The trio watched at the owls circled around the snow-capped owlery in the mid-winter afternoon light. Herbology had been let out early after one of the Hufflepuff's had managed to get tangled up in one of the plants badly enough for them to earn a trip to the Hospital wing, escorted by Professor Sprout.
"Hey you three," Hagrid's voice boomed out from behind them. The half-giant shook off the snow that covered his bushy hair and worn brown coat. He walked towards them, an excited grin plastered across his face.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled brightly at their large friend as he approached. "Hi Hagrid," they chorused, shivering a little as a large gust of wind came across the bridge.
"What are you three doing out in this weather?"
Harry shrugged. "Just kind of ended up here after we left Herbology," he explained.
"What are you doing here though, Hagrid?" Hermione questioned the man.
Hagrid's face split into a large grin, his eyes tearing up a little as he looked down at the three young Gryffindor students ahead of him. "Well I came to thank you three you see," he told them happily.
"For what?" Ron asked, sharing a look of confusion with Harry and Hermione.
"Fer clearin' my name!" Hagrid exclaimed, gathering the three students into a very unexpected but welcoming warm hug.
"It was you?" Ron gawked, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Hagrid nodded excessively, the boyish grin still plastered across his face as he blew his nose and dabbed his wet eyes with the most hideously coloured handkerchief the trio had ever seen.
"Are you going to be able to use and learn magic again?" Hermione asked gleefully, causing Harry and Ron to roll their eyes. Of course that would be the burning question on the bushy-haired girl's mind.
Hagrid nodded yet again. "Professor Dumbledore told me that I'd be able to learn on the weekends and in the summer time startin' this year," he beamed at them.
"Congratulations Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed, smiling back at the half-giant.
"I couldn't have done it without you three," he admitted.
"We're just glad we could help," Hermione told him truthfully, shivering once again.
"Best be gettin' inside," Hagrid warned as he started ushering them back in towards the castle.
"I am so done with paperwork," Sirius grumbled, straightening out his pile of paper before placing it in the completed bin at the corner of his desk.
James shook his head at his friend, completing the last page as he scribbled his signature on the final line, his handwriting filling the page of the longest report he had written to date. He rummaged through the top drawer of his desk, pulling out his lunch and his date stamp before he marked the report with the red ink of the stamp, depositing it in Moody's drop box.
"This paperwork will be the death of me," James groaned as the two friends winded their way through the Auror office on their way to the atrium. "I used to think fighting the war was a pain. I'd almost take a battle over this," James continued to complain to Sirius' amusement.
The dark curly haired man slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Keep speaking like that and you're going to end up calling Voldemort back from the dead just to keep you entertained at work," Sirius warned teasingly.
James gulped. "I take that back, don't want Voldemort coming back from the dead," he said, shivering for dramatic effect. "I mean he was ugly before, I can't imagine what Voldemort would be like coming back from wherever he is."
Sirius chuckled at the image, knowing it wasn't anything pretty. "I think it would almost be worse than my old wrinkled mother coming out of a year-long bath," Sirius contemplated.
"Why? Why would you put that image in my head?" James complained, pushing his friend away into the nearby wall.
"James!" Sirius called up to the man who had continued on ahead.
James spun around, giving Sirius a questioning look having no clue as to why he called out his name when he could have easily caught up.
"Are you that out of shape?" he questioned when Sirius was finally at his side.
"No," Sirius argued, "And I didn't call you because of that. I called to you because of that," he said, pointing behind James to where Dumbledore came walking down the corridor towards them, that twinkle noticeable in his eyes even from a ways a way.
"Just the two I was hoping to see," the Professor gleamed, shaking both their hands.
"You were?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow at the older man.
"Indeed," Dumbledore attested, "I was hoping I could steal you both away, I have some matters I would like to discuss with you and Lily, James, and I presume that Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin would like to be informed of some recent developments that have occurred at the school over the past twenty-four hours," he told them, both James and Sirius tensing visibly as he divulged that little bit of information.
"Er, uh yeah, we can go," James responded quickly, running his hand nervously through his hair.
"Lils and Remus are both at St. Mungo's today," Sirius told their old headmaster.
"Well we can head over there now," the professor suggested, "Unless you have something you need to do first?"
"No, no, nothing," James rambled, pulling out his wand. He quickly summoned both his and Sirius' coats which they hastily fastened as they followed the headmaster through the Ministry corridors towards the fireplaces in the atrium.
