CHAPTER:: Hissssss

Cedric's pov

I am proud to be the quidditch captain for my house this year. I know that in fifth year, the studies will be tough and would require more work, but quidditch is my passion that I cannot just let go. And it helps that it relaxes me from the stress of studies. What makes me even happier is the fact that I will be captaining against four of my friends. Draco was the new seeker for Slytherins, Fred and George remain the beaters and Harry is the new seeker for Gryffindor. And this year's first match was us against Gryffindor.

We got smashed in the game. Their chasers were coordinated, but so were ours. Their beaters were very efficient, but ours were okay in their job. Our keeper was definitely better than theirs. But I totally have to revaluate my seeking skills when compared to harry. He is a devil in the sky. The twists and turns and rolling over, I would die of heart attack just watching him go. That's not to say I did not try. We were neck to neck in chase after the snitch, but in the last moment it dived to the ground. Then just before it touched the grass, it skidded sideways and flew up again. Even if someone could dare to follow it so close to the ground, I don't think anyone would be able to skid like that and avoid colliding with the ground. Harry did! I had pulled up in the last second when I was certain that snitch would touch the ground and bounce up. I thought I would catch it then. How wrong I was. I could not help but shout when I saw Harry still chasing it. I even extended my hand to hold him when I was sure he would hit the ground. I don't know how he twisted his body so that the broom would lie flat in that instant, but he moved with the broom lying flat on it himself and as soon as the snitch flew up, he let go of the broom and caught it with both hands. Needless to say, we lost.

But I was not sad. Unhappy that we lost the game? yes; but not sad. My team played well. We were higher on the scoreboard before the snitch was caught. But the challenging game more than made up for it. I will have to improve my skills if I wish to go for international quidditch. Maybe Harry would teach me? I can hope so.

I was going towards my house dorms when I heard someone speak, "What is Harry Potter doing here?" It was Padma Patil, a second year Ravenclaw. I think she had just come out of the library. I went to her, "Excuse me Miss Patil. What did you just say?"

"There! See, there is Harry Potter and he is walking along the walls for some unknown reason."

I remembered what Daphne told me about him doing the same on the first day. This was suspicious. I followed him and found that the girl was following me too. At my questioning look, she shook her head,

"Please don't think wrong of me. I just want to help. I am not fangirl'ing after him. I just admire him for his intelligence and caring nature."

I nodded and we both followed him. "Harry! Harry! Wait."

He heard us and put a finger to his mouth, telling us to keep silent. Then, he started hissing. I was surprised that he was speaking parseltoungue in the air, and I was sure that Daphne was surprised he was speaking that language at all. After a while he shook his head and banged the wall with his fist. We immediately rushed to him.

"What happened, harry? Who were you speaking to?"

"That's what I am trying to find out. I keep hearing this agitated voice, who keeps telling herself that she does want to follow him. I finally managed to talk to her today, she snapped that no one can help her and then the voice faded. I don't understand."

"But you were speaking parseltongue. Doesn't that mean a snake?"

Harry looked at Padma in surprise when she said that, "Was I? Are you sure?"

"Yes, though I did not know that anyone in the school could speak it. I am sorry, maybe I shouldn't have assumed..."

But Harry cut her off with a kiss on her cheek, making her blush, "You are a genius. Thank you so much." Then he started pacing, "Now, if she is a snake, how can she move through the walls?"

"The plumbing." Padma blurted out before she clamped her mouth with her palm.

"Reasonable guess…. So someone is controlling her, and that can only be done by a powerful parseltongue speaker. She had been controlled before too, before someone bound her somewhere. Now she has been freed again. That means the person who controlled her is back. And she does say she does not want to harm students, so that means such is the order the speaker is giving her. Cedric! We need to research on snakes. And before that, we have to search for any snake attack in the past. Will you be able to help me against your entire busy schedule?"

I felt happy to get to spend some time with him, "Sure Harry, I will tell you if I am busy anytime you need me."

"Can I help too?" the timid voice of Padma Patil asked beside me. Harry looked at her and nodded, "If you find some free time. And please, keep this to yourself for now. Something sinister is going to happening around us."

We three nodded to each other and went to our dorms. The next day onwards, we busied ourselves in the library if we had any free time. Harry insisted that we do the research only when free, but that genius always had time to come with us if we were free. I don't know how he does that.

It was Halloween today, and the school was happy celebrating the occasion. We were given the day off and I was hanging out with my friends from my house; you know, the ones who did not have time for me before. I guess being friends with Potter had increased my reputation and now people who want to reach him have found a means through me. I think they think that being good friends with me will improve my opinion of them and I will call on them to be included in our group too. What they don't understand is that trust and honesty were essential in our group, and I was happy with who were in it. Harry is the initiator anyway; if you hear him ask the initiation question, know that he or she could be in our group. Haha!

Anyway, so I was walking towards the main hall to look at the decorations when Padma came running towards me.

