cloak. "Put it on and keep quiet!" he says sharply. br /br /Harry doesn't argue and throws the cloak around them. The three of them follow after the potions master as they rushed through the crowded halls of terrified students. br /br /Snape was among the last teachers to arrive at the corridor. "What happened?" he asks, making madam Pompfrey /br /"Severus, it's a tragedy! A student was taken into the chamber!" Professor sprout exclaims. Behind her, harry could just make out the words written in what appeared to be /br /Her Skeleton Will Lie In The Chamber Foreverbr /br /"I believe that we can't wait any longer." Dumbledore sighs, "Severus, please detain Harry Potter."br /br /"What?!" Snape shouts, "The boy has nothing to do with this!"br /br /"You must see reason!" McGonagall snaps, "You can't base this solely on your own personal feelings! Potter was not at the dueling club tonight and this just happened to be the night of another attack! That is too much of a coincidence!"br /br /"Potter wasn't at the club because he was talking with me!" Snape roared, "Miss Granger's attack hit him hard, and he has been concerned since he heard about it. I was doing my duty as his head of house by reassuring him."br /br /"Convenient that you alibi him again." Dumbledore glares, but quickly turns his attention to the defense teacher, "Giuseppe, any news?"br /br /"I have determined the identity of the beast." he announces, causing the blood to drain from the headmaster's /br /"What are we dealing with?" Flitwick asks quickly, looking around as if expecting to see it rampaging through the /br /"A basilisk." he replies, staring directly at Harry. All the teachers except Snape and Dumbledore gasped. Harry couldn't help but seethe that he hadn't told them /br /"It's so obvious!" McGonagall sighs, "We must evacuate the school! Call in the ministry! We cannot afford to leave that beast alive in this school!"br /br /"Giuseppe, will you be able to save her?" Dumbledore says calmly, though furious /br /"Perhaps in a few days. Dealing with a basilisk is too much even for me, but if I only need to save her, I should be able to escape." he answers, drawing his wand, "You never did say who was taken."br /br /"Ginny Weasley." Dumbledore sighs. br /br /Harry stands in shock for a moment, but moves when Daphne tugs him out of the way to the mob of teachers. As they pass, Harry could swear that Giuseppe winked at him. Once the sounds of footsteps had disappeared, Harry took off the cloak and looked at his friends. Both of them were unbelievably pale. He couldn't blame them. After all, the monster loose in the school was true monster, and the likely knew what he was going to ask them. br /br /"What do we do?" Susan asks /br /"We have to save her." Harry /br /"We could go to Giuseppe, tell him what we know." Daphne /br /"I'm not positive that he can be trusted. If Snape doesn't tell him, then I don't think we should." Harry shakes his head, "I know that we can't kill that thing, but the least we can do is save her."br /br /"Are you sure?" Susan asks timidly. Harry nods, looking at his two friends. Both of them stare at each other, and /br /"Then let's go before we change our minds." Daphne smiles, "To the second floor!br /br /Harry smiles and follows her quietly down the /br /-br /br /"Professor! What happened?" Flint asks as soon as Snape walked into the common /br /"There was another attack. Is everyone here?" Snape says, quickly looking over the /br /"Sir, Harry, Daphne, and Susan aren't here." Tori cries. br /br /"I know. They're going into the chamber to kill that monster." Snape says calmly, "Don't be afraid. I'm going after them now. Flint, no one leaves the room until I get back."br /br /"Yes sir!" flint says, standing between the door and the common room. Behind him, the door closes, and the room becomes loud. No one seemed to notice that someone else was missing. br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"_br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt; border: none; padding: 0in;"br /"Drei, follow the potter boy." Giuseppe says as soon as he walks into his office. br /br /"Is he my next target?" she /br /"No, protect him. He's dealing with a creature far beyond his ability to handle." He /br /"I thought that you didn't think that you'd be able to make use of him." she grins, "Change of heart?"br /br /"Perhaps, but for now, get to work." he snaps. br /br /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;" /p
