PART THREE: BASILISK IN MY POCKET

Harry:

A month or two after my second run-in with Tom Riddle, we have yet another boring Saturday. It's the awkward stretch of time during school when it's almost the end of the year, but no one is feeling quite motivated enough to start studying for our exams.

Thankfully, I don't have to ponder how I'm going to spend my afternoon for very long. I've finally got it figured out where my instantaneous reaction to most lulls is to go down to the Chamber of Secrets to visit Basilisky.

Ever since she saved my life, I've visited her much more often, but I still don't see her as much as I'd like. It's really a shame that even after Hermione, Ron and I all described how she willingly did everything in her power to save me and Ginny, Dumbledore still won't allow me to walk her around occasionally like a normal pet.

If only there was another way to bring her around with me…

I jump abruptly off the common room couch as an insane yet brilliant idea strikes me like lightning. Hermione and Ron both give a start and look up at me, probably expecting to see a fire or something.

"What's got you all excited?" Ron asks.

"I'm going down to the Chamber of Secrets to visit Basilisky," I say quickly. I'm already bobbing towards the portrait hole. "You guys wanna come?"

Hermione's eyebrows crinkle together, and it's like she can read my mind. "I would, but you're acting awfully suspicious. Why else have you got planned?"

I sigh. "I was thinking that if I shrunk Basilisky down to pocket-size, I could carry her around like Ron carries Scabbers."

Ron sits up really fast and looks at me like I've just suggested we actually pay attention in History of Magic. "That's mad, Harry!"

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" Hermione says loudly, slamming her book shut. "Please don't—"

"That's not going to stop me from doing it," I say, drowning out whatever Hermione was saying.

Before anything else can be said, I slip out the portrait hole and dash down the corridor.

A couple minutes later, I'm dashing into the inner sanctum of the Chamber of Secrets. Since Basilisky has such acute hearing, she probably heard me coming all the way from the bottom of the chute because she's waiting patiently for me when I arrive.

"Hey, Basilisky!" I say excitedly.

As soon as she hears my Parseltongue, she shuts her eyes and turns her massive head towards me. A look of delight curves her serpentine mouth. "Hey, Harry!" she says happily.

Basilisky lowers her head so that I can give it a couple pats.

"I thought of the greatest idea while I was in the common room!" I say enthusiastically. "It's about being able to keep you above ground as my real pet!"

"Really?!" she asks happily. Her eyes are still clamped shut, but I'm sure she looks really, super ecstatic. "What ideas have you come up with?"

"I thought I could shrink you down really small, and then you can ride around in my pocket!" I say. "Then, there's less of a chance that people will look into your eyes, and I can even shrink down a pair of sunglasses to put on you!"

"That sounds marvelous!" Basilisky says, her tail wagging like a dog's. "Have you approved the idea with the Headmaster?"

"No," I shrug. "But I figure he doesn't have to know." Before she can put up a fight, I draw my wand and point it at her. "Reducio."

Before my very eyes, my large Basilisky shrinks down to the size of my palm. Now, instead of being a massive "monster", she looks more like a tiny worm. I wrench the pair of sunglasses out of my bag and shrink them down too.

"Now, you can wear these so that we don't have any accidents," I say, gently setting the newly shrunken sunglasses down on Basilisky's face.

I smile at my cleverness, stick Basilisky in my pocket, and head back towards the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. I have this great feeling that nothing could possibly go badly about this plan, but this is another lazy Saturday, so, of course, something has to go horribly wrong.

Hermione:

I slam my book shut and toss it into the table in front of me. "What do you think is taking Harry so long?" I ask Ron.

Ron barely glances up from the game of Wizard's Chess that he's playing with Seamus. He shrugs. "I dunno, Hermione," he says, annoyed that I distracted him. "He's only been gone for, like, ten minutes."

"For your information, he's been gone for thirty," I reply sharply. After all the bad and strange things that have happened to Harry associated with going down into the Chamber of Secrets, I can't help but worry.

"Well, I don't think shrinking a Basilisk down to pocket size is a very quick task," Ron replies. Seamus and Dean both give us a strange look, but we don't offer an explanation.

"Oh, come off it, Ron!" I say loudly. "You can't seriously think that he's safe! This is Harry we're talking about! I can't believe we even let him go down there to shrink the Basilisk in the first place!"

Ron finally looks away from the chess board. He leans back against the couch and looks at me with a frustrated expression. "Maybe he's had a change of heart," he says tiredly. "Maybe, for once, Harry has used his common sense, and he's decided that shrinking down a Basilisk is actually a really mad idea."

However, the odds of Ron being correct about that are slim to none, so I jump to a standing position. "I'm going after him, and I'm going to get it through his thick skull that his Basilisk needs to stay where no one will accidentally look at her," I say. "If we're not back by the end of the hour, we're in significant danger or we've already died."

"Alright, Hermione!" Ron says. He's already playing the chess game again. "I'll keep an eye on the clock."

Harry:

About halfway back to the Gryffindor common room, I run into Draco, who appears to be sneaking around. If that wasn't suspicious enough, I notice that he's by himself, which seems really out of character for him.

"Hey, Malfoy!" I shout. "What are you doing, sneaking around like that?"

I startle him, and he whirls around to face me. He covers up his fright quickly enough and completely ignores my question. "Well, hello, Potter," he says. "You're looking ugly as ever."

I start trying to come up with something witty to respond with, but then I realize that I don't have to put up with Malfoy's crap anymore. I have a Basilisk for a pet, and if that's not a good enough reason to leave me alone, I don't know what is.

