Chapter 18 – A Slimy Creature

Katia had a feeling that if she had spend one day more in the crowded Slytherin common room, she would be taken to St. Mungo's to the mental cases ward. Her patience had worn thin. She locked herself in her room and started painting a portrait of Rasputin on the wall. She wasn't very talented but she had slow-drying paint so there was time for her to make corrections.

Some time later, Daphne Greengrass kept knocking stubbornly until Katia, covered in paint, opened the door.

"What do you want?" she asked impatiently.

"Just wanted you go to and play Exploding Snap. We took bets on who will have the best time."

Katia shook her head. "I can't."

"Why? Katia, you don't want to be all alone again, do you?"

Katia frowned and wiped her hands on her paint stained blouse. "It that a threat?"

"No, it's just people asked for you. Flint too."

Katia moved so Daphne could enter her room. The girl's mouth dropped open at the sight.

Almost the entire floor was covered with books, parchments, quills and clothes. There were also some vials of something and there was a big face painted on the wall. It was a far cry from a masterpiece. There was also a colourful combination of red and blue streaks and violet dots on the grey background, painted on the wall between two four poster beds.

Daphne couldn't tell which bed was worse. Both were messy, one of them served as a wardrobe and the second one as a library and study room in one. She wasn't sure where she should put her feet to avoid treading on things, as the mass of them almost reached the door.

"I don't know why should I care if Flint asked about me, but I don't want to take it out on you. I just can't stand looking at the same faces every day for so many hours. I want to breathe fresh air, do something instead of playing games." She made a frustrated gesture and sat on the bed.

"It's less than a month until the holidays. Are you sure you want to spend all this time in …Merlin, Katia! This is a stinking hole, not a room. Don't you ever tidy up here?"

Katia stood up and angrily kicked things into piles, making a path to the door. "Happy now? Because I don't see any problem with my room. If you do, kindly remove yourself from here."

"No, sorry. You're right, it's your mess," she said smiling.

"I want to finish this painting," said Katia, making dreamy eyes at the monstrosity on the wall.

Daphne made her way to the wall, and looked at the paints in the jars.

"It gets worse when you try to fix it. May I?" she asked.

Katia shrugged and pointed at the jars. "I've destroyed all the brushes because I forgot about them and they…dried. You'll have to use your fingers. If you think you can do better, here's the original." She handled Daphne a book with a muggle photograph. Sure, thought Daphne, the moving ones would be harder to paint.

"Why you want him on your wall? It's Rasputin, isn't it?"

"Grigori Jeffimovitch Rasputin, yes. He was the greatest Russian wizard. They said his voice was hypnotic and he had remarkable eyes." Katia had a dreamy expression on her face again. "He was a healer, a politician and a man who believed that the human soul is sacred and belong to God, but the body belongs to man and he made good use of it. He was called a holy demon and his sight was believed to be hypnotic. I wish I knew him. I admire him."

They talked about Rasputin and Russian wizards as Daphne made the painting. By the time she finished, it resembled the photograph. Katia was fantastically happy and thanked Daphne at least ten times.

Nothing could make the general mood worse than more isolation. Students were taken to their respective common rooms as Professor McGonagall announced that there was another attack. They were also told, that it was their last day at Hogwarts and tomorrow they would be riding home.

The Slytherin common room had something petulant in the air. No one was playing games or chatting. Students were finding trivial reasons to yell at each other. They were also curious about what was about to happen and everyone crowded in the common room to hear the news first hand.

As none came for many hours, they were beginning to speculate about it themselves. It didn't do any good that everyone was edgy.

"I wonder who was taken to the chamber," said Pansy.

"Probably some Mudblood," said Sylvia Rosier. She didn't take her eyes off Marcus Flint.

"It's good, now finally someone will teach the Mudbloods respect. Maybe he'll get rid of them for good," said Draco, with such pride in his voice like it was him who was the Heir.

"And you really believe this crap you're saying?" asked Flint. He was getting angry, but Malfoy ignored the obvious signs.

"How can you say that?" asked Blaise. "He can be dangerous. It may be some madman and you're happy that he's terrorizing the school? They want to close it for Merlin's sake!"

"As long some Mudblood is there – I support this Heir," replied Draco.

Flint backhanded Malfoy, knocking him on his back. He clutched his jaw, tears shining in his eyes.

"You're crossing the line, Malfoy," Marcus warned him.

Draco crawled back to a safe distance, his features were twisted into something between anger and fear. "You! You crossed the line Flint. And you'll pay. I promise you will regret the day you dared to raise your hand against me!"