James went through first; still dusting off the soot by the time the other two had emerged from the brilliant green flames.
He instructed for Sirius and Dumbledore to stay put until he was able to track down Lily and Remus. He got a lab number from the matron at the main desk and quickly made off down the halls in an attempt to locate his wife and friend. He felt a sense of relief when the numbers by the doors started matching the number he had been given. He laughed outwardly when he learned that their lab was the one at the very end of the hall on the completely opposite end of the hospital from where Sirius and Dumbledore stood waiting.
"Knock, knock," he chuckled, opening the door slightly and sticking his head in the opening.
Remus noticed him first and smiled up at his friend, giving him a questioning look, but James motioned for him to be quiet, as he had finally spotted Lily in the corner of the room, leaning over a counter undoubtedly searching through comparison files yet again.
"Remus, could you grab me the purple file from my desk over there?" Lily asked him, not looking up from her book.
Remus quickly grabbed the file and handed it off to James who made sure to place the file in his left hand where his wedding band would most certainly give him away. He came up beside her and held the folder right in front of her eyes.
"Er, Remus-" she started but stopped when she noticed the silver ring that occupied the ring finger of the man's hand. "When did-" she started, again, but this time she looked up, spinning to look at her partner only to find James grinning mischievously next to her.
Lily placed both hands on her husband's cheeks before she leaned in to give him a long kiss.
"Been married how long and you're still acting like you just came back from your honeymoon," Sirius voice sounded throughout the lab, Lily and James jumping apart much to Remus' amusement.
"What are you both doing here?" Remus questioned his friends, finally able to ask the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since James had entered their lab a few minutes ago.
"I think I can answer this one," Dumbledore piped in, finally stepping into the room. "This is quite the place you have yourselves here," he remarked to Lily and Remus as he peered around the room, "They've treated you well," he added, a glimmer in his eye as he looked at his two former pupils in their new work environment.
Lily stood with James arm still wrapped around her waist but she looked past her husband to smile at their friend who looked as though he felt out of place in his own office.
"Remus deserved to have a place where he could work in peace on matters that are dearest to him," Lily pointed out, smiling softly at Remus when he turned to look at her.
James pulled his wife closer if that was even possible.
"That he does, Lily, that he does," Professor Dumbledore smiled, placing a hand on Remus shoulder. "These facilities though and your work are not the reasons for which I am here," Dumbledore went on, "I have some news I think all of you would find most interesting, and before you worry yourself, Lily, your son is perfectly alright."
Lily relaxed instantly which made James chuckle ever so slightly before she elbowed him in the ribs, silencing his laughter.
"Probably deserved that," he grumbled. Lily turned and grinned at her husband before turning back to the Professor.
"Right," Lily said, when she noticed all eyes were on her, "We could go to our house for some extra privacy," she suggested.
"We will meet you back home then," James said, placing a kiss on Lily's forehead before he exited the room behind Dumbledore and Sirius.
Lily and Remus mused over the possibilities of what the Professor could possibly have to discuss with them all as they cleaned up their work and placed their book and files back in their places.
"It has to have something to do with the chamber," Lily began, "I mean what else would he have to tell us in particular?"
"I'm just glad it's not about Harry again," Remus said seriously as he pulled out his wand to lock their lab.
Lily laughed.
"I'm serious!" he claimed, "And I'm even more glad that I'm not waking you and James up this time to tell you that something has happened to your son," he told her, referring to the past two times they had had visits from the school to tell them news personally.
"I'm kind of glad about that too," Lily admitted, "Although when it comes to Hogwarts these days, with Harry there, no news seems to be good news."
Remus watched Lily sadly as they journeyed down the hall, bidding good afternoon to the matron at the front desk before they flooed back to Lily and James' house.
"Here you go," James said, passing Lily her cup of tea as soon as she emerged from the fireplace, followed closely by Remus who graciously accepted the cup James passed him next.
Lily took a sip immediately before settling down on one of the chairs that James had brought in from the kitchen. James settled down in the chair next to her, resting a comforting hand on her leg as they awaited whatever news Dumbledore had to tell them.
"I rather enjoy that picture of your young Harry there, although I must say the Gryffindor colours suit him much better," Dumbledore commented, nodding towards a picture James and Lily had placed on the mantle of James with Harry on his first day of school, both boys smiling widely.
