Disclaimer:

Mrs. J.K., being retired, you think you have more time to write, not so, I keep on finding good stories and spend my time reading instead of writing mine. I'll try to keep up, but no promises, only that I still do it for free.

Previous:

Crap, I have to kill the Basilisk? That is not my idea of fun, and no way in Hell am I going to talk to it. That might work, or I might end up as snake chow… What to do… my options are limited, so are my spells…

I have it! I took the Tiara out and put it on the leather bag, I pointed my wand at it and yelled: "DIE!" it didn't do shit, "KILL!" "DIE DIE DIE!" "KILL KILL KILL!" I focused all my anger on it and roared: "DIE ALREADY YOU SHITTY THING!" nope, that didn't work either, it got rid of my stress though. I have to visit Myrtle tomorrow.

5 Basilisk hunting.

No, I need help, it is time the adults do their job. Tomorrow is Saturday, I can work with that. The important thing is to keep ROB entertained. Easy peasy.

At breakfast, I placed myself next to Nimmy: "My most beautiful gorgeous cousin, is it true that you want to be an Auror?"

Tonks looked suspiciously at me: "I do, What are you getting at squirt? This is not an innocent question. You are a troublemaker, I just know it!"

I grabbed my chest and gasped: "Miss Nim! My most favorite babysitter in the world! You are wounding me! And to know you used to change my diapers and give me sponge baths." I held my hand up and continued, "But, you are partly right, I am in need of your expertise and your skills for a business venture."

Tonks frowned: "What kind of business venture? If it is an indecent one then you need a whoopee cushion too like Dumbledore."

"Nah," I told her, "It is going to be an adventure, trust me."

Still a bit suspicious she nodded: "Alright, after breakfast. You made me curious."

Xxxxx

"Alright, squirt, we are alone, spill it out. What do you need from me?" she asked when we were in an empty corridor.

"Well, first we need to find a Ghost named Myrtle, do you know where she is?" I asked.

"Moaning Myrtle? What do you need her for? She is annoying, and scares everyone away in her toilet." complained Tonks. "But I'll bring you to her."

Tonks pointed at the door of the bathroom on the second floor: "Here, Myrtle's hideout, do you want to go in?" she asked.

"Not so fast, Auror Nim, examine the door for alert spells, for example, one that alerts if males enter the bathroom. I bet you know those spells."

Tonks swore: "Morgana's dried out cunt! That is how Mum always comes home on the worst possible moments, that sneaky…"

She let her head down and sighed: "Outsmarted by a little kid with less than a month's education."

I protested: "Hey! This little kid has six years of Primary school behind his belt! I can read! I can write! I know my numbers, thank you very much!"

"Yeah, and I bet you are potty trained too" She dryly said while casting detection spells at the door, "An alert for males, and an identification spell. Although those identification spells only work if they have your Magic signature… which they have, we are registered in school. Now what, squirt?"

"Now, my sexy Auror, can you move that spell next to the door, so I can get in undetected?" I asked, "Only for today, mind you, I am not that kind of pervert."

"Now, that is a load off my back," she mocked, "You had me worried for a moment, what are your kinks then little perv?" she asked while moving the tracker and ID spell a few feet away from the door.

"I don't know yet," I shrugged, "Right now I am trying the mature woman path, you can tell me later how I am doing so far."

"So far you are seconds away from getting your bits hexed off," she growled, "that means you are not doing a good job, little kid."

"Hold your Pegasuses, woman!" I back-paddled, "You are my first try, give me some slack, please. Can I go in now?"

"Yeah, cheeky brat, you can go in now, and you have yet to tell what business you are going to do, remember that your bits are in danger if it is for something perverted," she warned me.

I better keep it clean, I kind of like my bits where they are. The only spell I would allow on it is a lubrication spell… and a cleaning spell too of course. Around it a bit of trimming spells, you know to prevent hairballs… where was I? Ah, Myrtle's bathroom.

We entered Myrtle's bathroom, I called out: "Myrtle? Are you in?"

I must say, seeing Myrtle coming out of the toilet is kind of disgusting, the only plus side of being a Ghost is that nothing keeps sticking to her when she gets out of her bowl. Like I said: yuck.

"What are you doing in my Toilet?" she demanded, "No boys are allowed in here!"

"No?" I asked, "Not even when it is urgent? For example, if I ate something wrong and need a number two?" I held my hand up and said: "But that is not what I came here for, I wanted to ask you a few questions. You are quite famous you know?"

"I am?" she started smiling, "How and where did you hear of me?"

