Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Avengers. Unfortunately.

Chapter 15: Metamorphosis

Harry was right. The news about him having a different father was blown over in a matter of weeks. This was all thanks to the shocking escape of Sirius Black from the wizarding prison Azkaban. Harry hadn't even known Sirius Black had existed let alone that the man was his godfather. The man was the one who was responsible for turning his mum and James in to Voldemort. He had also killed twelve muggles, along with their other friend Peter Pettigrew who had set out to stop him. Pettigrew had been honored for his attempt to stop the mad man even though he hadn't stood a chance against him. He had still been brave enough to try.

The wizarding world was in an uproar. Black was considered Voldemort's second in command, and he had escaped from a prison that they had believed to be inescapable. There were all sorts of searches going on for the escaped prisoner, and the wizarding world was terrified about an attack from the mad man. This had given everyone a new reason to stare at Harry. They all believed that Sirius Black was coming to murder him. Tony was not happy about the situation in the least. He'd hassled SHIELD until they agreed to look into the matter even though they didn't really have any jurisdiction over the incident. Of course he was making his own inquiries into the situation, and he was taking steps to find and recapture Sirius Black. He had also checked in with Dumbledore and Phil in regards to the protections surrounding Hogwarts to insure that Harry would safe within the walls of Hogwarts. Tony was still making Harry carry his suit with him at all times despite the reassurances that Hogwarts was the one of the safest places in the world.

Unfortunately Sirius Black was the least of his concerns right now. He was outside Hogwarts, and Harry was more focused on the problems going on within Hogwarts. First of all Lockhart was driving him crazy. He wouldn't leave Harry alone. The professor was always calling Harry up to the front of the class to play a part from his books, and the worst part was they weren't learning a thing from him. The man was incompetent, which finally became apparent to everyone when he had let loose a bunch of Cornish Pixies on their classroom. Harry and Hermione had taken to studying the material by themselves in the library along with their research on Asgard and the Nine Realms. Even Quirrell had been a better professor despite his stutter and being possessed by Voldemort.

Second, Snape was being surprisingly civil to him. He no longer went out of his way to be cruel to him. In fact it was as if, to him, Harry no longer existed. Harry honestly didn't know if this was a good thing or not. He found it very unnerving, and he was just waiting for the moment when Snape would finally lose it and lash out at him.

Lastly, Harry was experiencing some changes that just didn't seem like normal growing pains. It was these changes that distracted him from the other matters. It had been little things at first. Nothing that was too out of the ordinary or would cause too much worry. It started with his magic.

In the beginning of the year when practicing spells his wand responded the same as it always had. As the year went on and the more he used his wand, the less it seemed to respond to him. Spells that he was once able to complete without any difficulty would suddenly have severe reactions. They would often end up doing the exact opposite of what they were supposed to or just fail completely. However, he had discovered that with some concentration he was able to perform some of those spells without a wand while others didn't work no matter how hard he tried.

Wandless magic was one of the most difficult things for a wizard to do but lately it was much easier for Harry without a wand than with. At least some of his spells ended up working without using his wand. He hadn't been too nervous though. Loki had said there might be some changes to his magic. He also considered that with a new magical core modeled after a Frost Giant's it might be creating some adverse effects when reacting with his phoenix feather wand. Fire and ice didn't mix well after all, and casting out powerful ice blasts, like the one he had flung at Malfoy on the train, was something that came extremely easyily to him now. Harry simply believed that he might need a new wand to connect with his newly designed magic.

However, the differences in his magic weren't the only changes that he was going through. As the weeks passed Harry began to notice some physical changes as well. He was finally forced to take notice of these physical changes during Quidditch practice. The Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood, had them outside practicing as often as possible, and for long periods of time leaving the other teammates groaning and sweating. Harry believed his new increase in stamina was all thanks to the training he had done over the summer.