Lily and James both turned to look at the photo, smiling at the memory of that day.
"We're rather fond of it ourselves," James said proudly.
"As you should be. Now I mentioned already that Harry is not in any danger right now and that he is perfectly ok, so there is no need to be on edge for that particular reason," he assured the group, but mainly the young boys parents. "Young Mr. Potter though does have a lot to do with what I have to tell you…"
"This doesn't reassure me in the least," James muttered quietly to Lily, a comment Dumbledore chose to ignore though he smiled at it slightly.
"I was out for a stroll in the corridors last night when Harry, young Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger came rushing down, hoping to gain access to my office to talk with me. When they came up and settled down, regaining their thoughts, they presented me with this," he said, pulling the black diary out of his cloak and placing it on the table in front of them.
Remus leaned forward, observing the object for a moment before he reached out, flipping it over.
"Voldemort's book?" he asked the Professor for the group, who he knew would all recognize the name inscribed in gold on the bottom of the book.
"Yes… and no," Dumbledore pondered. "Harry presented me with this book having found it in the girls lavatory-"
"Sirius!" James yelled after seeing his friend's face at the mention of his son in the girls lavatory.
"Sorry," Sirius muttered, sitting up straighter and focusing on Dumbledore once again.
"He found it in there when he was trying to check on Miss. Weasley who I was informed had been acting strange since coming to the school in the fall. I'm sure you all remember Moaning Myrtle from your own school days," Dumbledore said, causing them all to shiver at the memory. "Harry met Myrtle for the first time yesterday. She was yelling at Miss. Weasley for throwing the book at her, a fact, which Harry found most strange. He managed to coax Miss. Weasley out of her state of distress long enough to bring her to the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey was able to give her some potions to have a dreamless sleep. Harry told me though, when he came to visit, that amidst the screams for Myrtle, Miss. Weasley was muttering about the dangers of the book as though it was a real person. When he returned to his dormitory from the hospital wing he found his friends who he immediately informed of the incidence. Miss Granger convinced the boys that this was not ordinary behavior and that they should immediately report the events to me, as per your wishes," he said, speaking directly to James and Lily on his last point.
"Smart girl," James smiled.
"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed.
"So what exactly are you saying, Professor?" Lily asked him, after trying to figure out what she missed in his recount of events.
"Oh right, yes," Dumbledore said, resituating himself. "Miss. Weasley has been in possession of Voldemort's diary since this past summer and based on the information I received from the three young students last night I believe that Voldemort is in one form or another behind the attacks that have been occurring at the school-"
"And the opening of the Chamber," Sirius breathed, reaching the conclusion before Dumbledore had the chance.
"Yes," Dumbledore sighed. "Tom Riddle was a student at Hogwarts the last time the Chamber was opened over fifty years ago. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that his diary has all of a sudden reappeared when the Chamber has opened once again, especially not when he was there last time, and not after all he has done since that point."
"Are you saying that Voldemort was controlling Ginny Weasley with his diary?" Remus asked, as it seems the only natural conclusion.
"That is exactly what I am saying, Mr. Lupin."
"Who was blamed for the death the last time the Chamber was opened?" Remus inquired, remembering that bit from the little research he and Lily and done on the subject.
"Hagrid," Dumbledore said after a few moments. "But as of this morning his name has been cleared," he announced happily.
Lily grinned widely. "They cleared his name," she said simply, to no one in particular.
"What does all of this mean for the school though, Professor?" James questioned, asking the question that was on everyone's mind.
"For Ginny Weasley it means that the staff will be keeping a much closer watch and that I will be keeping this safely out of reach so that Tom doesn't have any chance to use her as his puppet again," he answered as he tucked the book back into his robe pocket. "For the rest of the students the danger still remains, as there is still an unknown monster loose that we don't know how to fight. Nor do we know how it is petrifying students. The same problem we had the last time, though we do know that the monster is contained in the chamber for the time being, with Miss. Weasley safe out of its grasps. We are hoping that when we look over the facts that we have so far that we will be able to come up with some idea as to what the monster is. After that we would need to come up with a team that could hunt it down in the castle and kill it ideally as to keep the school running and the students safe."
"We will offer our assistance in any way we can," Lily assured the headmaster who smiled kindly at the young witch.
