Beta: AriArlene [go read her fanfics]
Original Release Date: 7/3/15
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other universe.
Chapter Twenty Eight – The Winter Break
"What do you mean Draco was petrified?" growls an angry Lucius Malfoy pacing the room.
"Just as I say, Lucius. Young Draco was found petrified in a hallway and was taken to the Hospital Wing" replies Snape coolly.
Continuing to pace around the room, Lucius kicks Dobby as Dobby accidently overfills a tea cup, launching Dobby down the hallway he just came through. "Severus, surely there must be a way to restore Draco?"
"There is, however Hogwarts doesn't have any mature Mandrakes ready for the draught to turn Draco and the others back to normal."
Stamping his foot on the floor, Lucius bellows, "I don't care about the others, just about Draco. What about St. Mungoes, don't they have any?"
"No."
"What is needed to restore Draco then Severus?" growls Lucius.
"A Mandrake Restorative Draught" replies Snape coolly.
"I'll check with some of my…business contacts for enough of this draught for Draco" states Lucius, tone still laced with anger.
"Lucius, be careful. Amelia Black is investigating this entire petrification situation, and it would be…lamentable if she discovered that you were only trying to save Draco but not the others" suggests Snape.
Screaming out in anger, Lucius tosses his expensive tea cup across the room, continuing his tirade.
/*at the Marauders Hideaway*/
"So Harry, you can converse with this snake?" inquiries Remus.
"Morgana, and yes. I understand her as if she speaks English" replies Harry, petting Morgana the snake gently.
"Why does it matter if Harry can talk with snakes? At least he isn't doing anything with the petrifications that is a certain as there is always someone near him" Sirius comments, smiling at Harry.
"That is true, however, I'm guessing that the public will be concerned if they just hear that Harry can speak with snakes. The last witch or wizard recorded that could talk to snakes was Voldemort himself" adds Amelia.
"Wait a minute. Harry, you said that the night that the Chamber of Secrets was opened that you heard a voice, but no one else could? What if it is a snake that is causing the petrifications?" states Remus with a look on his face.
Amelia and Sirius's eyes widen at Remus's observation, and Sirius gets out of his chair quietly and remarks, "I think I have a book that might help", before leaving the room.
Thinking in relative quietness, Amelia inquiries, "Remus, if Harry is the only person who can talk with snakes at Hogwarts, how is a potential snake getting around Hogwarts and petrifying them?"
"That is a good question. Harry doesn't seem to be able to teach us how to speak with snakes, so it must be something that…He had a horcrux in his scar. A horcrux of Voldemort might have leeched into Harry's brain, giving him the ability to speak with snakes, but that would mean that—" begins Remus.
"That there is another horcrux of Voldemort's at Hogwarts!" exclaims Amelia, eyes widen in realization.
Nodding his head, Remus adds, "At least that is one possibility."
An ashen faced Sirius enters the room, silently handing Remus a book he had brought with him. Turning to the page with a hastily placed bookmark, Remus reads before silently handing the open book to Amelia. Finishing reading, Amelia's face had lost a lot of color and pauses before saying anything, "A basilisk. It almost has to have been long before Dumbledore became headmaster. But how do we find it to kill it with a rooster's crowing?"
"I believe we could make an audio recording of a rooster crowing and then be able to loop it through some of our equipment" suggests Remus, color finally returning to his face.
"But how do we stop ourselves from being petrified, or worse, killed?" muses Sirius.
"Couldn't we use a set of cameras around us sending a video feed to a server and then have it displayed around us, and only allow our eyes to see that, something like a blinder?" inquiries Amelia.
"That might work, the only potential issue is that you could become petrified if you look into the basilisk's eyes" replies Remus.
"How about a sonar like device that generates an overall visual of what is around you?" comments Sirius.
Bowing his head, Remus thinks briefly before adding, "Sirius's idea is better for not getting petrified. We'd just need to tweak how frequent the screen updates or refreshes and how consistently the sound is being generated."
With a confused look on her face, Amelia asks, "What are you two talking about?"
Remus and Sirius explain roughly how sonar works and then explains some of how they would implement it.
"So, when can this be ready?" inquiries Amelia, fired up to search Hogwarts for the basilisk.
"Even if we get a bunch of the devices ready for use, taking down a basilisk of an unknown size won't be achieved by simply one or two witches and wizards" states Sirius, concern showing in his voice.
