Chapter 4
Dan's Letter, and Events Afterwards

Dear Harry,

You're reading this letter in early September, but I've started to write the letter in July. More specifically, I'm writing this in July, three days after Hermione returned home from school and an hour after Hermione told Emma (Hermione's mother) that my brilliant witch daughter is thinking about settling for dating the redhead.

Minutes later: As I write this second paragraph, still in July, Hermione just has been removed from our home "for her safety," to live in a wizard's house whose address the redhead's father could not speak. Emma and I, Hermione's parents, were not invited to stay with our daughter at this mysterious haven.

What a coincidence that a bit over an hour after Hermione admitted that she was weighing the good and bad of accepting the redhead as her boyfriend, she was living with him, but you would not arrive there till "later."

Am I worried about Hermione's "virtue"? No. Emma and I were assured that there will be at least three adults living in the house, one of whom is your godfather. What bothers me is that Dumbledore and his mob are acting like a cult.

In a cult, the points of view are carefully controlled that the brainwash-victim is allowed to hear; the brainwash-victim is blocked from hearing any contrary opinions. If Dumbledore wants Hermione to date his redheaded minion's redheaded lout of a son, how cultish it is that neither we, Hermione's parents, nor you, Hermione's true friend, are there whilst Hermione is isolated from the rest of the world.

The cult's objective? I believe Dumbledore wants to create a romance between Hermione and the redhead, and wants to make the relationship between Hermione and you wither away.

To which I say, "Ugh!"

If you think that I'm soured on Headmaster Dumbledore, you're right.

During the three days after school ended that Hermione was here at home, she mentioned several dangerous incidents to Emma and me, during the last four years, that Hermione has survived with you. None of those dangerous incidents were reported in the Daily Prophet. (Emma and I have had a subscription to the Prophet since July 1992.) I think that somehow Dumbledore is preventing the Prophet and the DMLE from learning about scandals at Hogwarts that paint the old man in a bad light.

Let me change topics now, to get to the true reason I wrote this letter—

I risk the wrath of my daughter by betraying a confidence: Hermione loves you. She has told this to her mother and me since Summer 1994. But you never have told Hermione you love her, you never have asked her for a date, you never have asked her to be your girlfriend, and you never have tried to kiss her. Hermione's teenaged conclusion? "Harry doesn't like me that way."

She holds this belief despite the fact that she is the person whom you choose to spend all your free time with—not the redhead, not some "girlfriend," it is my daughter Hermione whose company you seek out again and again, whenever you can.

Yet you never have tried to take her friendship to the next level. Hermione thinks it's because you're uninterested. I've a different theory.

You're abused. It's obvious from your small size when Emma and I see you at King's Cross. Also, you're underweight, you wear worn-out and too-big clothes, and how you and your uncle interact with each other at King's Cross is horrid. You're clearly terrified of him.

This makes me suspect that you don't know what love is, so you don't recognise love in your heart when you feel it.

I blame the Dursleys. I'd rat them up in an instant if I knew your address. (Hint, hint.) The only reason that your uncle and aunt haven't been dragged into a Queen's Court before now is because Emma and I don't know where your relatives live.

Back to the main topic—

Today in July, Hermione told Emma, who told me, that our daughter was thinking about dating the redhead. This news worried me as much as if Hermione had told us she'd caught the Bubonic Plague! I'm sure that Hermione isn't considering this relationship because she feels any true affection for the boy—in her letters home, the boy is always a beast. Instead, my beloved daughter declared today that she will "settle" for the redhead boy because the boy whom Hermione really wants (you!), she believes she never can have.

Is she wrong? I hope so!

Please take the time to figure out whether you love Hermione as more than a friend. If you do love her, please tell her! I really, truly do not want her becoming the redhead's girlfriend, for a thousand reasons. Hermione would be much happier if you, instead of the redhead, were her boyfriend—and I think you would be happier with Hermione than if you dated anyone else.