"I appreciate your willingness," he said, "And I will be calling on you when the time comes as I believe the Auror office in particular might be of use when it comes to tracking the monster."
"We can definitely talk to Alastor about it this afternoon," James offered. Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement.
"Is there any indication anywhere around the castle that might give us a clue as to what the monster is?" Sirius asked.
"I think we can probably safely assume that it would be some kind of serpent or at least something closely related," Lily presumed, "Considering that it is Salazar Slytherin's chamber and he was a Parselmouth."
Dumbledore considered this for a moment while the other men looked at Lily in shock. "I think that would be a safe guess, Miss. Evans," Dumbledore said softly, wondering why the thought had not occurred to him before.
"So now we would just have to narrow it down to the species," Remus concurred.
"Naturally," Dumbledore said, "I must be going but I will send forth any extra information that I can," he assured them.
"Sir?" Lily called, standing up quickly. Dumbledore turned back to look at her. "When Harry was home over break he told us he could hear snakes talk, that he was a parselmouth. He said he could hear the voices in the school that no one else could, it was the monster, wasn't it?"
Dumbledore nodded. "It would make sense that Harry would have a connection to Tom Riddle's monster," he said solemnly, before quickly departing.
"You think he's trying to target Harry again, don't you?" Sirius asked the auburn-haired woman.
"He's always targeting Harry, Sirius," she sighed, sitting back in her chair. "But I don't think he's trying to kill him this time, I think he's just trying to come back."
"This monster needs to get out of that school, now," James growled, grabbing all the cups off the table, hastily exiting the room to the kitchen where he could be heard throwing them all into the sink.
Lily made to get up, but Remus motioned for her to sit back down at the same time as he stood up to follow after James.
"He wants Harry out of Hogwarts half the time," Lily told Sirius quietly. "One day a couple of weeks ago he went so far as to suggest that if I allowed Harry to come back then he would quit working at the Ministry and teach him himself."
"I'd help him," Sirius piped up, grinning like a mad man.
Lily looked at the man and couldn't help but laugh. "Not a chance," she told him simply, laughing harder when his face fell.
"Well why not?" he protested.
"Oh it's not anything against you, or James for that matter it's just that I think Harry would be better off learning from people who are experts in their branches of magic, that's all," she giggled.
Sirius slumped back into the couch with a huff. "Fine then, I won't help teach Harry anything ever if that's how you're going to be about it," he declared.
"I've been praying I'd hear you say that one day soon," she admitted, winking at the man before she burst out laughing again. "Feel like some more tea?" she asked him smiling, once she had settled down and pulled her wand out of her pocket.
Sirius looked at her quizzically as he nodded his head. He watched as the auburn-haired woman summoned the tea set whilst muttering some other charms. "You seem eerily calm, Lils…" he observed hesitantly after a moment.
She shrugged. "My hands are tied as far as what I can do," she sighed, just as she heard James holler her name from the kitchen, which caused her eyes to go wide as she strategically moved to the couch beside Sirius, hoping she could use him for protection if necessary.
"Did you just hear something?" Remus questioned once James' rant had finished and he finally had a chance to speak up.
James shook his head as he continued to lean over the sink, his eyes staring absentmindedly out the window into the afternoon light. Remus watched as the dark, raven-haired man tried to calm himself down, cursing under his breath as he undoubtedly went over and over the scenario in his head.
The kitchen was eerily silent as the two men stood there. Neither heard the spoon drawer open or when the two spoons dropped down onto the silver tray that sat on the counter in the corner nearest the sink. They failed the notice when the milk came out of the fridge, pouring itself into the smaller silver container or when the tray picked itself up off of the counter. It moved quickly once it reached its predetermined height, zooming towards the front room where Lily and Sirius were waiting.
James noticed the flicker of light in the corner of his eye a moment too late. The tea set slammed into his side, managing to keep all of its contents intact whilst it gave James quite the hefty bruise on his upper arm before it zoomed overhead a ducking Remus.
"Lily!" James hollered loudly as he rubbed his aching arm, stomping out of the kitchen, a laughing Remus hot on his tail. The two men entered the living room to see Lily and Sirius acting non-chalantly as they sipped their tea. Remus noted Lily's change in seating, stifling a laugh as he realized that she did so in order to put quite a few objects between her and a fuming James.
