A/N: Welcome back! I didn't leave you guys hanging too long this time! Here we go again...
Minerva, there's been another attack…
The echo of Albus's words last night makes me open my eyes again with a great deal of effort and look around the room. No one has said a word in the last five minutes. Armando started the meeting by apologizing for the urgency of it, but any questions the others had died as soon as he explained. The news has left everyone stunned and beyond words for the most part.
"Armando…" Professor Beery speaks quietly, as though he's afraid to spook anyone in the room. "Where was she found?"
I glance at the Headmaster. As long as I've known him, Armando Dippet was always a wizard of advanced age, but he was still perfectly energetic. Looking at him now, he seems to have aged a hundred years almost overnight.
Headmaster Dippet sighs before running a hand over his face. "In the Gryffindor common room, beside a seat next to the window. When her roommates left her last night, she was reading by the window. Some students found her this morning; she'd fallen out of the chair and the book was open and abandoned near her. Frozen, just like the others."
No one says anything, so I close my eyes again.
There's been another attack…
I tried getting Albus to stay last night because I was genuinely concerned for his well being, but he insisted he had other people to notify about the meeting. The moment I closed my door I became even more acutely aware of the pain in my head, and even if I had wanted to sleep I don't think it would have been possible.
The pain has persisted since I woke from Albus's knock, and right now all I really want is to lay in a dark room and pray it goes away, but I can't just leave this meeting.
I feel someone nudge me and I open my eyes and look beside me at Poppy, whose eyes are full of concern. There's an obvious question in them, but I just smile and shake my head as little as I can in a pathetic attempt to reassure her.
Thankfully Poppy's attention is diverted from me when Professor Merrythought speaks up. "Miss Maclaine is muggleborn, isn't she?"
I furrow my eyebrows at the question, as do a few other people in the room.
"Yes, why?" Albus asks.
"All of the victims are muggleborn." Professor Merrythought says, in a tone that shows her obvious surprise at the realization.
It makes the room go deadly silent once again. Sweet Merlin, she's right. I realize. Olivia Green, John Ambrose, Blair Maclaine... They're all from different houses and different years, but they do have one thing in common: They all come from non-magic families.
"Has anyone had any thoughts on what could be causing this?" Silvanus asks suddenly, snapping everyone out of whatever inner thoughts he or she might have been having.
"No," Armando says, "Poppy keeps running tests, but…"
"Yes, it wasn't a spell, curse or potion that we know of, right?"
Poppy nods beside me, "Yes."
"Then, that only leaves one thing I can think of. Some sort of magical creature must be behind this."
Everyone in the room stares at him, but Silvanus looks confident in his words.
"Silvanus, while you may have a point, what magical creature is there that could possibly be causing this?" Albus asks.
"Again, only one I can think of. A Basilisk."
I watch the other professors gasp or flinch in their chairs. While I may have no idea what that is, it's obviously something awful. Looks like I need to make another trip to the library.
"But, Silvanus, who in their right mind would have such a creature? They're an XXXXX classification, banned by the ministry ages ago."
"It makes no sense," Silvanus concedes. "I don't have any idea either, but I can't think of anything else."
It's quiet again as everyone lets this sink in, and no one offers any alternatives. After a few minutes, Armando clears his throat.
"At any rate, we don't know what is happening or what might be causing it, and multiple extensive searches of the school have found nothing. I'm afraid I've spoken to the Minister."
"Armando?" Albus asks, looking very concerned. I don't like the look on the Headmaster's face.
"If this continues and no solution is found… Hogwarts will be closed."
Basilisk… that's what Silvanus said, right? I think to myself as I flip through the book in front of me.
When Silvanus first mentioned a magical creature being responsible for the attacks through the school yesterday, my thoughts immediately went to the Chimera, but they don't have the ability to do whatever this creature is doing to its victims. Besides, after its attack on Kettleburn the Chimera flew off into the Forbidden Forest and hasn't been seen since.
