Harry Potter : In the shadow of divinity35.71%

Chapter - 30 : Petrified Truths and Relentless Research part - 2

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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Hagrid's arrest led Harry, Hermione, Neville, Blaise, Draco, and Ron to spending every moment they weren't eating, sleeping, or in class trying to discover the mystery of the Chamber so that they could clear his name. The day Hermione was petrified, she and Harry were working in the library while the others were taking a break out by the lake.

"Oh my goodness, Harry," Hermione whispered excitedly rousing him from the stupor he'd fallen into while reading a dreadfully boring report on Chimaeras.

"What? What is it? Have you found the monster?" he asked straightening in his seat.

"No, but I think I've found a clue."

Harry perked up immediately. "What?" A clue wasn't the answer, but it was a start.

"We've already established that the strange voice only you've been able to hear must have something to do with the identity of the monster, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe you're not the only one who can hear it, but you're the only one who can understand it." The brunette pushed her borrowed copy of Hogwarts: A History on top of the book Harry was reading and pointed at the section on the four founders, or more specifically, Salazar Slytherin. "I was reading this in hopes that I could find something in the passage that could clue us in on what Slytherin's monster could be."

"And did you?"

"Somewhat. It says that Slytherin was famous for being one of the first blood purists as well as having the ability to speak parseltongue, the language of snakes. So what if his monster is some kind of snake? If it was, only he or one of his heirs would be able to understand, and more importantly, control it."

"And you think I can speak parseltongue?"

"You could very well be related to Slytherin on your father's side, the Potters were a very old pureblood family. In fact I'd be surprised if you weren't distantly related to Slytherin."

Harry couldn't tell her that her hypothesis was wrong without telling her that he wasn't a Potter, at least not by blood, so he nodded and quickly moved the subject along. "Okay, say you're correct, and I am a parseltongue-"

"Parselmouth," Hermione corrected "Parseltongue is the language,"

"Okay, say I am a parselmouth, what kind of snake are we dealing with?"

"I don't know, I've never heard of a snake whose venom could petrify a person, let alone a ghost."

Harry froze as a thought struck him. "Who says it's venom that petrified them?" he whispered.

"Well what else could it be?"

Harry dove into his backpack and pulled out an old text he'd borrowed from the library, he quickly flipped to the passage he was looking for and paused to read it. "Listen to this. Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."

"Hagrid said his roosters have been being killed off," Hermione whispered thoughtfully. "And the spiders…Oh my goodness Harry! But if it's a basilisk how has no one died? They've only been petrified."

"That's because no one's looked it directly in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera, Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick, Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again, and Mrs. Norris, I don't know if you noticed but the floor was covered in water that night, she must have seen its reflection in the water."

"We need to tell someone, Harry."

Harry nodded. "Go to Professor McGonagall. I'll get the others and I'll meet up with you."

"All right, hurry."

Before Hermione could run out of the library, Harry grabbed her wrist. "Wait." He transfigured a sheet of parchment into a mirror. "Use this to look around corners, just in case."

"Brilliant idea." Hermione gave him a quick hug. "Be careful, Harry." Then she dashed off.

Harry followed soon after with a mirror of his own; having to use the mirror to look around corners slowed him down considerably, but he eventually made it out of the school and out to the lake.

"Hey, mate!" Ron called being the first to notice him. "Come to join us?"

Harry shook his head. "We found out what Slytherin's monster is," he said. "No time to explain, I came to get you so we can tell McGonagall."

No one wasted any time asking questions, they simply gathered their things and followed Harry back up to the school. They managed to make it to the third floor before Harry heard a sound that made his blood freeze.

"Kill this time… let me rip… tear…"

"Oh no," he groaned, picking up the pace.

"What is it, Harry?" Neville asked.

Harry stopped their little progression. "Listen," he said, "tell me what you hear."

"Hungry…so hungry…"

"I hear something," Blaise said softly. "It sounds weird like a broken pipe or…"

"Or hissing," Harry said grimly.

The dark skinned boy looked at him in surprise. "Exactly. You can hear it to?"

"In a way."

"Blood…filthy blood…not fit to eat…"

Harry cursed and took off down the hall, following the voice that was steadily getting fainter. He was so focused on tracking the voice by ear he didn't notice the body until he tripped over it and went sprawling to the ground.