The incident with the bludger changed his mind. One of the bludgers suddenly decided to go mad, and it targeted Harry out on the field. Harry had been caught off guard and it had slammed into him, knocking him clean off his broom. Luckily he hadn't been that high off the ground but he'd been high enough. The combination of the bludger and the fall should have broken something but it didn't. He was bruised and sore but other than that he was fine. His teammates wanted to rush him to Madam Pomfrey but he managed to talk them out of it. It had been dark out. They hadn't seen just how far he had fallen. The bruises didn't end up lasting as long as they should have anyway.

It was then that Harry began to wonder if Loki's blood was having a more influential affect on him than Loki said it would. He had decided to test out his theories. Harry was surprised but pleased with the results. He had grown stronger, and faster. His sense of hearing and sight had improved. He was more durable against physical harm and against magic. Nowhere near to the extent of Loki or Thor but enough to give him leverage over the average human. The physical changes didn't stop there. His hair had darkened from black-brown to black. It hadn't just been Pepper's imagination. Luckily that seemed to be the extent of the changes to his appearance. Harry didn't like the connotations of all these physical changes.

He had been spending a lot of his free time in the library trying to find more information about Asgard and the nine realms. He wanted to learn more about the type of magic that Loki had used on him. There had to be more to it considering the changes he had been undergoing. Unfortunately, his search had been relatively fruitless. For the most part wizards seemed to believe that Asgardians were myths just like muggles. Harry did manage to find a reference to Frost Giants in an ancient history book. It stated that they were extinct now if they were ever real to begin with, and it didn't provide any other pertinent information. He was hoping that a pass to the Restricted Section would give him access to more information about the traits of Frost Giants.

It was one such night that he was heading back from another fruitless search that he heard something in the walls. It was late when he heard a faint shuffling sound coming from inside the wall. He paused to listen but didn't hear anything else. Harry decided that he was tired, and that he was simply hearing things. He kept on trudging back up to Gryffindor Tower. A scratching sound from further down the hallway had Harry pausing and reconsidering his decision. He was positive that he had heard something that time. Before he could think better of it he began to follow the sound. It sounded as if there was something moving in the walls. Something big enough to make the pipes and stones groan and shift under its weight.

He was so focused on following the sound that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Harry ended up running into Hermione and Ron.

"Harry, we've been looking everywhere for you. It's almost past curfew, and you really shouldn't be out late with Sirius Black on the loose," Hermione informed him worriedly.

Harry shushed her, trying to catch another hint of movement from the thing in the wall.

"Harry—"

"Just listen," Harry commanded and motioned for Hermione and Ron to follow him.

"Mate, what are you doing?" Ron questioned softly, frowning as he followed along.

Just then it sounded like the creature or whatever it was slid downward.

"It just went down a floor," Harry cried moving to run towards the stairs.

"What just went down a floor? Harry what's happening?" Hermione grabbed hold of the back of his robes to halt him.

"There's something in the walls. Didn't you hear it just now?" It was plenty loud enough for them to have heard it too.

"No, Harry, I didn't hear anything," she said carefully, glancing at Ron in confirmation.

"Sorry, mate," Ron shrugged.

"But I… I know I heard something," Harry was utterly certain. His magic and body may be going haywire but he trusted himself to know if what he was hearing was real or not.

"Maybe it was just a rat or something in the walls. Scabbers has been running off a lot lately," Ron offered.

"It sounded a lot bigger than that," Harry replied.

"We can find out tomorrow. We should really get back to Gryffindor Tower. You know the professors are being much harsher about curfew after Sirius Black's escape," Hermione reminded.

"Yeah, you're right," Harry said after a moment.

He wanted to go and search out the noise again but he knew it would be better to head off to bed now. This could all be investigated at a later date when he didn't have to worry about making himself seem crazy in front of his friends. For now he followed Hermione and Ron back up to the tower. His mind swirling with possibilities over what could have possibly been moving around in the walls of Hogwarts.

The next morning when the three of them walked into the great hall they were greeted by hushed whispers. There was a tension in the air and most of the staff was missing from their table.

"What's going on?" Harry asked Neville as the three of them sat down. Harry wondered if there was a new development in the case of Sirius Black. Had they found him? Had he attacked someone?