One other thing: Please stay safe. I'm convinced that if you are put into danger again, the Hogwarts professors, on Dumbledore's orders, will try to cover up the misconduct rather than to do what is right for you, their student. Figure out now, how to get an urgent message to the DMLE or to the Prophet, rather than trust the professors to do what is right.

If you're put in danger, rescue yourself however you can, and don't worry about what Dumbledore and the professors will bleat afterwards. After all, "It's easier to get forgiveness than permission" when you yourself take action instead of depending on the protectiveness of others.

Next December or July, when you return to Surrey, expect that two Crawley dentists will report your relatives for child abuse—because it seems that nobody else can be bothered.

Take care,

Daniel Hector Granger

P.S. 1 September 1995 update: Emma and I haven't seen Hermione in two months; she was taken directly from the mystery house to King's Cross Station without returning home. Nor have we received a letter from Hermione during those two months. Harry, I hope that you got to spend a big part of those two months with Hermione, and I hope she wasn't left alone for a long time with only the redhead boy and Dumbledore's minions for company.

P.P.S. Hermione princess, when you read this, I've no doubt that you'll feel mortified with embarrassment that I've revealed your secret to Harry—and such a personal secret at that. But to me, you're wandering blindfolded near the edge of a cliff, and this letter to Harry is the only way that I can think of, to keep you from harm. No good at all can come from you dating Ronald Weasley! Besides, somebody needs to give help and to show kindness to Harry, who deserves nice things but who has been cheated out of them.

Still Tuesday, 5 September, 12:02 p.m
The start of lunch period
Still outside between Greenhouse Three and Hogwarts Castle
Still inside a house-elf Silencing Bubble

Hermione folded up her father's letter, put it back in its envelope and gave the letter back to nervous Harry.

Hermione said, looking annoyed, "This afternoon, my father needs to be written a letter. How could he reveal my personal secrets this way?"

Then Hermione looked into Harry's eyes and smiled showing teeth. "Yes, Harry, I feel joyous to be your girlfriend!" She threw her arms about Harry, hugged him fiercely, and brought her lips an inch away from his.

Harry took the hint. He leant forwards and kissed her. The teens bumped noses, but Harry thought the kiss was glorious nonetheless.

Then Hermione ended the kiss, ended the hug, and smacked Harry on the arm. "You spoke so disrespectfully to the professors this morning!"

Harry frowned. "Hermione, the day after I was brought to Grimmauld Place, I realised that if not for the Dementors, Dumbledore would've left me with the Dursleys all summer! I wouldn't have seen you, I wouldn't have talked to you, till we were on the Express together. The other thing I want to say to you now is a question: Who should be the Gryffindor fifth-year boy prefect? Who should be making Prefect patrols with you?"

"Oh, Harry, you don't know that Professor Dumbledore would've left you there. I'm sure that he would've brought you to Grimmauld Place soon afterwards. As for Prefect, I think it should be you, but I'm sure Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore had a good reason for choosing Ron."

"Hermione! You have the best brain in the school—you have the power of reason, use it! If Dumbledore were planning to bring me to Grimmauld Place, wouldn't the logical time for me to move be on or before my birthday? But 31st July came and went, and I was still stuck at the Dursleys. But then the Dementors attacked two day later, and Dumbledore could no longer claim 'Harry is safest with his family.' So he basically ordered me kidnapped to Grimmauld Place—once again, I was told where I'd be, I wasn't asked.

"Then once I arrived at Grimmauld Place, Molly was in my face, every time I turned round, so I never got a chance to talk to Sirius alone or to you alone. Amazing coincidence, huh, that every time I tried to talk to either Sirius or you alone, some Weasley interrupted within a minute?"

"Oh, Harry, I didn't realise."

"I don't think I got sixty minutes total of private conversation between you and me, and Sirius and me, in all the time I was there. In June I saw Cedric die, I saw Voldy resurrected, and yet all summer I've been kept isolated from the two people whose company I needed."

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry."