"Amelia, I suggest a course of action of getting the cameras installed and then—" begins Remus.
"Why not have the cameras turn on and record only when movement is detected?" inquiries Harry, still sitting in the room.
Humming in contemplation, Remus begins slowly, "That would save us time watching the feeds, and we could set up a system where someone could get a notification of what area of Hogwarts has had movement. Good idea, Harry."
"Who would be notified?" asks Susan quietly.
"…That is a good question" states Amelia, looking everyone individually.
"Obviously Amelia would be, but who else do you think, Harry, Susan?" inquiries Sirius.
Immediately Harry announces, "I think Professor McGonagall should be. At least for disturbances in the general area of Gryffindor Tower."
"And I suggest Professor Sprout for the Hufflepuff area" suggests Susan.
Sighing, Sirius adds reluctantly, "As much as I don't want Snape to have access to this, how about we just round it off and have all of the heads of houses have a notification system for an area around each dormitory?"
"What about common areas or areas that aren't in any proximity to any dormitories? Do we provide that info to all of the heads of house?" inquiries Remus.
"Might as well. At least give them an idea of what is happening. But what kind of information do we provide? Just that a motion detector went off and the general path that the perpetrator is taking, or do we somehow tie into the Marauder Maps that we've created?" asks Sirius, brows furrowed in thought.
"I believe that we should just provide the general path, as this should only be temporary" suggests Remus.
"Will Dumbledore allow the cameras and the likes?" inquiries Harry.
A pause in the talking causes Harry to speak up again, "It would be insane if he didn't."
"But he isn't known to think the most…logically. I think it is worth at least having a contingency plan in place" comments Remus.
"How about ignoring Dumbledore and just putting up the system without his permission?" suggests Sirius.
Shaking her head, Amelia states, "He'd probably tear down the system if he found out. I think if we can get the Wizengamot behind us, he may not be happy, but it would allow us to do such an installation, especially on the scale that we are talking about."
"T-the Wizengamot?" stutters Sirius and Remus together.
Nodding her head, Amelia replies, "Yes, the Wizengamot. It would be the best way that I can think of doing this."
"But Auntie, is this the best way to go about it?" chimes in Susan.
"What do you mean?" asks Amelia, a look of confusion on her face.
"What if the professors have an idea on how to deal with the basilisk, but no one has bothered to ask them" replies Susan.
"That is a good thought, Susan" states Sirius.
"I think we should pay them a visit, don't you two agree?" says Amelia, looking at Remus and Sirius.
"I had an idea, why not let Morgana and I help in the search for the basilisk?" inquiries Harry innocently.
Pausing to think, Remus replies, "Harry, I think for now that you should stay away from looking for the basilisk. But if the entrance to where the basilisk is protected in a way that only you can help in, then you may be able to help."
Pacified by this, Harry sits with his back against a wall, before picking up his Omni Play and continues reading a book.
"I think the best time is now to visit Hogwarts and the professors" states Amelia, glancing at Harry and Susan.
Also glancing briefly over at Harry and Susan, Sirius nods his head and asks quietly, "What happened with the rest of the students?"
"Sent home for the break. That's why I want to hunt down and remove the basilisk as soon as I can" answers Amelia.
Quietly leaving the house, Sirius, Remus, and Amelia quickly leave for Hogwarts. Looking at the map, Sirius leads the way to the Staff Room, where all of the staff are at. Opening the door and leading the way in, Amelia apologizes, "I'm sorry for showing up unannounced, but we have a semblance of a plan to remove Hogwarts of the basilisk that is petrifying students and Mrs. Norris."
Whispers of 'basilisk' are heard throughout the staffroom with accompanying looks of confusion and terror. Stroking his beard thoughtfully, Dumbledore states, "Why don't you fill everyone in, Director Black."
Amelia begins explaining about how Harry can speak with snakes, how he had a horcrux of Voldemort's in his scar, their source for guessing at a basilisk, and then their idea to find the basilisk.
"But that still leaves us without much of an idea on how to combat it" states Amelia.
Standing up in the back of the room, Sirius clears his throat, "Remus and I had a few ideas that might work. First is using a modified version of the Quidditch gear that we have, to be a much thicker version, with the goggles Amelia described, that covers the entire body. However, even with the spells to make it lighter, it would be heavy and would restrict movement. Our second idea is based on what non-magical folk have, and it is human from the waist up, with a tread like wheel base to be mobile, armed with some explosives alongside some other weapons, remotely operated."