"I'm not sure. I heard there was some sort of attack on the second floor last night," Neville said in a hushed tone.

"Attack? What kind of attack? Was it Sirius Black? Was anyone hurt?" Harry questioned.

"I'm not sure I heard someone was petrified and there was a message on the wall written in blood. I don't know if it was Sirius Black that did," Neville explained.

"That's awful! Who was attacked? Will they be all right?" Hermione wanted to know.

"I'm not sure. But I think they'll be all right. There's a potion that can be brewed from mandrakes that can cure someone from being petrified. But we just planted the mandrakes in Herbology and it takes several months for them to mature," Neville told them. He was always the most confident when talking about Herbology.

"I heard the writing said something about a chamber being opened," Parvati Patil suddenly chimed in from where she and Lavender Brown sat gossiping with one another.

"Chamber?" Harry asked.

"The Chamber of Secrets, and it said enemies of the heir beware," Lee Jordan added from where he sat between Fred and George.

"The heir of what?" Ron frowned.

"We don't know, but the professors—"

"— seem really worried," Fred and George answered.

"What if it was Sirius Black? And this is some sort of attack on the school?" Ron worried.

"It can't be Sirius Black. There's no way he could have gotten into the castle," Hermione stated firmly.

"Then what is it?" Harry wondered.

No one seemed to have an answer to his question.

Harry's thoughts were racing as he made his way to the Transfiguration classroom. He wanted to know more about this attack. It also seemed like too much of coincidence that the night he had heard something moving in the walls was the same night that someone was attacked and petrified. Could it have been Sirius Black in the walls? Maybe the message written on the wall had been a warning that he was going to unleash his revenge on Harry?

When they got to class McGonagall appeared even sterner than she normally did. Her face appeared pinched and she snapped at everyone to quickly get into their seats. The tension in the air was nearly palpable. Everyone in the room wanted to know about what had happened last night, and who was attacked but no one was brave enough to ask McGonagall while she was in this mood. No one, but Harry that is. At least he waited until class was almost finished.

"Professor what is the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked. He decided that he would start with what he thought was the least offensive part of the attack.

"Mr. Stark, that isn't something that we need to discuss at this time. The Chamber of Secrets is a myth that has existed as long as Hogwarts has been standing," McGonagall dismissed the question her expression somehow becoming even more pinched.

"But professor don't we deserve to know what's happening in our school?" Harry argued.

McGonagall sighed. She suddenly looked years older and infinitely more tired.

"Very well, would you all like to hear the story of the Chamber?" she asked.

The rest of the class eagerly nodded. McGonagall sighed again and began to tell the tale of the four founders and Salazar Slytherin's split from the others. Harry listened closely, and when she got to the part about the monster in the Chamber it made him wonder.

"Professor McGonagall, what sort of beast did Slytherin have down there?" Harry asked.

"There isn't a monster in Hogwarts, Stark, because the Chamber does not exist. The attack that took place against Mr. Finch-Fletchley was a prank gone wrong, and the staff of Hogwarts is doing all that we to find the culprits. When we do they will be appropriately punished for such behavior. This was not the work of some made up Slytherin monster nor was it the work of Sirius Black. Spreading rumors to the contrary will only cause unnecessary panic," with that McGonagall dismissed the class.

"What sort of things can petrify someone?" Harry pondered as they left the classroom.

"I'm not sure exactly. I don't think there's a spell for it. Maybe a potion… We should go to the library after our classes to look it up. We should also look into the history of the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione stated.

"Oh, not the library," Ron whined.

"Ronald, this is important. Someone was attacked in the school last night and we need to find out how," Hermione argued.

"Yeah, I don't think this is a prank. I heard something in the wall last night, and I bet if we find out what it was we'll find the answer to what attacked Justin. Sirius Black could have opened the chamber. He did go to Hogwarts and from the information I looked up on him he came from an old, dark family. He could be the Heir of Slytherin," Harry said.

"It's always the library with you two. I hate the library almost as much as spiders," Ron muttered as they trooped to their next class.