"Cedric, you need to come with me now. Please!" She panted.

I looked at my friends, "I am sorry guys, this seems important. Why don't you go ahead and I will join you if I can?"

"From when on are you moving with a Ravenclaw?" one of them asked sneeringly.

"Since you had left me out of your Hogsmede trip again." I retorted back in a serious voice. He held his hands up and they all went on. Padma immediately held my hand and started running towards a first floor corridor.

"What happened?"

"Harry! He is going to confront the snake now. It is a basilisk for hell's sake. What does he think he can do? Please, he is not listening to me."

We had researched and found that a girl was killed without any signs of physical attack fifty years ago. She was the Moaning Myrtyl that now haunts a bathroom in the first floor girls' washroom. No one uses it now. From her information, we later deduced that the snake is a basilisk, a highly dangerous snake which can kill with a glance at you. Basilisks are evil in their formation; they are normal snakes when in the eggs. But one has to kill someone and perform a ritual, transferring all the power of the victim and what they get from the killing to the egg. Then a basilisk is born. It is forced to follow its creator, and then whoever defeats him. Of course, a person can release the snake from its service, but then it is vulnerable to be mastered by a person more powerful than its previous owner, overriding his release. That must have happened fifty years ago.

I hurried beside her to the said corridor. Harry was speaking to a wall. Looks like he finally managed to contact her. He was hissing continuously.

Salandra's (the basilisk) pov

((The conversation is in parseltongue, but this is how it goes in the snake's point of view. No one else can understand the conversations))

My first master, the evil one, was killed by Salazar Slytherin in a battle. I was happy to be away from following a madman's orders. I knew that Slytherin would kill me too, but he surprised me with his ability to speak to snakes. I asked him to kill me too, for I knew that I was an abomination. But instead, he asked me if I wanted to protect a school full of children. So I was led here to the castle of Hogwarts. I know that I was destined to be lonely, for neither could I reproduce, nor the other snakes would come near me. Well who would anyway, I kill anyone I look at. I was binned and transported here and Slytherin was king enough to build a big chamber for me, to reside comfortably for the hundreds of years that my life would be. I live not on food, but on the magic that I snatch from my kills. Here I was tuned to the castle magic. So my need for hunt was sated and I was able to go into deep slumbers, only to wake up when my master called. I was satisfied this way.

He did come many times, and suddenly one time when I woke up to his call, I was 50 feet long. It was then I realized that my master Salazar was dead and that one new one has come. I was happy that I would get to know another human, but it turned into a big disappointment in the first meet itself. It was a child who was determined to rule the world. His orders were sick. He used to send me to bring him various ingredients for his rituals, and some of them involved me killing other creatures. He even made me kill one student from this school itself. I was disgusted. This was not what Salazar placed me here for.

Now after another fifty years, it seems the master has come back. As usual I am not allowed to see my master, for it would kill them instantly. He said to roam the castle for now, to familiarize with the exits and structure, for the time to rule has come and he would cleanse the wizarding world. I hate my master!

But then, another parseltongue speaker heard me as I was crawling through the walls. He called me out many times, and I responded once to know what his intentions were. He told me he wants to help me. As much as I wanted to take any help in my situation, I was bound by the order of my master to not seek anybody's help. It is very frustrating doing anything against my wishes.

But today, as I was going back to my chamber, the other speaker called me out again.

"Please wait, I know you are a basilisk and know the rules that you have to follow. If your master had not prohibited you from just listening to me, please hear me out."

I paused; this thought had worth, "Speak what you want to say."

"Please tell me what your exact orders are and I will help you aside them. I have found a way to lesson your anguish, please."

I though over it, just listening won't be disobeying, "I am listening. My orders are to roam around the castle and familiarize myself with the exits and structure, and to not seek help from anywhere. I was also told to stare down anyone who tried to order me against him."

"Okay, I want you to follow your orders. Trust me; it will only be to your comfort. Give me five minutes."

I hissed at him in annoyance, but waited to see what solution he had found.

I heard him talking to some other humans and one of them shouting. I could not understand them. The voices stopped and then I heard the human speak to me.

"Please listen carefully. What I am going to do will lessen the impact of your glance. Instead of killing, it will only petrify them. I can give you the control of your glance's effect completely, but for that you need to be in my control. So as soon as you have followed your orders, I would suggest you to immediately go back to your chamber and not alert your master if possible. I will find a way to defeat him and free you again, I promise. Now this is my order; Come out of hiding and stop following your master's orders."