Sirius and Remus watched in anticipation as Lily continued to pretend that nothing out of the ordinary was going on in her living room, despite the threat of James who was slowly creeping his way around the coffee table, towards her corner of the room. Lily stopped moving when James was but a few feet away from her, slowly setting her cup and saucer back down on the tray. She glanced up at James innocently before she hastily scrambled over Sirius' lap and over the edge of the couch until she was standing at the other end of the room her wand outstretched in front of her pointing towards her husband who was grinning wickedly as he pointed his own wand at her.
"Why are you ready to fight me? You were the one who made the tea set knock me over!" he chuckled, taking a step towards her.
"Wimp," Lily grinned innocently at him before she yelled, "Constant Vigilance," and shot the body-binding curse at him, causing him to topple over, face first into the rug. "Dinner better be ready when I get home, love," she laughed, grabbing a hold of Remus' arm as she did, apparating away.
Sirius laughed loudly at his best mate as he continued to sit back and enjoy his tea.
"You are completely useless," James huffed once he was finally able to stand up when the curse eventually wore off.
"It's not my place to get involved in your marital dilemmas, mate! It's not my fault that you can't take down your own wife," Sirius exclaimed, standing up as he prepared to go back to work.
"I thought she was playing around," James claimed in defense of himself.
Sirius feigned sympathy towards his friend, placing a comforting hand on James' shoulder.
"Oh, bugger off," James growled, swatting away Sirius' hand, shooing him towards the fireplace.
Sirius grinned wickedly, frightening James. "Just wait till Moody and the rest of the office hears about how your wife bested you in under a second flat," he laughed wildly before shouting, "Ministry of Magic," throwing down the powder before being engulfed by the bright green flames.
Harry,
Professor Dumbledore told us all that you, Ron and Hermione uncovered for him yesterday. We can't even begin to tell you how proud of all three of you that we are, you three are very special. Harry, despite this though we need you to promise us that you will continue to be very, very cautious in everything you do and to not go anywhere alone. Your father and I know that with everything that has happened it may seem as though Voldemort's plan has been stumped, that he can't possibly proceed to endanger the school but he may still be able to so you need to be careful. We love you dearly, sweetheart, we just want you safe. Please write to us, or talk to Professor Dumbledore if anything else comes up, alright sweetheart? We are doing everything in our power to figure this all out so Hogwarts can be truly safe once again.
To our knowledge all we have been able to figure out is that the monster concealed in the chamber is most likely a Serpent given its ties to Salazar Slytherin, and because you have been able to hear it when it's been roaming around the school. We will let you know if we figure anything else out. You, Ron and Hermione deserve to know as much.
We love you, Harry. Be safe.
Mum and Dad
"That is the most logical of species for the monster to be," Hermione concluded, after having read over the letter herself.
The trio sat together at one of the smaller tables in the corner of the library, concealed from the view of the rest of the students by the tall shelf of books ahead of them that anyone rarely took out. Harry had received the letter from his parents a little over a week ago and since then he, Ron and Hermione had spent almost everyday after classes pouring over books, trying to figure out what the monster was. Unbeknownst to them, Harry's parents, godfather and Uncle were doing the same thing in their spare moments back at home.
"What are these ones?" Ron asked as he read over the titles on the spines of the large volumes that Hermione had complied for each of them that afternoon.
"More like the others," she sighed, the frustration of not getting anywhere with any of the books so far, coming through her voice, "Although after what we came up with yesterday," she added, her voice a little more optimistic, "these ones are a little more specific to the type of monsters that have these qualities."
"What did we write down again?" Harry asked, pulling one of the books off of his pile.
Hermione passed the list off to him, which both he and Ron instantly leaned over, eager to refresh their memories. In Hermione's neat script they read:
What we know:
-The Beast is a Serpent. Harry is able to hear it and it is Slytherin's monster.
-Has the ability to kill without causing much bodily harm—Myrtle died without being physically attacked.
-Petrifies—how?
-Long life span—has to have lived since Salazar Slytherin's time.
"We should add that spiders are as terrified of it as I am of them," Ron muttered, a tad jokingly.
Hermione's head shot up at the same time another though popped into Harry's head, a moment from a month ago.
"Rooster's," Harry said softly, continuing on when Ron looked at him as though he had grown a tail suddenly. "When I saw Hagrid a month back, he was going to see Dumbledore because something was killing the school's roosters. I bet you any money that the monster has a similar connection to the roosters that the spiders have."
