(CoS) CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: BARTENDERS AND BASILISKS

"You're Aragog, aren't you?" Ellie asked the spider in amazement after shifting back into her human form.

The spider blinked at her, looking confused. Its multiple eyes seemed hazy and out of focus; she had a feeling it couldn't see her at all.

"Hagrid sent us," sputtered Harry as he scrambled to his feet. "Please—you've got to hear us out! We're his friends."

"Friends… of Hagrid?" Aragog asked slowly. "Well, this does change things—if what you are saying is true. Why have you come to me? And where is Hagrid?"

"They tried to arrest him," Ellie said, "but we helped him escape before they could take him away. He's hiding in Hogsmeade now—at least, until we find out who really did what they tried to pin on him."

"And what," the spider asked slowly, "would that be?"

"Opening the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry. "Which is why we're here. To ask you what really happened the last time—and whether you know who's responsible this time."

Aragog looked uncertain. "This time," he repeated. "Meaning… the attacks have happened… again?"

Okay, he's definitely not responsible, Ellie thought with a pounding heart as she glanced at the boys. They looked about the way she felt: equal parts relieved and terrified.

"Yeah," she finally said to the spider. "There have been a half-dozen Petrifications already. Which is why the Ministry is after Hagrid—so they'll have someone to blame."

But Aragog didn't look convinced. If anything, he looked… apprehensive.

"Listen," said Fred. "We don't want any trouble. We just want to find out who's really responsible so we can clear Hagrid's name and bring him home."

Aragog remained silent for several minutes. Finally, he said, "Bring Hagrid to me. Then I will help you."

"B-b-but…" stammered Ron. "He's in hiding! We couldn't possibly—"

"Bring Hagrid now," Aragog interrupted, "or become my children's next feast. They are all very hungry, and liars taste the sweetest."

Ellie tried not to groan at that as she readied herself atop her broom. She gestured to Harry to join her, but Aragog moved forward, stopping them.

"I am familiar with the tricks of men," he growled. "Two of you will go, and two will stay."

Ellie's eyes widened in terror. Harry put a hand on hers, smiling gently. "It's okay. Me and Ron will stay—we'll be fine. You and Fred go and find Hagrid."

She felt like she was going to cry. She knew that the Hog's Head was Hagrid's favourite pub, but what if he wasn't there? Or what if they took too long for Aragog's liking? The thought of Harry and Ron meeting their end in a place like this…

"You can do it," Harry whispered. "You're here to protect me, remember?"

She allowed herself the first, tiny smile she'd made since coming to the clearing at that. "Okay," she whispered, giving Harry a last, short but deep kiss, remounting her broom, and nodding to Fred. "Let's go."


"You seem really happy with him," Fred told her a few minutes later as they flew to Hogsmeade. "Not like you were with Dean."

She nodded silently.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but the trip to Hogsmeade was short; there wasn't time. Fred, who had been to Hogsmeade before on school trips, led her straight to the Hog's Head. To Ellie's relief, it wasn't yet closed for business. She and Fred rushed inside to find several wide-eyed customers and a bartender blinking back at them.

"It's an emergency," Ellie said dramatically to the bartender as she sprinted up to him. He was a big, bearded fellow with gray hair—almost a cross between Dumbledore and Hagrid. She lowered her voice so that none of the customers could hear her and said, "I need to see Hagrid."

"Young lady," said the bartender, sounding baffled. "Hogwarts students aren't allowed here so late at night. And Rubeus Hagrid certainly isn't—"

"I'm Ellie Prince," she interrupted. "The one who helped him escape. I'd never betray his trust—I just need him to come with us so his pet spiders don't kill our friends. Then he can come right back."

The man's expression softened at that, and, finally, he nodded. "Come with me."

He led Ellie and Fred into the pub's cellar, where they spotted Hagrid curled up in the shadowy corner, looking half-asleep. He shot up when he saw Ellie and Fred. "What're you two doin' here?"

Ellie gave him the one-minute version of the story, desperate to get him up and out of there. Thankfully, he seemed to comprehend the severity of the situation, and nodded to the bartender.

"I'll be back soon, Aberforth," he said. "Keep tha' back window open, won't yeh?"

