Chapter 14
Harry could not believe the choice Rainbow Dash had made, as the location was a place he'd truly rather avoid. But here he was sliding down the pipe from what used to be Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, which reminded him they really needed to start looking for her more. But that was not his biggest concern as he saw the pipe leveling out in front of him. Shooting out the end he rolled across the ground before using the last of his momentum to stand up.
Harry grimaced a little bit at the state of his robes as he pulled out his wand and began cleaning the slime and gunk off his body. A few moments later Hermione came out of the pipe, followed soon after by Rainbow Dash. The ponies followed afterwards, with Twilight and Applejack sliding down while the others flew down the pipe, careful to avoid the edges with their wing tips.
"I can see why you did not want to come down here," Twilight said, noticing the floor which was still covered in mouse and rat bones.
"It's not a pleasant place at all," Harry said as he began using his magic to clean the slime off her.
"That is putting it mildly. I am just glad that Fluttershy is not here," Applejack said, "It would break her heart to see this."
"Yes, that is one way to put it, though at least it does not smell bad down here," Night said.
"So which way now?" Applejack asked once she was sure the junk was completely out of her tail.
"This way, now follow me and watch your step," Harry said before forming a ball of light in his hand.
Harry led them down a rather large passage which wandered random directions, curving back and forth. Harry realized it was likely the tunnel was designed that way so the Basilisk could keep moving even as it got bigger. It was a few minutes before they reached the bigger cavern that had housed the snake skin the last time Harry had been down there.
"Is that the snake?" Twilight asked, her voice going rather quiet.
"No, that is just a skin it shed," Harry said, walking up and feeling the skin with his hand.
"It's massive," Hermione said as she tried to figure out its length.
"Looks even bigger when you're smaller and you're getting ready to face it," Harry said as he looked to the tunnel on the other side of the room.
"How big was it?" Twilight asked, now completely convinced they did not need to go any farther.
"I never measured its body after it was killed, but I was sure it was close to sixty feet long if this skin is anything to guess from," Harry said.
"What about you, Princess?" Applejack said.
"I never saw it, and Harry locked Night up in the room. He was not about to let her risk her life when facing the beast, when it could kill with just a glance," Luna said, poking the skin.
"And like that, I think it is time for us to leave," Twilight said, causing everyone to give her a look, "What? I don't like snakes at all, let alone one that kills with a glance."
"It's dead and has been for almost two years now," Harry said, "Besides, we should not need to head into the chamber itself if we find a location in here."
Night in the meantime was looking about the room for a place to cast the spell which would remove the spell on Rainbow Dash. But she was quickly beginning to see a problem, the floor was not flat nor level enough to form a good circle and rune set. And while they could change Rainbow back without the circle and runes, it meant risking the process failing.
"We might have a problem here, the ground is not level enough to cast the spell here," Night said, looking over at the others.
"We could just use magic to make the floor level," Twilight suggested.
"A bad idea, above ground, moving rock and stone will cause minimal risk to us, but below ground in a place like this, we could cause a cave-in," Luna said.
"Let's keep looking, maybe there is a spot in here," Harry said.
Luna and the others nodded, as Hermione helped Harry move the skin to a different location so they could check the floor under it. But even after carefully checking over the entire floor they found not one location that would work. There were just too many cuts in the stone, or edges where it shifted to a lower part of the floor. The tunnel leading up to this chamber had the same problem as well. And without a solid circle and runes it could mess up the spell.
"I am not finding anything that would work," Twilight said.
"I guess we are headed into the chamber itself then," Night said finally.
"Fine," Harry said after a few moments.
Harry led the group deeper still till they all stood before the vault door that blocked entrance into the Chamber of Secrets. Looking at the door he carefully spoke the opening words causing the stone and metal snakes that acted as the lock to pull back. Then, without a sound the door swung open, revealing a very dark room. Harry moved into the chamber followed by the others as torches with green flames lit around the pillars, filling the room was an eerie light.
"Well, that's different from last time," Harry said, looking at the torches.
"Well, let's hope it's not a bad sign," Hermione said.
