Chapter 41: Goodbye Isobel
Thanks for all the reviews.
Oops, I put Snape in the last chapter. I forgot I wrote him out in chapter 35, or around there. I changed it. Sorry about that. Thank you to all that pointed that out.
It's a short one.
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Gandr and Harry, with Star, went down the stairs, their footsteps echoing off the tunnel walls. The stairs were steep and slick. They had to cast a cleansing spell on them every ten steps or so, so they didn't slide down them. Decades of dampness had accumulated sludge that was just gross to see, let alone walk on. The smell was nothing to sneeze at either. It was musty and rank. Gandr had blasted some type of odor eliminating spell, but it only cut to where they could tolerate it.
Star was following along, though her footsteps were quiet as her paws made sure to stay on the dry parts of the stairs. She was hopeful that the snake was friendly. She didn't want to have to fight anything, but she also knew that Gandr would be the victor if it came down to it. She was there to protect Harry, which she'd do to her last breath. Though why she didn't know. He was just a human.
"What do you think we'll find?" Harry asked, not liking the silence. He was the most nervous. He was the most undereducated and underequipped for this type of engagement. He could hold his own in a fight with his peers, and perhaps some older than him, but a basilisk was way out of his league. He had to wonder what he was doing here.
"Hopefully a very lonely and compatible snake," Gandr said, already going over battle plans in case that wasn't the case. He wasn't concerned at all. He was superior to anything they would come across in this dank cavern. There was nothing on Midgard that he could not handle. Well, perhaps these wizards had some magic that would hold him, but he doubted it.
"I hope so too," the other boy said, falling silent again. He would just have to make sure that he stuck in the back. He could run and get help if need be. He had his phone and could call the adults. The Avengers and the Asgardians would come. Since he was a parselmouth, he could close the entrances again, and hopefully lock the snake in. Neville had the right of it. He should have stayed topside.
They continued down and finally made it to the end of the deep staircase. There were thousands of bones of dead rats and other vermin at the bottom of the stairs. It was the most grewsome display of carnage that Harry had ever seen. Harry was just glad they were rodents and small animals and not human remains.
It kind of reminded Gandr of his eating grounds under the sea. Though his meals were much bigger. He distinctly remembered eating a whale once, and it had taken forever to digest. He stuck to octopuses from then after. That and larger fishes. This scene showed that there was no larger game to be had other than the humans.
"Hmmm," Gandr said, wondering how the snake as large as the basilisk was supposed to have survived on such meager rations. "She will be hungry," he noted out loud. He was concerned that the snake would be starving. That would make her unpredictable.
"Creepy," was Harry's contribution. He started banishing the carcasses to the side of the room, making a path, and then he moved along the tunnel.
Gandr followed suit.
Star was sniffing the air and proceeded along the wall. She could smell the snake and was traveling towards it. It was just as large as she remembered.
"What is that?" Harry asked, coming upon the shed skin. His eyes bugged out at the size of it. He knew the snake was large, but damn. He was having second and third thoughts about being here.
"Shed skin," Gandr said, going to examine it. "It's old, so the snake is much larger than this," he added, noting the disintegration. It was thinning in many places.
"Damn," Harry said with a whistle. "And you can get bigger?" he asked, knowing the other boy could get quite large, but seeing that skin put it in perspective. It was hard to wrap your mind around the fact that your friend could wrap himself around the world at his largest form.
"Yes," Gandr said with a chuckle. He looked at Harry in amusement.
"Damn," Harry said again. "Remind me not to piss you off," he added in a semi-joking manner.
"Okay," the other boy said, thinking there was little the boy could do that would make him mad enough to swallow the earth. Not even Odin had done that.
They started walking again. It was long, dark, and rank. There was moisture on the walls, which caused slime to form, which reflected the light, making them look eerie. The light emanated from the walls played off the dampness making the shadows slide a bit. It was almost like the snake was there with them, silently following them. Harry knew it was a trick of the light, but it was disturbing.
"Careful, we're getting close," Gandr said, sensing they were nearing the basilisk. He could hear it hissing nonsense words, like it was snoring. "I'm going to go into my regular form. Albeit a much smaller version. You stay behind me. If the basilisk comes out, I want you to hide in my coils if there is nowhere else to hide," he ordered. He should be immune to the snake's glare. He was a demigod after all. "Hide behind somewhere solid and try not to call attention to yourself," he finished his instructions.
"I will," Harry said, almost regretting coming. It was an adventure true, but was it really worth his life just to see the snake? Yeah, it was. He would have regretted staying behind.
They came to the next door and Gandr changed to his snake form and Harry stayed by the wall with Star. The World Snake was only about fifty feet long and not overly round. He didn't want to intimidate her if he didn't have to.