I plunge my hand into my pocket and pull out Basilisky, setting her gently on my palm. I am literally about to just tell him that this little worm is a Basilisk, but his eyes connect with the sunglasses before I can get a word out.

"NO!" I shout, but Draco has already fallen sideways, stiff, rock-hard, and Petrified. "Oh no," I hiss

Distantly, I hear Basilisky start squeaking to me in Parseltongue, but I stuff her in my pocket. I kneel down by Draco's side, and I know that there's nothing that can be done now. His face is frozen in that moment of complete confusion and shock.

I instantly start trying to come up with an alibi, but there aren't many ways that a student can get Petrified, and I know I'll be the first person they come looking for…

That's when I hear feet padding down the hallway towards me. I start to panic, but the person is upon me within seconds. I expect a teacher or Professor Dumbledore, but the screech that I hear isn't coming from any of them.

"Harry, oh my god!" Hermione shrieks. She's leaning against the wall for support, clutching a hand over her mouth.

"It's not what it looks like!" I quickly shout, jumping into a standing position.

"Really, Harry, because I think it's exactly what it looks like!" she says in a high, squeaky voice.

"Well, he's not dead, if that's what you're thinking," I grumble.

"Oh, that's a great comfort," Hermione retorts, her shock melting into anger.

"Well—"

"What on earth were you thinking, Harry?" she asks loudly. "I told you this was a stupid idea!"

"I didn't mean to Petrify him!" I shout back, bristling with anger. I hate it when she tries to outsmart me in every situation. "I only meant to scare him!"

"And that worked out so well," Hermione hisses.

I cross my arms over my chest. "I personally think he looks rather scared."

Hermione's mouth opens in complete shock and disgust, but before she can berate me for that comment, another person turns the corner. This time, however, I'm not so lucky on who chose to show up. It's McGonagall.

Her gasp echoes around the small hallway, and she clutches at her chest. Her face drains of any color, and she actually stumbles back a couple steps. Then, her gaze lifts up to me and Hermione. Hermione's jaw is basically still on the floor, and I think she's near tears now that she's under suspicion.

"Explain yourselves," McGonagall rasps out.

For some reason, I blurt, "He's not dead."

That seems to relieve McGonagall just a little, but she still looks dangerously pale. "Then— then what has happened here?" The normal edge is returning to her voice.

"Well…" I trail off, swallowing up my pride. I'm going to have to confess. "It was… it was a Basilisk."

McGonagall's color drops so much that she now looks like a ghost. "A what?!"

I immediately feel bad for blaming Basilisky for this whole thing. She didn't even mean to Petrify Draco at all. It's pretty much my fault entirely. I shrunk her. I brought her up here. I pulled her out of my pocket. I showed her to Draco.

Basilisky's not at fault in the slightest.

I let out a deep sigh. "It's really my fault, professor," I say, staring at the ground. "You know I've grown attached to one of the Basilisks that saved my life down in the Chamber of Secrets, and I just thought I'd like to shrink her down to pocket-size and carry her around with me all day. It was a totally innocent idea, but Draco accidentally made eye contact with her, and…"

I trail off miserably, and McGonagall looks like she's just been Petrified herself. She looks totally stunned. Several times, her mouth opens like she wants to say something but closes when she can't think of anything to say.

"It was stupid, I know," I say quietly, feeling dumber than I've ever felt in my life. The shame starts to creep to my stomach, and I feel like I'm going to throw up.

"Stupid?" McGonagall shrills at the top of her lungs. "This is far beyond stupid. This is… This is absolutely moronic! You'd think that you don't even have a functioning brain in your head, Potter!"

I wince and look down at the floor. "I'm sorry," I squeak but hardly any noise comes out.

"We will get Mr. Malfoy down to the hospital wing, and I will decide what to do with you when we get there," McGonagall fairly growls. "I can't even think straight right now. I have half a mind to expel your right this instant!"

That hits me hard in the chest. I didn't think this would get me kicked out. I just wanted to have my cool pet with me for a Saturday. What sounds bad about that?

"Miss Granger!" McGonagall snaps loudly. Hermione lets out a squeak. "What are you doing here?"

Hermione looks near tears, so I answer for her. "She came after me to tell me not to shrink my Basilisk," I reply quickly. "It was too late when she showed up."

"Well, you'll have to come along anyway, Miss Granger, since you've seen everything," McGonagall says. "You'll be a witness."

Hermione looks like she'd rather die than be involved in this, but she nods because she's respectful and terrified.

"Now, come along!" McGonagall barks. She whips out her wand and levitates Draco's stiff body in the hospital wing's direction.

Hermione and I follow without question. I feel my heart sink into my stomach as I start to think more about my awful crime. I never meant to Petrify Draco at all! I just wanted to scare him into leaving me alone! Now, this has all spiraled out of control, and I'm going to get expelled!

I lean over to Hermione and whisper, "Oh, god, I'm so dead!"

Hermione's eyes flash with a mix of anger and terror. "Like Draco very well could have been if your pet didn't have glasses on!"

I flinch. I guess she has every right to be angry at me, but I just kind of expected her to be on my side at least a little.

"I think you deserve severe punishment, Harry," she says honestly. It pains her to say it, but I know she means it. "What you've done is completely out of line."

I deflate, and we walk in complete silence for the rest of the way to the hospital wing.

A/N: So what do you guys think? I know this story is totally crazy, but I'm having fun with it! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing the past few chapters. Also, I totally didn't proofread this chapter at all, so if there are some horrific errors, please let me know. That would be so embarrassing. As always, tell me your thoughts! I appreciate your comments ;)