"At St Mungoos and even Gringots were telling me stories about the youngest Ghost at Hogwarts," I said, "They said you died a tragic death, I was curious how and where you died in Hogwarts." I can't believe I am buttering up to a Ghostly girl, but then again, she was fifteen when she died, so well in my target practice range.

Eager to tell her tragic story she said: "Well, I was crying in here, that harlot Olive Hornby was bullying me again when I heard something move and a voice started hissing, it was a boy's voice, so I came out and wanted to say that no boys are allowed in the girls bathroom… then I died. The last thing I remember was looking at yellow eyes."

I turned to Tonks: "Well Auror Nim, can you solve this crime? I heard about Myrtle in St Mungoos when I was talking to a nurse about dying and coming back to haunt my relatives."

Tonks was puzzled, Myrtle came out of her cubicle, saw yellow eyes, and died? She went to the booth and came out, turned, and looked at what she was facing, it's a sink.

She got closer to inspect it, "Oh that sink is out of order, it didn't work even when I was alive." commented Myrtle.

Tonks nodded absently while looking it over, "The only odd thing is this snake engraved on the faucet, but that doesn't get someone killed is it? And there are detection spells on the faucet, the same as on the door."

"Maybe it is a secret passage, I heard Hogwarts is loaded with those. Those hissing noises could be the password to get in," I said. Yeah, I need to speed things up a bit, Myrtle has an annoying pitch in her voice.

Tonks said: "If that is true, a Parselmouth opened the passage, and the last one was… Morgana's saggy tits! You are telling me You-Know-Who killed Myrtle?"

"Of course, I don't know who, I don't even know who you are talking about. Who is it?" I asked, with a puzzled face.

"You-Know-Who! He was a Parselmouth! I am telling you!" she almost screamed.

"Nim! You know who you are talking about! But I don't know who is your know who, tell me who is your who? Is it someone I should know who he is?"

She glared at me: "You know damn well who I am talking about, you little shit. I am not saying his name."

I shrugged: "You don't even know his name, Nim, or do you believe Voldemort is a real name? Running from death in French is a real name? It is almost as ridiculous as You-Know-Who. All right, we established that Ran From-Death is responsible for killing Myrtle, did he have yellow eyes?"

Tonks shook her head: "No, last known statements said his eyes were red."

I am spoon-feeding now: "What creature can kill with a stare and is related to Parselmouths?"

"It has to be some kind of snake," Tonks thought out loud, "Rumors said that Salazar Slytherin had a monster hidden in his secret chamber… No bloody way! This can't be the entrance to a secret chamber! These are the girls' toilets!"

I shrugged: "Maybe he was into little girls? Dumbledore is into little boys, why can't Salazar have some girls? Do we have to hiss to that sink to open it? What is a Parselmouth anyway?"

"Parselmouths are people that can talk to snakes and let them obey their commands," Myrtle answered. The Slytherin line was known as Parselmouths. The Gaunts too, but that line ended."

"The only possible snake that can kill with their eyes is a basilisk, a class six creature, there is a basilisk in Hogwarts?" she whispered.

"Probably, how do you kill one of those?" I asked.

"With at least fifty experienced Wizards in front of me for sure!" Tonks almost shouted at me.

"Or with a rooster," said Myrtle, "They can't stand the crow of a rooster, I read it in a book."

Let's speed it up a bit: "Two things to do then, opening this passage, and getting some roosters along. I can hiss to snakes too, let me try it. But first, move those detection spells somewhere else."

§Open up§ I hissed, it was totally freaking Tonks and Myrtle out when the sink moved away and a slide appeared, no way am I going to slide through some pipes with fifty years of dirt on it. §Stairs§ changed the slide into stairs.

"You are a Parselmouth!" said Tonks softly, "Morgana's tits! You are a Parselmouth! I can't believe it, a Parselmouth!"

"What is so special about it? Snakes don't have that much to tell you, they care for three things, food, warmth, and a fuck once a year. I know, I asked it." I commented, "Now, how do we get some roosters here?"

"Call for a house elf," offered Myrtle, "they can bring them here if you ask it."

"Can I have a house-elf here please?" I said out loud.

One house elf popped in: "What's the student be needing from Mippy?"

"Hello, Mippy," I said, "We need some roosters, live ones that can crow out loud. Can you bring a few here, please? It is only for an hour or two at most."

Mippy looked at me for a bit, and popped away, a few seconds later he returned with two roosters, he handed them to me and said: "Call Mippy when the student is done." and he popped back out.

I grinned to Tonks: "Lead the way, my hero. Immortal glory is in our grasp, songs will be sung about the Boy who lived and his Basiliskslayer, the fair Maiden Tonks-don't-call-me-Nymphadora."