"Open," Gandr hissed at the door decorated with snakes. They slithered around the door until it clicked open, and then he slid into the chamber.
Harry sidled along the wall and hid among the pillars that lined the perimeter.
It was a large chamber that was very cavernous. There was a steady drip of water coming from somewhere. There were many statues of people and snakes lining the walls and a large bust of Slytherin on the far-right wall. It wasn't a good bust, it looked like a five-year-old carved it. The walls were rough and looked hand cut. The maker of this cavern didn't know what he was doing, in that he was not a master in handcrafting.
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of Hogwarts Four," Gandr hissed at the statue. He moved back to give the other snake room to emerge. He looked to make sure Harry was out of the basilisk's sight's range. He was. The boy was staring at the wall opposite the bust.
Star was sitting at Harry's feet, though she was looking at the ceiling like it would reveal a secret. Her tail was swishing back and forth, and she was poised and ready to strike if necessary.
"Who wakes me from my slumber?" Isobel demanded as she came from the mouth of the bust. She was large, larger than Gandr's current form, but he wasn't even close to his largest form. She was beautiful. Her scales were oily in color. Like they were dipped in petrol and water. They simmered in the light and moved like magic with her motions.
"I am Jormungandr, the World Snake," Gandr stated, coiling around to appear harmless, but ready to strike if it came to it. "I come bearing news from Salazar Slytherin," he added, hoping she would hear him out.
"What news do you have from my father?" Isobel asked, coiling around herself in a nonthreatening manner. No one had brought her news of her father in decades. The last boy told her lies. She knew they were lies because her father would never have ordered her to hurt the students. She would hear this one out. That and he was a snake, a large snake. There was more to him than she could see. If he spoke true, then he was the World Snake and could kill her without effort.
"He wishes you well, and hopes that you are in your right mind," the World Snake said, moving forward and flicking his tongue at her. He was smelling her emotions. "I would make sure that you are not a threat to the students," he stated, moving around her in slow motion. He was checking on her health as he went. He was right, she was starving.
"I am old and tired, and I wish to be away from this place," Isobel stated, wanting nothing more than to leave this dank cavern. She was hungry and tired. Oh, so very tired. She never quite got to sleep here, it was just too damp and cold.
"You no longer want to protect the school?" Gandr asked, moving to circle around her. He was testing her to see if she would strike him.
"No," was the short answer.
"Where would you go?" he asked, not sure what to do with her. There were places on Yggdrasil that she might be happy at, but he would need to consult with his father.
"How would I know? I have been here all my life. I want somewhere warm," Isobel lamented. "I am so cold," she cried, hanging her head in despair. "Is there not some place warm for me?"
"I can take you somewhere," Gandr said, moving to embrace her in his coils, growing a bit so that he could. "I have a human here. Can you prevent your deadly gaze?" he asked, wanting Harry to meet the beautiful snake.
"No, he must stay away," she said, turning her head so that no one would die. She had taken one life and that was one life too many.
"Harry, stay where you are," Gandr said needlessly, since the boy could understand them, but he wanted to make sure the boy didn't come out. He turned back to the basilisk. "I need to talk to someone, but I will get you out of here," he said, gently flicking his tongue on her nose. "Go rest, I will come up with a solution," he said, nudging her towards her resting place.
If a snake could cry, Isobel surely would have. Whether in despair or happiness was debatable. Instead, she moved to go back into her statue. The mouth closed on its own accord. Gandr shrunk down to his human form. Harry came out and joined him.
"Where will you take her?" he asked. He was crying inside from the despair he could hear in her voice. He had never heard such loneliness. He could relate, having felt that way when he was stuck with the Dursleys. All those times listening to them being a happy family while he was in his cupboard being miserable.
"Somewhere along the Yggdrasil, but I need father," Gandr said, whipping out his phone and calling Loki. "Father, can you come to me? Okay," was all he said and then he hung up.
Suddenly Loki was there. "You needed me?" he asked his son as he looked around for any enemy to fight. He knew they were going to confront the basilisk today, but he could see no snake. Well, no alive snake. There were statues of them everywhere.
"Isobel is tired and old. She is cold and hungry. She wishes to retire somewhere hot and unencumbered by humans," Gandr said, there was a hint of remorse in his tone as if he could relate to the large snake. He too had known years of loneliness and isolation.
"I see," Loki said, still looking for the basilisk. "What do you need from me?" he inquired, looking at a statue of a Lamia. It was quite a striking figure and she looked familiar. He had never met a Lamia before, but there was something about her face…
"Do you know of any place on the Yggdrasil that she may roam?" was the question, bringing Loki's attention to his son.
