Chapter 117 : The Hidden Serpent

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"You know what this means right?" Severus asked solemnly. "Someone didn't want whatever was written inside that diary to be known."

"And only Gryffindors know the passwords to the Common Room."

"Exactly." The potions master agreed. Things had just become that much more confusing.

It was just before the last Quidditch game of the year when things went from complicated to almost desperate. Harry was just about to get out on the field when Professor McGonagall stopped the team from leaving the changing rooms. Hermione and a Ravenclaw Prefect had been petrtified, just outside the library. Lily and James did their best to calm down Adrian who looked ready to burst while Harry was more interested to the fact that Hermione had been found with a mirror in her hand.

"I'm an idiot." Severus stated as Harry mentioned the mirror.

"I seriously disagree." The boy countered.

"No, I am; a twelve year old student got it before I did."

"Got what?"

"What the snake is." Severus explained, rubbing his eyes.

"You know what the snake is?"

"It's a basilisk, Harry. A bloody basilisk!" Severus exclaimed; the reaction that elicited from Harry was just what he expected; the boy paled and slipped slowly on his chair.

"But basilisk's look doesn't petrify, it… of course." Harry trailed off thinking back to the scenes of the crime; the pool of water on the floor, Colin's camera, Hermione's mirror and even Nearly Headless Nick. "Nobody looked straight at the basilisk, did they? I mean Nick did, but he was dead already."

"My thoughts exactly. And then the roosters being slaughtered… How did I miss this?" The potions master asked, clearly angry with himself.

"Because when one hears galloping he thinks of horses, not thestrals." Harry stated tiredly. "We knew a snake was petrifying students, so we looked for a snake that could petrify students, not one that could possibly but highly unlikely do it. And I thought that basilisks were extinct."

"They're supposed to be." Severus agreed.

"Remind me to share that information with the petrified victims once they wake up." Severus smirked slightly.

"I will not omit to do just that." The potions master sat in the corner of his desk, looking at Harry sceptically. "One thing I don't get."

"What?"

"The basilisks are huge snakes; how could one roam around the castle?" Severus wondered. "Someone must have seen."

"I don't know." Harry answered thoughtfully. He revised the incidents when he had heard the voice in his head. "Well I did hear it talking from inside the walls. That's why I thought it was a ghost in the first place." Severus's left eye twitched. "What?"

"I'm never ever taking a shower in this castle again." The potions master stated decisively, already planning making a trip back to Silbreith at least once a day.

"Why?" Harry asked and then the impact of Severus's declaration hit him. "The pipes? You think the basilisk is moving through the pipes?" The boy shuddered at the thought; suddenly, the warm showers he had taken all through winter made him shiver in disgust.

"Where else?" Severus asked trying to forget he had just showered only a few hours ago. Finding out what the snake seemed to do nothing to alleviate the situation. A few weeks after Hermione was petrified, things seemed gloomier than ever. The only cheery person around was Lockhart, who was convinced -and was trying to convince everybody else too- that he was the reason the attacks had stopped. From what Harry had noticed Ron and his brother were sending confused looks at Harry, affirming his suspicions that the diary actually contained information that pointed to Hagrid being the one who had unleashed the Slytherin monster all those years ago.

A silly notion, Harry thought, and his brother seemed to share his opinion; he only appeared hesitant to ask Hagrid about the subject rather than feeling the giant was a threat. Harry felt it was better that way; the less his brother knew of the subject the further away he would stay from danger. But on that subject, Adrian had a different opinion completely; it was only a few nights after he had made that thought that the green eyed wizard followed his twin and Ron as they headed towards Hagrid's hut. Well, to be accurate, he rather followed their general direction flying in the night sky with his Nimbus as they were under the invisibility cloak; he didn't have time to place a tracing spell on his brother -and even if he did chances were that he was by now trained enough to recognise it- but he had heard they would be heading there.

So he watched from above as Hagrid opened the door to welcome them and the two boys entered his home. Even his hearing wasn't good enough to listen to what was being said inside but he dared not approach more. And it was a good thing he didn't, as the light of a lamp caught his attention a few moments later. Someone was coming from the castle and heading towards Hagrid's hut.

Harry flattened himself on his broom and hid behind the hut, parallel to the roof, not even daring to touch the twigs it was made of. He did however dare to steer just a little to the left to observe the two forms approaching; he couldn't help but indulge to his curiosity for the flowing silver hair and the long beard could only belong to the Headmaster. And possibly Merlin, Harry thought, but the chances of him being around were slim to say the least.

So, if it really was the Headmaster, who was the man he was accompanying? He was much shorter than Dumbledore and plump, dressed in intricate robes in an atrocious mustard colour, topped with a bowler hat. Harry's heart picked up in rhythm; what was Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic and moron extraordinaire, doing at Hogwarts? He moved closer to the roof as Dumbledore approached and knocked the door; he could hear a faint scuffling sound from inside the house, indicating that Adrian and Ron were trying to hide, before Hagrid opened the door. Right when Harry was debating whether he should approach a window to try and listen to what was being said when a third form, a man with a long, black travelling cape and silvery blond hair moved towards the hut too.

Lucius Malfoy? The hairs in the back of Harry's neck stood up and his shudder had nothing to do with the chilly wind. Lucius Malfoy was never good news and Mr. Weasley's split lip last summer stood testimony to that. He did do some good however as he left the door open. And once Harry could hear what they were saying, he wished he hadn't. Hagrid was being arrested and Dumbledore ousted from the school. We're doomed, he thought with utter pessimism.

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