"I can't wait to see that," said Marcus mockingly. "You're pathetic, Malfoy." His words held none of the anger he had felt a moment ago. Hitting the little snob had helped Marcus to regain much of his composure.

"I've had enough. I'm leaving," said Katia, wrapping her cloak around herself. It was May but it was cold in the Dungeons anyway.

"You can't leave," Derrick, who was a prefect, stopped her.

She shoved past him, but he grabbed her by sleeve. "Turn back, Ivanov! You're not supposed to leave the common room!"

"Because? Because WHAT?" she yelled, furious. She slapped his hand and opened the door. It slammed loudly behind her as she left.

Malfoy was next to try to leave, but Derrick had enough. He turned with his wand trained on the blonde. "Anyone who tries to leave, will receive a nasty hex, is that clear?"

The corridors were empty and dark as Katia made her way to the front exit. She didn't care about running into teachers, she just wanted to get out of here. She didn't go far as she spotted a familiar figure with long hair, approaching her.

"Mr. Filch," she said, smiling a little, and hiding her trembling hands in her pockets. She was hoping to take some fresh air but knowing Filch, he would probably take her back to the common room as the school wasn't safe.

"Riding for a fall, aren't we?" he asked wryly.

"Actually avoiding it, I can say," she said wrapping her cloak around herself more tightly. "All they need is another person on the edge. They're picking fights already and I'm not the most peaceful witch." She looked at him. "Please, don't make go back in there," she added tiredly.

"Come with me," he said, and headed towards his rooms.

As they took their seats in the dingy room, Katia asked a question which was the main topic of discussion in the Slytherin common room.

"Do you know who was taken to the Chamber?" She tried to sound casual, but was barely able to hide the curiosity in her voice.

"The youngest Weasley."

Katia furrowed her brows. "It makes no sense. I was sure that this Heir was targeting Muggleborns."

"Don't ask me. I'm just repeating what the teachers said. Lockhart is supposed to rescue her, though the only thing that fop cares about is his pampered arse."

Katia laughed at this. "My thoughts exactly."

"As a matter of fact it's good that I met you today."

"You weren't the only one who missed out on the little chit chat," she said teasingly. The situation was anything but funny, but Rasputin help her, she needed to relax somehow. She wasn't even aware how tense she was until she sat down in the comfortable armchair in Filch's room.

"That too, but I had a strange feeling today." His eyes became distant as if he were searching for the right words. "Some…trepidation."

"The situation we're in is most unpleasant, the future of Hogwarts is in danger, I think it's normal—"

Filch raised his hand to silence her. "It's not that. Oh, I am sure it's not that." He took a cigarette and lit it. "I can feel it in my bones. I can't find peace. I need to do something or it will eat me up alive," he said wearily.

"I am willing to help you, though I don't know how."

"I feel I should follow it. I can feel it more when I'm in the lower levels of the castle." He looked askance at her. "I've felt it before. It was when you had that strange attack."

Katia furrowed her brows, her eyes growing bigger as she looked at him disbelievingly.

Filch smirked unpleasantly and continued. "I've felt a strange burning feeling and ha! That's a good one; Snape felt that too. He admitted it to the Headmaster while we were in hospital wing. Explain that to me, you're the one who is taught magic here."

Katia shook her head. The news shocked her and honestly she couldn't answer Filch's question.

"I know things…some things but they are pieces of information and the more you talk, the less sense I see. I feel that the answer is just beyond my grasp, that if I had one more clue, everything would be clear."

How the fuck did they even feel her curse? How was it even possible?

Katia stood up and looked at Filch. "We need to go. Whatever you feel, it may be related to what you felt then."

Soon enough they were following Filch's strange feeling. It brought them to the lower levels of the castle, as he'd told her earlier. They heard footsteps ahead of them and Filch pushed Katia behind him, retreating into small, dark alcove.

It was Snape, looking as if he was searching for something. He was so preoccupied by whatever he came for, that he passed them, obviously not noticing their presence.

After a good half an hour Katia stopped and leaned against a wall. "It's pointless, we're walking in circles."

Filch rubbed his chin. "Damn it," he said angrily.

Katia swallowed and looked at his scowling face. "I believe I know where we should go," she said quietly. "There is a way to go deeper, but there is…a basilisk in the pipes. I think this creature is called the Slytherin monster and it's living in the lowest part of the plumbing."

Filch's eyes widened for a moment and then she saw that he was barely holding back fury.

"Why didn't you tell me- why didn't you tell anyone that!?" he hissed.