"Ah, here it is; a Basilisk." I say aloud when I finally find it. I look down at the picture of the giant serpent in the middle of the page.
Well, it certainly looks terrifying.
"The King of Serpents...lives many hundreds of years and is born from a chicken egg hatched beneath a toad."
If this weren't such a serious subject, I probably would have laughed at this. I've no doubt it's true, but it just sounds ridiculous.
Aside from it's deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death…
This line makes me pause, because it doesn't make sense considering the nature of these attacks. Mercifully, none of the students have died; they're checked on multiple times a day and they're all still very much alive, just frozen.
Even so, Kettleburn is the one here with the most knowledge of the magical creatures in this world, so could it be possible that this creature has another effect no one knows about yet? They were given the highest, most deadly classification the Ministry can assign and they were banned in medieval times, so maybe all the research wasn't done. Whatever the case, nothing has been ruled out as far as possibilities.
I glance back at the picture of the Basilisk, but I'm forced to close my eyes again when another sharp pain stabs the back of my head.
"Ugh," I groan as I lean back in my chair.
These constant headaches are becoming tedious. They've gotten bad enough that I've started feeling like I'm going to be sick at certain times of the day, which is absolutely not ideal. The moment Poppy looked at me during the staff meeting she knew something was up, so I had to tell her about my headaches so she wouldn't lock me in the infirmary. She gave me some potions directly afterwards and she said they would help with the pain, so hopefully she's right.
If this continues, Hogwarts will be closed. The moment that statement left the Headmaster's mouth the tension in the room skyrocketed and everyone looked like they'd just been slapped. Even Albus looked shocked, so Armando must have avoided telling him prior to the meeting.
I may not have been in this world long, but even I know that a school like Hogwarts closing would have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences for the Wizarding world, and it would likely be disastrous. I don't know if Hogwarts would be able to recover from something like that, not to mention the position it could put the other professors in.
I wince when pain stabs me again. Thinking about something so unpleasant is obviously not going to do anything good for my head, but it's hard to avoid it in times like this.
Pipsy turns toward her tray one last time, double-checking that she has everything Miss Minerva would need for lunch. She'd called Pipsy this morning to ask her to bring lunch to her room today, to which Pipsy immediately and happily agreed. The elf has been watching Miss Minerva, and she can tell something has been off about her lately. Ever since she saved Professor Kettleburn from falling off the Astronomy Tower, Pipsy noticed she seems more distracted than usual, even though she usually does a good job at hiding it.
When Pipsy went to her this morning, it was hard for her to not ask the witch if she was all right. She looked much worse, almost as though she was in intense pain but was trying her best not to show it. Seeing her earlier worried the elf. Pipsy has grown quite fond of Miss Minerva, so she has made it her job to make sure she takes care of herself, even when the professor doesn't ask for it.
Pipsy snaps her finger and levitates the tray before walking with it out of the kitchens. She knows she needs to just apparate herself into Miss Minerva's rooms, but she's usually hard at work grading papers before lunch time, so Pipsy tries to give her a little more time without interruption.
Pipsy finally snaps her fingers again and disappears from the hallway with a crack only to reappear in the professor's living room.
"Hello, Miss Minerva—"
The words are cut off instantly when Pipsy sees the room. Normally, Miss Minerva is moving around and has every available window open to let light into the room, but Pipsy is both surprised and concerned to see how dark this room is. Despite the beautiful sunny day outside—which Miss Minerva usually adores—the curtains have all been shut tightly and none of the other light sources in the room are turned on.
Pipsy shivers at the unusual chill in the room, but there's no light coming from the fireplace, either. Pipsy still turns toward the desk like she normally would, but again Miss Minerva is not there like she usually is. The papers the elf thought she would be working on sit untouched on the professor's desk.
The concern and uneasy feeling Pipsy was having immediately comes to the forefront of her mind, and she hesitantly steps further into the room.
"Professor?" Pipsy calls out quietly, but receives no answer.
