Later that day, while being shepherded to History of Magic by Lockhart, Dudley was surprised when a small, blond figure stepped out of an alcove. It was Luna Lovegood. She beckoned towards him.
Dudley looked up at Lockhart—he wasn't paying attention as he led the rest of the class along.
Dudley stopped. "What's up?" he asked.
Dean, Ron and Hermione halted too. "Luna, you shouldn't be roaming around on your own. It's still not safe," Hermione whispered.
Luna however ignored her, her eyes were wider than usual, her face was pale and she was staring, unblinking, at Dudley.
"I have something to show you," she whispered.
"What?"
Luna shook her head and gestured for them to follow.
"Dudley … we shouldn't …" Hermione began.
"What is it Luna? Is it about the Chamber?" Ron asked.
Luna looked at Ron and nodded, then back at Dudley. "I found the monster."
Hermione gasped, Ron's mouth dropped open, Dean muttered "crumbs" and Dudley tilted his head to the side. "Wait … what … where?"
"Well, we should get Dumbledore …" Dean began.
Luna shook her head furiously. "No … the monster's dead."
"Dead?" Ron thundered and was quickly shushed by Hermione.
"Dead … me and Ginny knew where it was. We thought we could kill it, but it got her first."
"How?" Ron asked.
Luna ignored him. "I've killed the monster … but, come … please. I need your help."
Dudley moved to follow, but Hermione grabbed his arm. "Dudley, we should go and get Dumbledore."
"Hermione's right," said Dean.
"There's no time!" Luna said, sounding angry. "Please … she will die if we don't go now."
Dudley, Dean and Ron looked at each other. "Who will die?"
"Ginny."
Ron paled.
"What do you mean? She needs something from the monster to survive? Or it came back to get her?"
Luna didn't answer as she jogged down the corridor, leading the way.
Dudley, Ron and Dean hurried after her with Hermione trailing behind. Dudley could hear Hermione arguing, saying "It doesn't make sense. Ginny is in the hospital wing, Luna."
"Ah-ha! There you are, Dudley!" a voice said, disapprovingly. It was Lockhart. He had evidently noticed they were missing had come back for them. "Come now, the headmistress doesn't want you walking the corridors alone. Though, quite why not when the culprit is in Azkaban …"
"Professor! The monster is dead!" Dudley interrupted. "
"Wh … dead?"
"And Luna is taking us to its body. She says Ginny will die if we don't hurry."
"Ginny … who …"
"We think we need something from the monster to heal them."
"Dead, you say?" Lockhart looked calculating. "It's definitely dead?"
Luna looked annoyed that Lockhart was here. "It's dead. Come on!"
They all followed, an anxious looking Lockhart bringing up the rear. "You are positive it is safe?" he whispered, but everyone ignored him.
Luna led the way to Myrtle's bathroom and opened the door, beckoning for them to follow.
"It's … it's in here?" Lockhart sounded nervous.
Dudley and Dean glanced at each other and followed Luna. The bathroom was just as always. Dark, dank, dingy and with an inch or so of water on the floor.
"I don't see anything …" Ron said.
Lockhart, who was hovering by the door, visibly relaxed.
Luna walked over to the sinks. Suddenly, she hissed—a frightful, bizarre sound that made Dudley jump.
"Blimey!" Ron gasped.
At once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.
"What is this?" Dudley asked, looking at Ron.
Ron shrugged. "Fred and George never mentioned a secret passage here."
"It's obviously the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said, in a know-it-all-voice. "But how did Luna know?"
"And how is she a parseltongue?" Ron said, looking frightened.
"A what?" asked Dean.
None of them were paying attention to Lockhart, however, was peering down the pipe. He gave a sudden yelp and they spun around, Ron's hand reaching for his wand.
Lockhart had vanished. They heard a faint cry which sounded like it came from far away.
"Where'd he go?" Ron said, surprised.
"He jumped down," Luna said softly, gazing at the pipe.
"Blimey," Ron said, sounding impressed.
"Shall we?" Dean asked, uncertain.
Without a word, Luna went over to the pipe and before they could stop her, jumped down as well.
"Luna!" Dean ran over to the pipe and swore. "We've got to go down now."