The initial soothing I felt from his words disappeared as soon as he said that order. I felt the compulsion to glance at him now and kill him, as were my orders. Beyond my restrain, I was forced to come out of the chamber into the washroom through the hidden passage, but I kept my eyes closed. I could sense one person in the room and two others outside it. Resigned to another death on my conscience I opened my eyes to look at the foolish speaker. I stared around to see myself back in the washroom where I killed the previous student girl. Before I could glance at the stupid human, a huge force of power slammed into me, blinding me for a second. I looked to where the power came from only to meet a pair of bright green eyes. In the next instant, those eyes froze and the kid fell down on the floor. I was dismayed. Was this the speaker I was speaking to? He was powerful and would have made a good master. I slithered close to him and looked at him. Surprisingly, I could hear a faint sound of something beating. My eyes widened in surprise when I realized that the boy was still alive, only petrified. Joy filled my heart. So what he told did happen. My gaze now could not kill others, only petrify them. If that was true, his claim to curb the killing power of my eyes could be true too. Oh how I wish he would hurry and defeat my master so I can see the world normally for once. I heard footsteps and immediately slid back into my chamber; my heart lightened.

Padma's pov

I dragged Cedric with me, my heart racing and praying that I was not too late. As we reached there, Harry was pleadingly hissing at the wall, and some hissing was coming back. He was communicating with the snake! Just as we reached him, he finished and nodded.

"Guys, I want your help."

"What?" I asked, scared for him by his expression.

"I am going to call the basilisk out and she is going to come. After she has left, I want you to come get me and take me to the hospital."

I panicked, "Harry, what are you talking about. Please don't do something crazy."

Cedric was standing mute beside me, speechless.

Harry cupped my cheek, "Why are you panicking Padma? You trusted me in our research till now. Trust me once more. This is something only I can do, and I will have to do it if I want to keep the students safe."

"What if the snake hurts you?"

Harry chuckled, "She will hurt me, but that will be temporary. Imagine her killing your sister… would you be able to live happily ever? No. Prices must be paid, and I will make sure they are the minimum."

Cedric placed a hand on my shoulder, taking Harry's in his other, "At least tell us what you are going to do harry. Please."

Harry squeezed Cedric's hand, "I am going to lessen the effect of the basilisk's gaze. It will only petrify instead of killing. Remember our research? It needs power and strong intention to do this, and I am capable. Magic is more than silly waving of wand and a few gibberish words. I have enough control over magic to will it to do what is necessary. I have tasks for you in the meanwhile. Take help of our group if you want, but I want you to find out who is being controlled by Voldemort. Because I can sense that he is in the castle, just not fully. Don't leak this news out and keep your search amongst yourself, but you have to find that person before January. It will take that long for the mandrake juice to prepare and bring me to consciousness. And more importantly, don't alert that person. I don't know what Voldemort will do to him or her. The basilisk will not be able to point, because her gaze will still petrify the person and then Voldemort will engage in another or worse. Will you do this?"

I had tears running down my eyes. Harry here was going to sacrifice himself for the school. I only got the chance to know him this year, just a few weeks, and now he will be unavailable. Cedric hugged Harry hard, tears flowing down his eyes too. I know how much he liked him; I could see that in his eyes when he looked at Harry. Oh how beautiful the love is when it is for a person pure and noble. I too joined in the hug, memorizing the feel of Harry's arms around me, for I knew that it would take a while before I felt them again.

We stood outside the doors as Harry went inside and hissed something. After a while, a sound of stone grinding on stone came from the room, and then a few moments of silence before a thud. I waited as long as I could before rushing in, Cedric at my heels. The tail of a big snake went into an opening in the sinks which started closing. Harry was there on the ground, still as stone.

"HARRY!"

We both shouted at once before we fell on our knees beside him. Cedric wrapped his arms around my shoulders as I broke down crying.

"He promised this is temporary, didn't he? See, he is still breathing" Cedric said between silent sobs. "He will be okay, Padma. I love him too much for anything to happen to him."

"I love him too." I sobbed, "Oh god help me, but I love him too much to lose him in any way. Please come back soon Harry. Please!"

We both kissed one of his hands each and then took him to the hospital. The attacks had started.

In the following days, there grew a tense atmosphere in the school. Attacks began to happen on various students; each unpredicted and untimed. No one knew where the next attack would happen or who was doing it, only that Harry Potter was the first victim. The victims were not specific either; muggleborns, purebloods and halfbloods all shared the same fate.

Whenever our group had free time, we would stay with Harry. He was the heart of our group. The hard to digest part was that save Luna and Hannah, everyone else was in love with him. The first I knew was Daphne who confessed her love beside him when she thought she was alone. That was when I started noticing. And notice I did, the intense emotion everyone held for Harry, along with the brotherly feeling Luna and Hannah had for him. Well, they two were the only ones who did not blush when Madam Pomfrey said that she needed to change his clothes.

Even more surprising was the arrival of Charlie Weasley once every week. He met Harry at the dragon sanctuary he worked in when Harry went to visit there. He was an energetic guy, according to the twins, always ready for action. But seeing him sitting there silently holding Harry's hand and just looking at him, I prayed to heavens above and devils below. How would I compete against so many people for his affections? And more than that, what would happen to the rest when Harry will have chosen one?