AN: I'm going to apologize for not updating the past two weeks. This chapter was a nightmare to write, both because of it's content and because of the situation surrounding my workplace. We've been swamped pretty hard, so finding the time to write was difficult. Hopefully we'll be back for a few weeks before we take a break for me to prep Year 3.
Harry was on a mission. Immediately after he had confirmed the worst had happened to Hermione, Luna, and Penelope, he had focused. Harry wandered the halls of Hogwarts each day, only attending and doing what was required in classes, and spending every other moment simply wandering the halls, listening. This had been his routine for the past two weeks, and with May coming to a close soon, Harry was becoming more and more afraid he would be unable to find the beast before the summer started.
"Why won't this snake show itself? It can't be afraid of me, I doubt it even knows I exist." Harry said to himself.
"Probably because fate itself is stopping you from doing something as dumb as killing yourself." Padma said, revealing herself as having followed Harry. He hadn't noticed her.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, shocked, and somewhat harsher than he meant to.
"I'm here to stop my boyfriend from getting himself killed on some ill conceived act of revenge." Padma said, before stepping up and enveloping Harry in a hug. "I'm upset that they got petrified too. Hermione was my best friend just as much as she was yours, but I'm not out here trying to get myself killed for her."
"I can't just sit around and do nothing Padma, we know what we're looking for, and I'm equipped to find it. Dumbledore and the staff haven't done anything, so I have to do something." Harry said, looking down and resolving himself. If he didn't take the fight to this creature… who would?
"You don't even know where to start looking! You've been wandering the castle for weeks and haven't gotten anywhere. What makes you think you CAN find it?" Padma asked, looking at him with hard eyes. She was obviously very upset at him, but Harry couldn't sit idly by.
"I don't know, I just… I have to try." Harry said, his voice small at the end.
Padma gripped him tighter in a hug. "Look, I've figured out a few things about what might be happening. Daphne, Susan and I have been working on trying to catalog everything we know about the attacks, both from this time and from the forties. Let's head back to the Sphinx Club room and see if they're there. We'll go over everything and then come up with a plan. We'll tell the teachers what we know, without mentioning Susan's involvement. Then hopefully they can deal with it."
"I suppose. Let's go." Harry said, his body slumping. How long had he been this tired?
Harry and Padma walked to the Sphinx Club room, inside finding the other members all gathered. Concerned looks were present on all of their faces.
"Oh good. You found him." Daphne said, before walking over and simply hugging Harry. "We're worried sick about you, you know?"
"I know, but… I just have to do something. Padma said you had some information about the attacks?" Harry said, his voice dipping as his eyes drooped.
"Yes, but you won't hear any of it until after you get some sleep. You'll be no good to anyone falling over because you've neglected to rest." Susan said, looking harshly at him. "Trust me, I know what you feel like right now. Get a good night's sleep and we'll talk about it in the morning."
"I… I guess that's for the best." Harry said, looking as everyone simply nodded their heads toward him.
"I'll walk him to the dorm, then I'll come back and we'll compile all of our notes. I found something when I visited Hermione and Luna, seems they had been on to something when they were attacked." Padma said.
Hermione and Luna. Harry hadn't even visited them since the first time, he'd been too busy on his revenge quest that he had neglected to even see them. Some boyfriend he was.
Harry stayed silent as Padma led him back to the Ravenclaw common room, and barely managed a goodbye as he stumbled up the stairs and into his bed.
Sleep held little but nightmares for Harry, visions of snakes eating all of his friends being played out for him in his mind. First were Luna and Hermione, studying in the library as the table they were sitting at uncoiled into a large serpent, piercing them with it's fangs before swallowing them. Next were Susan and Hannah, watching a Quidditch game as all the broomsticks formed into a snake, flying at them and swallowing them whole. Tracey and Daphne got their turn as they walked into the dungeons towards their House and were swallowed by the corridor. Padma and Parvati were consumed in the great hall, the Head table transforming into a sinister serpent and crushing them with its tail before swallowing them. Neville and Lavender were eaten in the greenhouses, where the Devil's Snare merged into a single giant serpent, swallowing them whole.
Harry woke up with a start, but realized quickly that his nightmare had been just that, a nightmare. Nothing more. Getting up, he still didn't feel truly rested, but definitely felt better than he did before he lied down last night. Dressing himself and grabbing his wand. Harry made his way to the Ravenclaw common room. Padma was there to greet him.
"Hello Harry. I hope you slept well. Let's head to the club room. We have some leads I'd like to tell you about." Padma said, grabbing his hand and leading him to the Sphinx Club room.
Arriving in the Sphinx Club room, he found the Gryffindor trio and the pair of Slytherins already present, leaving only the Hufflepuffs currently unaccounted for.
"I wonder where Susan and Hannah are? They normally beat us here." Padma said, moving to sit on one of the couches.
