The Discovery and the Liar

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Kilnorc: hey everyone. sorry for it taking FOREVER to update this, but hehe...you know, got preoccupied with other fics. don't worry though. before i update any other stories, i'll be finishing this and my x-men 2 movie fic...maybe my past life egypt fic too, promise! NOW, ON WITH THE FIC!

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The next day, Yami, Tea, Brian, Ron and Harry entered the Hospital Wing to visit their friends. Joey didn't want to come...for some reason, he couldn't face Serenity anymore. The five of them looked at their frozen friends. Harry and Ron sat down next to Hermione, Yami and Tea sat next to Yugi, and Brian wandered about the others.

Harry placed his hands on Hermione's frozen ones, "Hermione...if you can hear us, we sure need your help right now," he whispered, looking into her frozen stare. Yami was near tears, which was really surprising. Sure, Yugi, the boy he'd known ever since he solved the puzzle, his first good friend in this time was frozen...but even when he had his soul taken by Dartz, he didn't cry...at least not very much.

Tea looked over to see Brian staring at Serenity. She stood up and walked over to him, "How are you holding up?" she asked him. He slowly shook his head, "I failed to protect them...it's my job to protect both the pharaoh and the Holders of the Millenium Items...and look what happened," he said turning back to Kaiba, Ryou, and Yugi. "Not only did they end up like this...but their Items are gone," he muttered bitterly.

"Even Ryou had the Ring taken," Tea added softly. A loud scoff reached everyone's ears. They all turned to see Thief King Bakura leaning against the doorway, wearing his long black jacket, striped shirt combo he used in Battle City. "If you think I'd actually let someone take our Ring...than your dumber than I thought, Guardian," he chuckled as he held up the Millenium Ring.

Yami and Brian stared hard at him, "How the hell did you get THAT!" they asked at the same time. Bakura walked up to the beds, "When Ryou was discovered, I noticed that he hid the Ring underneath his shirt. It wasn't until after the attack on the midget and rich boy that I took the Ring for safe keeping," he explained. Yami growled as Bakura insulted Yugi, but he calmed down.

While they went on, Harry noticed something in Hermione's closed hand. He reached down and spent a few moments struggling, but he managed to pull out a wad of crumpled up paper. He fixed it and looked at it for a bit. "Guys, get over here!" he called quietly to them. Soon, all of them were hunched over Ron and Harry as he held out the piece of paper, which seemed to be torn from a very old book. As soon as everyone was around to hear, Harry began to read from it:

Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more curious or deadly as the basilisk, also known as the King of Serpents. This snake, which can reach gigantic size and may live for hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. It's methods of killing are most wonderous, for aside its deadly and venomous fangs, it has a deadly stare, and all who are fixed on the beam of it's eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee from it, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of a rooster, which is fatal to it.

The room filled with silence as everyone listened intently. "So...what's been attackin' people is a big snake?" Ron wondered aloud. Yami nodded and glanced at the paper to see a single word scrawled beneath the rest.

Pipes...

"Pipes?" Tea asked peering at it, "What's that mean?". Harry looked around the room, staring hard at the walls, "It's been using the plumbing to get around. That's why no one's seen any trail of a huge snake anywhere," he explained. Tea looked around, noticing two people were missing, "Where's Brian and Bakura?" she asked. Ron and Yami looked around as well, "Oh c'mon! What's with Brian and disappearing acts?" the red head asked tiredly.

Yami shrugged and took the piece of paper, "I don't get it. If it's stare can kill anyone instantly when they look at it...how come our friends were only Petrified?" he asked. Harry looked the forms of the people in the room. Then he began to remember some things from the attacks. He walked between Kaiba and Hermione, "These two, and Yugi were found together, near the library. They must've found out what the monster was and was using these," he said holding up the two small mirrors on the bedside table, "to find their way around in case it was behind a corner or something,".