The bartender nodded, and with that, the three of them climbed through the back window and sprinted off into the forest.


When they reached the clearing again, Harry and Ron were gone.

Ellie's hand flew to her mouth in horror as Fred whipped out the Marauder's Map to do the more logical thing and check to make sure they hadn't escaped. Sure enough, he showed her the Map, assuring her, "They're fine. They're on the move."

"Aragog!" shouted Hagrid to the spider king. "Wha' happened to my friends?"

Aragog looked abashed, if it was possible for a spider to look that way. "I assumed they were lying. I am sorry, my friend. They did make it out safely, though—thanks to a certain flying car."

Ellie and Fred exchanged amused grins at that.

"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Aragog asked Hagrid.

Hagrid glanced at Ellie at that, who eagerly took the reins. "Tell us what we wanted to know—the truth about the Heir of Slytherin and the monster who's really attacking all these people."

"We do not know who the Heir is, or was," Aragog told her. "We only know of the monster you speak of."

"And?" asked Fred impatiently.

"It is a creature we spiders fear more than anything else; I would not dare utter its name if not for the debt I now owe you. It is called a basilisk."

Hagrid's eyes widened; Fred, too, looked shocked. Ellie racked her brain to try to recall what a basilisk was. It was serpent-like, wasn't it?

Her hand flew to her mouth again as she realized that the "voices" Harry had been hearing all year must not have been hallucations, after all, but rather, the whispers of the monsters that were attacking students. Whispers only he could understand.

"We've got to go back and warn everyone," Fred told Ellie. "Direct eye contact with a basilisk kills people—it's a wonder no one's died already."

Ellie's heart started to pound at that, and she nodded. "Here," she said, thrusting her Nimbus 2001 at Hagrid. "Can you get back on your own?"

But she felt Fred's hand on hers, stopping her. She glanced up in surprise as he handed Hagrid his Shooting Star. "Less conspicuous," he explained. "They see him on a 2001, they'll know it was you."

She smiled gratefully to him as Hagrid gave them each a final hug and set off back toward Hogsmeade. Ellie mounted her 2001 in front of Fred, trying to ignore the ever-comforting feeling of having his arms around her. She had someone new for that, she reminded herself—someone who made her feel almost as safe as Fred did.

"I don't understand," she said as they kicked off toward the Gryffindor Tower. "If looking at a basilisk kills you, why has everyone so far only been Petrified?"

"If you see it through something, you're only Petrified—through glasses, for example, or through glass. Colin was attacked when he had a camera in front of his face, right?"

She nodded, thinking back. "Yeah, and Justin was with Nick—probably saw it through him. And Hermione had a mirror."

"So we have to spread the word to the rest of the students to wear eye protection," said Fred. "Should we go straight to McGonagall?"

Ellie bit her lip. If McGonagall believed them, she'd surely shut down the school, wouldn't she? "Let's just start with Harry and Ron and go from there."


"Between you finding out it's a basilisk and us finding out about the girl in the toilet, we should be onto something," said Ron. Apparently they, too, had gotten something out of the spiders.

"What girl in the toilet?" asked Ellie, confused.

"It was Myrtle," explained Harry. "The girl who died at the hands of the basilisk the last time the Chamber was opened. Moaning Myrtle—of the girls' bathroom."

Ellie's eyes bulged at that. Her mind flashed back to the bit about the previous death she'd read in Hogwarts: A Darker History. Myrtle Elizabeth Warren, the girl had been called. Ellie felt like a fool for not having connected the dots sooner.

"So we go to Myrtle," she said. "Ask her what she remembers about the last time. See if we can figure out a way to—"

"Enough!" shouted Fred, rising to his feet. "Every minute you don't tell McGonagall is a minute every student in this school is in danger—including you."

Before any of them could answer him, George entered the common room from the portrait hole, looking white-faced and terrified.

"George," said Ellie, blinking at him in confusion. "What are you doing out this late?"

"It's Ginny," he said. "Something's wrong."


It's all falling apart! As you can see, the setup for the climax of this second story is a bit different from the original. Would love to hear your predictions of how it all plays out. We'll get straight into "The Chamber, Part One" in the next chapter, so make sure to tune back in!