The next few days were spent with Harry, Hermione, and a reluctant Ron in the library looking for possible types of monsters in the Chamber. Ron was more of a hindrance to their search but he did point out an interesting phenomenon to Harry. Ron had caught sight of a line of spiders heading out the window. It was a strange sight to see so many spiders together all heading in the same direction. It added another level of strangeness to what is already going on in the castle. Hermione and he had discovered that there had been a previous attack in Hogwarts where the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. A girl had actually died due to the attack. However, they also discovered that Hagrid had been the one blamed for the attack, and it was actually the reason behind his expulsion from Hogwarts. They discovered that he had been keeping an acromantula in his room. It seemed typical of Hagrid and luckily he wasn't sent to Azkaban. Harry couldn't help but have his doubts about the attack. He didn't think that an acromantula could have killed the girl without leaving a mark or been capable of petrifying Justin Finch-Fletchley.

Harry hadn't told Tony about the attack just yet. He knew he could trust Tony now and he was bound to find out eventually, anyway. But this was a Hogwarts problem, and Harry wanted to figure things out on his own. After all he had proven himself more than capable of dong so last year with figuring out Voldemort's plan and then facing him. He didn't want to run to Tony with every problem that might come his way. With the life he led he was bound to have a lot of challenges that he needed to face. He wanted to prove that he was capable of taking care of himself. The professors didn't seem to think that the attack was real while the ministry seemed to believe that Sirius Black was behind the attack. Dumbledore was often away from the castle in the following days.

Shortly after the attack it was announced that a Dueling Club was going to be started up. Harry was looking forward to the idea of having a chance to learn different fighting techniques with magic. Harry could read about dueling styles all he wanted but he was much better at learning by doing. He'd grown by leaps and bounds this year in learning how to protect himself physically. He wanted to learn how to protect himself magically as well. Maybe learning how to duel could also help him learn how to control his changed magic.

For these reasons Harry was looking forward to attending the first meeting of the Dueling Club that weekend. However, when Ron, Hermione, and he walked in to see his two least favorite professors it made him rethink attending. Lockhart was standing on a raised platform in the middle of the room. The robes he was wearing were even more outrageous than the ones he normally he did. Then there was Snape standing off in the corner looking like a looming black bat. He was glaring darkly at everyone. Harry wondered how Lockhart had managed to get him to come. He was certain that Snape disliked Lockhart as much as Harry did.

"All right everyone quiet down," Lockhart called. The room instantly quieted. "I'm glad to have such a large turnout for our little Dueling Club. I hadn't imagined that so many of you would be interested when I suggested the idea to the Headmaster. I thought it would be beneficial to all of you if I imparted some of the skills I've learned over the years in fighting off various creatures." Lockhart digressed into a story about how he had defeated a werewolf.

"Professor, I believe we only have two hours. Perhaps we should get started," Snape interjected smoothly.

"Oh, yes of course, let's get started then shall we? As you can see Professor Snape, has graciously agreed to help me today. Professor Snape perhaps you would like to help me demonstrate to them the proper dueling technique?" Lockhart grinned cockily, twirling his wand and nearly dropping it.

Snape smirked and for a moment Harry almost felt bad for Lockhart. But then again the fool had brought it on himself.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll off each other," Ron whispered excitedly to Harry as the two men got into position.

Harry grinned and nodded his agreement. Hermione shot them a dirty look.

"I'm going to use a nifty little spell I used on the banshee. First, we to bow to one another, then we effect the proper dueling stance like so, and then the duel begins," Lockhart instructed.

The two professors bowed quickly to one another. Before Lockhart could even open his mouth Snape had sent an Expelliarmus at him. The man flipped through the air and landed hard on his backside. Several older girls rushed to his side while everyone else burst into loud raucous laughter. This was the first time Harry ever found himself cheering for Snape.

Lockhart finally managed to pick himself up. He tried to play it off as if the fall was intentional but no one was buying it. Harry couldn't help but laugh at the man's bumbling. He wasn't laughing a moment later when Lockhart called him up to be one of the student demonstrators. Harry didn't want to be the center of attention with his out of control magic. Lockhart forced him up on stage anyway. Matters were only made worse when Snape called Malfoy up to be his partner.

