Author's Note: I don't own anything you recognize, sorry to disappoint. I'd just like to say right now that I know absolutely nothing about snakes so the names mentioned came from my brain. Please don't laugh too hard at me…

Chapter 11 A Mystery Solved

Harry, Ron, and Alex were returning from a visit with Hermione in the Hospital Wing when they heard a voice.

"It's Filch," whispered Alex as she listened hard, "He's complaining about something, of course he always is."

They waited until his voice died away and they ran in the direction he came from. Soon they found themselves in the second floor corridor, by Myrtle's bathroom. The whole place was flooded.

"She's so emotional," muttered Alex, as she waded through the water.

Harry reached the door first and opened it. Sobs were the first thing to reach their ears. As they entered, Myrtle looked up at the trio.

"Come back to throw something else at me?" she said though her tears.

"Why would we throw something at you?" asked Harry.

Alex could think of a million reasons, but decided not to voice them aloud. Myrtle was already in a moody state.

"How should I know?" she snapped and then her voice softened, "I was sitting in the U-bend think about death, minding my own business, and someone threw a book at me."

She pointed to a little leather bound book that was floating in the river of water. Alex picked it up and thumbed through it. The pages were all dry and empty. She turned to the back cover and saw little gold writing on the back. Squinting her eyes, she read aloud, "Tom Marvolo Riddle. Who's that?" she asked Harry and Ron, looking up with a frown.

"Dunno, sounds really familiar though," said Ron distractedly before continuing, "Myrtle, I thought ghosts couldn't feel anything, so it wouldn't have hurt when the book hit you right? It would have just gone through you."

"Ron, I think-" started Alex, but Myrtle's yell drowned her out.

"Oh sure," she screamed, "Let's all throw things at Myrtle because she can't feel it. Ten points if it goes through her body and fifty points if it goes through her head!"

She let out a piercing scream and landed in the toilet with a loud splash. Alex, soaked from head to toe, looked at Ron icily.

"Ron, next time you try to say something, I will personally duct tape your mouth, got it?"

Ron opened his mouth to ask what exactly duct tape was, but Harry silenced him with an elbow to the ribs. They headed back to the common room and Alex dried off by the fire. She took out the necklace Malfoy gave her when she was Parkinson and sighed. It was very pretty, but she would have to give it to Parkinson. It was for her anyway. She walked over to the portrait door and went to the Owlery. She walked inside and called her owl down.

"Monty…Monty! Come down, I have a job for you," she called. The Owlery was the only place in the castle where she could talk to the owls freely.

The raven-black owl flew down and landed on Alex's outstretched arm. She wrapped the necklace in silver and green paper and tied it to Monty's leg.

"I need you to take this to a girl named Pansy Parkinson. She's a Slytherin, but you won't be able to get to their common room because it's in the dungeons and below the lake."

"Ew, why do I have to do that?" he said, his voice full of disgust.

"Long story short: someone gave this to me thinking I was her. If you do this I promise you'll never have to go near a Slytherin…and I'll give you those owl treats you like."

"The mouse flavored ones?" Monty asked hopefully. He was a sucker when it came to treats.

"Yep, and maybe even some pumpkin juice too," said Alex smiling. Monty had developed a liking for pumpkin juice.

Monty flapped his wings and flew out the window. Alex watched him disappear into the darkening sky. She must have stood there for some time because by the time she left the Owlery, the torches were lit in the corridors. When she came into the common room, she saw Hermione sitting in an armchair by the fire.

"HERMIONE!" screamed Alex, running over to her best friend, "You're out of the Hospital Wing early! I thought you were coming out this Friday."

"I was better so she let me come back," said Hermione smiling, "Glad you're happy."

"Of course I-" but she stopped when she heard Harry and Ron coming over, both looking upset about something. "What's up with you two?"

"It was Hagrid who opened the Chamber last time," said Harry.

"Hagrid? What would make you say something so stupid?" asked Hermione.

Harry told Hermione about the leather book they found, which was a diary. "I wrote in it to see what would happen and someone wrote back, Tom Riddle," he said, "He showed me how he captured the person who had the monster and it was Hagrid."

"I don't believe that," said Alex, "Hagrid would never want to kill off Muggle-borns in the school. Remember how upset he was when Malfoy called Hermione that awful word?"

"Riddle said he didn't think Hagrid meant for it to hurt anyone, but you should have seen this thing. It was huge! It could have killed anything just by sitting on it," said Harry.

"THAT'S IT!" cried Ron so loudly that Alex jumped and banged her elbow on the table, "T.M Riddle won an award for doing a special service to the school, he won it because he caught the Heir of Slytherin!"

"How the bloody hell do you know that?" growled Alex, rubbing the elbow she hit.

"Filch made me clean the stupid award fifty times. You'd remember it too if you vomited slugs all over it and had to clean it up."

…...

February came cold and windy. Alex was walking back from Herbology, soaked to the bone, when she heard Lockhart talking to Professor McGonagall.

"I guess the Heir of Slytherin heard I knew where the Chamber was and decided to stop the attacks. We need to get some cheer back into this place and I know just the way to do it," Lockhart said happily.