Tea nodded, "Ok...that makes sense. What about the others though?". Harry walked over to Colin and Rebecca, "Colin here had his camera out when they got attacked. Rebecca must've caught a glimpse of it through his lens before he did," he said before going over to Ryou, Serenity, and Justin. "Now these three, had Nearly Headless Nick with them. The way I figure it, Nick is dead right? So he couldn't die twice! He got the full blast of the attack, and Ryou, Serenity and Justin was on the other side of Nick, so they saw it through him!"

Ron held up a finger, "What about Mrs Norris?" he pointed out. Harry's mind raced with possibilities as he tried to recall that night. "Um...we were going down the hallway...and it was flooded with water from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom so...," he trailed off. "It was the water!" Tea chimed in. Yami nodded in agreement, "Yes. The cat must've caught sight of the beast in the reflecting surface,".

"The sound of rooster's crowing is fatal to it'. Hagrid's roosters were killed a few months back!" Harry said excitedly. He stood up, "We gotta tell the teachers!". As he made his way to the door, Ron stopped him, "You said it's been using the pipes to get around, Harry. What if the Chamber of Secrets was a place with pipes as well? Say...Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Before Harry or anyone else could reply, a booming voice filled the hallways

"ALL STUDENTS ARE TO RETURN TO THEIR DORMITORIES IMMEDIATELY! REPEAT, ALL STUDENTS ARE TO RETURN TO THEIR DORMITORIES IMMEDIATELY!"

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Yami, Ron, and Harry made their way down the corridors to tell the professors what they had found out while Tea went back to the dorms to look for Brian. "You think something happened?" Ron asked the other two. Yami narrowed his eyes, "I'd bet my treasure that something did," he muttered. Hearing voices, the three of them ducked behind a corner and peered around it to see McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Pomfrey.

"The worst has happened," McGonagall said quietly, "Students have been taken by the beast itself into the Chamber,". Along with the hidden trio, the other teachers stared in shock. "Who has been taken?" Madam Pomfrey asked her. McGonagall sniffed, "Ginny Weasley, Mokuba Kaiba, and Tea Gardner," she counted off.

Ron slid quietly against the wall as Yami's eyes grew wide. As he finished a yawn, Lockhart came onto the scene with his trademark, dazzling smile. "Hello all, what have I missed?" he asked cheerily. Snape turned to him, "Just the man. Lockhart, it's time to prove yourself,".

"Hm? Excuse me?" the blonde man asked, confused.

Snape couldn't help but smile a little bit, "Some children have been taken into the Chamber of Secrets, Lockhart. Time for you to prove yourself,".

Lockhart flinched.

"But...I may have said some things, but I think you may have misunderstood," he stammered. McGonagall shook her head, "We'll leave it to you then. Tonight will be the perfect time for you to do it," she said as the other teachers left with her.

The trio stepped out to see a large message scrawled on the wall...

Their skeletons shall lie in the Chamber forever.

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"I can't believe we're going to talk to this fruit," Ron muttered angrily. "Ron, he's going in there, and we gotta let him know what we know," Harry pointed out. Yami remained quiet as they entered the office to see all of Lockhart's things sticking out of his luggage. The three of them weaved around portraits and trunks until they finally saw Lockhart a few feet away, hastily packing the rest of his belongings.

Sensing someone behind him, Lockhart spun around to meet the stares of the three wizards behind him. "Oh...hello boys!" he said stammered, cheerfully. The three of them looked at their surroundings, "Are you going somewhere, Professor?" Harry asked curiously.

Lockhart paused, "Err, yes. I've just recieved word from a dear relative of mine, on death's door I'm afraid. Can't waste another minute, have to leave," he said rather quickly, "Besides, when I took this job...there was nothing like this in the description,".

Yami blinked, "You're running away? Isn't it your job as Defense Against the Dark Arts to...Defend people from the Dark Arts? I mean, look at all your books,". Lockhart smiled slightly, "Well, books can be very misleading at times," he countered.

