Harry Potter and the Dead Basilisk

'A Harry Potter and Alien Fan Fiction'

C.G. Wicks

Chapter One: A Grim Discovery on the Second Floor

Everything that had happened up until that point had happened exactly as it should have. Harry Potter, an orphaned boy raised by the Dursleys, his last remaining relatives, discovered on his eleventh birthday that he was actually a wizard and had been enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had ventured out into the wizarding world with Hagrid who had taken him shopping for his school essentials at Diagon Alley. He had attended school, made friends, and had ended the year with the discovery that Lord Voldemort, the dark wizard who had wreaked havoc on the land and who had murdered his parents when he was a baby, was indeed still alive, though only barely. Harry had only just escaped with his own life.

That following summer he had been visited by Dobby, a small house-elf, who had urged him not to attend Hogwarts the next year with the warning that 'history is to repeat itself'. The elf had made attempts to keep Harry from Hogwarts, including sealing the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾ and blocking Harry and Ron from passing through, but they had nonetheless made it there in time for the Feast with the use of the Weasleys' flying car at the expense of Ron's wand which was broken in the crash landing. Terrible things were indeed set to occur that year at Hogwarts, but not in the exact way that Dobby had thought.

Harry promptly learned of the Chamber of Secrets; a rumored place hidden within the castle that was said to hold Salazar Slytherin's fabled monster. On Hallowe'en night, the caretaker's cat, Mrs. Norris, was attacked and left hanging from a torch, petrified, next to a message on the wall written in blood just outside the flooded second-floor bathroom, the water spilled across the floor: 'The Chamber has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware'. Suspicion had fallen onto Harry as he was the first to discover the scene, and Filch, the caretaker, had accused him of the attack because he, Filch, was a 'squib'—a non-magical person born to magical parents. Slytherin's enemies were the Muggle-born, but squibs were not high on the hierarchy of wizarding society.

More attacks quickly followed.

Colin Creevey, a Muggle-born first year, had been following Harry around that year, determined to get a signed photograph of them together. It was no secret that the boy irritated Harry, and when he was found petrified one night, his camera held tightly up to his face, further suspicion fell upon him despite the fact that Harry was recovering in the hospital wing that night from a Quidditch injury which he had received earlier that day. He had sustained a broken arm when Dobby, now determined to have him sent away from the school, had cursed a Bludger to target him with prejudice and injure him severely enough for him to be sent away to recover.

Soon after, the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, had arranged a dueling club so that the students could better defend themselves during these uncertain times. It was during its first meeting that the school then learned that Harry was a Parselmouth—a person with the ability to speak with snakes, an ability historically associated with Salazar Slytherin. His rival, Draco Malfoy, had conjured a snake during their duel to attack and embarrass Harry, but the scene changed dramatically when the snake fixed its attention on a nearby boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley, who had disclosed to Harry his Muggle-born status earlier in the year during a herbology class while making small talk. Harry ordered the snake to halt and to leave Justin alone, and the creature appeared to acknowledge his orders before Professor Snape destroyed it with a spell. Everybody was staring at Harry; he had spoken Parseltongue without realising it.

When Harry realised what had happened, he sought Justin out to explain everything to him, but Justin kept avoiding him, fearful of an attack. Eventually, however, Harry found him petrified in a corridor along with the blackened ghost of Nearly-Headless Nick, who was also still and unresponsive. Fear had struck the hearts of every Muggle-born student at Hogwarts and to them, the blame fell squarely onto Harry. He was then summoned to Dumbledore's office where, once again, he had been the sole person present when an incident happened that he had no alibi for.

Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix, had suddenly burst into flame as Harry watched, only to be reborn from the ashes that had fallen in a pile at the bottom of its perch. Dumbledore explained to him that this was in fact the natural life cycle of such a magical creature, and he had been expecting its rebirth any day now. He had then asked Harry if there was anything that he wanted to tell him about the attacks around the school, and Harry had said no. He was of course innocent, but he couldn't blame his peers for being suspicious of him.