The next morning, February the fourteenth, Alex walked down the breakfast, but stopped at the doors. The whole Great Hall was covered in pink and red decorations. She sat down next to Harry and Ron, both were looking at the lacey pink napkins with disgust.

"Happy Valentine's Day everyone!" said Lockhart from the Staff table.

Alex looked up and almost choked on her orange juice. Lockhart was wearing bright pink robes with a heart shaped hat. He started passing out pins that read, "Happy Valentine's Day!" from a lacey basket. Alex looked at the pin that a picture of him smiling widely. She promptly threw it over at the Slytherin table and it hit Malfoy in the head.

"What a pansy!" said Alex as she ate her eggs.

That wasn't the end of it. Alex was walking down the hallway when a little gnome dressed as a cherub stopped her.

"I have a Valentine for you," he said, pulling out a Valentine from his pink tutu and handing it to her.

"Oh, thanks…I think," said Alex, taking it from the pink gnome.

The rest of the day, Alex was stopped by gnomes with Valentines. At first, Alex was embarrassed by the attention, but later she got annoyed.

"Look, I need to get to class, just sing the stupid Valentine later!" she cried as she ran to Potions class.

After class, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Alex started heading up to their common room. A gnome appeared and Alex hid behind the boys. However, this time it was for Harry.

"I have a singing Valentine for a Mr. Potter," said the gnome.

Harry blushed and looked for an escape. When he tried to run, the gnome grabbed his bag and it ripped, sending ink everywhere. After an embarrassing song, Harry started gathering his belongings. Malfoy came up, tears in his eyes from laughing, and picked up Riddle's diary.

"Oh look, Potter's diary," said Malfoy, making his voice heard.

"Hand it over Malfoy," said Harry quietly.

"Not until I look at it," he drawled.

Harry wiped out his wand and shouted, "Expelliarmus!". The diary came out of Malfoy's hands and Alex caught it.

"Harry, no magic in the corridors!" said Percy, making his way through the crowd with Ginny right behind him, "I'm going to have to report you."

"I don't think your boyfriend liked your Valentine much," said Malfoy and he left.

Ginny, who was looking at Alex, turned and ran, crying as she did so. Alex helped Harry pick up his belongings, all covered in black ink. They went up to the common room and Alex and Hermione started removing the ink with magic. Alex picked up Riddle's diary and opened it. The pages were blank even though all of Harry's other books were drenched.

"Harry, look at this," she said, showing Harry the diary.

Harry leafed through the book, but didn't seem interested in it.

"When I wrote to Riddle, the ink was absorbed. It must've done the same here. I need to rest," said Harry, stretching as he stood up, "The next Quidditch match is coming up and Wood will be starting his early morning practices soon."

Alex nodded and waved to Harry as he went to bed. Looking around the common room, she smiled wickedly as she saw the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan off in a corner, clearly plotting something illegal. Stretching, she got up and told her friends she'd be right back.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked suspiciously, eyeing the trouble makers.

"I think it's time that I used my resources for revenge. Sorry Ron, but Percy got on my bad side before and he must pay," she said with a wink.

"Be my guest, he's getting on my nerves as well," Ron replied, not looking up from his essay while Hermione rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face.

"Thanks for your permission, Ron," laughed Alex as she turned to face the older boys, "Oi Fred, George, Lee! What do you say we play a little prank on a certain Prefect?"

…...

The next morning, Professor McGonagall handed the second years a sheet of paper with a list of classes on it. Alex looked down the list: Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, Divination, or Care of Magical Creatures.

"Well, I think I can rule out Muggle Studies, seeing as I lived as a Muggle for the past eleven years," Alex said, thinking out loud, "And I don't really want to know my future, that's all fake junk."

"I think I know one you should take," said Harry, smiling.

"Oh, of course I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures," said Alex, "I mean, I am "The Weird Animal Girl". No, I'm debating between Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."

Finally, she decided on Arithmancy because, "I was never good at translating foreign languages," she told Hermione. Hermione didn't know what to take, so she decided to take them all.

"How are they going to fit all your classes into a day?" asked Alex when Hermione told her.

"Professor McGonagall will think of something…I hope," said Hermione.

Harry and Ron decided on Care of Magical Creatures and Divination because older students told them they were the easiest. Harry's practices starting picking up and it was well after dark when he would walk into the common room, tired and sore.

"I don't know how I'm going to be able to take two extra classes next year," said Harry as he plopped down in an armchair by the fire, "I'm barely getting my homework done as it is."

…...

Alex was in the library looking for something to read. She went over to the Magical Creatures section and started taking random books of the shelves.

I wonder if the Heir of Slytherin monster is in here somewhere, thought Alex mildly.

Suddenly, it hit her. The monster must be an animal, because Alex could hear it and no one else. But Harry could hear it too, what did that mean? The monster was a snake! Quickly, she grabbed a large book with an ugly-looking snake on the front and set it down on a table. She paused, her hand about to open the book. How would she know what kind it was? There were probably a million different kinds of deadly snakes in the Wizarding World. She picked up the book again and checked it out. She would talk to Hermione and see if the two of them could figure something out.