"You're right. It's a bit strange for them to be the last to arrive." Daphne said, looking around. "You don't think…"
"Let's not put that in the air. For now, we'll assume they overslept, or were held up in their common room. Both likely and less scary answers." Parvati said, leaning back into the couch.
At that moment, Hannah burst through the door. Her eyes darted across the room, panickedly looking for something. "Have you guys seen Susan?" She asked, her tone full of concern.
"No, we thought she would be with you." Daphne said, looking worriedly at her. "Was she not in bed this morning?"
"Not when I woke up, its not uncommon for her to beat me up to get to the showers, but I haven't seen her all morning." Hannah said, worry becoming more evident in her voice.
"Let's go find her. Everyone pair up and search a part of the castle. Keep those mirrors we got on you. Can't be too careful." Harry said, taking charge of the situation.
Hannah unsurprisingly grabbed Neville and said they would search the second floor. Daphne and Tracey said they would take the dungeons. Lavender and Parvati were going to check the fourth floor. This left Padma and Harry to take the first floor, with whoever finished their sweep first taking the third. They all split up, looking for their friend.
Making their way to the first floor, they found it emptier than usual, which was odd. The first floor was often very crowded, with it containing the library and great hall, most students would spend a majority of their day here. Yet for the most part, it seemed quiet.
"I don't like this, where is everyone?" Harry asked rhetorically. He unfortunately got his answer soon, as he saw a large crowd gathered around a wall in one of the corridors.
"Stand back please. Please allow us to do our jobs." The stern voice of Minerva McGonagall rang through the crowd, causing most students to stand back. During a moment where the crowd was split however, Harry saw a sight he hoped he wouldn't see again. A message, written in blood, with the same handwriting of all of the other messages. "Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever."
"How… she got rid of the diary… how is it controlling her again?" Harry asked dumbfoundedly.
"I don't know, but I don't like this at all. Let's head back to the Sphinx Club room, I'll tell you what we found out and then we'll think of a plan." Padma said, and the pair dashed off to the Sphinx Club room.
"Okay, so, we're pretty sure that Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets in the forties, and framed Hagrid for the death of Myrtle Warren right?" Padma said, starting her explanation of what they discovered.
"Yeah, that makes the most sense based on what we know. Riddle definitely had something to do with it, why does it matter though?" Harry asked, confused as to where this was going.
"We found Myrtle. Turns out after she died she became a ghost, and now she haunts the 2nd floor girls bathroom. We're also pretty sure that the Basilisk has been traveling through the pipes, Hermione had a note in her pocket that talked about how the pipes had expansion charms that stopped them from getting clogged. That probably means that the Basilisk could move through them as well. That probably means that it gets into the pipes from the bathroom. Maybe Myrtle would know more, we'll need to ask her." Padma said, all in a single breath.
"That's great, come on, let's go!" Harry said, grabbing her hand and starting to pull her with him.
"Wait, we can't take on a basilisk by ourselves. We need help. Let's go grab Lockhart, if he's half the wizard the books make him out to be, he'll be useful." Padma said.
"I suppose you're right. We'll head to his office first." Harry said, as the pair made their way to his office.
As they walked in, they found him frantically packing his items into a suitcase. "Professor Lockhart?" Padma asked, causing the man to jump.
"Ah, yes. Ms. Petal, Mr. Potter. Surprise to see you here." He says, misremembering Padma's name.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked, looking at the packed bag sitting on a table. The flamboyant clothing inside could belong to no one else but Gilderoy Lockhart.
"Oh, I'm just getting a head start on packing for the summer. I never wear these anyway, unsure why I brought them." The lie was easy to spot, namely because Harry could see the outfit the man wore during their last class immediately on top of the other clothes, and it was an outfit the man wore at least once every other week.
"We know what's been causing the attacks, we need your help to stop it." Padma said, cutting to the chase.
"Oh, well why don't you tell the Headmaster, I would hate to undermine his authority in his own school." Lockhart said, his face growing nervous.
"No, you're going to help us, or I'll tell the whole world you're a fraud." Padma said.
Harry was shocked. He knew that there was no way Gilderoy Lockhart could have done everything in his books, but Harry imagined that they simply may be been embellished accounts, adding a few inches to a caught fish as it were. To be a fraud? Harry listened intently.
"Whatever do you mean Ms. Petal? I am no more a fraud than I am a toad." Gilderoy said, his voice seemingly raising an octave.
"March 6th 1987, Gilderoy Lockhart holds a book signing for Gadding with Ghouls, yet during the month of March that year, you claim to be in the Alps for Year with the Yeti. February 14th, 1988, you make a public appearance for the tour for Voyages with Vampires, but are simultaneously on a date with a Bheur Hag for Holidays with Hags. What's more interesting is that around the time of each of your books supposedly being written, a noteworthy scholar of each of the creatures goes missing. So… you can help us, or I go to the press." Padma said.