"I know of a few uninhabited places that are rich with game, but introducing her there would interfere with the biome," Loki said, not really concerned, but if they got caught then there would be repercussions. Odin and those in charge of such things might protest. Then again, he didn't think they'd get caught. Basilisks are unknown to the Asgard. They are myth only, much like the phoenix.
"Is there a place that might fold anyway?" Harry asked, knowing that there were some places that were dying that she might live out her last years. "You know, a dying world?" he added, though he didn't want to condemn the snake to a dying world, she might be dying anyway. How much older could she get?
"I know of two, but they are harsh living," Loki said, looking at the bust that Isobel was in. He knew her gaze would not kill him. He was a god. However, it might petrify him and that would be inconvenient. "Come, Harry, behind the pillar," he said, taking Harry's arm and guiding him back to where he had been hiding.
Star had not moved from there. Not seeing any danger, she had just sat where she was. Now she would guard Harry again. She was grateful that Loki was here though. Between Loki and Gandr there was little danger. She didn't understand parseltongue, but she did understand that the basilisk wasn't vicious.
"Call Isobel and I will talk to her," Loki instructed his son. He would tell her of these places and let her decide if that was what she wanted. There was really only one that was good enough for a large snake though. The other was too jungle like. After a thousand years in this damp cavern, she might prefer a desert or scrubland. The place he was thinking was scrubland.
So, Gandr called the basilisk, and she slithered out and coiled up, hiding her eyes in her coils. "I heard what you said," she hissed loud enough to be heard throughout the cavern. "I would like to go to one of these dying worlds," she added, giving a huge sigh. It was like a dream come true for her.
"You would die with it," Harry said, his voice sounding sad.
"The hatchling is correct, you would die too," Loki said, though his voice was full of understanding.
"I understand this and accept it. I am dying now," Isobel stated, knowing she only had a few hundred years left to live and wanted them to be warm and fulfilling years. With a full belly.
"If that is your desire, I will take you there," Loki said, peeking from around the pillar. Seeing she was hiding her head, he went to her body, behind her head. He made sure to say out of her sight.
"I am old and tired. Salazar is many years dead. I wish to die in peace," she reiterated, lifting her head, but keeping her eyes trained on the wall. "Please," she added, her tone full of hope.
"I will take you now," Loki said, laying his hand on her scales. "I'm going to return to the apartment from there. I suggest you explore this chamber. I feel there might be knowledge here," he said to his son and Harry. With that, he disappeared with Isobel.
"That was sad, but I'm glad we didn't have to kill her," Harry said, coming out from behind the pillar.
"Yes," was all Gandr said, though he was also elated that there was no killing. "Star, do you smell anything unusual?"
"What do I look like? A dog?" the non-cat said, putting her nose in the air. She did start moving around the chamber, exploring the statues.
"Never mind," the demigod said, turning into his snake form and sticking out his tongue. He moved around the cavern and started looking for hidden doors. Harry went to the still open statue and climbed to the opened mouth.
"I'll check in here," he said, scrabbling up the tongue and down the throat. Star followed Harry.
With that, the two explored the Chamber of Secrets.
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Loki appeared on the Yggdrasil with Isobel. They were on a patch of ground that was grey with dryness. There was scrub like trees around. There were some rock outgrows and animals galore.
"There is a cave over there," Loki said, pointing to the outgrows. "I am sure you can oust any creature living there. There is plenty of food here, but I suggest you are frugal on your hunting. You will make yourself sick if you indulge," he warned. He too could tell she was very hungry.
"Thank you. For everything you have done for me," Isobel said as she looked around feeling the heat for the first time in her life. It was wonderful. All her life she had felt the chill to her bones. Now that chill was leaving. She wasn't so tired anymore. "How much longer does this world have?" she asked, not sure if she wanted the answer.
"About a thousand years," Loki answered, a smirk played on his lips. She would die before the world did.
"Thank you," Isobel said again and then spotted something that resembled a Kangaroo and started chasing it. She got close and killed it with her gaze. She promptly swallowed it and went off to look for more.
"You're more than welcome," Loki said, watching her for a moment then he left back to the apartment where Siriusly was waiting for news.
"Did everything go okay?" the worried woman asked, her hands were wringing.
"Yes," he said, taking one of her hands in one of his.
"Thank Merlin," she said with a sigh.
"Harry is fine," he added, making sure that her one worry was put to rest.
"I know," she said, leaning in and kissing his cheek. "You would have told me if he wasn't. Thank you for thinking of me though," she said, then she dropped his hand and sauntered into the kitchen. "What do you want for lunch?"
"Whatever you feel like making," was the incorrect answer.
And thus started the same conversation that was being played out all over the world. However, Loki's mind wasn't on the byplay. It was on the woman in the kitchen. Was he getting attached? When did that happen? And what was he going to do about it? At least he understood where Thor was coming from now.