"You wrote them!" Harry reminded him. Lockhart sighed exasperately, "My dear boy...if I had done all those things, you think I would be teaching here?" he asked him, "I mean, if the readers had found out that the real people who did this looked just awful...well sales wouldn't have been so good," he explained.

The three of them stared in disbelief. "You mean you just took credit for what other people did?" Ron asked incredously. Lockhart smiled as he whipped out his wand, "Yes...and unfortunately you know too much...," he said casually. Before he could do anything, Harry pulled out his wand and shouted, "Expellarimus!" making Lockhart's wand go flying out the window.

He shook his head, "Never should have had Snape teach us that one...," he said quietly. Together, they all forced Lockhart down the corridors to Myrtle's bathroom, to see Bakura chatting casually to Myrtle. "Bakura, there you are!" Yami said, somewhat relieved, "Where's Guardian?". Bakura raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "Dunno. Me and him went seperate ways. Told me to get what was needed...and his Worg mutt,".

Clicking and clacking made the others turn around to see Lucien come up to them, his claws hitting the floor quietly. Lockhart almost fainted at the sight of him, which made Bakura chortle. Harry shook his head, "Myrtle...can you tell us about how you...um...," he trailed off. The spirit of the poor girl looked at him, "How I died?".

They nodded, and Bakura stood up, "Alright listen up, I wanna get this over with ASAP. From what Spooky here," he grunted, jerking his head to Myrtle, who didn't look too happy, "told me. She was in the stall when she heard a voice talk in a strange language. She peeked out, only to see yellow eyes and next thing you know, she dead as a doornail,".

Silence filled the bathroom. "Ok...where exactly did she hear it come from?" Yami asked the Thief Lord. Before Bakura could answer, Myrtle floated into the air and pointed towards the sink, "Over there...,". They walked over and Harry looked around the sinks very carefully. "Find anything? Doubtful...I found nothin' when I searched it myself," Bakura murmured. Harry chose to ignore him and was about to give up the search when he caught eye of something.

It was a snake. Or, what appeared to bea carving of a snake, on the side of one of the faucets. "Guys...found something," he reported. Bakura stomped over and checked it out, "Jeez...good eye. You got the makin' of a thief, kid. Lemme talk to you when this is done," he said as he patted Harry on the back.

Yami shot a glare at Bakura, but walked up to Harry. "You think this is where it is?" he asked him. Harry nodded, "It's got to be, Pharaoh. Only problem is...how do we open it?" he asked, running his hand through his hair. "Maybe you should try speaking in Parseltongue," Yami suggested.

Harry shrugged, "Worth a shot,". He bent down and focused hard onto the snake. "Open up," he said clearly. When nothing happened, he looked back to his friends who shook their heads, "English," Ron told him. Harry looked back and concentrated as hard as he could on the carving. "Open up," he commanded.

This time, it worked. The sinks seemed to collapse on each other, and then they split apart, revealing a large hole in the ground. Bakura whistled, "Now that's a good hiding spot," he said, clearly impressed at the sight. Lucien neared the whole, both growling, then whimpering. "Jeez...it's even got him upset," Ron whispered.

Yami and Harry nodded as Lucien came back to them. Lockhart stepped close to the whole and looked down, "Well boys...looks like you don't need me so I'll just-," he said turning around only to face wands, at point-blank range. "You first," Harry snarled. Lockhart stammered in protest, but ended up screaming as he fell down the hole after Bakura shoved him down. As soon as he screams stopped, they heard him moaning and complaining.

Bakura rolled his eyes, "Big baby," he muttered before leading Lucien back to the hole. Yami stopped him, "You think he could fit in there?" he asked the Thief King. Bakura tilted his head and gave him a look, "Yes, Pharaoh. If a giant serpent can get through without a problem...the Worg'll be fine,". After pushing, er, guiding, Lucien down the hole, the other four jumped in.

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Kilnorc: Yeah...I'm gonna leave it there. Don't worry, next update will be up soon, promise!