The Last Peverell

Chapter 78

Chapter 78

After she parted ways with Severus, Jasmine made her way back towards Myrle's bathroom. It was time to retrieve the basilisk fangs. She had told the Marauders that she would be back in the common room in about twenty minutes, so she didn't have too much time to get her task done.

Death claimed that they were waiting for her at the bottom of the staircase, but the bottom of the stairs led to a fairly wide-open area, so she would need a few minutes to look around. This little adventure shouldn't drain her of too much magic. She needed to open the chamber and walk down a flight of stairs using parseltongue. The most difficult part was picking up the fangs. If the fang breaks her skin she'd be dead in minutes. It would be extremely embarrassing if she died from cutting herself on a highly poisonous fang, after the damn thing had been dead for weeks.

She wouldn't be able to look Death in the face for quite some time if that happened.

So, Jasmine waited till the restroom was empty, which only took a minute since no one used this bathroom to begin with and opened the chamber once more with an effortless hiss. She descended the stairs slowly, keeping a hand on the wall next to her, just in case she lost her balance. A familiar cold crept up around her like an old friend as her footsteps echoed off the stone around her. Naturally, Death wasn't visible, but Jasmine felt the deity's presence all the same.

"You know, you're the reason this has been taking as long as it has. We probably could have figured another way to kill the basilisk without your dramatics."

A cold hand gripped the back of her neck in warning. Someone was in a mood this evening.

She scoffed as the cold hand refused to budge. Death couldn't show themselves without draining her magic, so the deity wouldn't be able to speak to her, just make their displeasure known through light brushes of its own magic. "Don't you even think about threatening me. The next time you want to be dramatic, remember it almost killed me. As much as you enjoy taking my soul and inserting it back into my body, we're getting closer to saving the magical world then we ever have before. I would appreciate it if you didn't ruin that for us."

The cold air fluttered around her like a horde of ice-covered bees. Someone was grumpy when Jasmine was upset with them.

Jasmine continued down the corridor until she felt her feet connect with the floor of the underground pipes beneath the school. Death said it would be near the entrance, so she used the rune in her eye to see if she could sense the teeth anywhere around her without needing to use her wand. She certainly didn't need Pomfrey on her case about her magic usage.

She also didn't want to faint down here again. Jasmine doubted that Lady Magic would grant her another boon...though she was still trying to figure out how anything that happened that night in the chamber could have been considered a boon in the first place.

After a few moments of delicately slow searching, she noticed two fangs on the ground, both in perfect condition. Jasmine was tempted to head deeper into the chamber to see the rest of the basilisk carcass, but she didn't have the time. Maybe later she could manage to sneak away long enough to get some potion ingredients and skin for some battle-ready robes.

With a wistful sigh, Jasmine pulled a jar out of an extended pocket in her robes and scooped the fangs up as gently as she could, never touching them with her hands. When she was finally cleared for more complex spellcasting Jasmine would be warding them and infusing the venom into one of her daggers, but right now she could only place them in well warded, unbreakable, jars.