Malfoy sneered at him as he came up. The blonde Slytherin hadn't been bothering him as much since the incident on the train. Malfoy hadn't been able to completely keep his mouth shut about Harry and his father but it hadn't been anything that led to another fight. Harry could see that Malfoy was going to use this time to his advantage, and try to humiliate Harry as much as possible. Harry couldn't let him have the satisfaction.

Snape murmured in Malfoy's ear as they prepared to face each other. Harry wondered what sort of advice he was giving him. Most likely it was a way to kill him and make it look like an accident. Lockhart in comparison was useless in helping him muttering about some trick he'd used while facing a yeti. Harry was lucky that he already knew some spells beyond what the normal second year knew. Unfortunately, he was afraid to try any of them incase they backfired on him. He had managed to hide his uncontrollable magic from people so far, and he wanted to continue doing so.

"Whenever you're ready boys," Lockhart clapped.

Harry glared at Malfoy as he smirked back. The two of them bowed to one another. Harry immediately shot a leg locker jinx at Malfoy. The blonde boy was able to avoid it due to the weakness of the spell. Harry had good aim but the spell seemed to fizzle out, and it slowed down before reaching his opponent. Malfoy then sent a swelling hex to Harry's head. Harry ducked out of the way. His reflexes had become inhumanly sharp but he tried his best to avoid making such a thing obvious to the crowd watching him. Harry was nervous to try using another spell with his wand. He wondered if he would be able to get away with firing off a bolt of power while making it look like it had come from his wand.

The problem became unnecessary when Malfoy suddenly shouted, "Serpensortia."

A huge black snake shot from his wand and landed with a thud on the platform. Students screamed and Harry froze as the snake hissed. It was a shock to Harry but he couldn't understand the snake.

"Don't worry boys, I'll get rid of it," Lockhart boasted.

Harry tried to protest Lockhart's involvement but it was too late. Lockhart fired some sort of spell at the snake. It didn't banish the snake it only tossed him up into the air and made it come back down twice as angry. Harry knew something had to be done when it went after the other students around the stage. Without really thinking Harry sent a blast of ice towards the snake. The ice incased the snake and froze it right in its tracks. Silence filled the classroom. The students stared at Harry in amazed shock. The blue flames were unlike anything that most wizards were capable of producing especially without a wand. Harry caught both Snape's and Lockhart's looks of shock before he jumped down from the platform, and left the room. Hermione and Ron followed him out.

"Harry! Wait!" Hermione called.

He paused and let them catch up.

"That was wicked mate! You created those same blue flames again. How did you do it?" Ron asked.

"There's something I have to tell you. But not here," Harry knew he needed to confide in someone about the changes he had been undergoing.

"I know somewhere we can go," offered Hermione.

Ron and Harry followed her to the second floor girl's bathroom.

"We can't go in a girl's toilet," said Ron flushing all the way to his ears.

"Don't worry no one ever uses this bathroom. It's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," Hermione explained.

"Moaning Myrtle?" Harry questioned.

Just then the ghost of a teenage girl appeared. She wore thick glasses and old styled Hogwarts robes.

"Why would you know about poor, miserable Moaning Myrtle? No one ever cares about her," the ghost cried.

"Oh, we're sorry for intruding on you like this," Harry offered uncertainly, glancing at Hermione for support. "But do you mind if we use your bathroom?"

"Why ask me? No one ever cares about what I think. All those nasty girls who called me names. Why should you be any different?" the ghost sobbed.

"We care about what you think. We don't want to inconvenience you," Hermione assured her. "We would really like to use your bathroom."

"Oh all right. You're nice enough I suppose," Myrtle sniffled.

She then disappeared by diving straight into the toilet by the far wall.

"Well, that was strange," Ron commented.

"She is quite sensitive," Hermione agreed. "Now, Harry tell us what's wrong? What happened back there?"

Harry told them about the problems with his magical core, and what Loki had done to save him.

"And now you're having more physical symptoms?" Hermione asked.