"As for the Prefect title, it should've gone to me. Who killed that bloody basilisk? Who won the bloody Tournament? Me. If not me as Prefect for some reason, then Neville. Even Seamus deserved to be Prefect more than Ron, and this after Seamus made 'joking' comments in front of McGonagall about wanting to transfigure water into rum. Jesus Christ, Draco is more qualified to be Prefect than Ron, because Draco has table manners!"

Hermione sighed. "I just don't want to believe that the Defeater of Grindelwald would plot to ruin our friendship."

Harry shook his head. "I think he has plotted exactly this. Remember what you told me when I first got to Grimmauld Place, and I was yelling at you and Ron? You explained not sending me letters with 'According to the headmaster, you wanted to be left alone.' What? At the time, I thought, 'That's Dumbledore, misunderstanding me again.' But now I'm convinced, it wasn't Dumbledore misunderstanding me, it was he distancing you and me."

"Can you prove what you say?" Hermione asked. She looked worried.

"With logic, sure. Suppose I didn't see you this summer until we both were on the Hogwarts Express, with you and Ron wearing shiny Prefect badges there, and I thought that you hadn't wanted to write me all summer, and you thought that I hadn't wanted you to write to me? We'd each be thinking on the train, 'If he/she doesn't want me in his/her life, see if I care!' You and I might well have had a windows-shattering row, right there on the Express, and we might no longer be friends now. Exactly as Dumbledore planned!"

Hermione was silent for a time, then she said, "Such a theory would explain many things this summer."

"Your dad's letter made me see that what has happened to me this summer wasn't 'a bit of bad luck,' it wasn't 'misunderstandings,' it was Dumbledore plotting against me to break us up. And maybe he wanted to put me together with Ginny, who knows?"

"Bad idea. Marrying a fangirl wouldn't be good for you."

"The letter also made me realise that so long as I didn't claim you as my girlfriend because I wasn't sure how I felt, sooner or later Dumbledore's plot would succeed."

Hermione nodded. "A plot that in hindsight is scary."

"Then I realised that the other reason that Dumbledore's plot could work is because good ol' Harry Potter is everyone's doormat, who never speaks up for himself and who lets everyone do to him whatever they want till Harry the doormat is forced to fight. Your dad told me to 'take action,' which I took to mean Harry, when you're unhappy about something, do something about it! So no more 'Doormat Harry.' "

"Starting just seconds after you read Dad's letter."

"Yes. Once I resolved not to be a doormat, the first thing I did was, I kicked the loudmouth fair-weather friend out of my life. Then I sat down and wrote Madam Bones, telling her the things that she should know but that Susan had been mind-whammied not to tell her. Continuing with my no-doormat resolve, what you saw this morning with McGonagall was I not being a doormat—mostly."

" 'Mostly'?"

"Oh, there was lots more I wanted to say to McGonagall, but didn't. Telling the entire Great Hall about her press-ganging me onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Seeker, two weeks into my first year, with firstie-me led to believe that if I'd said no to the Seeker position, I would've been expelled."

Hermione growled. "She endangered your academic future! She also put a first-year in physical danger, just so she could win a pretty trophy cup."

Harry continued, "Or McGonagall assigning four first-years to detention in the Forbidden Forest after curfew. Or her not saying one bloody word last year that she believed I hadn't put my name in the Goblet."

Then Harry smiled his insane-axe-murderer smile. "Those three things I just mentioned about McGonagall? Madam Bones believes the first two are illegal. Anyway, after reading your dad's letter, the boy with the 'saving-people thing' now also has a 'pushback thing.' "

Thoughtful Hermione said, "Going back to what you said a minute ago—why would Professor Dumbledore want to match up Ron and me? It makes no sense."

"Molly probably demanded it. After all, how far do you think Ron will go in life if he's married to anyone but you?"

Hermione smiled at Harry. "You and I haven't discussed marriage yet, only boyfriend-girlfriend, but there's no way I'll be Ron's girlfriend so long as you want me for the job!"