Pipsy decides to set the tray on the coffee table before she earnestly starts looking for Miss Minerva, but the moment she does she notices slight movement on the couch that makes her turn.
"Miss Minerva!" Pipsy honestly doesn't mean for her voice to come out quite so distressed, but she can't really help it.
She's never seen the woman lying so still on her couch before, even the times she came in when the professor was sleeping. Even in this position, Pipsy can't help but think Miss Minerva still looks incredibly tense and uncomfortable.
She looks like she's in pain again. Pipsy muses.
Upon hearing Pipsy's outburst, Minerva opens her eyes and blinks a few times before slowly turning her head to look at her.
"Pipsy?"
Her voice is low, as though speaking any louder would cause her pain.
"M… Miss Minerva, Pipsy brought your lunch."
"Oh, yes of course. Thank you." She sits up with more effort than Pipsy thinks should be necessary.
Pipsy turns away for a moment to check that she can reach her tray, but is surprised to not only see Minerva standing, but nearly jumps forward to keep her from falling when she stumbles.
"Miss Minerva!" Pipsy can't keep the alarm from her voice as she reaches out to the woman, and is horrified when she flinches at the sound.
"Pipsy is sorry, Miss Minerva." She says quietly.
"No, no, it's alright Pipsy. I'm sorry for frightening you, it's not your fault."
"Please sit down, Miss Minerva, Pipsy is worried."
She gives Pipsy a small smile, "Maybe you're right." She sits back down on the couch, and the elf sighs in relief.
"I brought your lunch, Miss. You need to eat; don't worry about moving to the table." Pipsy tells her, pushing the tray closer to the professor.
She smiles at Pipsy again before she starts eating, and she doesn't seem surprised at all when Pipsy simply sits on the floor near her and watches.
It may be dark in the room, but Pipsy still sees it when the professor shivers after a few minutes and she jumps up.
"Miss Minerva, you're cold. Can Pipsy start the fire?"
Minerva hesitates for a moment, but the cold in the room is getting hard to ignore, and she doesn't want Pipsy to be cold either, so she nods.
"Of course, Pipsy. Thank you."
The elf walks over to the fireplace and snaps her fingers. A large, warm fire immediately sparks to life and a soft light fills the room. From her position, the elf doesn't see Minerva's slight flinch at the sudden light.
Pipsy turns and goes back to her silent post next to the Transfiguration professor and continues to watch her. It doesn't take long for her to warm up, but Minerva sees the increasingly concerned look Pipsy is giving her, so she sets her tray back on the coffee table in front of her and turns to the elf.
"What is it, Pipsy? You look worried."
"Are you alright, Miss Minerva?" Pipsy asks the question with no hesitation, and it startles Minerva for a second.
"Yes, of course. I'm just tired." Minerva's answer is immediate, but Pipsy just stares at her.
She sighs, "I'm sorry, Pipsy. I shouldn't lie to you. I've been having awful headaches and migraines the last few weeks. I'm sorry if I scared you when you came in, the bright lights make the pain worse."
"It's alright, Miss Minerva." Pipsy assures her, but the elf still looks thoughtful.
Bright light makes the pain worse. Pipsy thinks, sudden movement and loud noises too, since Pipsy saw her flinch earlier.
She glances at the tray of food, and looks satisfied with the amount the professor ate. Finally, she gets up from her spot and moves to stand beside the witch.
"Lie back down, Miss Minerva."
"What?" Minerva is obviously surprised by her sudden command, but Pipsy does not waver.
"Lie back down for Pipsy please."
After a moment's hesitation, Minerva does as she's told and lies back down on the couch. Pipsy nods her approval.
"Pipsy will be right back, okay?"
She waits for her to nod before Pipsy disappears from the room with a soft pop. Minerva doesn't have to wait long for the small elf to come back, because less than two minutes later she reappears in the room and walks up to the couch by the professor's head.
"Pipsy?" Minerva questions the elf, but is only given a small, reassuring smile.
