Chapter Ten: Serpent King

"Nothing ever stays running a smooth course for long. Sometimes it seems that life insists on perpetually breaking down."

The morning of the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match dawned bright and clear. It seemed, at first, to be a calm day, a good day for quidditch. Harry, Nott, and Tracey were planning to watch the game with the gryffindors after breakfast, since the twins would be playing.

As they were walking towards the quidditch pitch with the gryffindors to save seats, Harry heard it.

"Let me rip you… tear you… kill you…"

He stopped walking, and addressed the snake around his neck.

"Silas… did you hear that voice? The one that spoke of slaughter?"

"Yesss."

So it was parseltoungue, then. "Who… what was- is it?"

The snake paused for a moment, then answered, "The Serpent King."

"Harry?"

Harry turned in the direction of the voice, surprised. Hermione fallen back from the group and was standing there looking at him inquiringly.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I- I think Silas knows what the monster is," he answered quietly, "he calls it the 'Serpent King'".

Her eyes widened. "I'm going to go look something up in the library. You go on; I'll meet you there, and tell you if I find anything." With that, she rushed off.

The stands were crowded and bustling, full of noisy anticipation of the game to come. It was then that Professor McGonagall stood up, and everyone fell silent. Using the 'sonorus' charm, she addressed the crowd.

"This match is canceled." There was a sudden roar of protest from the crowd, and she waited until it had died down to continue. "There's been another attack. Students are to report to their common rooms immediately.

"Mr. Potter… you'd better come with me." Harry started making his way over to her.

"I'm coming," asserted Tracey, hurrying to follow Harry.

"Well don't leave us out!" shouted Fred, pushing his way through the crowd with his twin.

"Professor, I can assure you Harry didn't-" began Neville.

"That's enough. Potter, Weasley, Weasley, Longbottom, Davis, follow me now."

They fell silent, and followed. At first Harry thought that perhaps they were being led to Dumbledore's office, but as they got deeper into the castle he recognized the way to the hospital wing. Professor McGonagall ushered them inside with a short, whispered explanation:

"It's Miss Granger. We found her near the library with Miss Clearwater."

Her meaning was immediately obvious. Two new bodies had been added to the hospital wing's collection of petrified students. The group walked over to where she lay, and stood there in silence for a moment. Even Padfoot was still and silent.

"We found this with them," McGonagall added softly, gesturing to a small hand mirror, "I don't suppose you have any idea…?"

A mirror? And the position she's in, it looks like she's holding something else… "No, sorry."

"How… why Hermione? It's not fair!" exclaimed Neville, wild-eyed and frantic.

"I'm afraid I have no answer for that, Mr. Longbottom," replied the Gryffindor head-of-house heavily. "Our only comfort is in the knowledge that the mandrakes will be ready soon, and we'll be able to revive the victims. Perhaps they'll be able to tell us something."

It was a much more resigned group that finally turned to leave. As the others began to walk out, Harry hurriedly pried a small piece of paper from Hermione's fist, and then followed.

"Well, see you Harry." said George, attempting a forced half-smile. The gryffindors split off to head up towards the tower.

Harry and Tracey walked back towards the Slytherin dungeons in silence at first, until it was broken suddenly.

"We need to find out who did it, so that I can hex them to dust!" exclaimed Tracey furiously.

Harry looked at her in surprise.

"I'll never manage to keep my grades up without her to bug me to do my work," she explained awkwardly, "and, well, she's one of us, isn't she? She may not be a Slytherin, but she has her good points, and whoever had no right…."

Harry nodded, "I understand, you don't have to explain."

"Good. And for future reference," she mock-glared at Harry, then winked, "you didn't hear me say anything. Got it?"

He laughed. "Of course not."

They fell back into silence for the remainder of the way. Arriving at the Slytherin common room didn't help Harry's mood whatsoever. They were greeted by countless stares, some worshipful, some wary, some fearful. It wasn't until later that evening that Harry finally had the opportunity to examine the bit of parchment he'd retrieved from Hermione away from prying eyes. Opening it, he discovered that it was a page that had been torn from a book. Reading it through, he would find it both useful and informative. At first glance however, two words caught his attention; one the page's typed heading, the other scribbled in at the bottom.

Basilisk.

pipes.

A/N: So I updated early. Again. A dreadful habit which is likely to continue as long as people review, because reviews make me happy hint hint.

Anyhow, many thanks to:

baeryl, jw, jbfritz, FroBoy, azntgr01, frodobeutlin, sitt emerald snape, Manatheron, GoddessMoonLady, firmin,

Scary Vampiress, ranma hibiki, yama, MarauderinglyMagical, Thestrals, The Sleeping Creature, Cherri202, thsunami, Shadowed Rains, albert87, FairyQilan, Nights Silhouette, Whitetree-Nimloth, Mee Yah, I-Y-T-Y, Lurk, TricaLee, NamelessHeretic,