Hermione kissed Harry on the lips.

After that kiss, Harry signalled for Greyclay to end the Silencing Bubble, Greyclay elf-popped away and the two teens walked into the castle—

Holding hands.

Once they entered the Great Hall, Harry looked at Hermione and smiled mischievously. "Fancy taking the scenic route to our Gryffindor bench? Say, by walking the aisle between the Slytherin and Hufflepuff tables?"

Seconds later, still in the Great Hall

Hermione noticed—

• Beginning the second that she and Harry entered the Great Hall, still holding hands, everyone else's talking in the Great Hall got louder.

• On the other side of the Great Hall, one of the Weasley Twins yanked a small notebook from a pocket of his robes, and frantically was flipping its pages. The other twin was peering over his shoulder. Whatever was in the notebook, the twins completely were focussed on what was written there.

• Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin and Susan Bones of Hufflepuff both looked unhappy. Many other witches in Slytherin and in Hufflepuff, from seventh year to third year, likewise looked unhappy.

Draco said, "Wow, Scarface, I always knew you had no class, but you decided to kill the rumours that you 'stir the potion anticlockwise' by getting kissy-kissy with the mudblood?"

Harry smiled his scary smile at Draco and started to speak; but the next voice heard was not Harry's (or Snape's).

"Mr Malfoy!" yelled Professor Sprout. "For insulting other students and for using degrading language, you've detention with me at seven tonight. Expect to handle dragon dung."

"Shit," murmured Draco.

"Exactly."

Then Professor Sprout said respectfully, "Mr Potter, please look at me."

When Harry and Hermione turned to face her, the Herbology professor at the High Table said, "Mr Potter, if it were up to me, you would be the Gryffindor prefect. You're the best qualified, and you're honourable. But it's not up to me."

Snape growled, "Pomona, issues related to Slytherin students or Gryffindor students are not your concern."

"Should not be my concern, true; but since Minerva neglects her Head of House duties and your favouritism is blatant, Severus, someone needs to step in."

This started a five-way argument, with Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore arguing with Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick. Soon Dumbledore admitted that it had been he, not McGonagall, who had chosen Ron as Prefect. (However, Dumbledore did not say why Ron had been chosen.)

Hermione squeezed Harry's hand and said to him, "I want to cry, I'm so disappointed." Then she pulled on Harry's hand. "I need to talk with the headmaster now. Walk with me?"

Professor Dumbledore soon looked puzzled when Harry and Hermione stood on the other side of the High Table from him.

The headmaster still looked puzzled when Hermione broke her handhold with Harry, drew her wand and Finite'd the sticking-charm that attached her red Prefect badge to her robes.

Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall both looked shocked when Hermione's other hand caught the falling Prefect Badge and placed it on the High Table.

Hermione said, "I agree with Professor Sprout, Harry should have been the boy Prefect. Ron Weasley as Prefect is a mockery of the position. This is my O.W.L year, and Harry Potter now is my boyfriend; I prefer to spend my time either snogging Harry or studying and revising, rather than writing Prefect reports that Ron should write, but everyone here knows he won't write."

Dumbledore gave Hermione his I'm so disappointed in you look. "Miss Granger, if you resign as Prefect, it will be much more difficult for you to become Head Girl in seventh year."

"Not so. I'm sure you'd make me Head Girl—if between now and then, I were willing to debase myself and to play your games. But your favours never come cheap when you deign to grant them, and you break promises often."

Then Hermione looked at Professor McGonagall and said sorrowfully, "You're brilliant at Transfiguration, but Harry scorns you. Mainly because you have never, not once, stood up for Harry against Professor Snape's bullying or the headmaster's 'Greater Good' schemes. Now, it seems, you don't stand up to Professor Umbridge either."

Harry and Hermione turned to walk away. McGonagall said, "Miss Granger, whom would you recommend to be your replacement as Prefect?"

Hermione replied, "I can't say. Find yourself a Pureblood bigot."