"Can you close your eyes for Pipsy?"
She looks as though she's fully prepared for Minerva to say no, since it would only lower her control over the situation, and Pipsy has observed the professor enough to know she is more comfortable when she's in control.
So, when Pipsy sees Minerva close her eyes without even a sound of protest, Pipsy is both surprised and happier than she really should be.
Minerva lays quietly on the couch with her eyes closed, unsure why Pipsy asked her to do this. The answer comes the next moment when she feels a cold compress being placed gently over her forehead, and she almost groans at how wonderful it feels.
"That feels amazing, Pipsy."
"Pipsy is glad, Miss Minerva. Pipsy thought it might help."
"You were right," Minerva sighs. "Thank you so much."
"Of course, Miss Minerva. Pipsy is here for whatever you need, please let Pipsy know if you aren't feeling well."
"I hate bothering you." Minerva admits. "You and the other house elves work so hard every day."
Pipsy shakes her head even though she knows the woman can't see it. "You work hard too, Miss Minerva. You must take care of yourself."
Minerva sighs again. She hates that she's worrying Pipsy like this.
"I know; I am trying. These pains came out of nowhere and nothing I do seems to help. They're just getting worse and I don't know what's causing them."
"Pipsy understands." The elf says next to her. "But Hogwarts isn't safe right now, Miss Minerva, and you have to be alert."
This gives Minerva pause. "Are the house elves worried, Pipsy?"
"Yes," Pipsy admits quietly. "Everyone is worried, and Pipsy and the other house elves all sense something dangerous in the castle. Pipsy isn't sure what will happen."
Hearing Pipsy say this makes Minerva remember her thoughts on closing the school from yesterday. Before, she only thought of the hardship it would cause on the other professors, but of course, they aren't the only ones who work at Hogwarts.
What would happen to the house-elves? What would happen to Pipsy?
The question worries her, because she honestly doesn't know. There are over a hundred house-elves that work at the school. Where would they all go?
Minerva knows deep down that if the worst did happen, she would never let Pipsy be left alone without a safe place to go, but she also realizes that she can't extend that same invitation to all of them; no matter how much she would like to.
"Please be safe, okay Pipsy?" Minerva requests. The sudden thought of anything happening to the elf is making her anxious.
"Pipsy will, she promises. But Pipsy needs you to be safe too."
The elf is silent for a few seconds, but before Minerva can reassure her, she hears her soft voice again.
"Pipsy doesn't want anything to happen to you, Miss Minerva."
The sudden emotion and catch in her voice causes Minerva to almost instantly pull the compress off her face and she sits up quicker now than she has in days, twisting to look at the small house-elf.
"M-Miss Minerva! Please, you need—"
"Pipsy."
Pipsy stares at the woman in front of her, noticing she seems fully alert for the first time since she first stepped into the room. When the professor's green eyes find hers, Pipsy immediately looks down.
"Look at me, Pipsy." She sees Miss Minerva's hands grab hers, but when she doesn't immediately respond, her hand reaches out to gently grab the elf's chin and bring Pipsy's eyes up to look at her.
The determination in Miss Minerva's eyes almost startles her, but they're still kind, so she doesn't flinch away from the unusual brightness.
"M-Miss Minerva...?"
"Listen to me, Pipsy. I don't ever want you to worry about that, all right? You promised me you would keep yourself safe, right? Well, now I'm returning the favor. I promise I will do everything I can to be safe; nothing is going to happen to me. I'm sorry I've been worrying you, but I promise I'll stay alert and be safe."
She says it so matter-of-factly that all Pipsy can do is nod.
"I need you to believe that Pipsy." Minerva says softly.
"Pipsy believes you, Miss Minerva."
She almost immediately looks relieved, "Good." She smiles at Pipsy, but then flinches at a sudden new flash of pain.
"Miss Minerva, lie back down. You need to rest. You won't be able to keep your promise to Pipsy if you are still in pain."