Without a moment's pause Hermione had pushed aside, quite loudly, the books from the top of Harry's pile, reaching for an old tattered book that had the words, Most Macabre Monstrosities, written along its binding.
Harry and Ron moved quickly, scrambling around to Hermione's side of the table as she furiously flipped through the pages, her eyes quickly scanning the contents.
"What, what is it?" Harry asked as she scanned.
Hermione didn't answer, instead she suddenly stopped flipping the pages, and hastily flattening out the page she had landed on.
"A Basilisk?" Ron questioned as the three of them read the contents of the page.
"I read some of this book last year, and I read about the Basilisk," she explained to Ron and Harry as she looked around their corner of the library. "It's all here, it all makes sense! 'Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years-' that confirms our first suspicions!"
"'The Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all of who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer and instant death'," Ron recited, jumping ahead, "How has no one died then?"
"Because no one has looked it in the eye," Harry reasoned, recounting the attacks. "Mrs. Norris saw it's reflection in the water! Colin, when he was petrified had his camera—he saw the basilisk through the lens, not directly. And Justin… Justin was with Nearly Headless Nick, he must have seen it through Nick-"
"Sir Nicholas would have gotten the full blast," Hermione continued, "He's already dead though so he can't have died again!"
"Exactly!" Harry exclaimed.
"This line here, it's exactly what we were just saying, Harry," Ron exclaimed, pointing to the section on the page about the Basilisk's relationship with the Spiders and the Roosters.
"We did it!" Hermione practically shrieked.
"Come on, we have to go tell Professor Dumbledore," Harry told them, his voice urgent though excited by their discovery.
Hermione and Ron both nodded their heads eagerly, but Hermione stopped, turning around just as they were about to sprint across the library. Harry and Ron watched in confusion as she ripped the pages out of the book that covered the Basilisk.
"We will need proof, and Professor Dumbledore will need to know all he can if he is going to get rid of it," she exclaimed breathlessly before leading the boys out of the library as a very angry Madame Pince shouted at them about their disruptive nature.
"I think we've been a bad influence on her," Ron joked to Harry as the trio sprinted down the corridor in the evening light before skidding to a halt before the large stone Griffin statue that stood before the entrance of the headmaster's concealed staircase.
"What's the password?" Hermione questioned them, her voice urgent.
"Sherbert Lemon!" Harry practically yelled at the statue, recalling the sweet that Dumbledore had said to the statue not a week before.
The Griffin immediately hopped aside at the mention of the password, the trio immediately jumping on the first stairs to appear, their hearts beating loudly in their chests as the staircase slowly made its way to the stone landing. The three of them knocked loudly and simultaneously on the Headmaster's oak door, shouting about the importance of what they had to tell him.
"Mr. Potter?" Ron gaped when James opened the door, having recognized his son's and his friends' voices.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione, is everything alright?" James asked, concerned as the three kids stumbled into the bustling office, walking past him without so much as a peep. The trio looked hesitantly into the eyes of a few curious adults who had sent glances their way before returning to their previous discussions.
"There!" Ron suddenly shouted, his finger pointing to the corner of the room behind the Headmaster's desk where Dumbledore was conversing with a tall dark haired man that none of the children recognized.
"Professor Dumbledore!" the young Gryffindors shouted, pushing their way through the adults towards the bearded wizard who was looking at them from beneath his half-moon spectacles. He was about to greet the trio when they exclaimed, "We know what the monster in the Chamber of Secrets is," simultaneously and loud enough to cease all other conversations that had been going on until that very moment. All eyes turned towards the two young wizards and witch, shocked into silence by the enormity of what they were suggesting they knew. A few of the older wizards and witches chuckled a little at the thought that these kids had uncovered the mystery that had been spanning hundreds of years now, that wizards and witches three times the children's age had been unable to figure out.
"The monster is a Basilisk," Hermione told him, thrusting into his hand the pages of the book that would confirm all they had yet to tell him. Dumbledore unfolded the papers, reading them over as Harry, Ron and Hermione explained how they had come to their conclusion.
"Harry's parents told us last week that they were almost positive that the monster was a Serpent because of Salazar Slytherin being a parselmouth," Hermione explained.
"And because Harry heard voices that no one else could," Ron added.
"So we've been looking for monsters that could live for hundreds of years because it had to have been alive since Slytherin left the school," Harry reasoned, "Which the Basilisk can!"