Harry was shocked. He had no idea Padma was so capable of blackmail. Or that she had all of that information. How had she gotten it?
"Why.. that's preposterous, I had nothing to do with any disappearances." Lockhart said, his brow starting to find itself covered in sweat.
"Maybe not… but we could let a judge decide that. Maybe under Veritaserum?" Padma said. "I'm not the only one with this information. There are at least two others, who, should I go missing, would be MORE than willing to release it to the press, and they could do so easily."
"I… well I … I never… fine. Lead the way." Lockhart said, stopping his packing.
"I knew you would see things my way. Now come. We need to head to the second floor girls bathroom." Padma said, leading Harry and Lockhart out the door.
With the castle in the early stages of lockdown, getting to the bathroom had been rather easy. Once inside, they were greeted by a ghostly figure.
"Hey…. there can't be any boys in here. Not even cute ones like him." The ghost, likely Moaning Myrtle said. She reminded Harry of a female version of himself in a way, dressed in Ravenclaw robes and wearing circular glasses. Her hair was long and mostly straight, although it had some noticeable volume to it, causing it to puff out slightly.
"Why I thank you miss, always a pleasure to meet a fan." Lockhart said, flashing a smile and somehow creating a small sparkle and a ding sound with his teeth.
"Not you." Myrtle said. "Why have you entered my bathroom? No one comes in here."
"Your name is Myrtle Warren isn't it?" Harry asked of the specter, looking simultaneously at and through her. While Harry had been cordial at Nick's Deathday party earlier that year, he still found it difficult to speak to ghosts without looking through them.
"It was, now everyone just calls me Moaning Myrtle, it's so SAD!" As she wailed in sadness, the pipes and toilets all resonated, creating several sonorous tones that caused the sinks to turn on, as well as the toilets to spray water several feet into the air.
"You died in this bathroom didn't you?" Harry asked. It was likely a very rude question to ask a ghost, but Harry didn't have time for pleasantries, there were lives at stake.
"Yes… I was sitting in here crying after some girls made fun of me for my glasses, I heard someone enter and turned to look to tell them to go away… and then the next thing I know I was a ghost." Myrtle said, looking wistfully at the door.
"Where were you standing when you looked at the door?" Harry asked, trying to piece everything together. She obviously saw the Basilisk, that's why she was instantly killed. It had been getting into the pipes from this room, but where was it entering.
"Here." She said, floating over to one of the stalls.
Harry stepped over and looked to the doorway from the stall. The only thing between them was the large circular pillar that contained all the sinks. He'd have to look there.
"Thank you Myrtle. You may have just helped us save our friends." Harry said, as he dashed over and began looking over each of the pipes on the central column,
"Oh, it must be nice having friends. I don't have any." Myrtle said, looking sadly at Harry's back as he rushed towards the center column.
"We'll be your friends Myrtle, we owe you big time. Hagrid also always wanted to be your friend, even when you were alive. He told us himself." Harry said, continuing to scan the sinks.
"Oh.. Hagrid was always so nice to me. But Hagrid was nice to everyone, so I didn't think I was special… Oh, maybe I should apologize for avoiding him all these years." Myrtle said.
As she finished, Harry found a small insignia of a snake on one of the pipes, if the entrance was going to be anywhere, it would probably be there. "I think I found it! But how would I get it to open?" Harry wracked his brain.
"The last one who came in made some kind of snakey sound." Myrtle offered.
"Must be parseltongue! That's why no one else has found it!" Padma said.
"But what would I even say it's not like it'll just be 'Open' right?" Harry said.
"Well, what is 'Open'?" Padma asks.
"sssOpensss." Harry said, and the pipes let loose a burst of steam as they separated from the wall, opening down deep into unknown dark depths.
"Looks like it was open. Apparently Salazar Slytherin wasn't clever, that's the Ravenclaw trait after all." Padma said, waving her wand and casting Lumos to look into the depths. "Some kind of slide?"
"Well, I guess maybe stairs would be kind of hard for a snake creature, a ramp a little less so." Harry said. "Lockhart, you go first. Padma and I will follow after you. You won't be running away."
The two Ravenclaws prodded the Defense professor until he went down the slide, Harry and Padma following shortly after.
Landing below, the trio were covered in unsightly dirt and grime, years of buildup on the slide had not been kind to its cleanliness, and had the situation been less dire, Harry would have likely complained.
"Alright, we are down here. What's your big plan, hmm?" Lockhart said, obviously annoyed.
"We're going to go find the Basilisk, and hopefully defeat it before it eats Susan." Harry said, lighting his wand before beginning to press on into the darkness.
"A Basilisk? You can't be serious, it'll kill us with a glance!" Lockhart said, obviously frightened.