Minerva shifts so she's lying on her back again as she laughs, "You have a point."
She sighs when the cool compress is placed back on her head. "Thank you for this, Pipsy. You really didn't need to do this for me, but I appreciate it more than you know."
Pipsy smiles to herself. Miss Minerva has always been so kind to her and everyone at Hogwarts, even when they regarded her with suspicion. She never told Pipsy about any of her problems with the other professors, particularly with Professor Kettleburn. The house-elves hear about almost everything that happens in the castle though, so she knows Miss Minerva has been struggling.
Despite all that, the professor rarely lets it get to her, and is still unfailingly kind enough to put it behind her no matter what. It's clear to Pipsy that Miss Minerva isn't used to anyone wanting to assist her. When she genuinely thanks Pipsy for something so simple, it makes Pipsy both happy to hear it and sad to think she feels it's more than she deserves.
"Don't worry, Miss Minerva. Pipsy knows."
"Checkmate, Albus." I tell him triumphantly as he stares at the board.
He shakes his head, "You're too good at this, Minerva. Can't you let me win at least half of these?"
I laugh, "I'm far too competitive to allow that, I'm sorry Albus."
I smile at him, but I'm actually relieved. For once my head doesn't hurt, and I'm savoring it while it lasts. The potions Poppy gave me a few days ago do help, but the pain always comes back within a couple of hours with a vengeance.
"It's alright, my dear. I'm probably too distracted as it is, so I concede."
I look over at him. He definitely seems better than he was immediately following the meeting, but certainly isn't 100% back to himself. I can hardly expect him to be though.
"Do you really think the Ministry will close the school?" I ask him despite the fact he may not want to answer.
If he has a problem with the question, Albus doesn't say so. "They may not have a choice. Hogwarts has always been one of the safest, most secure places in the magical world, but for things like this to keep happening, and the fact that we can't figure out what's behind it… We can't just continue as though nothing has changed."
I nod, understanding. "Well, then let me ask, what do you think about Silvanus's Basilisk theory?"
Albus sighs, "It sounds absurd, of course, but I can't deny it is a possibility."
"I've read about Basilisks, Albus. They kill, but no one has died."
"Yes, I thought of that. They've been banned for hundreds of years; it's one of the most mysterious creatures in our world. It's possible that we simply don't know everything about them."
I pause, thinking. "Well, whatever it might be, where could this creature possibly be hiding? We've turned over every bloody stone in this castle."
"True, but it's always possible there are places we don't know of. The castle has many secret passages, which of course we've searched, but…"
It's obvious there's something Albus isn't mentioning, so I raise my eyebrow at him.
"What are you thinking, Albus?"
He sighs, "I was just thinking about the Chamber of Secrets."
"I'm sorry, what?"
Seeing the dumbfounded look on my face makes Albus chuckle, but he quickly turns somber again.
"The Chamber of Secrets, according to legend it's a secret chamber that Salazar Slytherin created in the castle."
"Salazar Slytherin? One of the founders?"
"I assume you know of him, and the others?"
"Of course," I tell him. It's one of the first things I learned when I did research on the school upon arrival. Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin founded the school in the 10th century; all of them were considered to be the greatest witches and wizards of their time.
"Yes, well, three of the four worked very well together, but Salazar Slytherin wanted to be more… selective of the students Hogwarts admitted. He thought the study of magic should only be available to Purebloods. The other three disagreed, Gryffindor most of all. When he couldn't sway them, he chose to leave."
"But, what's this you said about a chamber?"
"Well according to legend, Slytherin built a hidden chamber in the castle that became known as the Chamber of Secrets. Before he left he sealed the chamber and no one but the true heir of Slytherin would be able to open it, and unleash what's inside."
"There's something inside?" I ask him incredulously, but he nods.
"It's said to be the home of something only Salazar Slytherin and his heir would be able to control, but no one knows what. I think it's a basilisk. Slytherin was a parselmouth, and since a basilisk is a serpent it would make sense."
