Harry Potter : In the shadow of divinity36.90%

Chapter - 31 : Petrified Truths and Relentless Research part - 3

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

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"Harry, are you all…" Neville's concerned voice trailed off into a strangled sort of gasp when he noticed the body.

"Oh, Merlin," Ron whispered.

Harry didn't need to look behind himself to know who he had tripped over, the familiar little mirror that rested on the ground told him everything he needed to know.

Hermione had fallen victim to the basilisk.

"Harry you need to sleep."

Harry ignored his father and continued flipping through his book.

"Harry it's much too late for you to be up researching, go to sleep."

"No."

"Haraldr, sleep."

Harry paused at the stern order. "I can't," he whispered, "Hermione needs me."

"Not like this. You're of no use to anyone in such a condition."

"I'm fine."

Loki grabbed the twelve year old by the shoulders and forced him to face him. "No you are not," he said angrily. "You haven't eaten in days and you haven't slept in longer, this is not healthy. You'll kill yourself if you continue on like this."

Harry glared down at his lap. "Would I?"

"Pardon?"

"Would I kill myself? Can I even die?"

"We all die."

"You know what I mean."

Loki sighed. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean, I don't know. You're mother's mortal blood is tainting my Asgardian blood, making it difficult to read."

"When will we know?"

"Most likely when you reach maturity. Asgardians age far slower than mortals when they reach adulthood. If you all but stop aging then we know you're Asgardian blood is dominant, if you continue to age…"

"Then I'll age and die like a mortal."

"No!" Loki snarled. "No, you will not be dying."

Harry laughed hollowly. "It's not as if I have a choice."

"I will not see you die, little trickster."

Harry looked up at his father and for the first time Loki saw the fear he harbored reflecting in his eyes. Harry truly did not want to die, not because he desired immortality but because he feared what would happen to his father if he did. "Promise?" he asked in a small voice.

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

Harry laughed softly as he recalled the day he'd made the childish promise to his father. "Stick a needle in my eye."

Loki grinned and hooked pinkie fingers with his son. "I swear to you, I will not lie."

Harry rushed over to the library table his friends were seated around, startling them away from their books. "Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," he said face flushed and breathless with excitement.

Draco snapped his book shut and squinted up at Harry. "What?"

"The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is in the second floor girl's loo. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

Ron, Neville, Blaise, and Draco gaped at Harry in astonishment. "Wha-How did you come to that?" Neville managed to say.

Harry slapped an old newspaper down onto the table. "I was going through the library's newspaper archives earlier today, I wanted to see if there was anything about the first time the Chamber was opened and there was. It was first opened in 1942, and like now, the school was at risk of being shut down because of the petrifications of students. The school was saved when a student named Tom Riddle turned Hagrid in."

"Wanker," Ron muttered.

"Hagrid was expelled, but not before one student was killed in the very bathroom she still haunts today."

"Harry you're brilliant," Blaise grinned as he read over the article.

Ron stood up and began gathering his books. "We have to tell, McGonagall."

"Yes, because she was so much help when we told her about the basilisk." Draco sneered.

"There was nothing she could do, she didn't know where the basilisk was. Now it's different."

Draco was stopped from responding when McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the library. "All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."

"Another attack?" Neville asked.

"We've never been sent to our dorms before."

Harry felt a growing sense of trepidation. "Come on," Harry threw his bag over his shoulder and hurried from the library.

"Where are we going?" Blaise asked.

"The staff room, we have to tell McGonagall."

The five boys raced up several flights of stairs and down the hall to the staff room, but they hesitated when they Lockhart ran out of the room and past them with not even a glance in their direction.

In his departure, he left the door open just a crack, but enough for them to hear McGonagall's voice float into the hall. "It has happened," they heard her say. " A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the chamber itself."

There were stunned noises from the room, then Professor Snape asked, "How can you be sure?"

"The Heir of Slytherin left another message. Right underneath the first one. 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.' "

"Who is it?" asked Madam Hooch. "Which student?"

"Ginny Weasley," said Professor McGonagall.

Ron made a noise that sounded like a mix between a strangled gasp and a tortured moan.

"Ron," Harry whispered, reaching out to grab his friend before he collapsed, but the boy stumbled back several steps and looked at Harry with such a horrible expression of pain, he almost flinched away from him. And then Ron turned and ran away.

"Tell McGonagall everything we found out," Harry said, then turned and chased after Ron.

Harry was cursing his stupidity and all around bad luck as he stared down the wraith like figure that was slowly gaining more substance by the minute. After chasing Ron down to Myrtle's bathroom and finding exactly where the entrance was, he proved Hermione's deduction at least partially correct by ordering the entrance to open in parseltongue. When the sinks slid to the side, he and Ron leapt fearlessly into the long dark tunnel that led them miles beneath the school and directly into the Chamber. That's just about when everything went wrong.