p style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 15.75pt;"Susan and Daphne walk into the bathroom ahead of him. As soon as he steps in, a voice yells, "What are YOU doing in here?!"br /br /Harry turns just in time to see a ghostly hand fly through his face. A chill runs through his body as his eyes focus on the ghost of a girl that didn't appear much older than /br /"This is the girl's bathroom!" she /br /"Myrtle, please calm down." Daphne says, standing between them, "We're here looking for something."br /br /Myrtle stares at Harry with malice, but eventually, she flies backwards, crashing into one of the toilets. Surprisingly, she causes water to explode out of the /br /"What was that all about?" Harry asks /br /"Myrtle isn't exactly social." she shrugs, "Come on. We'd better hurry. It won't be long until someone notices that we're missing, and they search the castle."br /br /Daphne had gone back to examining the sinks, and started shouted, "Here!" both of them run over and Harry runs his finger along the faucet. Embossed onto the side, there was a small snake wearing a /br /"The basilisk is the king of snakes." Harry nods, "This is it."br /br /They stand there for a moment but none of them knew what to do next. 'What do we do?' Harry thinks furiously, 'The chamber was created by Slytherin, who had an affinity with snakes...' br /br /Harry face palmed and concentrated on an image of a snake. $Open!$br /br /The ground started rumbling as the sinks start lowering. Behind them, they found a massive tunnel. Wafting from the tunnel was the unmistakable stench of decay. br /br /"This is it." Daphne whimpered, "Last chance to back out..."br /br /"I'll be right back." Harry said, running out of the bathroom. He runs across the hall to the boy's room and points his wand at one of the mirrors. br /br /"Diffindo!" he yelled, cutting the mirror off the stone sinks. He repeated the process with the others and levitated all the mirrors back to the girl's /br /"Just in case. To help us see around corners. Besides, maybe we can kill it with its reflection." Harry laughed. br /br /"How are we going to get them down? We can't just drop them." Susan asks. br /br /Harry put the mirrors on the ground, "I'll go first. Then you levitate then down. I'll grab them after I can see them and you can join me."br /br /"Alright." Daphne sighs, "Let's go."br /br /Without further ado, Harry lowered himself into the filthy tunnel and he dropped quickly along the twisting path. At the end, he crashes into something rotting and slimy. br /br /"Are you alright?" Daphne called from the /br /"Fine!" he calls back, "Be carefully with the mirrors! The tunnel twists!"br /br /For five minutes, Harry waits for some sound from above. Finally, the mirrors appeared just at the end of the tunnel. He quickly cast a levitation charm and called, "I've got them! Last chance to turn back!"br /br /A second later, Daphne comes screaming put of the end of the tunnel and crashing into him. Luckily, he had put the mirrors down and they didn't /br /"That was for thinking that I'd abandon you at this point." she huffed, helping Harry back to his feet just in time for him to be knock down again by /br /"Me too!" she pouted. Harry grumbled as they help him up and levitated one of the /br /"Alright, now, keep it down. I doubt that it doesn't know we're here, but that's no reason to tell it where we are." he says quietly, "I'll go ahead. If anything happens to me, get out of here and tell Snape."br /br /"We're not leaving you!" Susan whispers /br /"This isn't a debate!" he whispers back, "Neither of you have the training that I do. Of all of us, I'm the only one with any chance against that thing. If I die, the best thing we can do is tell Snape do he can blast this stupid chamber into dust."br /br /Both of them look like they're about to say something, but they're interrupted by the sound of something moving. br /br /"Back!" he whispers, sending one of the mirrors around the corner. He can just make out something green slithering out of the room ahead. "Eyes closed. Wands forward!" he whispers, inching around the corner. br /br /The next room stank worse than the last one. It was filled with dozens of massive snake skins, each in various stages of decay. Further down the corridor the basilisk had gone, Harry heard a loud clanging. He sent another mirror so he could peer down the hall. br /br /"Harry, look out!" Daphne shouted, pushing him down the corridor. Behind him, Harry heard a scream followed by the sound of the corridor collapsing. br /br /"Daphne!" Harry shouted, trying to dig his way through the /br /"Don't!" she gasps, "Go!"br /br /"I'll help her, Harry. You go!" Susan cries, followed by a sound of slow moving rubble, "If you move it, it'll collapses towards you and we'll all be screwed. I'll get Daphne out and go for help. You have to help Ginny."br /br /"But... Daph..." he /br /"I'll be fine." she wheezes, "Go get Ginny so we can get out of here. Be careful, Harry."br /br /"I love you, Daphne." Harry mutters, running down the hall, "Don't you dare die!"br /br /He runs without looking back until he comes to a large round door. Etched into the metal is the Slytherin crest. $Let me pass$ Harry hisses, and the door slowly creeks open. br /br /"Here goes nothing." he sighs, stepping into the massive chamber./p