"No one has been able to find the chamber after all this time?"
Albus shakes his head, "No, the school has been searched many times, but no chamber has been found. If the legend is true, even if we had somehow stumbled upon its whereabouts, odds are we wouldn't even know it, and we would have no idea who Slytherin's true heir is either."
I don't respond right away as I try to process what he said. As far as current theories, this one would make plenty of sense. We certainly haven't been able to find any promising leads despite exhaustive efforts, so a passage only one specific person knows the location of would be both troublesome and understandable. Who on earth would know such a thing, though?
I bid goodbye to Albus shortly after our conversation. I can tell he's grown tired and I'm sure all this extra stress is unhelpful. He should get as much rest as possible right now.
Halfway back to my rooms the sharp, shooting pains in my head have returned once again vehemently. I have to stop momentarily and lean against the stonewall for support when my vision starts to blur.
If both the legend and Albus were correct, then the Basilisk would have to be being controlled by someone. The idea alone is unsettling, because it's obvious that there's nothing harmless about these attacks; there is almost blatant malicious intent behind each one.
Albus said that Salazar Slytherin wanted to be more selective about students, that he thought only Purebloods deserved to study magic. Whoever is orchestrating this must believe the same nonsense.
Perhaps the heir of Slytherin has come to Hogwarts after all.
The week after our staff meeting it is my turn on patrol duty. I've felt absolutely terrible all day and I didn't bother going to dinner tonight. Pipsy was concerned the moment she looked at me when she brought me dinner. She tried to insist that I get someone else to take my patrol shift tonight, but I promised her I was fine. Now I wholly wish I'd taken her advice.
My head is pounding and every time I blink it feels like it's going to explode. Thankfully it's dark in the corridors so I don't have to worry about bright light making it worse, but of course the pain in my head is also making my vision blur, so some light would almost be welcome.
Even my magic seems to be going haywire; I can feel it in the air around me and it's taking a ridiculous amount of energy to keep it under control. All I want is to go to bed and pray my head is better in the morning, but it's already well after midnight and I'm just now walking up to the second floor. At this point I'd gladly go beg Poppy for more of the potions she gave me if it will give me even a minute of relief.
It isn't until I walk around the first corner after the stairs that I lose my failing command of the situation and everything shatters.
Just when I thought the pain couldn't get worse, all at once it feels like my skull is splitting open. I squeeze my eyes shut and almost involuntarily fall to my knees, but the impact jars me enough that I could swear I just heard myself whimper.
I bring my hands to either side of my head as though that will bring me any relief, but of course it doesn't. The only thing I can focus on are my increasingly pathetic whines and trying to keep myself conscious, yet the whimpers trail off and slowly transition into the sound of someone sobbing. I'm at least aware enough to know it's not coming from me, so with difficulty I open my eyes again as the sobs get louder, but all I see is a blurry dark room that doesn't look like the corridor I just fell in.
I don't have time to worry about this before I hear strange hissing sounds as well, almost malicious ones, and the crying stops.
"I said, go away!"
The sounds ring and echo in my ears, but the distraught, angry cry is cut off abruptly and the dark room is replaced by something else. The vision is hazy, but it looks like a pair of large, menacing yellow eyes staring right at me, and then there's just silence, and the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground.
The vision goes white as a cry rips itself unbidden from my throat and for one brief moment it feels like every muscle in my body goes rigid. Even with my failing grip on awareness I can still feel my magic around me, but there's something wild about it and I no longer have control of it or my body.
I lay on the cold stone of what must be the hallway I was in as my body is racked by violent tremors that leave me unable to even scream. They seem to spread and intensify with each passing second, and all I can do is hope to god I'm not found by a student before the convulsions start and I lose consciousness completely.
A/N: Minerva just can't catch a break, huh? Not to mention whoever's going to find her... I promise it's all for a reason, though! I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! Please review! I'm interested to see if anyone has any theories about what just happened, so let me know if you do.
Until next time...
~Neve