"Remotely…operated?" inquiries Snape.
"It is where someone controls it from a location generally far away from where the controller is at" explains Remus.
"Interesting. Simply amazing" states Dumbledore smiling.
Smiling, Professor McGonagall adds, "To think that part of the troublemakers we at Hogwarts, to make such an impact on the wizarding world."
"But do you know where the supposed basilisk is?" asks Snape coolly.
Putting his hands together, Sirius replies, "We don't know, but we are at least somewhat closer to resolving this whole situation."
"We originally wanted to make inquiries to the ghosts to see if they remember anything" states Remus.
"How should we go about that then?" inquiries Professor McGonagall.
"I suggest starting at where the first petrification was, and look for anything while looking for ghosts" suggests Amelia.
Arriving just outside of Moaning Myrtles bathroom, Amelia takes the lead, kicking in the door, wand out with Sirius and Remus right behind her, wands at the ready.
"Stop that!" exclaims a feminine voice as a silvery figure floats out of a nearby stall.
"Who are you?" asks Amelia with a blank look on her face.
"Myrtle, Myrtle Warren" replies Moaning Myrtle coldly.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Amelia replies after a few moments, "You were the student who died roughly fifty years ago, without an apparent cause of death. What can you tell me of shortly before you died?"
Ghostly tears begin to well up in Myrtle's eyes as she begins recounting everything the day that she died, with Snape snorting at points in the tale.
"Opening the door to yell, all I saw was a pair of enormous yellow eyes, then I just sort of died" finishes Myrtle.
"Can you tell me roughly where you saw the eyes?" inquiries Amelia kindly.
Myrtle shakes her head before wailing then disappearing into a toilet with a splash. Without any cue, Remus, Amelia, and Sirius begin inspecting the bathroom, top to bottom, when Remus shouts, "Aha!"
Gathering around Remus, everyone takes turns looking at the snake that was engraved into the side of one of the sinks pipes. Absentmindedly Sirius says, "Kreacher, bring Harry and Morgana here", still studying the tap.
Kreacher appears within seconds with Harry and Morgana coiled gently around his neck. Spotting Harry, Remus indicates the spot and asks quietly, yet still loud enough to be heard in the room, "Harry, over here please."
Reaching the spot indicated by Remus, Harry studies the tiny little snake before saying outloud, "I suppose I should try to say something in Parseltongue?"
"Yes" choruses Amelia, Sirius, and Remus, who holds a camera as steadily as he can.
Clearing his mind, Harry focuses and speaks aloud, "Open."
Seeing nothing happening, Morgana hisses into an ear, before slithering onto the floor, placing her head close to the engraved snake. Clearing his mind once more and focusing more on as if he were speaking with Morgana, Harry tries once more, rewarded with the sound of stone rumbling, making way for a hole to be revealed.
"Albus, did you know about this?" asks Professor McGonagall, look of concern on her face.
Stroking his beard, Dumbledore replies, "Alas, I did not Minerva."
"Headmaster, I wish to place cameras facing the door, inside and outside, while making an announcement that this bathroom is off limits" declares Amelia.
Thinking over what Amelia said, Dumbledore asks, "Thinking of trying to capture the perpetrator, Director Black?"
"Partially. Once this gets out, and if I know Lucius Malfoy, it won't take long for it to be common knowledge, someone will want know who or what has caused this mess. However, we can worry about exactly what we do closer to Hogwarts resuming. Let's let the students enjoy their winter break while we get some equipment and see what exactly is down there. In my official role as Director of Magical Law Enforcement, I declare that Marauders Emporium will provide equipment to discover what is down that shaft without sending anyone down there, within five days from today. We shall reconvene in five days time and discover what we can."
Author note: Thanks to Freelancer Nevada and Danneyland for their suggestions on how to get some images of these creations online to be viewed. I've begun posting some of the images on Pinterest '/Shukketsu1337/unseen-and-unheard-from-sketches/'. Katiek121, I can do a multitude of jobs, ranging from basic help desk support, to computer operator [monitoring servers and calling the certain system administrator that maintains that particular server], to even writing programs and software.
To everyone else who reads, reviews, and the likes, thank you. Was anyone surprised that Draco got petrified? And to my fellow American readers, have a happy Independence Day on the fourth. And to my Canadian friends, I hear that it was your birthday as well within the past week, so I hope you all partied as well. :D