Tonks was freaking out, she didn't even react to Nymphadora, I said: "Snap out of it Honey! I will lead the way… I have my hands full, can you do a Lumos?"

"We are coming too" came from the door, "and why are you calling Tonks Honey?"

Crap, they must have followed me, Daphne, Tracey, Hermione, and Lisa were standing in the doorway.

"You are not going to hog all the glory when you're going to explore Slytherin's secret chambers! We want it too." Daphne demanded, "If there was a basilisk, it will have died a long time ago."

This is getting dangerous, bringing Tonks along is risky enough, four girls more? Ah, wait until they see the shed skin in the tunnel, that will scare the crap out of them.

"Come along then, this might be dangerous you know?" I said.

Lisa patted my back: "I'll bet these chickens will protect us, Harry. Lead the way, my Hero, and why did you call Tonks Honey? Are you into older women? We heard you flirting with her. Are we not good enough for you?"

"I won't answer that question Lisa, ask it again when I am fourteen. Come, let's go down." I evaded that pitfall, there is no good answer for that.

I closed the sink behind us, in case that basilisk does a runner, it won't get outside. Tonks lighted the way, at the bottom of the stairs, no, no skeletons at all, remember, snakes swallow it all; if there would be something on the floor, it would be snake shit. Although the chamber is closed, how would it get here? I'll worry about it later.

The girls gasped when we reached the shed skin, I commented: "This will get us some galleons, no doubt, we will come back for it later."

That got their tongues in action, Daphne called some numbers, Hermione divided it into six, Tracey, Lisa, and Tonks were in shopping mode already.

At the big door with the snake motives, I got serious: "Tonks, petrify these roosters and put a compulsion charm on them to crow and to keep on crowing. When we get inside, conjure a few big mirrors to hide behind, put them in front of this door. When I call the snake out, you revive those roosters, and the girls will do a Lumos to light up the chamber. If this goes wrong we run away, and I close the door, with a bit of luck he will look in a mirror and drop dead."

Am I crazy to involve some kids in this?… yeah, you are right, it is crazy, 75% it will work out, 20% we have to run for it, 5% we end up as snake chow.

§Open§ Without a sound, slowly the door opened, Tonks went to work right away, she silently erected some walls and conjured big mirrors against the walls. The girls took positions behind the mirrors, while I put the roosters halfway into the room.

Tonks got ready to revive the roosters, and I went to the ugly statue, a last look at Tonks, who nodded, §Speak to me greatest of the Hogwarts four!§ I could not remember the correct phrase, but it worked.

§Who is calling? Who dares to wake me up? Who will sate my hunger? Prepare to die! § asked a deep ancient voice. My courage was happy that I took a bathroom break an hour ago, or I would have shat myself.

"Tonks! Wake the roosters! Girls! Lumos, now!" I yelled when I ran for cover, that snake sounded really pissed off. Tonks revived the roosters and hid behind the mirrors.

"Never mind hiding here, get the fuck out so I can close the door," I yelled, that voice freaked me out.

We rushed outside, §Close the goddamn door!§

When the door was closed, I sighed relieved: "Girls, you can't believe how scary that snake was, a hungry snake even."

Hermione asked: "What did it say? All we heard was some loud hissing. Do you think it is dead?"

Tonks said: "I hope it is dead, by the sound of that hissing, it must be enormous. Who is going to check it out?"

WTF? All fingers are pointing at me? Where is the emancipation? What about equal rights between men and women? They are rewinding women's rights back for a hundred years that way. Sigh, I guess I can't escape this.

"Tonks? Can you conjure a shield that I can carry? Even when it is dead, those eyes can do a Medusa on my ass. And I need something to cover the eyes with." I asked.

Tracey said: "Wait a bit, Harry, my heart is still pounding too fast. That hissing was terrifying. I need a few more minutes."

"Me too," said Daphne, "I never thought a Basilisk can live that long, we thought you were trying to scare us to make you look good."

"I resent that!" I said, "I always look good! I don't need a Basilisk for that. And to be clear, I did warn you, girls."

Lisa sighed: "You did, Harry, but we wouldn't miss the chance to explore a secret tunnel, that alone was an adventure."

In the meantime, Tonks conjured a small shield, "Here my brave Hero, face the snake and win our favor."

"Yes," grinned Tracey, "we will sing songs about the Boy-Who-let-the-roosters-crow and his fair maidens."

"I thought your heart was still pounding in overdrive, Tracey?" I asked, "Now you are composing songs? I am hurt."

Hermione thought to be funny too: "Tracey does the songs, I will write the books, Daphne and Lisa do the sales and PR. Tonks will handle the security."