"Because the teachers wanted to expel me, that is why!" she hissed back. "There would have been questions. Besides I've learned that it was the basilisk quite recently. It was when I had those strange dreams. The Headmaster would have never believed me that I didn't know earlier."

Filch nodded. "You were in the plumbing that night when Mrs. Norris was petrified, weren't you?" he asked, but it was more of a statement than an actual question.

"That I was," she said, not looking him in the eye. "Are we going to go down there?" she asked after a moment.

"Yes," he answered shortly and followed her to the prefect's bathroom. Katia preferred to be in the smaller pipes first, in a case that the basilisk would be heading higher. She didn't want to find herself trapped. It was the reason they hadn't gone through the flooded bathroom with a certain sobbing ghost inside.

She left her cloak among the towels; she needed something to cover her filthy clothes after they got back.

"Lumos," she said and the lit up. They went deeper and deeper, occasionally stopping to hear the inevitable sound of a massive body sliding in the pipes, but none came. Finally they reached the lowest level. The pipes were so wide that they resembled tunnels.

"Which way now?" asked Katia, whispering.

Argus needed to admit that the girl made some sense out of coming here. It was risky as hell, but at least it gave him some peace to follow the strange feeling. It was much, much stronger down here. Nevertheless he also needed to admit that Katia Ivanov was a nutcase. Why the hell had she come down here in the first place? What she was doing here?

He concentrated on the feeling, but it was fading away.

"It's gone," said Filch after a while and the disappointment was noticeable in his voice.

"I want to see where it leads anyway," said Katia.

Idiot girl.

However…they'd made it so far, it wouldn't do any harm to try where his feeling was leading him, now would it? It was strange that she was able to illuminate their way. He suspected that this lumos required a very small amount of magic energy.

They reached an entrance to some bigger room. It was dimly lit and very long. The light provided by the girl's wand lit only a small area and he couldn't see very far ahead. He looked down and froze.

What he had assumed was water, splashing under his feet, was blood. The entire floor was flooded by blood. Katia must have noticed that he wasn't following her, as she turned to him.

"What?" she asked and her gaze followed his. "Bladz yego—" she trailed off and covered her mouth with her hand.

He was curious of what could have left so much blood.

"Look," whispered Katia and pointed ahead. There was a massive body, in a pool of blood, it lay tail to them. They watched it for a while, ready to run for their lives, but it remained motionless.

The girl approached the creature and kicked it. "It's dead," she stated.

They walked along the body and Argus needed to admit that it was huge. As they saw its head, he narrowed his eyes, examining it.

Its eyes looked like they'd been stabbed with something sharp. There was also a hole in its head.

"It seems that someone killed it with a long knife, I can say it might even have been a sword," he said.

Katia crouched and brushed her hand against the slimy skin. "He's magnificent," she said, awed.

To Argus the carcass looked anything but magnificent. It made him want to gag.

He walked along the chamber, looking for the source of his anxiety which had led him here, but he found nothing. Except for something looking like a tooth, which lay a good ten feet from the carcass.

"There is nothing here," he said, leaning to pick up the thing.

"Don't touch it!" yelled Katia from behind him. He nearly jumped out of his skin as her shriek echoed all around them. "It's a basilisk's fang. Rasputin! It's poisonous."

She torn a sleeve from her blouse and picked up the fang with it. "You could poison half of Hogwarts with this thing." She wrapped the tooth tightly and handed it to him. "You can keep it."

Filch raised his brows. "Should I want to keep it? As some kind of trophy?"

Katia laughed. "No, it's worth some money. You found it, so it's yours. I found this," she pointed at the huge carcass.

"What are going to do with that? With such an amount of that?"

"It's extremely rare creature. And a very potent Potions ingredient. I would love to explore the field of Potions concerning the use of basilisk body parts. Maybe one day I will be as good as our dear Professor Snape." She shrugged. "I don't know, but at least I have a lot of opportunities to try," she finished with a smirk, her gaze fixed on the slimy dead body.

They took the opportunity to walk around the chamber. "Strange thing," said Filch. "Who could have possibly think of creating a chamber in the plumbing?"

They stopped near the huge statue. "Maybe this was the one who invaded my dreams?" She pointed at the stone figure.

"Salazar Slytherin," said Argus. "So if this is the Chamber of Secrets-"

"Ginny Weasley was either rescued or is somewhere inside the basilisk's digestive system," finished Katia, shuddering.

"I'm sure we will know as soon as we get out of here."

A/N: Thanks to manicrose for beta reading this chapter!

Anoyone who wants to see the painting on the wall, here is the picture :D

http: // c4 . ac-images . myspacecdn . com /images02/73/m_ . jpg

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