He had been discovered at the scene of an attack twice, but what nobody knew was that Harry had in fact been following a voice that moved along inside the walls. A voice that had made no sense to him until he, Ron, and Hermione rounded the corridor that following day to find the Basilisk—the giant, deadly green serpent—lying dead on the ground, its usually fatal yellow eyes faded to a dull grey. A serpent that only Harry could hear.

Everything that had happened up until that point had happened exactly as it should have. Then, all at once, everything changed.

-x-H-x-

The three of them stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the giant snake. Twenty feet long. Poison green. Dull, grey eyes.

"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron, his face pale, mouth hanging agape.

His remark was answered by the sound of surprise from around the corner by an unseen person. The three of them peered around it to find Professor Lockhart wearing a look of shock on his face similar to Ron's. He looked at them for a moment and seemed to struggle at first to find his voice, something that was unusual for a man who enjoyed a career of fame and adoration and who was always quick to insert himself into any situation. At the sight of the three students, however, he quickly collected himself and resumed his usual slight smirk and confident stance. He ran a hand through his wavy blond hair and gave his trademark smile.

"Ah, yes," he began, "it seems I was right all along! It was a Basilisk. Of course! Luckily I knew just the spell to use to dispose of it! If only you three had been here earlier! You would have seen quite the show, let me tell you!"

"But Professor," began Hermione. "How did you—"

"Figure out what it was?" he interrupted, flashing her a dazzling smile. "Ah, not to worry, not to worry, my dear. All in due time. See, I had been working on this case for quite some time. Knew just the spell to do away with it, too. Had to be quiet about it, though. Couldn't let the perpetrator catch on to the fact that I was on to them. Though I must say, it was pretty careless of them to keep attacking students with me at the school, that's for sure!"

"Sir," said Harry, "do you know who was behind it all?"

Before Lockhart could answer, the sound of many footsteps and murmuring voices drew nearer from the corridors as groups of students made their way to their next classes. Sharp screams and gasps filled the air before silence washed over the crowd from the front to the back. The crowd of students were all staring at the dead serpent, giving it a wide berth as if it were about to strike at any moment. The monster was real! Professor McGonagall's muffled voice then came through the silent crowd.

"What's this commotion? What's the hold up?"

The students parted and let her through, and she too fell silent at the sight of the Basilisk. Her eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before moving to the other two. Why is it always you three?! She then looked at Lockhart who stood nearest to the snake, almost posing with it as though for a photographer who wasn't there. She approached him slowly, her eyes on the dead creature as she circled it until she was next to him, and she never looked away from it. A large gaping hole had been torn from its flesh just below the jaw.

Lockhart smiled at her. "Pretty good aim, don't you think? And to think I had to do it with my eyes closed!"

McGonagall wasn't paying any attention to him; she was studying the dead Basilisk with a look of sceptic concern on her face. More students were now crowding around the scene, their whispers gradually becoming louder and more excited. They again went silent, and the students parted as Professors Snape and Dumbledore made their way through the crowd.

Harry spotted Malfoy, his pale face and slicked-back blond hair standing out against the sea of black school robes, standing as usual between his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle. He no longer wore his smug look of self-importance, that confidence that whatever was happening to the students of Hogwarts would only affect the Muggle-born—the 'others', the enemies who deserved it for daring to integrate into wizarding society. He looked scared. This shouldn't have been able to have happened. Crabbe and Goyle didn't appear to know what to think, didn't appear to know what expression they should have on their faces.

Dumbledore spoke, breaking the silence. "Please step back, Minerva; Gilderoy." His calm, quiet but authoritative voice calmed Harry and from that moment things began to feel safe again. It felt as though after all this, after everything that had happened already, it would all go back to normal, and that Dumbledore would sort everything out once and for all. He was there, in the flesh, looking down at the dead beast. The danger was surely over. Lockhart stayed standing where he was and tried to maintain his act, but quickly crumpled under Dumbledore's blue-eyed stare. He stood aside.

Dumbledore approached the dead Basilisk and inspected the same open wound that McGonagall had been puzzling over. He stared at it, cast his gaze over every inch of it, took in every detail of the damage, and came to his own quiet conclusion: this was done by no spell.