Then Hermione turned to look at the headmaster. "Between Malfoy, Parkinson and Weasley, I must conclude that being both a Pureblood and a bigot is your new standard for becoming a Prefect. Clearly I don't qualify, so I must've been selected due to an oversight."

As soon as Harry and Hermione sat down at the fifth-years section of the Gryffindor bench, Ron started yelling at Harry for "stealing my girlfriend."

"Balderdash," Hermione said.

She continued, "How can I be your girlfriend, Ron? We've never kissed and we've never dated. So maybe I'm only your friend who's a girl? The trouble with that is, I remember all the times you insulted me, all the times you dismissed whatever I was saying, and all the times you tried to browbeat me to do your homework. When I remember all this, I figure out that the only reason that you and I were friends was because we were both friends with Harry. Which is no longer true—Harry says you're no longer his friend. Ergo, you're no longer my friend either."

Hermione stepped off her bench, walked over to Ron and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodbye, Ron. I hope you'll grow up now."

Forty-five minutes later
1 p.m, in the Great Hall

Madam Bones walked into the Great Hall when she had told Harry to expect her. But walking in next to Madam Bones was a goblin.

Dumbledore said, "Amelia, I am confused. You told me that at 1 p.m, you intended to take Harry to the DMLE at the Ministry for more questioning. So why do you need a goblin?"

Madam Bones smiled coldly. "Indeed I implied that this was my plan, but I carefully never stated that I wouldn't do something else first with Mr Potter. In short, Headmaster Dumbledore, I chose my words carefully, so as to lead you to a false conclusion. You of all people have no grounds to complain about such behaviour."

After a second's pause, Madam Bones said loudly, "I came here to ask Mr Potter to show me the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets that he alone battled and he alone killed. As a favour to Mr Potter, I brought Goldentooth to appraise the value of the basilisk's corpse when it is rendered."

Dumbledore smiled, and rubbed his hands. "Excellent. Hogwarts certainly could use the money."

Madam Bones replied, "Ah, headmaster, such a joker you are. A basilisk is a Five-X creature, and Mr Potter battled it alone and killed it alone. Which means that Mr Potter, not Hogwarts, owns the corpse, which means that Mr Potter, not Hogwarts, receives whatever money comes from selling that corpse."

"Amelia, you are forgetting two important facts. My phoenix, Fawkes, destroyed the basilisk's eyes, and Harry slew the basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor, which belongs to Hogwarts. The basilisk was killed on the grounds of Hogwarts. So I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, should get part of that money, say 25 percent; and Hogwarts should get part of that money—50 percent, say."

Harry said sarcastically, "I do the scary work, I'm the one who almost dies, and you'll let me keep 25 percent? Wow, how generous of you."

Snape said silkily, "Minus the value of potions ingredients I take, Potter. I claim ten litres of basilisk venom, and one hundred square metres of basilisk hide."

Madam Bones laughed scornfully. "This is why I came here today, to stop you two rotters who would steal from an orphan. The fact that a phoenix was involved does not, under the law, change ownership of the basilisk's corpse; and the fact that a school sword was used to kill the basilisk does not change ownership of the creature's corpse. The law asks only, 'What wizards or witches fought and killed the creature?' Where the killing occurs does not matter either; Mr Potter could've killed the basilisk in Dumbledore House or in Malfoy Manor and it wouldn't change a thing."

Whilst Madam Bones had been schooling the schoolteachers, Harry had been thinking. Now he asked Madam Bones and Goldentooth, "Besides just the three of us going down there, may I invite others?"

Madam Bones nodded. "Short of inviting the entire school, invite whomever you want."

All this was taking place in the Great Hall during lunch period; about four hundred students and professors were watching and listening. Now Harry Sonorus-said, "Everybody, I'm going to go down into Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and show Madam Bones the corpse of the basilisk that I killed with a sword at the end of my second year."

Talk broke out in every part of the Great Hall.