"It's also the mortal enemy of spiders and when the message about the Chamber being open was originally written we saw hundreds of spiders fleeing the corridor through a crack in one of the windows," Ron explained.
"The Basilisk's mortal enemy is the rooster though," Harry continued on, "That's why all the school rooster's were being killed! Riddle probably ordered Ginny to kill them when she was being controlled…"
"The blood on the wall was their blood," Ron sighed in relief, having always wondered where it had come from.
"Also, Professor, the Basilisk's stare is murderous, that's how Myrtle died without being physically harmed," Hermione exclaimed, "The other's have only been petrified, except Nearly Headless Nick, because they never looked it directly in the eyes, they saw it through something else!"
"Even if all of this is true," the dark haired wizard standing next to Dumbledore spoke, "How is a creature as large as the Basilisk getting around without anyone seeing it? It's not possible."
"The Pipes!" Hermione exclaimed, without a moment's hesitation.
Ron and Harry grinned proudly at their friend, who grinned back at them.
"The Pipes are indeed large enough for a creature of this size to travel around in," Dumbledore reasoned, confirming Hermione's suggestion. He smiled down at the three students in front of them before looking up into the eyes of the rest of those gathered in his office. "I believe we have quite literally just been handed everything we need," he told them merrily, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.
"Except we have no bloody clue where the monster is at this moment in time," Mad-Eye Moody grumbled from where he stood next to James.
"Professor?" Harry questioned, an idea coming to him.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Perhaps Moaning Myrtle would know where the entrance to the Chamber is," he suggested, thinking of how the girl died in the bathroom she haunted and Hermione's suggestion of the pipes as the Serpent's method of transportation.
Dumbledore seemed to consider this. "I would like you three to come with me," he whispered to the young Gryffindor's. "Alastor, I will need a team assembled of men and woman from your department willing to help us dispose of the creature," Dumbledore announced to which the Auror nodded, immediately turning to James. "Minerva," he added, looking towards their head of house who they had not seen when they originally entered, "Please gather the staff in my office, I need the Heads of House first and foremost though. Members of the Board are we willing to do what I discussed with you before hand?"
"Yes, Albus," an elderly wizard nodded, before he and about 7 others set about to their work, a few hoping in the fireplace to be engulfed by the emerald green flames.
"Come with me then, you three," he ordered softly, stepping around his desk and towards the exit.
"Albus?" James questioned, grabbing the Professor's attention just as they were about to depart.
"Alastor, James, it may be best if you come with us, I believe it will be most helpful for your job," Dumbledore instructed before he continued on down the staircase, the three young Gryffindor's and two Auror's hot on his tail.
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing, Albus?" Moody grumbled when Dumbledore led the group into the girl's lavatory.
"Harry, why don't you do the honors?" Dumbledore suggested, ignoring Moody's questioning protests entirely.
Harry could hear her before he could see her, his eyes searching the dark lavatory, lit only by the light of the moon outside. When his eyes finally landed on her, once he had come around the cubicles, he saw her sitting on the window ledge, weeping. "Myrtle?" he called out to her softly and kindly, remembering her temper.
The ghost looked up, cocking her head a little bit as she tried to make out the boy before her. "Hi Harry," she greeted, grinning at him.
"Hi, Myrtle," he greeted her back.
"Did you come to keep me company?" she asked, floating towards him, swaying back and forth like a schoolgirl with a crush.
"Erm, no, not exactly," he said, "I came to ask you, uh… I came to ask you how exactly it is that you died?"
Myrtle reacted exactly opposite to the way he would have thought anyone would have if been asked that question. Her sad, depressed expression morphed, her frown turning into a small grin as though she was a little proud on the inside that someone had finally asked her the question she had been longing to answer since her death fifty years ago. "Ooooh, it was dreadful, it happened right here, in this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in."
"Who was it Myrtle?"
"I don't know! I was distraught!" she exclaimed, before floating towards him once again, having moved away to point towards the cubicle in which she had hidden. "But they said something funny," she continued, "A kind of made up language, and I realized it was a boy speaking, so I unlocked the door to tell him to 'Go Away!' and I died."
"Just like that, how?" Harry questioned.
Myrtle sighed, "I just remember is seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes," she told him, "Over there, by that sink," she added, pointing towards one of the old sinks.