"My hair's darker, and I'm stronger, faster, and have better senses. I don't know why. I think Loki's blood had more of an effect on me than it was supposed to," Harry admitted.

"Magic like that is beyond anything I know or that I've read about," Hermione said obviously uncomfortable admitting such a thing.

"Yeah mate, magic like that is really tricky especially when you add in the part with the blood," Ron agreed.

"Maybe my dad can ask Thor about it," Harry murmured deciding it was finally time to talk to Tony about the changes.

"That is probably the best thing you could do at the moment, Harry. You need to find out if these changes can be harmful. Right now they might seem fine but that could change at anytime," Hermione worried.

"I'll call him tonight," Harry promised.

The whole school was talking about Harry freezing the snake. Luckily everyone seemed to think he had been using his wand, and he had just managed to perform a really powerful ice spell. But with the looks that Snape kept sending him, Harry knew that Snape had seen what really happened. He didn't think Snape would do anything about it. He'd been ignoring Harry's existence lately and Harry didn't think this would change anything.

Later that night Harry was nervous about calling Tony. He knew Tony wasn't going to like the revelation that Loki was Harry's magical parent. He really wasn't going to like the changes that Harry was experiencing at the moment either.

"Hey kiddo," Tony greeted when Harry called that night.

"Hey dad," Harry said.

"How was your day? You had that dueling club thing, right? How'd that go? Did you kick some butt?" Tony teased.

"You could say that," Harry hedged.

"Did something happen?" Tony questioned in concern.

"There's something I have to tell you," Harry confessed.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this?" Tony sighed.

"It's about Loki."

"I'm really not going to like this," Tony murmured.

"When Loki changed my magical core he modeled it after himself. He said that sort of made him my magical parent. While he was creating my new core he said something went wrong and he needed to give me a transfusion of his blood. And now… well…"

"And now…" Tony pushed.

"There have been some changes," Harry admitted.

"What kind of changes?"

Harry told Tony about all of the changes to his magic that he had been expecting, and the physical changes that he hadn't been. Once he was through telling him everything Tony was quiet.

"Dad?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"I should have known that we couldn't trust that little weasel," Tony muttered darkly.

"I should have told you when it happened," Harry apologized.

"I know you should have but it's done, and I guess it wouldn't changed what's happening now. We need to figure out if this could have long-term effects. I'll try to see if I can get in touch with Thor. He was going to ask his father about what Loki did anyway but he never got back to me," Tony informed him.

"Thanks dad," Harry sighed.

"No problem, kiddo. I'm glad you told me. Just let me know if you start feeling sick or if things start getting really out of control. As soon as I get ahold of Thor I'll come and get you to get you checked out. I'll talk with Coulson and have him talk to his brother about it. Maybe there's something they can figure out while we try to get in touch with Thor."

"Okay, I'll let you know if anything changes," Harry promised.

They said their goodbyes. Harry felt a little bit better about coming clean about the changes. He did feel a little bad about not bringing up the Chamber of Secrets. But he would tell him about it later. Harry figured he could only bring up so many things at one time before Tony's head exploded. Besides Harry wanted the chance to solve the mystery himself before Tony got involved. He was fairly certain that Tony would remove him from Hogwarts before he had a chance to save the school.

Harry had taken to sneaking out of bed at night to try and find the monster. He knew it was risky but he just wanted proof of the creature's existence so that the professors would actually listen to him. Using his invisibility cloak he roamed the hallways listening carefully to try and discover the sounds that he had heard before. Harry knew he had to be careful because it was either a monster from the Chamber of Secrets or it was Sirius Black coming after. Or in the worse case scenario it was Black who had been the one to release the monster. In that instance Harry wanted to be the one to stop Black. Harry hated the man for his betrayal, and wanted to see him pay for what he had done to his mum and James. Harry had always cherished his friendships because he knew what it was like to not have any.