Harry continued, "I want to invite other people to come down with us three and to see the dead monster. Namely—

"Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Mr Argus Filch;

"Penelope Clearwater, though I realise she can't come today;

"Colin Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hermione Granger;

"Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini;

"Fred, George and Ginny Weasley;

"One other Gryffindor student as chosen by Professor McGonagall, one Ravenclaw student as chosen by Professor Flitwick, and one other Hufflepuff student as chosen by Professor Sprout;

"and the ghosts Nearly-Headless Nick, the Bloody Baron and Moaning Myrtle."

Then Harry said, "We'll leave the Great Hall only when Colin Creevey runs upstairs, fetches camera and film, and returns here. No pressure, Colin."

Whilst Colin Creevey was gone, Professor McGonagall chose a seventh-year boy to be the extra Gryffindor witness, and Professor Flitwick chose a fourth-year boy to be the Ravenclaw witness. Professor Sprout chose Peggy Shaw to be the second Hufflepuff witness. (Peggy Shaw was the Muggle-born Hufflepuff firstie who had been rescued from Umbridge's torture by Harry Potter sending an alert to Madam Bones.)

It took Colin fourteen minutes to return to the Great Hall; he was red-faced, sweaty and panting when he returned. It took another six minutes for the seventeen magicals, one Squib, two ghosts and one goblin to move through the castle to Moaning Myrtle's lavatory. Moaning Myrtle herself was waiting for them just inside the door; she looked serious.

Once Harry had walked up close to the faucet that had the snake on it, he beckoned Madam Bones forwards. "Can you check for nearby Recording Charms and vanish them? Nobody but a Parselmouth should be able to enter through this."

Madam Bones found three Recording Charms, but could not vanish them.

Smug Dumbledore explained, "I put those Recording Charms there under Headmaster authority; only by Headmaster Authority can they be removed."

A Being then appeared by the snake-sink; the Being looked like a marble statue of a young woman, and the statue was wearing four-colour robes with the Hogwarts crest. "I am the Spirit of Hogwarts," announced the statue-woman. "I am the facilitator for the magic of the castle."

She then waved a hand, and the three glowing Recording Charms vanished. "Founder Slytherin declared that only a Parselmouth may use this entrance. Recording Charms and Listening Charms enable this Founder's rule to be thwarted, so from this moment, Recording Charms and Listening Charms shall not be castable in this room. Founder Authority overrides Headmaster Authority."

Hermione said, "Erm, ma'am? Why didn't you vanish the Recording Charms before now?"

The statue-woman replied, "Because between 30th August 1993, when the Recording Charms were placed here, and now, no Parselmouth has tried to use this entrance."

With those words, the statue-woman disappeared.

Harry still did not trust Dumbledore not to cheat him, so he asked Madam Bones to cast a Silencing Bubble that contained only the snaky sink and the upper half of Harry's body. As a result, when Harry told the sink §Open§, not only did nobody understand what he said, nobody heard what he said.

A downward chute opened by that sink, surprising everyone but Harry. Daphne Greengrass suggested trying to make stairs appear on the bottom of the chute. Harry discovered that when he said "§Stairs§," stairs indeed appeared.

Once everyone had walked down the staired chute, they all had to get past a round metal door that was held locked by metal snakes. Harry's §Open§ (inside Madam Bones's second Silencing Bubble) made this door unlock.

Harry pulled the door open, and everyone else walked (or floated) into the Chamber of Secrets.

This is when the various magicals, Squib, goblin and ghosts saw the slain basilisk.

"Merlin on a mushroom," said Madam Bones, as Goldentooth exclaimed something in Goblinspeak.

Hermione gasped, then squeezed Harry's hand as though she were trying to crush chunks of coal into diamonds.

Apparently bacteria cannot chew on dead magical flesh. The basilisk had no odour, and showed no decomposition after two years and two months of being dead. But, Harry decided, the basilisk's ruined yellow eyes were disgusting to look at.

Goldentooth looked like he wanted to dance.

