Another Harry Potter Oneshot

As always Harry potter does not belong to me, if it did dean and Seamus would be happily married.


"Professor Snape," Gemma Farley, knocks on his door trying her best to appear calm and collect. I mean how calm can you be when part of a snake scale falls out of the tap when you are trying to have a bath. She'll probably never use the prefect's bathrooms again. An involuntary shudder racks her frame, snakes in the pipes at Hogwarts. She feels like she's going to throw up, her face becoming more and more pale as she waits to be allowed entry.

After what felt like a century, she hears him shout through the door.

"I'm sorry to bother you professor but I found this," she holds out the partial piece of scale to her head of house.

"Where did you find this?" He whispers plucking it from her fingers, wonder written across his face, he had never seen one in person. How in the world did this fall into the possession of one of his fifth-year prefects?

"It came out of the tap when I was running a bath, in the prefect bathrooms." Wonder turns to dread in an instant.

"Miss Farley, might I suggest you go speak to Madam Pomfrey about acquiring some calming drought and spend the rest of the day in bed, I will deal with this."

"Sir is there really a snake in the pipes?" she whispers you can hear the fear laced within each syllable

"I'm not sure at this moment Miss Farley, but rest assured there won't be by the end of the afternoon. Would you like me to escort you to the hospital wing?"

At the question she stands up straighter, "No thank you professor I'll be ok." She turns and leaves the room shoulders straight head held high.

As soon as she leaves, he rushes out robes billowing around him, Students hurry to get out of his way as he races to the transfiguration corridor, throwing open the door, ignoring the surprised looks from students he focuses on the glowering Eye of Professor McGonagall.

"We need to speak!"

"Severus, now is hardly the time, " She gestures at the class who are openly gaping at the potion's professor.

"We have a problem!" He emphasises each word, willing her to understand his haste.

"What has albus done now?" she laments as the student's snigger.

"Nothing for once, well I hope it wasn't him, it if was, well."

"Severus." She shouts, the students watching the conversation between the two try to hold in their laughter, most fail but Freeze at his icy stare,

"Severus my office, students by time I get back I want I fully comprehensive page on human transfiguration."

She leaves the room to the sound of students grumbling.

The door to her office had barley shut, as Severus was brandishing the basilisk scale, violently.

"It's a scale," A withering glance, "What is so important about a scale that you had to interrupt my class.

"It's a basilisk scale, one of my students found it. It came out of the taps in the prefect's bathroom."

"A basilisk. As in."

"As in one of the deadliest creatures in the world Minerva, and it's in the pipes."

"It can't be how would anyone get a basilisk in the school.

"Hagrid."

"No not even Hagrid would be so stupid." She cringes at the look on Severus's face. She knows he is right Hagrid can't help himself it could have been him; worst part is he wouldn't have meant it.

"It has to be the creature that is attacking the students."

"Not possible, if it were a Basilisk, they would all be dead."

"But this is a Basilisk scale."

"Grubbly-plank."

Both teachers rush through the school to the Care of magical creature room, only to stop short she's not here, she must be teaching, rather than trapsing through the grounds they start searching her bookshelves. And that is how she finds them, her books strewn across the desks. She is unamused, "Minerva, Severus I would expect better from you two."
"Good you're here, what took you so long? Basilisk, I need to know everything about them now."

Before she can question why Severus hold up the scale, she takes it from his hand "Not possible, it can't be." She looks between the two, "There can't be one here." At their silence he reaches past Minerva to grab a book. Fantastic beast and where to find them, flipping through the pages until he find the page he was looking for, he reads,

"BASILISK (also known as the King of Serpents)

M.O.M. Classification: XXXXX

The first recorded Basilisk was bred by Herpo the Foul, a Greek Dark wizard and Parselmouth, who discovered after much experimentation that a chicken egg hatched beneath a toad would produce a gigantic serpent possessed of extraordinarily dangerous powers.

The Basilisk is a brilliant green serpent that may reach up to fifty feet in length. The male has a scarlet plume upon its head. It has exceptionally venomous fangs but its most dangerous means of attack is the gaze of its large yellow eyes. Anyone looking directly into these will suffer instant death.

If the food source is sufficient (the Basilisk will eat all mammals and birds and most reptiles), the serpent may attain a very great age. Herpo the Foul's Basilisk is believed to have lived for close on nine hundred years.

The creation of Basilisks has been illegal since medieval times, although the practice is easily concealed by simply removing the chicken egg from beneath the toad when the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures comes to call. However, since Basilisks are uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, they are as dangerous to most Dark wizards as to anybody else, and there have been no recorded sightings of Basilisks in Britain for at least four hundred years."

"4OO years Severus."
"Basilisk scale in the pipes." He repeats.

"In the pipes, not possible I mean they are huge."
"The pipes are magical you fool, they grow and shrink to fit whatever goes through it."

"ENOUGH!" Minerva shouts before they can start arguing, drawing unnecessary attention to themselves.

"You, go get Hagrid and meet us in dumbledores office now, Severus with me."

The two sweep out of the room, ignoring the looks they receive from students as they make their way to the headmaster's office.

"Minerva, Severus whatever can I do for you on this lovely day."

"Lovely day, Albus the students are dropping like flies."
"There is also this," Severus drops the scale on the desk.

"A scale." he Looks between the two faculty members confused and slightly amused.

"Would you like more potion ingredients Severus." A twinkle in his eye, he chuckles at his own joke.
"You truly are an old fool." The Potions professor snaps as Hagrid and Grubbly-plank arrive.

"What Minerva is going on here?"

"That" she hisses sounding every bit the angry cat she is. "Is part of a Basilisk scale, that came out of the pipes in the prefect's bathroom today Albus."

The old man sighs wearily, steeping his fingers together as he rests him elbows on the desk. "Hagrid, he sounds older as he says the half giants name. "Tell me have you."
"NO, Headmaster, I don't keep snakes never have, but sir, I have read every book in existence on magical creature, the call of a rooster is lethal to them."
"You didn't tell us that Grubbly-plank."

"I, well."
"Hush woman, carry on Hagrid, perhaps we should have come to you first."
"Someone has killed all my roosters, I've non left. And."

He stops, looking down not willing to continue.

"Please Hagrid, anything you can tell us will help."
"Aragog," He stops to take a breath. "Aragog was so very afraid of whatever it was roaming around the school those last few weeks before I was expelled, begged me to let him free."

"Spiders flee from them." Grubbly-Plank interrupts

"Nobody has died though."

"No need to sound so disappointed Severus." Minerva, snaps "You give me that book," she snatches the book from the professor's hand. "Directly in the eye. Nobody looked in directly in the eye, Mrs Norris the pool of water, the Creevey boy his camera, Finch-Fletchley saw it through Sir Nicholas,

"He must have gotten the direct glare, but he couldn't die twice." Severus finishes.

She glares at him as she finishes her sentence, "It all fits it has to be a Basilisk."
"Yes Minerva it would seem, that the monster that resided within the chamber of secrets is indeed a Basilisk." Dumbledore agrees sounding far to calm.

"The question is how do we stop it?"


Let me know what you think

This was a fun little one-shot to write instead of editing that escalated quickly.