"Wait!" Hermione said, "This is stupid. One of us needs to go and get McGonagall."
"Right," Ron said. "Me and Dudley will go …"
"No way, I'm not staying behind this time," Dean argued.
"Fine us three will go, Hermione …"
"I'm not staying!" Hermione hissed.
"Hermione, McGonagall will believe you. She might not listen to us."
Hermione's gaze softened, she seemed to see the sense in this.
"Fine," she sighed. "But be careful! There's no guarantee that monster is dead. And Luna's acting weird."
"She always acts weird," Dudley said.
"No, what I mean is, she's acting normal—which is weird for her," Hermione said.
"That's a fair point," Ron acknowledged.
"Just be careful," Hermione said. "Stick close to Lockhart. And if the monster is there—run, don't look in its eyes."
She turned and hurried out of the bathroom.
Dudley, Ron and Dean looked at each other. "After you," Dudley said, gesturing at the pipe.
Dean, looking scared but determined gave a small nod and leapt into the pipe which led to the Chamber of Secrets.
It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as theirs, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and he knew that he was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons.
And then, just as he had begun to worry about what would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe leveled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. Ron was getting to his feet, covered in slime and as white as a ghost. Dean was looking around curiously. Lockhart looked as white as a ghost, his hair ruffled and his lilac robes now covered in green slime. Luna was stood a little away, looking quite unpeturbed.
"She pushed me!" Lockhart said, but nobody paid him any attention.
"We must be miles under the school," said Dudley, his voice echoing in the black tunnel.
"Under the lake, probably," said Ron, squinting around at the dark, slimy walls.
All of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.
"Wands out, I think," said Dean. There was a ruffling sound as they all fumbled for their wands.
"It's quite alright," said Luna, her voice echoing in the cavernous chamber. "The monster is dead."
"Lumos! " Dudley muttered to his wand and it lit again. "C'mon," he said to Ron, Dean and Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.
The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight.
"Remember," Dudley said quietly as they walked cautiously forward, "any sign of movement, close your eyes right away... if it's a medusa it needs to see you to kill you."
Luna was in the lead, Dudley behind her, then Ron and Dean walking side by side with Lockhart bringing up the rear.
he tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound they heard was a loud crunch as Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull. Dudley lowered his wand to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones.
"It's been feeding," Dean said, softly. "Luna, what did you say the monster is?"
Luna however didn't answer, and the led the way further down the tunnel.
They froze as they turned the corner. Dudley could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving.
"Luna's right, it's dead," he breathed, glancing back at the other two. Lockhart's hands were pressed over his eyes. Dudley turned back to look at the thing, his heart beating so fast it hurt.
Luna had walked right up to the thing and turned to look back at them. "It's safe—come on. Not much further."
Dudley held his wand up. The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.
"Blimey," said Ron weakly.
"It is a basilisk," Dean whispered. "Professor, have you fought one before?"
They all looked at Lockhart who was looking extremely pale and anxious. "N… No…" he shook his head. "Never."
"I know they're giant snakes … and paralyze people by its stare. I think they're poisonous too," Dean said, slowly.
"Great," Ron said, sarcastically.
"Well, if Luna's right and it's dead, we don't have to worry," Dean said.
Lockhart visibly relaxed. "Yes … quite right. I suspected a basilisk all along but could never find the proof. If it is dead we have nothing to fear. Nothing to fear at all. Now if only … maybe …" he was gazing at the snake skin, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He looked across at Dudley, Ron, Dean and Luna, then back at the snake. His wand was half raised and his expression looked thoughtful.
"Professor?" Dudley said.
Lockhart gave a jolt and lowered his wand. "No … sorry, I was just thinking …" he trailed off, but still looked shrewd and calculating as the group followed Luna.
Lockhart seemed more confident now and was walking beside Dudley. "Of course, the basilisk being dead we have nothing to fear. Its eyes don't work unless it is alive," he said, addressing them all and, Dudley thought, reassuring himself too.
The tunnel turned and turned again. Every nerve in Dudley's body was tingling unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what he'd find when it did. And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.
Luna stepped forward and hissed again.
"Dud, I don't like this," Ron said softly. "I have a bad feeling."
The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and the group with Lockhart now having drifted to the back again walked inside.