The Bloody Baron and Nearly-Headless Nick were awkwardly trying to comfort Moaning Myrtle.

Ginny was a sobbing wreck. The twins clearly were trying their best to comfort her.

Justin Finch-Fletchley ran up to the basilisk corpse as he screamed. He kicked the basilisk hard, four times.

The basilisk fang that Harry had used to destroy the Diary still was on the floor where second-year Harry had left it. Near the basilisk fang was what looked like a big ink stain on the floor.

Fifth-year Harry sat down on the floor between the fang and the ink stain. Harry said to Colin, "Would you please take a picture of me sitting right here, along with the basilisk fang and the ink stain? I'll explain why later." Colin took the photo, with only Hermione and Dumbledore knowing at the time that this was the place where Harry almost had died.

Seconds after Harry had sat down, Ginny lay down on a different place on the floor—but she did not ask Colin to photograph her there. Ginny murmured something to the twins, as she pointed at still-sitting Harry.

Nobody else who was there, asked why Ginny Weasley was lying on the floor.

Goldentooth had a flying, enchanted tape measure, like what Garrick Ollivander used, except Goldentooth's tape measure was much longer. Goldentooth had conjured a clipboard from thin air; and as the tape-measure measured the basilisk in different ways, Goldentooth wrote down the numbers. Goldentooth closely examined the basilisk's mouth and its fangs, then made more notes on his clipboard.

The overall length of the basilisk turned out to be 59 feet, 5 inches.

Whilst Goldentooth was measuring the basilisk, Colin was photographing the basilisk.

Whilst Goldentooth was measuring and writing, and whilst Colin was snapping photographs, Harry told everyone a stripped-down tale of his battle against the basilisk. Of course Harry gave credit to Hermione for figuring out that what was petrifying everyone, and what Harry was hearing in the walls, was a basilisk.

Whilst Harry was telling his tale, Argus Filch looked stunned, Snape's expression was unreadable, and Dumbledore stood back with his usual grandfatherly smile and twinkling eyes.

All the students in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff looked gobsmacked by Harry's story, even after he had downplayed events. The four Slytherin students wore unreadable expressions, but kept giving each other meaningful looks.

A Dicta-Quill was floating by Madam Bones's left elbow; Harry presumed that it was writing down what he was saying. Most of the time, Madam Bones's face showed no expression, but there were moments when her expression said I can't believe you did that, Harry!

As for Hermione, she was glued to Harry's side, the entire time he was in the Chamber (except for the brief time that Harry had sat on the floor).

After Harry had told his tale, Blaise Zabini noticed an odd fact—

"Hold on, the Sword of Gryffindor was brought into Slytherin's chamber? Isn't this against the rules?"

Madam Bones said loudly, "To summarise Mr Potter's story: Three years ago, four students, a ghost and a cat were petrified. All the victims except for Miss Clearwater and the cat are here today. You three students who are here now, lived through a frightening experience, you lost months of schooling and you woke up with a nasty potion-taste in your mouth. I'm sure that if I told you that you were 'lucky,' you each would laugh at me.

"Yet this is exactly what you student-victims are—lucky. Had events occurred just a little differently, Hogwarts three years ago would have gained a new stone statue and a new ghost. Or at worst, five stone statues and four ghosts."

Hermione murmured to Harry, "I'd be haunting the library."

Madam Bones turned to face Dumbledore, Snape and Filch. "Headmaster Dumbledore, you made no effort to protect the school's children at any time. What if the basilisk had smashed through doors and had slithered into the Great Hall during a meal? Hundreds dead! It took a twelve-year-old boy and a thirteen-year-old girl to do what you should've done. How you can sleep at night, I cannot guess."

Soon after Madam Bones's comments on Harry's story, Goldentooth conjured what looked like an abacus, except that the beads of Goldentooth's abacus were made of stone, not wood.

Goldentooth was about to tell Harry how much Gringotts would pay him for the dead basilisk.

Harry noticed that Dumbledore and Snape suddenly were quite attentive.