"Everyone," said Dumbledore, addressing the crowded corridor, "please carry on to your classes. There is nothing more to be seen here."

The murmuring groups of students moved on reluctantly, still staring at the giant snake as they passed. Dumbledore turned to McGonagall.

"Minerva, inform the Ministry. No doubt they'll hear about this before the day is out and I'd rather they hear it from us first. Let them know that the Chamber had indeed been opened and that the monster is now dead."

"Of course," replied McGonagall. She turned on her heel and strode purposefully back down the corridor.

"Severus." Dumbledore spoke softly to Snape, not wanting to be overheard. "Try to see if you can find out what killed the creature. I have never seen a Basilisk killed in such a way."

They turned and saw Lockhart, now standing awkwardly away from the others, his confident demeanor now gone.

"Gilderoy," began Dumbledore. "Is this exactly how you found the creature?"

"Found it? Why I assure you, Albus—Headmaster, sir, that it was I who in fact slayed the—"

"Did you move it in any way? Was the wound already in its neck or did you put it there?"

As Lockhart fumbled to answer, Snape leered at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had not yet left, feeling as though they were part of the discussion without actually having anything to contribute to it.

"Don't you three have classes to get to?"

"Quite right," said Dumbledore, turning to them. "Carry on, you three. You'll be late for your next class."

They left the three professors with the serpent and hurried down the corridor and down the steps of the Entrance Hall on their way to Herbology. The air chilled with the oncoming winter, though the sky was still bright. As they walked brisky across the grounds, speculating amongst themselves about what they had just seen, it didn't take them long to notice that every other group of students they passed were talking about the same thing. They crossed the grounds and headed towards the greenhouses, joining the rest of their classmates who were waiting outside. What had started out as hushed whispers had now become excited discussion.

"Did you see the giant snake on the second floor? Lockhart killed it by himself!"

"That must have been what got Colin and Justin."

"I hear it was a Basilisk! Those things can kill you just by looking at you!"

Many of the students turned and fell quiet as soon as they saw Harry standing there. Many were still certain that he was responsible for it.

"Was that your pet, Potter?" said a Ravenclaw boy with a smirk. "Can't do much to us now, can you?"

"Oh, bugger off!" replied Harry angrily. He had been the subject of scrutiny for long enough as it was and with the monster now dead, had was hoping that people would start moving on from it. Not just yet apparently. Just then the Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout, appeared from across the lawn hurrying towards the group of students in front of the greenhouse.

"Come on, come on. That's enough chatter. I'm sure we've all heard about the snake by now, but we still have lessons to do. Now if you could all put on your gloves, please."

The class went normally, although it was clear that the students were still distracted by the scene from before. Harry, Ron, and Hermione whispered to each other about it in their corner.

"So, it was a Basilisk, then?" said Hermione. "I think I've read about those."

"No way!" said Ron, his face smudged with dirt. "You've read about it?" Hermione glared at him and continued.

"That makes sense, doesn't it? The victims were all petrified, and Harry could hear it in the walls because he's a Parselmouth!"

"But I thought this thing could kill by looking at you," mused Ron. "Why were they only petrified?"

"Well…" began Hermione, uncertain, not quite wanting to give an answer about it before reading up on it first. "None of them did look at it directly, did they? Mrs. Norris must have seen it in the reflection on the water that was on the ground. Colin had his camera up to his face—he must have seen it through the lens and not directly. Justin was found with Nearly-Headless Nick… he must have seen it through Nick and not directly. Nick, it seems, was shit out of luck, there. Don't know how they're going to fix that one…"

"What I don't get is," said Ron, "if this giant snake petrified them, why did it leave their bodies alone? Surely it would have eaten them or something."

"Please, Ron. I don't want to think about that." Hermione turned to Harry. "You're pretty quiet about this. Any thoughts?"

"Leave him alone," Ron interjected. "He just lost his family pet! He must be pretty upset by it."