"And I will get eaten if that thing isn't dead… I get it, then it will be a sad song." I grumbled.

I took a deep breath, §Open§ I rushed in when the door opened wide enough to pass through, and shouted §Close!§ I better not risk them more than I already did, I tried: § Lights! § hmm? It worked? One rooster was still crowing his lungs out, the rest of the room was silent, with my shield raised, I advanced into the room, close to the statue, I bumped into the body of the basilisk.

Lucky me, the snake bites the dust, kicke… no, it can't kick a bucket, anyway, it is dead. With my eyes closed I went with my hands over its body in search of the eyes. When I finally found them, I covered them both. With that danger out of the way, I opened the chamber again and let the girls back in. Tonks dispelled the poor roosters, so they could shut up, the poor animals were panting from exhaustion.

"The eyes are covered," I told them, "Tonks can you let those covers stick, so it won't accidentally fall off and petrify us?"

Tonks silently nodded while she looked at the basilisk, she snapped awake and said: "That is a freaking big, enormous, huge Basilisk, Potter! I can't believe that you conned me to come along with you."

I grinned and raised my wand: "We, Nymphadora Tonks, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Hermione Granger, Lisa Turpin, and Harry James Potter, claim the carcass of the Basilisk we slew to remove the danger from the school. So, Mote, It Be!"

That made a nice light show, Tonks was the first to realize what happened: "We are going to be bloody rich! The claim got accepted by Magic, that was what the glow was for! Look at the size of that thing! The skin alone is worth a fortune!"

Daphne nodded: "Yes, that and the venom, the heartstrings, especially the eyes, those are intact, they will be fighting for a piece of the carcass."

Hermione asked: "Who is going to slaughter it? I doubt any of us can do that, it will take weeks to do it ourselves."

"I can ask my account manager to supervise the rendering, or does someone have another idea?"

Tonks said: "We have to get the message out, Harry, my dad is your lawyer, he can negotiate your part of the sale, and my part too." she looked at the other girls, "Magic accepted the claim, so it will be divided in six equal parts, no matter who does the talking. You can involve your parents too, except you Hermione, your parents are Muggles, and have no say in the Magic world."

Tonks stopped Hermione from shouting in anger: "Stop it, Hermione, your Magic Guardian will decide what will happen with your share, that will be Professor McGonagall." Tonks looked thoughtful, "I fear your part will disappear in the pockets of someone else. Hogwarts, Dumbledore's, or the board of governors to name a few."

Daphne shook her head: "No, not if one of our families makes her a ward, or put her under family protection." she looked apologizing at Hermione, "That rules my and Tracey's family out, we are considered Dark aligned, and the rest will protest against it, claiming that we will steal it from you."

Lisa sighed: "So is ours, Hermione, one generation ago we were considered half-bloods, the pureblood faction would walk all over us, the Tonkses too. And take everything." she looked at me and said, "Your only chance is with The Boy Who lived, to keep your share."

I protested: "How on Earth am I supposed to do that? I am in a battle with my Magic Guardian myself! I mean, Hermione, if it is in my power I would do it in a heartbeat."

Crap, those words are going to bite me in the ass. The girls huddled together to do their pow-wow, while I explored the statue the snake came out from, inside I found some more skins and a lot of shit. Bummer, no secret hideouts or secret doorways, maybe I'll find some snake motives when the chamber is cleaned.

Tonks called me back, "Harry, we might have a solution for Hermione's part."

I sighed: "And I probably won't like it by the looks on your faces."

"That depends, Harry," she said, "You have to claim Hermione's share for yourself as the main contributor to the hunt. You can put it in a vault to her name and seal it until she reached seventeen."

Daphne commented: "You can put it in a contract or take a Magic vow to treat her fair."

Tracey added: "There is another way, a betrothal contract, that will secure her part too, but we don't want that to happen."

Tonks grinned: "No, they want that contract for themselves, don't you?"

"I'll take the vow." I said before they could answer it, "Is that alright with you Hermione?"

"Yes it is, Harry," she sighed relieved, "Mailing my parents that I am betrothed in my first month at school is not something to look forwards to. I mean, I like you, but not enough to marry you."

"I will survive, Hermione, you can always change your mind." I raised my wand: "I, Harry James Potter, claim the share of the carcass of Hermione Granger to hold in her name until she reaches seventeen and can handle her accounts for herself. So, Mote, It Be!"

That takes care of it I hope, by the looks on their faces tells me I made the right decision.

"Tonks!" I shouted, "It is a Hogsmeade weekend, so go out and floo to your parents and get things started. Girls, grab a chicken and follow me."

Xxxxx

Mippy returned the roosters, while Tonks rushed out to Hogsmeade.

