CH 185

The basilisk was moving toward Harry; he could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Harry began to run sideways, not looking at the serpent. Riddle was laughing. "Sorry, Harry!" said Neville. "I left it next to Ginny!"

Harry tripped at the words. He fell hard onto the stone and tasted blood. The serpent was barely feet from him and he could hear it coming.

There was a loud, explosive spitting sound right above him, and then something heavy hit Harry so hard that he was smashed into the wall. He dropped his own block of wood.

Waiting for fangs to sink through his body he heard more mad hissing, something thrashing wildly off the pillars. And the song of the phoenix from Fawkes.

He couldn't help it. He opened his eyes wide enough to squint at what was going on. And reached into his bag for his sunglasses. His fingers found them, broken. The lenses broken into itty bits.

The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. As Harry trembled, ready to close his eyes if it turned, he saw what had distracted the snake.

Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabres

Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor. The snake's tail thrashed, narrowly missing Harry. And, before Harry could shut his eyes, it turned - Harry looked straight into its face and saw that its eyes - both its great, bulbous yellow eyes - had been punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming to the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony.

§NO!§ Harry heard Riddle screaming. §LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU. YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM. KILL THEM!§

Harry dropped down and picked up his block. He ran back the other way, back behind his original, now smashed, pillar. Bending down, he threw and slid the block across the stone floor until it hit Neville in the side of the foot.

The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Fawkes was circling its head, piping his eerie song, jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood poured from its ruined eyes.

"Nev!" called Harry. "It can't kill you with it's stare any more! Fawkes gouged out its eyes! The block's at your foot!" The serpent's tail whipped across the floor again. It struck what was left of the pillar behind which Harry was crouched. Something soft hit his face.

The basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into Harry's arms. Harry seized it. Not knowing why, he rammed it onto his head and threw himself flat onto the floor as the basilisk's tail smashed the rest of the pillar away.

The hat contracted, as though an invisible hand was squeezing it very tightly.

Something very hard and heavy thudded onto the top of Harry's head. He grabbed the top of the hat to pull it off and felt something long and hard beneath it.

A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat. Its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs. §KILL THE BOY! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU. SNIFF! SMELL HIM!§

Harry was on his feet, ready. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face him. He could see the vast, bloody eye sockets, see the mouth stretching wide - wide enough to swallow him whole - lined with fangs long as the sword in his hand. Thin, glittering, venomous.

It lunged blindly. Harry dodged and it hit the Chamber wall. It lunged again, but Harry was already running off behind yet another pillar. He needed to lead the beast away from Neville so the other boy could get his rooster to crow.

When he heard Harry lead the serpent away, Neville bent down and picked up the block of wood. Popping his wand out of it's holster, he muttered "Finite Incantatem!" over it. As it changed back into a rooster, he swept the little hood it was wearing before being transfigured, off it's head.

He held his wand up, and muttered, "Lumos Solem!" And a bright light appeared above them.

The clucking the rooster had been making when it was transfigured back had begun to draw the basilisk to his location.

The basilisk lunged and struck the wall just to the side of the pillar. Just missing him.

Harry stepped out from behind his latest pillar and whistled. The beast spun about. Harry stood his ground and hissed, §I'm over here, stinky-breath!§

The basilisk lunged straight at him. Harry dived out of it's way, as it struck the wall of the chamber behind where he was standing. Neville, stepped out from behind his pillar to see Riddle was staring, watching Harry.

"Come on, you bugger!" muttered Neville.

Suddenly, the rooster crowed! And it was a full-bodied crow.

The basilisk screamed and began thrashing about.

Riddle spun to stare at Neville, and screamed, "No!" He raised the wand in his hand.

Still with his own wand in hand, Neville prepared to cast a shield or dive out of the way.

Neville gave the rooster a little jiggle and it crowed again.

The basilisk screamed again and continued to thrash. From the other side, Harry stepped out on the opposite side to where the serpent had already struck. He charged the now, barely moving, basilisk.

He whacked it once on the snout with the edge of the sword, but made no damage. Changing his idea, he drew the sword back like a spear, intent on thrusting the point between the beast's eyes.

Just as he was making his thrust the rooster crowed for a third time.

The basilisk suddenly tilted it's head back and opened it's mouth.

With the sword thrusting forward with all of Harry's might, it drove through the open mouth, through the roof of it's mouth, and struck through to the brain.

Harry was pulled forward with the initial thrust. His arm now within the serpent's mouth; his hand gripping the hilt. The beast suddenly wrenched it's head; and Harry was flung away to land near the opposite wall. Near where Neville still stood.

As warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was left embedded in his arm.

He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound as he lay on the floor. Even as he held the fang in his hand and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull colour.

"Neville!" he called. "It's dead!"

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