"I think Lockhart is a great big lying sack of bollocks," said Harry, ignoring Ron. "There's no way he killed that thing. It had to have been dead for some time—I didn't hear any voice this time. The other teachers looked pretty worried by the whole thing, too. Even Dumbledore." He looked at them for a moment. "Something killed it. It didn't just rip its own throat out."

"You three!" snapped Professor Sprout unexpectedly, making them jump. "How are you coming along with those buds?"

-x-H-x-

The Great Hall was buzzing that night with the chatter of excited students, all seated at the four long house tables, with rumours about what had happened to the Basilisk on the second-floor corridor.

"So there really is a Chamber!"

"That thing was getting around the school the whole time?"

"Who do you think the Heir was? Do you think it's Potter? You heard him speaking to that snake at the dueling club… He could have been controlling it."

The teachers were talking quietly amongst themselves at the head table. Lockhart's seat was empty. A hush fell over the room as Dumbledore rose from his seat at the centre of the staff table. The enchanted ceiling showed the coming of winter with light flurries of snow beginning to drift down onto the castle from the night sky. Soon this room would be fully decorated with Christmas trees and decorations to be enjoyed by the students that would be remaining for the holiday.

"Undoubtedly," Dumbledore began, "you all will have heard about the dead Basilisk discovered on the second floor this afternoon. These rumours are true." Muttering voices rose up from the students but were quickly silenced when Dumbledore spoke again. "However, the matter is still being investigated and until we find whoever is responsible for letting loose such a beast on the school, strict safety measures must still be followed. As it is, no-one is to travel alone at Hogwarts until further notice. Any student found wandering the halls alone will face consequences." He then clapped his hands together, a smile appearing on his face. "Now then… tuck in!"

The buffet of food appeared on the tables and the students loaded their plates with large helpings. Harry noticed people eyeing him from the various tables as if trying to discern his mood about the whole thing. How did he feel about the dead snake? Had his grand plan been ruined? He looked to the staff table for Hagrid's friendly face and gave him a wave, but Hagrid was staring at his plate, lost in thought with a dark expression in his eyes. None of the teachers looked particularly settled either as they ate.

Just then, the great doors opened loudly as Lockhart strode into the hall wearing sky-blue robes covered in bright silver stars, a fashion choice rivaling Dumbledore's own. He walked tall and with confidence and as the students began to applaud his entrance, he raised his hands up in mock modesty. He walked slowly across the hall, turning and waving as he made his way to the staff table before clearing his throat to address his audience.

"Thank you! Thank you!" He beamed at the crowd of students looking up at him, his white teeth shining brilliantly. "You're all too kind! Honestly, it was nothing. I was just doing my job as your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Although I must say, it was no easy feat slaying a Basilisk single-handedly." More cheers from the students, many of whom looked up at him adoringly.

"How did you kill it?" called a third-year Ravenclaw girl, sparking a chorus of the same question from all around the Hall.

"Well, I could tell you right now. I could regale you all with the story of my daring plan once I discovered what the monster was, and how I killed it. Of course, I had to confront it at just the right moment when there were no students around as I couldn't allow one of my many fans to risk looking it in the eye." He paused to build suspense, enjoying the attention. "But then I wouldn't be the number one author in Britain if I spilled the beans right away before anyone could buy the book! But I will say this… However incredible you imagine it was, it was even more incredible than that! Rest assured, Hogwarts, you're safe while I'm here!" He gave a trademark wink before resuming his speech with a more serious look on his face.

"And to the so-called Heir of Slytherin, know this… I'm on to you. Enjoy the feast!"

He strode along the staff table, the teachers all staring unbelievingly at him as he passed them and sat down proudly in his seat. When the cheering died down and the atmosphere relaxed, Harry, Ron, and Hermione resumed their meal and talked amongst themselves. He looked over and saw Fred and George snickering quietly with Lee Jordan, looking over at Lockhart every so often. Harry caught their eye and they grinned, all knowing exactly what they were thinking. Harry smirked to himself as he glanced quickly at Lockhart before continuing with his meal.

"What a lying sack of bollocks."