Myrtle asked: "Did you find the Basilisk? What happened?"

I smiled at her: "We killed the beast, Myrtle, it was a big Basilisk, did we avenge your death?"

Myrtle nodded: "I think you did, I am grateful, Harry Potter, I feel I can move on now."

"Say hi to my Mum and Dad, will you." I asked, "Tell them I hope it will take a long time for me to meet them. Bye, Myrtle."

"I will, bye, Harry Potter." That was quite emotional, all the girls had tears in their eyes, me too by the way, it is not every day you can send a message to the afterlife. It got me my first hug pile.

We stood still for a minute until I sighed and said: "Thank you, girls, this was my first hug in ten years, I will cherish this memory forever."

I straightened up and said: "Enough of these sappy thoughts, let's find the others and explore this castle."

"No," said Lisa, "We go to our dorm first and take a shower, even with CLEAN I feel smelly and dirty."

"Yes, us too," said Daphne, "then lunch, we do the exploring after that."

We sat at the Puff table next to Zack, Nev, and Meg… Megan, we decided to keep the Basilisk a secret until it was sold. It is better not to attract the vultures. By now everyone was getting used to seeing us sitting together, Zack spent more time at our table than at the Puffs, even the teachers were happy to see inter-house friendship if only Griffindor and Slytherin would bond too…

Megan and Neville were good friends with Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot, so we made quite a big group, ten firsties exploring the secrets of Hogwarts. We made a lot of noise too. Our first visit was in the dungeons, close to the Badger's den, I saw the painting with the fruit and tickled the pear.

When the pear giggled and the door appeared, we moved inside, this is one HUGE kitchen! Seeing it or reading about it are two completely different things. We got surrounded by house elves, I loudly said: "Dear elves! We, the First Year students of Hogwarts, are thanking you for your excellent care and your very tasty food! If any of you want something, we will do everything possible to get it for you. We see you all as our family."

Overkill? Yeah, by the look of it. They jumped us and grabbed hold as if they were Koalas and wept like little children. Three awkward minutes later, we sat down with a cup of tea and very tasty pastries, it was quite worth those three minutes.

Xxxxx

"Are you going into politics, Harry?" asked Zack, "You played the crowd like a fiddle, those elves will walk through fire for you now."

"Nah," I answered, "that is too much trouble, my goal is to be rich and have a pretty wife. Not necessarily in that order. I read in a book that if you want to live a long happy life, you have to treat the one that cooks your meals very well, or you won't live long or happy."

Hermione commented: "Harry is right, make the cook mad, and he might spit in your food. Mum told me that, always be polite in a restaurant she said."

Slowly we went up to the seventh floor, I led the way to the tapestry of Barnaby and his dancing Trolls, and paced before the wall, imagining a big room with some training dummies. I might as well show them everything, at the pace I am going, I'll be out of here by Christmas.

"Hey, check this out!" I called, and opened the door "This is perfect for us!"

As true Ravenclaws, Hermione, Lisa, Daphne, and Tracey rushed to the bookcases, Zack and Neville went to the dummies, Megan, Susan, and Hannah relaxed on the couches.

Hannah said: "This is a nice room, comfy couches, a nice fireplace, good company, some cool drinks would be nice to."

As by a miracle, a pitcher with cold fruit juice and ten glasses appeared on a table.

"Thank you elves, you are the best!" The others joined in the praise of the excellent service. As I said, there is nothing wrong with buttering the house elves up, They work twice as hard for you if you do.

We had fun that afternoon, we read a book, practiced our spells, and even learned new ones.

At dinner time Daphne asked: "Spill it, Potter, how come you know so much about this castle? First the kitchen, now this room, Myrtle…"

Damned, she is a sharp one, What do I say… I have to lie my ass off, telling I read it in a book… that might work!

"When I was nine years old, I found a book in the attic of my relatives, it was about a Magic castle with all kinds of Magical things and adventures. My Mum wrote that book, I realize now that it was her journal or diary, but for me, it was a fantasy book that my mother wrote. I wasn't even halfway in the book when my aunt saw it and took it away. My uncle burned it in front of me, telling me to straighten out and read books about pirates, cowboys, and Indians, and that sort of thing."

I shrugged: "I thought it was nothing more than a fantasy book until I arrived here and everything checked out as she wrote it." by the look on their faces they are swallowing my bullshit… wrong mental picture. Damn, that picture is going to be hard to get rid of.

Xxxxx

When we got to the dinner table, Tonks grabbed me, and placed my face between her boobs in a bear hug: "My sugar daddy! You are going to be so popular, it is scary. Even the Goblins want a piece of you!"