"Then maybe you can blind it with your 'Witch Weekly's Best Smile'." Padma said with an eye roll, prodding Lockhart along.
Following the tunnel they were in for a few dozen feet, they came across a large white snake skin, roughly the height of Lockhart, and longer than a school bus.
"Oh, it seems someone has killed it already." Lockhart said, his tone somewhat relieved.
"No, I think that's a shed. Reptiles do that to keep their scales healthy. Usually when they grow out of their current set. This one must be HUGE." Harry said, too resolved to be properly scared by the prospect.
"Oh… great." Lockhart said, his face going whiter than the shed was.
"Come on, let's get going." Harry said, moving on.
"No, I don't think I will. You see, I'm going to take this shed back and say that I killed the Basilisk, unfortunately the two bright students who assisted me in defeating it were killed by it's glare." Lockhart said, pulling out his wand and pointing it at the pair of students.
"I knew you were a fraud." Padma said, her wand in her hand as well.
"Oh yes, I didn't do everything I said I did in those books. When it comes to many types of magic, I'm somewhat lacking. What I am an EXPERT at however, is memory charms. I'll simply wipe all of your memories of ever even existing, and let the Basilisk clean up." Lockhart said, before preparing to cast a spell.
Harry and Padma reacted in the blink of an eye, Harry casting a disarming charm, removing the wand from Lockharts hand just a moment after Lockhart's spell was flung. Padma however had cast Flippendo which spun the free wand end over end, sending Lockharts charm into his own body.
There was a bright flash as Harry and Padma covered their eyes, and as it died down, there stood Lockhart, staring at them blankly, wand lying on the ground. "Hello. Who are you?" He asked, looking confused.
"Professor Lockhart?" Padma asked, looking to the man. Gone was his confident poise and anger towards them for trying to expose him. Now he just seemed lost.
"Is that me? I'm a professor? Wonderful!" Lockhart said, giving himself a small clap. "Is this where I teach? It's dreadfully filthy."
"No… You don't remember anything?" Harry asked, examining the man.
"Not a thing. Am I meant to?" Lockhart asked, looking around. "If I don't teach here, what am I doing here?"
"You came to help us fight a monster." Padma said, picking up his wand.
"Oh. Sorry, I don't think I can help. I'm afraid I don't know anything about fighting. Or monsters." Lockhart said, barely noticing his wand being taken.
"Looks like he wiped his own memory." Padma said, watching as Lockhart dug through his pockets looking for any sign of who he was meant to be. "What do we do with him?"
"I don't know. We don't have time to take him back up and try to find another teacher. Susan's in trouble now." Harry said, glancing down the long corridor.
"Uh… I hate this, but I'll go back up and take Forgetful over here with me. I'll try to find Flitwick or McGonagall and send them down too, hopefully the door will stay open since you didn't tell it to close. I know it's no good to tell you not to go and fight the Basilisk, but… be careful. I don't know if I'm in love with you yet, but I damn well intend to find out. Same goes for Hermione, Daphne, Luna, and Susan. You better come out of this Troll-Slayer." Padma pulled him in for a kiss, before pushing him off. "Take Lockhart's wand. Won't be as good as yours, but if you drop yours it'll at least be a suitable replacement."
"Alright. I'll be back. It'll take more than some overgrown snake to take me down." Harry said, trying to fill his voice with as much confidence as he could muster. He was truly terrified, but was willing to do anything to make sure that Padma didn't hear that.
"It better." Padma said, before escorting Lockhart up the ramp they came down. It was likely to be a slow process, so Harry was all alone.
Carefully making his way down the hallway, Harry kept his ears open for any sounds of slithering. He didn't bother with the mirror, because being paralyzed down here would be a death sentence regardless. Harry could feel his heart start to race as he wandered deeper into the underground catacombs, before he came to a large central area, large tunnels heading off from it in multiple directions, and a large statue of a bald bearded man looming large over the floor. In front of the statue was a boy that seemed strangely familiar to Harry. He had dark hair, and stood perhaps a head and a half taller than Harry. In his hands was a book, and he looked over at something on the ground. The red hair gave away the identity of the figure on the ground nearly instantly.
It was Susan, breathing, but seemingly being drained by some magic. White whisps flowed from her body and into the boy who stood there.
"Harry Potter. You've finally arrived." The boy said, shutting the book before turning to face him. "Our encounter has been a long time coming it seems."
"Who are you?" Harry asked. The boy seemed familiar in a way Harry simply couldn't place.
"I'm Tom Marvolo Riddle, although you perhaps know me by a different name." Tom said, before waving the wand he was holding and spelling out his name in burning letters, with a swish, they rearranged themselves to spell out a phrase that sent chills down Harry's spine, as suddenly everything made sense.
I Am Lord Voldemort