"The Basilisk," Hermione breathed, as she and the two boys stepped towards the sink.
Harry's eyes immediately fell upon the small serpent silver serpent that was engraved into the side of the faucet of the sink to which Myrtle had pointed. He ran his finger over it before taking a step back and gulping, which made James feel uneasy as he, Dumbledore and Moody watched on.
"This is it," Harry told them with certainty. "This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."
"Attention! Please may I have your attention!" McGonagall's voice sounded out in the Gryffindor common room. The students, who were groggy, rubbing their eyes as they finished making their way down the crowded staircase, the common room already stuffed to the brim by the tired Gryffindor's, stopped their small conversations that had been occurring until their Head of House had entered with three second year's following closely behind.
Harry, Ron and Hermione slipped into the shadows, feeling the eyes of their peers focusing in on them as Professor McGonagall began to explain what was about to unravel over the next 24 hours.
"This evening you will all be asked to return to your dormitories to gather any of the belongings you will be needing within in the next couple of days," she announced loudly, "You will have less than an hour to do so once I am finished speaking. Once that hour is up I, along with the prefects, will be leading you all down to the entrance hall where you will all be loaded up into the school carriage's to meet to train which is awaiting your arrival at Hogsmeade Station."
Everyone erupted at this announcement, torn between concern for the measures being taken and the excitement of an unexpected break in the middle of the term—something which had never occurred in all their years at the school.
McGonagall called out again, regaining the student's attention. "You are asked to bring your school work which is expected to be completed by the time you all return next week. You are being sent away while the staff and the Auror's rid the school of the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, the mystery that has been solved as of earlier this evening," she announced, although she did not elaborate on who had solved it due to the wishes of the three young Gryffindor's who were still standing behind her. "All of your parents and guardians have been informed of your impending arrival and will be waiting for you at your respective stations. For those of you who have parents away or not available at this current time you have been given a family to stay with for the time being—those details will be released to you upon your arrival at Hogsmeade Station. That is all, please return to your dormitories and remember to pack only what is absolutely necessary, we need to be quick!"
The Gryffindor's moved instantly, though their process was delayed by the pure number of students trying to get to their dormitories and the small staircase that led to them.
"Miss. Granger, you will be staying with the Potters as your parents have not yet returned from their vacation, an invitation which has been extended to you as well Mr. Weasley," McGonagall informed the trio before shooing them towards the stairs.
"Dad! Dad!" Harry yelled, running away from the group of Gryffindors waiting for the carriages and instead towards his father who was standing by the great oak doors.
James turned around just in time for Harry to run right into him, gripping him tightly. "Excuse us," he told the Auror's who he had been talking to, looking down to Harry. "Hey, Champ," he greeted Harry, hugging him back before crouching down so he was eye to eye with his son. "Your mum and I are so unbelievably proud of you and your friends," he told Harry.
"You're going to be alright, right?" Harry asked his father.
James rubbed his son's arm comfortingly. "Thanks to you and Ron and Hermione we have a solid plan in place that will protect us. We're all going to be fine," he reassured Harry.
Harry grinned at his dad. "Good, we wouldn't want to lose you to a giant snake," he teased, mocking the time his parents had told him that they didn't want to lose him in a flying car accident.
James grinned, shaking his head as he ruffled his son's hair. "Go get in line," he told him after giving him one last hug.
Harry nodded in acknowledgement, taking off back towards Ron and Hermione who waved at James. His son turned back towards him suddenly, which startled James.
"You remember how I told you to say 'open' in Parseltongue, right?" Harry questioned his dad.
"I've got it, Champ," he called to Harry, chuckling a little. "Go keep your mum and Remus company, ok?"
Harry gave his dad a wide smile before running towards his friends, picking up his stuff just in time for them to be able to climb into the next carriage.
So, as per usual, all the recognizable J.K. Rowling content is fully hers and I take no credit for it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, the next one will be coming later this week, now that it is half done and I have a week off from school- finally! Thank-you for waiting a month and a bit, I really do mean to update sooner and more often but it's hard sometimes, and other times the words just aren't coming to me. I also want to thank all of you for sticking with this story and for all of the 203 (?) followers that this story has as of this week. That's actually amazing and it makes me so happy. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter and please, if you have time, review, let me know what you think :) (I also apologize for spelling mistakes or grammar issues, I try my best!)