Hermione was sitting on her bed reading when Alex came running into the room. Hermione sat up and looked at Alex's flushed face to the large book in her hands.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Alex walked over and put the book on Hermione's bed, eyes aglow with excitement.

"The monster…it's a kind of snake…that's why only Harry and I can hear it talk, I can because it's an animal and Harry can because it's a snake," said Alex.

"But what kind? There are a lot of snakes out there," Hermione asked, picking up the book.

"I checked that out so we could look through it together, maybe we could solve this mystery," said Alex breathlessly.

They spent the rest of the afternoon flipping through pages and talking about the attacks. Alex had made a list of the snakes that might have performed the attacks.

"We have the Amazon Flight Cobra that petrifies its victims by spitting on it, the Basilisk that kills its victims by staring at it directly, but if not directly they are petrified, and lastly, the Zimbabwe Pillar Python that petrifies its prey by biting it and then swallows it whole," said Alex, reading off her list.

She stopped, however, when Parvati and Lavender came in and got ready for bed.

…...

Alex woke up the next morning at dawn. She got dressed and went to the common room, still thinking about what she discovered. Later, Hermione came down, her face showing she had a plan.

"We should go and talk to Hagrid," she said, "If he did release the monster before, maybe he'll be able to tell us about it."

Alex nodded and grabbed a jacket. The March air was still brisk from winter. She followed Hermione down to Hagrid's hut and knocked. No answer. Alex knocked harder on the door and shouted.

"Hagrid! Open up, it's me and Hermione!"

"I'm back 'ere!" called Hagrid from behind the hut.

Alex and Hermione went around, but a ghastly sight met their eyes. About six roasters were lying dead on the ground, covered in blood. Hermione gasped and covered her eyes at the sight, while Alex stood in numb shock. She looked at Hagrid, whose hands had feathers and dried blood on them.

"What happened?" croaked Alex.

"Someone killed me roasters, been happenin' all year!" said Hagrid angrily, "I told Professor Dumbledore the night yeh were in his office and it's still happenin'!"

Alex helped Hagrid clean up the dead carcasses while Hermione made tea inside. In the end, neither Alex nor Hermione could pluck up the courage to talk to Hagrid about an attack that occurred fifty years ago. After tea, the girls went back up to the castle and sat on Alex's bed, reading aloud the sections about their top three choices.

"The Amazon Flight Cobra is found in the Amazon and other rainforest areas. It petrifies its prey by spitting it in the eye and then will chew on it with its full set of teeth," read Hermione, "It can be killed by spitting on it anywhere on its body and hates the smell of dog.

"The Basilisk, also known as the King of Serpents, can be found anywhere in the world. Not only does it have deadly venomous fangs, its stare causes instant death. If not looked at directly, it causes the victim to be petrified. It can only be killed by the cry of a roaster.

"The Zimbabwe Pillar Python is a very interesting creature, for it has eleven-"

"Wait, that's it!" cried Alex.

"What?" said Hermione.

"The monster…it's a Basilisk! Remember the dead roasters we saw just a few minutes ago? Someone's been killing Hagrid's roasters so the Basilisk can't hear them, therefore can't die! Also," said Alex, practically shouting because of her nerves, "All the people being attacked, they never looked directly into the snake's eyes. Collin saw through his camera, Justin through Nick, and Mrs. Norris…" she thought for a moment, then remembered, "The water, there was water on the floor that night!"

"But how's it getting around? Wait…" Hermione stood up and starting pacing, "The first attack was by a bathroom, right? And you said it was like you could hear it in the walls…the pipes! It's using the pluming to get around the school! That's why no one saw it until it was too late."

"What are we going to do? We need to tell someone, before anyone else gets hurt," said Alex.

"Not now, we need to make sure we're totally right about this. Tomorrow we'll go to the library before the match and look up some more information."

Alex nodded in agreement and starting doing homework, taking longer than normal because she could barely concentrate. She had just finished her Potion's essay when Parvati came in.

"Harry's dormitory has been broken into!" she said.

"WHAT?" yelled Hermione and Alex together.

They ran down to the common room and up the boy's staircase. They opened a door that had the same plaque that was on their door and saw the mess. Papers were strewn everywhere, Harry's bed was stripped and the mattress thrown on the floor, his robes crumpled in a ball in the corner.

"Holy Merlin, it's a pigsty in here!" said Alex, stepping over textbooks, "Someone was looking for something."

"They found it too," said Harry gloomily, "Riddle's diary is gone."

Author's Note: Hello my amazing fans! First off, I want to thank all the wonderful reviews I received for my last chapter. You all are the best and I appreciated every single one of the reviews. What would be even cooler is if those who reviewed last time, plus a few more of course, reviewed this chapter too! The review button is well trained and all flames will be used to fuel the catapult that I use to fling things at Voldemort…

Also, the next chapter is the last one for this story. Sad I know, but the third book will be full of laughs and many exciting things…hehe! :)

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to madscientist128. Aren't you proud of me? I updated just like I promised! ;)

Thanks again to all who reviewed, put me on alert, and put me in their favorites. And don't forget, reviews make the world of FanFiction go round! :D