After all the hours spent in the library Hermione and he had come up with a shirt list of beasts that were capable of petrifying someone. They had all turned out to be very deadly. He'd brought his suit with him for added protection. His sneaking around came in handy a week later. He was walking through the hallway on the second floor when he heard the slithering noise from before. Unlike last time it didn't sound like it was coming from the wall. This time it was louder and it sounded like the beast was actually in the hallway. Harry cautiously crept around the corner just in time to see the tail end of a giant scaled creature. The body looked snake like but massive and with strange spines rising up along the creature's back.

Harry whipped out the list Hermione and he had created. He scanned it quickly but none of the creatures on the list was snake like. In all honesty snake like made a lot of sense, since Salazar Slytherin's symbol was in fact a snake. Harry ran through a list of beasts that were snake like, could grow to large sizes, and could live for thousands of years. There weren't many. In fact Harry could only think of one: a basilisk. But he was pretty sure that their gaze didn't petrify people it just killed them. Maybe they had an eyelid of some kind that could weaken the effects of their gaze? Harry remembered something else about the basilisk: spiders flee before them. Harry's mind instantly snapped to the line of spiders marching from the castle that Ron had pointed out. Harry was becoming more and more certain that the creature was a basilisk. A surefire way to kill one was the crowing of a rooster.

Harry decided to run back to the Gryffindor Common Room and tell Ron and Hermione about his discovery. Together they could find a way to get ahold of a rooster. It now made sense as to way all of Hagrid's chickens had been attacked. Harry really hadn't thought much of the attack considering all the other things that were going on in his life. But the basilisk couldn't have attacked the chickens, which meant that there was someone who had let the basilisk out, and was making sure that it stayed that way. To Harry this seemed like proof that Sirius Black was responsible. It was a perfect way of getting rid of Harry without actually putting himself at risk at getting caught. He could have set the beast loose and then hidden himself away to wait for the job to be complete. Of course Harry realized that by trying to actively find the creature was putting him directly in the path of letting Black's plan succeed. But Harry couldn't just sit around and let people be attacked. If the professors weren't going to do anything about the basilisk then he would.

A piercing scream stopped Harry dead in his tracks. Before he could think better of it he sprinted towards the source. He made it just in time to see a petrified Penelope Clearwater. She stood frozen with a look of horror on her features as she stood in a puddle of water. Harry looked up just in time to see the tip of the basilisk's tail disappear into the girl's bathroom. Surprisingly Harry recognized it to be Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. With all the water pouring out of it, it made him wonder if a pipe had burst.

Harry knew he should have gone to get help but he didn't think he would have time. He needed to see where the basilisk was going. There had to be some sort of doorway it was using to get in and out of the walls. By the way the massive snake disappeared into the relatively small bathroom Harry had a fairly good guess that one of them was inside this bathroom.

Harry made it into the bathroom just in time to see the basilisk disappear through a huge opening in the bathroom sinks. Harry watched as the rest of the basilisk disappeared down the hole before he decided to approach it. He gazed down the pipe. He couldn't see the bottom of the moldy, cobweb filled pipe. Now would have really been the time to go get some back up but Harry wavered in his decision. He really didn't want to lose sight of the basilisk, and what if the pipe closed? Harry decided that finding the opening to the pipes was enough proof. Even if it closed he was sure there was a diagnostic spell that someone like Dumbledore could perform to prove that it really did exist. He was just about to turn back when he caught a flash of bright orange before he received a violent shove from behind that caused him to stumble and fall back into the pipe.

I'm sorry this took longer than expected. I was originally going to have this chapter and the next one be one long chapter but by the time I finished writing it, it was way too long over 15,000 words. I also rushed certain parts to make the chapter shorter so instead of having it be rushed I went back and split it in half and added the parts I rushed. And this means that I have the next chapter completely written and it should be up by the end of next week! So you won't be in suspense for too long.

Another reason this took a bit longer is that I've been working on a Hannibal/ Harry Potter crossover where Hannibal meets the Dursleys. Hannibal has definitely become a new obsession of mine. UPDATE: I've posted the first chapter to the story. You can find it on my profile if anyone is interested.

Anyway thanks for reading! Sorry that I don't have time to reply to all the reviews but I appreciate anyone who took the time to leave one.