"Agreed," Twilight said as they moved deeper into the chamber.
Finally they reached the far side, where they were all able to see the body of the massive snake Harry had killed. To Luna, Night, and Hermione who had heard the story, the sight of the beast's body was still amazing as just hearing about it was not good enough. For Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack on the other hand the creature seemed much smaller than the biggest beast they had seen.
"It seems kind of small to be so scary," Twilight said, causing most everyone to look at her, "What?"
"You seen something scarier?" Night asked.
"A hundred fifty foot long Hydra with four heads," Applejack said.
"And could it kill you with a glance, or have venom that took less than a minute to kill a human or pony?" Harry asked.
"Well, no," Twilight admitted, feeling slightly stupid for forgetting that.
"Either way this place should have a location to cast the spell," Harry said.
"Yes, the floor seems to be made out of large stones, so we just need to find one big enough to make the runes and circle on," Night said.
Harry nodded as they began searching for a location to cast the spell. It didn't take long to find a piece of stone floor that was more than big enough for them to work on. As Night and Luna set about making preparations for the counter spell, Twilight walked over to Harry, wondering something.
"Harry, what was that language you spoke to get us into here?" Twilight asked.
"Parseltongue. It's a magical language only gifted to those of Slytherin's line allowing us to speak to snakes. It is also the one reason I knew I could face that creature, as the ability to speak to snakes means making eye contact, as such it protects its user from the killing power of a Basilisk," Harry said.
"So how did you kill it then?" Twilight asked.
"With Gryffindor's sword, which I got from the Sorting Hat," Harry said.
"That sounds like a weird place to have a sword," Twilight pointed out.
"I am a wizard; weird is the norm," Harry said with a small smirk.
Twilight nodded, it made sense at least for this world's normal, which was far from the Equestria normal. Twilight then began moving about the chamber looking at it in closer detail, as she tried to figure out not only where they were compared to the school, but also how the chamber was made.
Finally the circle and runes were drawn, Rainbow undressed and Harry moved away from the area as to not see her naked body. This got a small laugh from everyone present, and Twilight pointed out there was not a lot of difference in Rainbow being naked as a human, or as a pony. Harry could not really argue that, but said he'd rather be polite still. Rainbow rolled her eyes, and once undressed moved over into the circle.
Luna and Night then began the spell, drawing magic from the air and their own bodies, feeding it into the runes. They drew still more magic and directed it at Rainbow, drawing the spell that had been keeping her human and pulling it off, like one would a coat. Harry could feel the magic filling the room and could not help but watch as Rainbow became a pony once again.
Harry could not help but wonder what it would be like when he became a pony. Would it be quick or slow, painful or pleasant, or would they have to apply the spell again and again so he remained a pony? So many problems could happen, yet Harry would willingly risk them all just to be with his true family. It did not matter if he became an earth pony without wings or a horn, as long as he had his friends and family.
Then with one final powerful flash of light and a powerful wave of magic that shook dust from the stone walls they were finished with the spell. Harry blinked a few times, as he tried to readjust to the light in the chamber. When he was finally able to see again, he saw Rainbow once again as a pony, looking rather annoyed at her lack of hands, but also happy at having her wings back.
Harry was barely able to make it a few feet towards her before she tackled and hugged him, "I'm all back to normal!"
"Yes you are," Harry said, returning the hug and petting her mane lightly as she cuddled against him.
Twilight and Applejack could not hide their giggles at this sight. Rainbow soon hearing them blushed and backed up a few feet, with a glare over at them.
"This never happened," Rainbow said.
"Whatever you say, darling," Applejack said.
"It is not like it is a bad thing acting cute or girly for once," Twilight said.
Rainbow blushed and glared at them more, but even she could admit she had wanted it to continue. Harry came to her rescue soon and said it was time to leave. They all nodded, not really wishing to stay in the room where the Basilisk still lay. As they left the room, Harry glanced at where the Basilisk lay and could not help but wonder just why it was still in such a good state even after two years. But for now he put it out of his mind as the door closed behind them; after all, he had a bigger problem to deal with, the second task.